Roberta Alexander, whose voice and personality might best be described as endearing, has passed away. A native of Virginia, she studied at the University of Michigan. At the age of 23, she moved to The Netherlands and began developing her career in such European centers as Berlin, London, Vienna, Glyndebourne, and Paris.
Parallel to her opera performances, she sang concert repertoire with such notable conductors as Carlo Maria Giulini, Seiji Ozawa, Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, and Sir Simon Rattle. Her recital appearances took her all over the world, and she made several recordings, including a delightful series on the Etcetera label.
Ms. Alexander made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1983 as Zerlina. Her Met career continued with Jenufa, Gershwin’s Bess, Mimi, Mozart’s Vitellia, Contessa Almaviva (a lovely interpretation, which I saw), and Donna Elvira; and Offenbach’s Antonia.
In 2013, the soprano had a shining late-career success when Patrice Chéreau cast her as the 5th Maid in what was to be his final opera production: Strauss’s ELEKTRA at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. In 2016, this production came to The Met, and Ms. Alexander was greeted with loving applause when she stepped forward for a solo bow at the end.
Among her Etcetera label recordings, I am extremely fond of her disc of arias and songs by Samuel Barber, conducted by Edo de Waart (who had been Roberta’s first husband). Listen to an excerpt from this collection here.
Oberon's Glade 