Wednesday December 29th, 2021 - Mezzo-soprano Gwendolyn Killebrew passed away on December 24th, 2021, at the age of 80.
Strikingly beautiful, and with a voice to match, Gwendolyn Killebrew studied at the Juilliard School and was a Met Auditions winner in 1966.
In 1967, Ms. Killebrew made her Met debut as Waltraute in the Karajan WALKURE. She sang a series of Carmens at The Met in 1979. In 1971, she had also joined New York City Opera, where she sang Ulrica in BALLO IN MASCHERA (debut) and Genevieve in PELLEAS ET MELISANDE. I had the good fortune to see her in both these roles.
Joining the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf, in 1976, Ms. Killebrew sang a wide repertoire there including Azucena, Amneris. Fricka, Jocasta, Baba the Turk, Orfeo, and the Monteverdi contralto roles. At the 1978 Bayreuth Festival, she made a striking impression as Waltraute in Patrice Chéreau's wildly controversial staging of the "centennial" RING Cycle. Listen to her in Waltraute's doom-ladened narrative from GOTTERDAMMERUNG, from the 1980 international telecast of the Cycle:
Gwendolyn Killebrew as Waltraute ~ Götterdämmerung - Boulez cond - Bayreuth 1980
Ms. Killebrew's appeared at Santa Fe, Cologne, Paris, Stuttgart, Copenhagen, and Geneva, and at the great music festivals of Salzburg, Ravinia, Tanglewood, and Aspen. She worked with such illustrious conductors as Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, James Levine, Pierre Boulez, Herbert von Karajan, Sir George Solti, Zubin Mehta, Fabio Luisi, and James Conlon.
Upon retiring from the stage, Ms. Killebrew taught and coached at her studio at Düsseldorf.
Enjoy this brief delight of a trio from Handel's TAMERLANO sung by Ms. Killebrew, Alexander Young, and Carole Bogard, and a marvelous At II of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE here, wherein Ms. Killebrew and Jessye Norman each revel in their vocal richness.
More from Ms. Killebrew:
Gwendolyn Killebrew - Bella gara che faranno ~ Handel's TAMERLANO
Gwendolyn Killebrew - Dammi pace ~ Handel's TAMERLANO
Gwendolyn Killebrew - Prendi! É Un Ricordo..Son La Vecchia Madelon ~ ANDREA CHENIER
~ Oberon