Judith Doris Forst (''née'' Lumb) (born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
.
Born in
New Westminster,
British Columbia, she received a
Bachelor of Music from the
University of British Columbia in 1964. She is the sister-in-law of long time Vancouver radio personality Brian (Frosty) Forst. In 1968 she won the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Forst made her debut at the
Metropolitan Opera on September 19, 1968, at the age of 24 in the small role of the Page in ''
Rigoletto''. Other Met roles include (in chronological order) Tebaldo in
Verdi's ''
Don Carlo'', Stéphano in
Gounod's ''
Roméo et Juliette'', Mercédès in
Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...
's ''
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
'', Teresa in
Bellini
Bellini is an Italian name, Italian surname, formed as a patronymic or plural form of Bellino (surname), Bellino.
People
*Family of Italian painters:
**Jacopo Bellini (c. 1396–c. 1470), father of Gentile and Giovanni
**Gentile Bellini (c. 1429� ...
's ''
La sonnambula'', Siebel in Gounod's ''
Faust'', Kate Pinkerton in
Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long lin ...
's ''
Madama Butterfly
''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther ...
'', Lola in
Mascagni Mascagni is a surname of Italian origin. Notable people with the surname include:
* Donato Mascagni (1579–1636), Italian painter
* Paolo Mascagni (1755–1815), Italian physician
* Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945), Italian composer
{{surname
Su ...
's ''
Cavalleria rusticana'', Bersi in
Umberto Giordano's ''
Andrea Chénier
''Andrea Chénier'' () is a verismo opera in four acts by Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed on 28 March 1896 at La Scala, Milan. The story is based loosely on the life of the French poet Andr ...
'', Estrella in
Offenbach's ''
La Périchole'', Preziosilla in ''
La forza del destino
' (; ''The Power of Fate'', often translated ''The Force of Destiny'') is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, ' (1835), by Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas, wi ...
'', Hänsel in ''
Hänsel und Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in Grimms' Fairy Tales, ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little ...
'', Flora in ''
La traviata
''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...
'', Giulietta in ''
Les contes d'Hoffman'', Donna Elvira in ''
Don Giovanni
''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...
'', Mère Marie in
Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
's ''
Dialogues of the Carmelites'', Kabanicha in
Janáček's ''
Káťa Kabanová
''Káťa Kabanová'' (also known in various spellings including ''Katia'', ''Katja'', ''Katya'', and ''Kabanowa'') is an opera in three acts, with music by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by the composer based on '' The Storm'', a play by Alexander ...
'', Adelaide in ''
Arabella
''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration.
Performance history
It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the Dr ...
'', The Witch in ''Hänsel und Gretel'', and Kostelnicka in ''
Jenůfa''.
In 1991, she was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada. In 2001, she was awarded the
Order of British Columbia.
[ The Canadian Encyclopedia]
"Judith Forst"
Retrieved 2 July 2014
References
Further reading
*So, Joseph (May 2007)
''
La Scena Musicale
''The Music Scene'' (French: ''La Scena Musicale'') is a Canadian bilingual quarterly magazine that promotes classical music in Canada. The magazine was established by Wah Keung Chan in September 1996. Each issue contains a comprehensive calendar ...
'', Vol. 12, No. 8
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forst, Judith
1943 births
Living people
20th-century Canadian women opera singers
Canadian mezzo-sopranos
Members of the Order of British Columbia
Officers of the Order of Canada
Operatic mezzo-sopranos
People from New Westminster
University of British Columbia alumni
Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions