Jeannine Altmeyer (2 May 1948, Pasadena, California) is an American soprano who had a prolific international opera career during the 1970s through the 1990s. Particularly admired for her portrayal of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

and

Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually r ...

heroines, she notably sang Brünnhilde under Marek Janowski on the 1982 recording of '' The Ring Cycle'' which won a

Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by ma ...

.www.grammy.com

Biography

Altmeyer studied with Martial Singher and

Lotte Lehmann Charlotte "Lotte" Lehmann (February 27, 1888 – August 26, 1976) was a German soprano who was especially associated with German repertory. She gave memorable performances in the operas of Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethove ...

at the

Music Academy of the West The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California. Overview The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...

in Santa Barbara. In Europe she studied with George London and again with Lehman. After winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1970 and the Illinois Opera Guild Auditions in 1971, she made her début at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

as the Heavenly Voice in Verdi's ''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

'' on 25 September 1971. She sang

Freia Freia may refer to: * Freyja, a Norse goddess * 76 Freia, a main belt asteroid * Freia (chocolate), a Norwegian chocolate brand See also * Freja (disambiguation) * Freya (disambiguation) Freya, or Freyja, is a goddess in Norse mythology. Frey ...

at the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

(1972), Salzburg Easter Festival (1973) and

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

(1975). After several seasons at Stuttgart (1975–1979) she appeared as Sieglinde and Gutrune in

Patrice Chéreau Patrice Chéreau (; 2 November 1944 – 7 October 2013) was a French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer. In France he is best known for his work for the theatre, internationally for his films '' La Reine Margot'' and ...

's centenary production of the ''Ring'' cycle (''

Jahrhundertring The ''Jahrhundertring'' (''Centenary Ring'') was the production of Richard Wagner's ''Ring Cycle'', '' Der Ring des Nibelungen'', at the Bayreuth Festival in 1976, celebrating the centenary of both the festival and the first performance of the com ...

'', 1979) at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

, where she also sang Isolde (1986). Apart from her Wagnerian roles (which also include Elsa, Eva, Elisabeth, Gutrune and Brünnhilde). Altmeyer sang Agathe (''

Der Freischütz ' ( J. 277, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on a story by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun from their 1 ...

''), Strauss's

Ariadne Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for havin ...

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, a ...

and Chrysothemis, Lisa ('' The Queen of Spades'') and Leonore (''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, w ...

''), which she sang at La Scala in 1990.

References

Sources

*Eriksson, Erik
Biography: Jeannine Altmeyer
''All Music Guide''. Accessed 7 October 2009. *

br>Performance record: Altmeyer, Jeannine (Soprano)
MetOpera Database. Accessed 7 October 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Altmeyer, Jeannine 1948 births Living people American operatic sopranos Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grammy Award winners People from Pasadena, California Music Academy of the West alumni Singers from California Classical musicians from California 21st-century American women