Lisa Gasteen
Encyclopedia
Lisa Kinkead Gasteen AO (born 13 November 1957), is an internationally acclaimed Australian opera
tic soprano
, renowned for her performances of the works of Wagner
. She won the Cardiff Singer of the World
competition in 1991. She has not performed since 2008, due to neuro-muscular spasms in her neck, and has cancelled all her engagements through to 2012.
Lisa Gasteen was born in Brisbane
, Queensland
, and studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where she was a pupil of Margaret Nickson. In 1982 she won the Australian Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera
Auditions and in 1984 she was awarded the Covent Garden
Scholarship. In the same year she sang in the Queen's 60th Birthday Gala at the Royal Opera House
.
She made her operatic debut in 1985 with the Lyric Opera of Queensland (now Opera Queensland
) as the High Priestess (Aida
), followed by Desdemona (Otello
). She has been a regular guest artist with Opera Australia
and her many roles with the company include Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw
), Madame Lidoine (Dialogues of the Carmelites
), Ortlinde (Die Walküre
), Leonora (Il trovatore
, La forza del destino
and Fidelio
), Elsa (Lohengrin
), Donna Elvira and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni
), Aida, Elisabetta (Don Carlos
), Elisabeth (Tannhäuser
) and Amelia (Un ballo in maschera
). For Victoria State Opera
she has sung Elisabetta, Elisabeth, Desdemona, Aida and Leonora (Il trovatore).
After winning the 1991 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, Lisa Gasteen was invited to sing Donna Anna in Prague with Sir Charles Mackerras
followed by her British debut in 1992 as Leonora in Scottish Opera's new production of Il trovatore. Subsequently she was invited to perform in Europe and the United States with companies including Welsh National Opera, Deutsche Oper/Berlin, Staatsoper/Berlin, Scottish Opera and with the opera companies of Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Zurich, Dallas and Washington. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera
, New York in 1997 as Aida. She has also performed in these houses roles including Leonora (Il trovatore, with Rizzi), La forza del destino, Fidelio, Amelia (Un ballo in maschera), Madeleine de Coigny (Andrea Chénier
), Aida (with Zubin Mehta
), Tosca
, Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos
) and Chrysothemis (Elektra
). She made her role debut as Die Kaiserin (Die Frau ohne Schatten
) under Simone Young
at the 1996 Melbourne International Festival.
Recent seasons have seen Lisa Gasteen return to the Staatsoper/Berlin to perform Chrysothemis, Brünnhilde (Siegfried
) in Stuttgart, Leonora (Fidelio), her role debut as Isolde (Tristan und Isolde
) for Opera Australia, for which she was the recipient of a Helpmann Award, Brünnhilde at the Meiningen Festival in her first complete Ring Cycle
, making her Australia's first Brünnhilde for some sixty years, her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Isolde under Bernard Haitink
, Chrysothemis at the Staatsoper/Berlin and further performances of Brünnhilde (Siegfried) in Stuttgart.
Engagements in 2003 included three major role debuts - Marta (Tiefland
) with the Vienna Philharmonic, the title roles in Elektra at the Royal Opera House and Salome
for Opera Australia as well as Ariadne auf Naxos with the Staatsoper/Berlin. In 2004, she made her role debut as Senta in The Flying Dutchman
with Opera Australia, performed Sieglinde (Die Walküre) at the Metropolitan Opera, Elektra in concert with the Cleveland Orchestra
, Isolde in Stuttgart Opera's new production of Tristan und Isolde and Brünnhilde in State Opera of South Australia's new production of the Ring under Asher Fisch
, for which she has received another Helpmann Award. 2005 engagements included Brünnhilde in the Ring Cycle for the Vienna Staatsoper (making her house debut) under Simone Young and for the Royal Opera House in the company's new production under Antonio Pappano
, as well as Isolde for Opera Bastille/Paris. In Australia she performed Isolde for the Queensland Music Festival and she was honoured with a third Helpmann Award for this performance. 2006 included a return to the Royal Opera House to perform Brünnhilde and Elektra at Tanglewood Festival.
More recently she made her role debut as Faeberin in Die Frau ohne Schatten in Hamburg, performed Fidelio in Seville, Brünnhilde/Die Walküre at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Royal Opera Houose. Future engagements include a return to Hamburg for Faeberin and Brünnhilde/Walküre, further performances of Brünnhilde at the Metropolitan Opera, concerts with the Tasmanian, West Australian, Adelaide and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.
