Roberta Alexander; "LIEDER"; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Roberta Alexander---soprano
Glen Wilson---fortepiano
1985
"Abendempfindung"; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"An Chloë";
"Dans un bois solitaire"
"Das Veilchen"; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"Oiseaux, si tous les ans"
"Ridente la calma"; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"Un moto di goia"
"Die Zufriedenhet"
"Die Verschweigung"
"Der Zauberer"
"Das Traumbild"
"Das Lied der trennung"
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"Roberta Alexander (March 3, 1949 – October 14, 2025) was an American operatic soprano. She began her career as a lyric soprano in 1975 and spent the next three decades performing principal roles with opera houses internationally, based in the Netherlands. She was celebrated for her performances of Mozart characters like Elettra, Fiordiligi, and Countess Almaviva, performed first at the Opernhaus Zürich with Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting. She was a leading soprano at the Metropolitan Opera from 1983 to 1991, particularly successful with roles such as Mimì in Puccini's La bohème and the title role in Janáček's Jenůfa. She later performed secondary character roles and taught voice.

Life and career
Alexander was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on March 3, 1949.[1][2] Her parents had both studied music at Virginia State College with Undine Smith Moore.[3] Her mother was a soprano, and her father was a choral conductor.[1][2] She grew up in Yellow Springs, Ohio,[2] where her family moved when she was age two.[4] Her father directed choirs at Wilberforce University. She appeared on stage first at age eight in Weill's musical Lost in the Stars.[2]

Alexander studied music at Central State University and the University of Michigan[2][5] in Ann Arbor,[6] completing as a master of art in 1971.[7][8] She then moved to the Netherlands at age 23,[9] where she studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Herman Woltman.[2][6][10][9] She made her debut at the Dutch National Opera in 1975 in a students performance, as Fanny in Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio.[2][11][12] Later that year she created the role of Bubikopf in the world premiere of Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis.[2][13]. She performed with the Dutch National Ballet in Life in 1979 and Vier letzte Lieder in 1981, in choreographies by Rudi van Dantzig.[11] Her career took off in Switzerland from 1978.[2]

In 1980, Alexander made her American debut as Pamina in Mozart's The Magic Flute with the Houston Grand Opera.[2][6] That same year she first performed at the San Francisco Opera as the Witch/Anne Sexton in Conrad Susa's Transformations. At the Santa Fe Opera, she performed her first title role in 1981, Strauss's Daphne[2] conducted by John Crosby.[7][14] She appeared in Mozart roles with the Zürich Opera, first as Elettra in Idomeneo in 1982,[2][6][7] conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt who was the first to see her fit for that dramatic role rather than Ilia.[15] He cast her as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, after Lucia Popp became ill a few week into rehearsals.[15] In 1989, she portrayed the Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro in 1989.[2][15][16]


In 1985 she gave her first of several performances at the Theater an der Wien as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare, and sang Donna Elvira for her debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1986.[16] In 1989 she gave a lauded portrayal as Jenůfa at the Glyndebourne Festival,[2][7] and returned there as Vitellia in 1995.[16] She performed and recorded several works with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus Wien,[2] including the title role in Handel's Theodora in 1990 and as Daphne in Handel's Apollo e Dafne in 1992.[18] In 1994 she portrayed the title role in Berthold Goldschmidt's Beatrice Cenci at the Opernfest in Berlin.[19] In 1997 she appeared as Donna Elvira at the Florida Grand Opera. In 2004 she created Hannah Pitt and other characters in the world premiere of Péter Eötvös's Angels in America at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.[13][20]

In 2009, Harnoncourt chose her for the role of Maria for his recording of Porgy and Bess. She coached the diction of the Arnold Schoenberg Choir for the production.[15] She later performed secondary character roles, including performances at the Grand Théâtre de Provence of Elektra in 2013, La Scala in 2014, and La Monnaie in 2015. She performed as the Fifth Maid in Strauss's Elektra at the Met in 2016 and as Curra in Verdi's La forza del destino at the Royal Opera House in 2017.[11]

She taught at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam,[21] the Rotterdam Conservatory and the opera studio of the Dutch National Opera.[15]

Personal life
Alexander was married twice. Her first marriage was to conductor Edo de Waart in the early 1970s, and ended in divorce. She married orchestral manager Siebe Riedstra in 1975.[7][9]

Alexander died in Amsterdam on October 14, 2025 from a heart attack, at the age of 76.[5][11][22][23]"; Wikipedia (edited)