For Maureen Forrester (1930-2010)

('Urlicht' by Mahler. Forrester's signature piece. Conducted in a rare podium appearance by her good friend Glenn Gould, at whose funeral she sang this very piece. Has any singer ever had a more perfect Mahler sound?)

America had Marian Anderson. England had Kathleen Ferrier. Canada had Maureen Forrester. Contraltos who served as standins to nations of music lovers for mothers and sound notes of consolation and wisdom that no other voice can. Perhaps they are as close as the world has come to finding a polar opposite to the castrati. Voices with depth and overtones (the adjective 'plummy' always seems to come up in describing them) that no woman is supposed to have, and always suffused with the kind of artistry that makes us think that they are something 'otherworldly.' Few contraltos were ever able to intimate the suggestion that they know something about life and death which we don't the way Forrester did. Perhaps needless to say, the best obituary is THE GLOBE AND MAIL.


(Erbame dich, from Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Amazing.)