Lisa Gasteen's concert repertoire includes Rossini's Stabat Mater
, Mendelssohn
's Elijah
, Janáček
's Glagolitic Mass
, Beethoven
's Ninth Symphony
and Verdi's Requiem
with orchestras including the Tasmanian, Queensland and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, BBC Welsh Symphony, in Budapest, Göteborg, in Durham Cathedral, with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra under James Judd
as Leonore in Fidelio
, and for the Melbourne International Festival, Sydney Festival and Bergen Festival.
Lisa Gasteen was awarded the Opera Foundation's 1999 Bayreuth Scholarship. In 2002, she was the recipient of the Myer Foundation's Individual Performer Award and in 2004 was the arts category winner of the Bulletin Magazine's Smart 100 series. In the Australia Day
Honours of 2006, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
(AO).
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, renowned for her performances of the works of Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
. She won the Cardiff Singer of the World
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition is a competition for opera and art singers held every two years....
competition in 1991. She has not performed since 2008, due to neuro-muscular spasms in her neck, and has cancelled all her engagements through to 2012.
Lisa Gasteen was born in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, and studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where she was a pupil of Margaret Nickson. In 1982 she won the Australian Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
Auditions and in 1984 she was awarded the Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
Scholarship. In the same year she sang in the Queen's 60th Birthday Gala at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
.
She made her operatic debut in 1985 with the Lyric Opera of Queensland (now Opera Queensland
Opera Queensland
Opera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981, then under the name Lyric Opera of Queensland, after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in December 1980.It is after Opera Australia the second...
) as the High Priestess (Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
), followed by Desdemona (Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
). She has been a regular guest artist with Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
and her many roles with the company include Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw is a novella written by Henry James. Originally published in 1898, it is ostensibly a ghost story.Due to its ambiguous content, it became a favourite text of academics who subscribe to New Criticism. The novella has had differing interpretations, often mutually exclusive...
), Madame Lidoine (Dialogues of the Carmelites
Dialogues of the Carmelites
Dialogues of the Carmelites , is an opera in three acts by Francis Poulenc. In 1953, M. Valcarenghi approached Poulenc to commission a ballet for La Scala in Milan; when Poulenc found the proposed subject uninspiring, Valcarenghi suggested instead a screenplay by Georges Bernanos, based on the...
), Ortlinde (Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
), Leonora (Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
, La forza del destino
La forza del destino
La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
and Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
), Elsa (Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
), Donna Elvira and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
), Aida, Elisabetta (Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
), Elisabeth (Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
) and Amelia (Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
). For Victoria State Opera
Victoria State Opera
The Victoria State Opera, based in Melbourne, Australia, where it was founded in 1962 as the Victorian Opera Company, collapsed in 1996 due to financial difficulties. At this point, the former Australian Opera merged with this company and renamed itself Opera Australia, taking on the...
she has sung Elisabetta, Elisabeth, Desdemona, Aida and Leonora (Il trovatore).
After winning the 1991 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, Lisa Gasteen was invited to sing Donna Anna in Prague with Sir Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
followed by her British debut in 1992 as Leonora in Scottish Opera's new production of Il trovatore. Subsequently she was invited to perform in Europe and the United States with companies including Welsh National Opera, Deutsche Oper/Berlin, Staatsoper/Berlin, Scottish Opera and with the opera companies of Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Zurich, Dallas and Washington. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, New York in 1997 as Aida. She has also performed in these houses roles including Leonora (Il trovatore, with Rizzi), La forza del destino, Fidelio, Amelia (Un ballo in maschera), Madeleine de Coigny (Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
), Aida (with Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
), Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
) and Chrysothemis (Elektra
Elektra (opera)
Elektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal...
). She made her role debut as Die Kaiserin (Die Frau ohne Schatten
Die Frau ohne Schatten
Die Frau ohne Schatten is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917...
) under Simone Young
Simone Young
Simone Margaret Young AM is an Australian conductor. She is music director of the Hamburg Philharmonic and general manager of the Hamburg State Opera...
at the 1996 Melbourne International Festival.
