Eva-Maria Westbroek (born 26 April 1970) is a Dutch soprano opera singer.

Training

Westbroek studied at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Nether ...

from 1988 to 1995. Her vocal teachers included Iris Adami Corradetti and the American tenor James McCray.

Career

1990s

Westbroek made her operatic debut at the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festival Th ...

in 1994 as Mère Marie in Poulenc's ''

Dialogues des Carmélites ' (''Dialogues of the Carmelites''), FP 159, is an opera in three acts, divided into twelve scenes with linking orchestral interludes, with music and libretto by Francis Poulenc, completed in 1956. The composer's second opera, Poulenc wrote the ...

''. She was a prize winner at an international competition in Rome, which allowed her to sing the role of Tosca at age 25. She also was a laureate at the Angelica Catalani Concours and the Santa Maria Ligure Concours. A subsequent slow spell in her career followed, during which time her mother died. Westbroek also worked as a singing waitress during that period.

2000s

In 2001, Westbroek secured a 5-year contract as a company member of the

Staatsoper Stuttgart The Staatsoper Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Opera) is a German opera company based in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart serves as its resident orchestra. History Performances of operas, ballet an ...

. Her roles in Stuttgart included Carlotta ( Schreker, ''

Die Gezeichneten ' (''The Branded'' or ''The Stigmatized'') is an opera in three acts by Franz Schreker with a German-language libretto by the composer. Composition history Schreker wrote the libretto in 1911 at the request of composer Alexander Zemlinsky based ...

''), Tosca, Emilia Marty ( Janáček, ''

Věc Makropulos ''Věc Makropulos'' is a Czech play written by Karel Čapek. Its title—literally ''The Makropulos Thing''—has been variously rendered in English as ''The Makropulos Affair'', ''The Makropulos Case'', or ''The Makropulos Secret'' (Čapek's o ...

)'', Desdemona (Verdi, '' Otello''), Donna Anna ( Mozart, '' Don Giovanni''), Giulietta ( Offenbach, ''

Les Contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

''), Marie ( Smetana, ''

The Bartered Bride ''The Bartered Bride'' ( cz, Prodaná nevěsta, links=no, ''The Sold Bride'') is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the ...

'') and The Duchess of Parma (

Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary f ...

, ''

Doktor Faust ''Doktor Faust'' is an opera by Ferruccio Busoni with a German libretto by the composer, based on the myth of Faust. Busoni worked on the opera, which he intended as his masterpiece, between 1916 and 1924, but it was still incomplete at the time o ...

''). In 2006, at the end of her work in Stuttgart, she was given the title of ''Kammersängerin der Staatsoper Stuttgart''. In 2003, Westbroek debuted at the

Salzburger Festspiele The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

as Agave in a concert performance of

Egon Wellesz Egon Joseph Wellesz CBE (21 October 1885 – 9 November 1974) was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music. Early life and education in Vienna Egon Joseph Wellesz was ...

' '' Die Bakchantinnen''. In 2004, she debuted at the

Opéra Bastille The Opéra Bastille (, "Bastille Opera House") is a modern opera house in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. Inaugurated in 1989 as part of President François Mitterrand's '' Grands Travaux'', it became the main facility of the Paris Nat ...

as Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's ''Dialogues des Carmélites''. Her debut at

De Nederlandse Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...

was as Katerina Izmailova in

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

's '' Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk''. This performance was commercially recorded for DVD release, and Westbroek won first prize from the Dutch VSCD Classical Music in the category "most impressive individual artistic achievement" for this performance. She repeated this role in her debut at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) 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. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

, Covent Garden in London in October 2006. In 2008, she won the ''Grand Prix Antoine Livio'' of the ''Presse Musicale Internationale''. Her debut at the Bayreuther Festspiele came in 2008, as Sieglinde. She reprised the role there in 2009. Westbroek made her debut at the Staatsoper in München in 2008 as Chrysothemis in Elektra. She has returned to München as ''

Jenůfa ''Její pastorkyňa'' (''Her Stepdaughter''; commonly known as ''Jenůfa'' ) is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play ''Její pastorkyňa'' by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed ...

