Anna Steiger

Anna Justine Steiger (born 13 February 1960Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura (eds.) (2001)
"Steiger, Anna"
''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 10th Edition, Volume 6. Accessed online via Highbeam, 12 July 2012.) is a British and American opera singer who has sung leading soprano and mezzo-soprano roles in British, European and North American opera houses. She has sung many recitals at festivals which have been broadcast live on the BBC, Radio France and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In 2010, she was invited to participate in the Australian Chamber Music Festival. She is still active as a recitalist and opera singer. She also has a year one Master in Food History from the University François Rabelais de Tours, France.

Early life

Steiger was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actors Claire Bloom and Rod Steiger.

She trained with Noelle Barker at the Guildhall School of Music in London from 1977 to 1983 and then with Vera Rózsa at the National Opera Studio from 1985 to 1986. She won the Sir Peter Pears Award in 1982, the Richard Tauber Prize in 1984, and the John Christie Award in 1985.
Anna holds both British and American nationalities.

Career

Her professional debut was as Dorabella in '' Così fan tutte'' in 1984 with Opera 80. In 1986 she sang the title role in Monteverdi's ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' at Glyndebourne, and she returned to sing in many productions there in roles such as Concepción in ''L'heure espagnole''. With Glyndebourne Touring Opera, she sang the role of Sashka in the 1987 world premiere of Nigel Osborne's ''The Electrification of the Soviet Union''.

From 1988, she sang at other opera houses in the UK, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with roles in ''Parsifal'', ''Jenůfa'' and ''The Knot Garden'', and the English National Opera in ''The Makropulos Affair''. Abroad, her roles have included Despina in ''Così fan tutte'' (Amsterdam, Stuttgart and Zurich), Zerlina in '' Don Giovanni'' (Seattle Opera, Stuttgart and Nancy), Governess in ''The Turn of the Screw'' ( La Fenice), Jenny in ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' ( Los Angeles Opera), the Composer in ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' ( Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Concepción (New York City Opera and Geneva), Serpetta in ''La finta giardiniera'' (Frankfurt and Lausanne), and Damigella in ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' at the Salzburg Festival. She has sung many times with Nicolaus Harnoncourt and in 1991 recorded with him the role of Despina with the Concertgebouw Orchestra for the Teldec/Warner Classics label. Still active in Opera, in 2018 and 2019 she will appear in Verdi's ''La Traviata'' at the Capitole of Toulouse, and Rossini's ''Le Comte Ory'' at the Opera de Rennes and the Opera de Rouen.

Mid-1990s – present

In the mid-1990s Steiger began concentrating on the mezzo-soprano repertoire and went on to sing:
*Melanto in '' Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria'' at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York with the Dutch National Opera (1993)
*Magdalene in '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' in Stuttgart (1994)
*Meg Page in ''Falstaff'' at the Dutch National Opera (1994, as part of the Holland Festival)
*Maddalena in ''Rigoletto'' at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo (1995)
*La libellule, La tasse chinoise, and Maman in ''L'enfant et les sortilèges'' at La Fenice (1996)
*Flora in '' La traviata'' at the Dutch National Opera (1997)
*Giunone in '' Agrippina'' in Palermo (1997)
*Dorothée in Massenet's '' Cendrillon'' in Geneva (1998)
*Marcellina in '' The Marriage of Figaro'' at Monte Carlo, Teatro Real in Madrid (1998) and at the Dutch National Opera (2001)
*Tisbe in ''La Cenerentola'' at the Opéra Bastille (1998), Marseilles and Geneva, and at the Opéra de Rennes ( 2015)
*Marquise in ''La fille du régiment'' in St Gallen (2000) and at the Opéra de Lausanne (2016)
*Baronessa in Il cappello di paglia di Firenze by Nino Rota in Toulouse (2000)
*Ragonde in ''Le comte Ory'' in Toulouse (2001) and Paris (2003)
*Auntie in ''Peter Grimes'' in Nancy, Toulouse, and Toronto (2003)
*Kunstgewerblerin in ''Lulu'' at the Opéra Bastille (2003)
*Alisa in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' at the Dutch National Opera (2007)Dutch National Opera archive
''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (2007-08)
. Retrieved 6 September 2016
*''Pierrot Lunaire'' for the Opéra National de Montpellier (2009) and Australian Festival of Chamber Music (2010)
* ''La Cenerentola'' for the Opera de Rennes (2015)
* ''La fille du régiment'' for the Opéra de Lausanne (2016)
Still active in opera, in 2018 and 2019 she would appear in Verdi's ''La Traviata'' at the Capitole of Toulouse and in Rossini's ''Le Comte Ory'' at the Opéra de Rennes and the Opéra de Rouen.
She was about to do her first play in Paris, playing Bélise in Molière's “Les Femmes Savantes”.
In 2020 she would perform the Old Lady in Bernstein's “Candide” at the Opéra de Lausanne.

Discography

* Bellini: ''Norma'' – Julian Reynolds conducting the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, recorded live at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, 2005 (Anna Steiger as Clotilde). Label: Opus Arte (DVD)
* Mozart: '' Così fan tutte'' – Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, 1991 (Anna Steiger as Despina). Label: Teldec/Warner Classics (CD)
* Milhaud: ''Les malheurs d'Orphée'' – Robert Ziegler conducting the Matrix Ensemble, 1991 (Anna Steiger as Euridice). Label: AVS (CD)
* Ravel: ''L'heure espagnole'' – Simon Rattle conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded live at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1987 (Anna Steiger as Concepción). Label: Kultur/Warner Classics (DVD)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiger, Anna
1960 births
Living people
American emigrants to the United Kingdom
American people of German-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
British mezzo-sopranos
British sopranos
American operatic mezzo-sopranos
Singers from Los Angeles
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Lycée Français de New York alumni
20th-century American women opera singers
21st-century British women opera singers
Classical musicians from California