Recent seasons have seen Lisa Gasteen return to the Staatsoper/Berlin to perform Chrysothemis, Brünnhilde (Siegfried
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
) in Stuttgart, Leonora (Fidelio), her role debut as Isolde (Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
) for Opera Australia, for which she was the recipient of a Helpmann Award, Brünnhilde at the Meiningen Festival in her first complete Ring Cycle
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
, making her Australia's first Brünnhilde for some sixty years, her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Isolde under Bernard Haitink
Bernard Haitink
Bernard Johan Herman Haitink, CH, KBE is a Dutch conductor and violinist.- Early life :Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink and Anna Haitink. He studied music at the conservatoire in Amsterdam...
, Chrysothemis at the Staatsoper/Berlin and further performances of Brünnhilde (Siegfried) in Stuttgart.
Engagements in 2003 included three major role debuts - Marta (Tiefland
Tiefland
Tiefland may refer to:* Tiefland a 1903 opera by Eugen d'Albert* Tiefland , a 1954 film by Leni Riefenstahl...
) with the Vienna Philharmonic, the title roles in Elektra at the Royal Opera House and Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
for Opera Australia as well as Ariadne auf Naxos with the Staatsoper/Berlin. In 2004, she made her role debut as Senta in The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman (opera)
Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner.Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write "The Flying Dutchman" following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, but in his 1843...
with Opera Australia, performed Sieglinde (Die Walküre) at the Metropolitan Opera, Elektra in concert with the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
, Isolde in Stuttgart Opera's new production of Tristan und Isolde and Brünnhilde in State Opera of South Australia's new production of the Ring under Asher Fisch
Asher Fisch
Asher Fisch is an Israeli conductor.Born in Israel, Fisch began his career as an assistant of Daniel Barenboim and an associate conductor of the Berlin State Opera. He made his United States debut in 1995, conducting Richard Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer at the Los Angeles Opera, and has...
, for which she has received another Helpmann Award. 2005 engagements included Brünnhilde in the Ring Cycle for the Vienna Staatsoper (making her house debut) under Simone Young and for the Royal Opera House in the company's new production under Antonio Pappano
Antonio Pappano
Antonio Pappano is a British conductor and pianist of Italian parentage.Pappano's family relocated to England from Castelfranco in Miscano near Benevento, Italy in 1958 and at the time of his birth his parents worked in the restaurant business, but Pasquale Pappano, his father, was by vocation a...
, as well as Isolde for Opera Bastille/Paris. In Australia she performed Isolde for the Queensland Music Festival and she was honoured with a third Helpmann Award for this performance. 2006 included a return to the Royal Opera House to perform Brünnhilde and Elektra at Tanglewood Festival.
More recently she made her role debut as Faeberin in Die Frau ohne Schatten in Hamburg, performed Fidelio in Seville, Brünnhilde/Die Walküre at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Royal Opera Houose. Future engagements include a return to Hamburg for Faeberin and Brünnhilde/Walküre, further performances of Brünnhilde at the Metropolitan Opera, concerts with the Tasmanian, West Australian, Adelaide and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.
Lisa Gasteen's concert repertoire includes Rossini's Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
, Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's Elijah
Elijah (oratorio)
Elijah, in German: Elias, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament....
, Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Glagolitic Mass
Glagolitic Mass
The Glagolitic Mass is a composition for soloists , double chorus, organ and orchestra by Leoš Janáček. The work was completed on 15 October 1926...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Ninth Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
and Verdi's Requiem
Requiem (Verdi)
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...
with orchestras including the Tasmanian, Queensland and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, BBC Welsh Symphony, in Budapest, Göteborg, in Durham Cathedral, with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra under James Judd
James Judd
James Judd is a British conductor. He is considered one of the pre-eminent interpreters of English orchestral music and the music of Gustav Mahler....
as Leonore in Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
, and for the Melbourne International Festival, Sydney Festival and Bergen Festival.
Lisa Gasteen was awarded the Opera Foundation's 1999 Bayreuth Scholarship. In 2002, she was the recipient of the Myer Foundation's Individual Performer Award and in 2004 was the arts category winner of the Bulletin Magazine's Smart 100 series. In the Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
Honours of 2006, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AO).
External links
- Lisa Gasteen - The Wagner in a travelling divas tale
- Lisa Gasteen - Opera~Opera article 2005