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Frederica von Stade
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Mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade, at the peak of an extraordinary career, continues to be one of the world's most beloved and admired artists. A guest of the world's great opera houses, her versatility and interest in a broad spectrum of musical styles and dramatic characterizations continues to impress. At ease as the heroines of Rossini's La Cenerentola and Il Barbiere di Siviglia, she is also an excellent stylist in French repertoire and is one of the favorite interpreters of the great "trouser roles" - from Strauss's Octavian and Composer to Mozart's Idamante and Cherubino. Now a Bay Area resident, she made her San Francisco Opera debut as Sextus in the 1971 spring opera production of Titus (La Clemenza di Tito) and has returned on numerous occasions, most recently in a role she created, that of the Marquise de Marteuil in the 1994 world premiere of The Dangerous Liaisons (which was the subject of a nationwide telecast), as Melisande in the San Francisco Opera's 1997 staging of Pelleas et Melisande, and as Countess Geschwitz in Lulu in 1998. Since her 1970 Metropolitan Opera debut, she has sung nearly all of her great roles there (earlier this year, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her Met debut, the company mounted a new production of The Merry Widow specifically for her), as well as at the San Francisco Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and many other leading American theaters. Frederica von Stade was awarded France's highest honor in the arts when she was appointed an officer of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1998.
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