'' (title role), Ariadne (''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

'') and Georgetta (Il Tabarro).

2010s

In her first world premiere production, Westbroek created the role of Anna Nicole Smith in the February 2011 Royal Opera premiere of

Mark-Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music. Biography Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of ...

's opera ''

Anna Nicole ''Anna Nicole'' is an English opera in 2 acts and 16 scenes, with music by Mark-Anthony Turnage to an English libretto by Richard Thomas. Based on the life of American model Anna Nicole Smith, the opera received its première on 17 February 201 ...

'' at Covent Garden. Other roles she performed at the ROH include Giorgetta (

Il Tabarro ''Il tabarro'' (''The Cloak'') is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on 's play ''La houppelande''. It is the first of the trio of operas known as ''Il trittico''. The first performance was given ...

), Dido ( Les Troyens), Maddalena ( Andrea Chénier), Santuzza (

Cavalleria Rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name and subsequent play ...

), Katarina ( Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Minnie (

La Fanciulla del West ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' follow ...

) Sieglinde (

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...

) and Elisabeth ( Tannhauser). Westbroek made her Metropolitan Opera debut on April 22, 2011, singing the role of Sieglinde in the premiere of a new production of Wagner's ''

'' directed by

Robert Lepage Robert Lepage (born December 12, 1957) is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director, and stage director. Early life Lepage was raised in Quebec City. At age five, he was diagnosed with a rare form of alopecia, which caused complete hair l ...

. Unfortunately, she had to withdraw mid-performance after the first act due to illness. Mezzo-soprano Margaret Jane Wray stepped in to complete the evening's performance. Westbroek finally sang the entire opera the following week on April 25, 2011. She became a MET regular, and returned to New York to sing the title role in Francesca di Rimini, Katarina ( Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Elisabeth ( Tannhauser) and Santuzza in (

). In the 2018/2019 season she will sing Minnie in

and Sieglinde in

, both of which will be screened in cinemas worldwide. Westbroek's commercial recordings include Bohuslav Martinů's ''

Julietta ''Juliette'' is an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, who also wrote the libretto, in French, based on the play ''Juliette, ou La clé des songes'' (''Juliette, or The Key of Dreams)'' by the French author Georges Neveux. A libretto in Czech was later pre ...

'', in the title role, for VMS Music Treasures, and two recorded productions of Wagner's ''

'' as Sieglinde, on DVD and on CD. She is also featured in a DVD recording (Opus Arte) of Puccini's ''

La fanciulla del West ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' follow ...

'' as Minnie, her own acknowledged favourite role, and in DVD recording of Giordano's Andrea Chenier, in the role of Maddalena (Warner Classics), with

Jonas Kaufmann Jonas Kaufmann (born 10 July 1969) is a German operatic tenor. He is best known for the versatility of his repertoire, performing a variety of opera roles in multiple languages in recitalTommasini, Anthony (21 February 2014)"A Tenor Finds Energy ...

in the title role.

Personal life

Westbroek is one of three daughters of the geology researcher and professor . Westbroek is married to the tenor Frank van Aken. She does charity work for the organization

Musicians without Borders Musicians Without Borders (MWB) is an umbrella organization working with local organizations and musicians to bring social change and peaceful, liveable conditions to their own communities. It was founded in 1999 by Laura Hassler, an American pe ...

References

External links

*
Official Eva-Maria Westbroek web page

MusicalCriticism.com interview with Eva-Maria Westbroek

* ttp://www.operatoday.com/content/2007/10/shostakovich_la.php Opera Today.com review of Opus Arte OA0965D DVD recording of Shostakovich, ''Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District'', October 2007
"Antonio Livio Preis für Eva-Maria Westbroek", klassik.com, 29 December 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westbroek, Eva-Maria 1970 births Living people 20th-century Dutch women opera singers 21st-century Dutch women opera singers Dutch operatic sopranos Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni Musicians from Belfast