Thursday, April 9, 2009

Christine Brewer on Cover of Opera News


Via Facebook, Sarah Bryan Miller passes on the news that Christine Brewer is on the cover of the latest issue of Opera News.

Here's a brief excerpt from the article written by William R. Braun:
[T]he package deal that is Christine Brewer is best revealed when she speaks about her determination to sing at the memorial service for a friend and colleague, director Colin Graham of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

"I was very close to Colin. As only Colin could, he had his whole service — not really a service, he didn't want something religious, he wanted a concert — planned out before he died. Originally, he wanted me to sing three things. He wanted the Britten arrangement of 'The Last Rose of Summer.' Well, there was no way I could get through that. I had done a private-label recording for the Opera Theatre of Purcell's 'Music for a While,' he loved that, but I thought, 'Oh, I don't think I could do that.' But I knew that I could sing something with orchestra. The 'Liebestod' was the other thing he wanted me to do. I knew that if I sang something with orchestra, a big one like that, that if the worst thing happened, and I couldn't sing, they would still be playing, it would still sound like the 'Liebestod.' And actually, I was able to do it, because I felt this energy from him in that space. I think because I knew that's what he really wanted, because it was Colin, 'Oh sure, I can sing the "Liebestod" for your memorial, oh yeah, that'll be a piece of cake.'"

Click here to read the entire article.