Maureen Forrester (July 25, 1930 - June 16, 2010)
Click to viewHappily, my personal memory of Maureen Forrester is recorded on YouTube. When I was 24, I went with my parents to see this production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe at the Stratford Festival, starring Forrester as Queen of the Fairies. Besides her international career as a contralto, she was known as a champion of Canadian composers and a mentor to many young singers. Apparently she made more than 150 recordings. One is the Rachmaninoff Vespers I'll play on my car trip tonight. She retired in the 1990s after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. One of her five children reported she slipped away peacefully yesterday.