Maureen Forrester (b. July 25, 1930)

She has been variously called a national treasure, an icon, a goodwill ambassador for Canada, a high profile administrator for major arts organizations such as the Canada Council, and an inspiring teacher. But perhaps the most apt description of Maureen Forrester is that she was and remains the greatest contralto Canada has ever produced.  In a career spanning the latter half of the 20th century, Forrester left her mark as a great exponent of the song, symphonic, oratorio and operatic repertoires from the baroque to the contemporary. Recipient of just about every conceivable award and accolade, including the Order of Canada and 30 honorary degrees, Forrester’s art has enriched the classical music world immeasurably throughout her long career.

Born one of four children to a working class family in Montreal, Forrester had to quit high school at the age of 13 and work to earn a living.  Even though money was hard to come by at the time, her mother encouraged the youngster to study piano and sing in church choirs. J. W. McConnell, publisher of the Montreal Star, recognized her talent and underwrote the expenses of her studies for over a decade. Forrester studied voice with Dutch baritone Bernard Diamant, undoubtedly the most important teacher in her career. She made her debut in 1951 in Montreal, in Elgar’s The Music Makers, and her opera debut as a sewing girl in Charpentier’s Louise in 1953.  Forrester’s star rose quickly, and she made her New York debut in a Town Hall recital in 1956. A defining moment came when in 1957, the great Bruno Walter chose the young Canadian as the contralto soloist in the Mahler Second Symphony, which marked Walter’s Farewell. The maestro was so taken by Forrester’s voice that he personally coached her in other Mahler scores, particularly Das Lied von der Erde, a work close to Walter’s heart, since he conducted its premiere six months after the death of Mahler. Under Walter’s tutelage, Forrester became one of the most celebrated Mahler interpreters of our time, and the two collaborated on a number of occasions. One of Forrester’s biggest regrets is not to have recorded Das Lied with Walter, due to contractual difficulties. Fortunately for us, their collaboration was captured in a live recording of Walter’s very last Das Lied, with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in 1960. Her “Abschied” on that occasion was supremely moving, a continuous, 30-minute lyrical outpouring that combined tonal beauty and a deep sense of spirituality. It is now reproduced on this commemorative CD.

In its prime, the Forrester voice was truly a force of nature, a voluminous sound noted for its dark, opulent timbre, used with intelligence and discerning musical taste. Her range of repertoire was impressive, spanning three centuries from Bach and Handel to Wagner and many 20th century works.  A great champion of contemporary music, she sang many works written for her by Canadian composers. Forrester was particularly fond of The Confession Stone featured on this disc, written for her by Canadian composer Robert Fleming. She sang its premiere and many subsequent performances.  Despite having an international career, Forrester remained loyal to her Canadian roots, averaging thirty performances each year at home and appearing frequently with the Montreal and Toronto Symphonies. In the latter years of her career, Forrester began to take on more operatic assignments and she was a celebrated Brangaene in Tristan und Isolde, Madame Flora in The Medium, Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera, Herodias in Salome, Klytemnestra in Elektra, and Madame de Croissy in Les dialogues des Carmélites.

But through it all, it was her interpretation of Mahler and the song literature in general that has left the most indelible impression on her public. A self-professed happy person, Forrester would seem temperamentally unsuited for these gloomy song cycles. In her autobiography, Out of Character, Forrester is quoted as saying, to sing the sad songs, she drew her inspiration from a moment at the end of Mahler Second Symphony, a bar of music that unfailingly brought her to tears and put her in the right mood. She has sung with the greatest conductors – Walter, Szell, Stokoski, Klemperer, Reiner, Krips, von Karajan, Bernstein, Beecham, Barbirolli, Ormandy, Maazel, Steinberg, Fricsay, Ozawa, and Davis. She also worked with young conductors the likes of Riccardo Muti and James Levine at the beginning of their careers, but for many, it was her collaboration with Bruno Walter on Mahler that was the most unforgettable.   

By the late 1980s, Forrester had scaled back her busy schedule, traveling less and serving as Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, while continuing to be active on the concert stage. In 1995, pianist David Warrack composed Interpretations of a Life, a collection of bittersweet songs based on the singer’s life and career, and the two took it on tour across Canada. As the new millennium approached, Forrester was showing increasing signs of the dreaded disease of dementia. Her last public performance was a benefit concert for the Toronto Sinfonietta in June, 2001. Today, she lives in a long-term care facility. For those of us who had enjoyed her artistry on stage, we are fortunate to have preserved for posterity her many recordings. This new commemorative disc, containing the Schumann song cycle Liederkreis Op. 39, Robert Fleming’s The Confession Stone, and most of all, her incomparable ‘Abschied’ from Das Lied von der Erde, is an affectionate tribute to a great artist.
Joseph K. So

Forrester family home
Montréal