Maureen Forrester in an undated publicity shot.The Canadian Press
When Maureen Forrester died last summer at 79, Canada lost one of its greatest artists - a singer whose larger-than-life presence almost matched her booming voice. On Monday, the Montreal-born opera star is being celebrated at a special event in Stratford, Ont., with performances by some of the country's top singers, as well as tributes from friends and admirers, including Karen Kain, R. Murray Schafer and Zubin Mehta. Below, more reflections from those who knew her on why Forrester deserved her status as a musical great.
Vincent Tovell, former CBC Radio and Television producer
We all have individual memories of moments of Maureen's greatness. For me, it was at the memorial service for Glenn Gould in St. Paul's in Toronto in 1982. She interrupted a tour in order to appear at this tribute. She came and sang an aria from Bach's St. Matthew Passion ( "Erbarme dich"). It was one of those moments that anybody who was there - a couple of thousand people - will never forget. The stillness. The calm. A communion. One great artist speaking to and of another great artist - through music. It was a moment profoundly important to all of us. A moment of heartfelt thanks to Glenn for having been what he was in our lives.
Wayne Gooding, editor, Opera Canada
In 2000, the magazine launched the Opera Canada Awards to honour outstanding achievements in Canadian opera and Forrester was the first recipient of a Creative Artist Award. The awards were presented at a gala in Toronto, with Jon Vickers serving as MC.
Dressed in a full-length blue gown, Forrester was among the first to arrive that evening and quickly became the centre of attention.
When her time came, Vickers' introduction was effusive and affectionate about "Maureen," and there was a long, close hug after he presented the award. You could hear a pin drop when she came to the lectern to speak. After such a long silence, we wondered what she might say. She approached the microphone, spoke a few words of thanks - and then, after briefly composing herself, started to sing. It was a simple children's song of a single stanza, sung a cappella and finishing on a line about giving thanks. At the end, she blew the audience a kiss, turned and walked, beaming, from the stage to a standing ovation.
That little song - the last time I heard her perform live - was poignant, moving and packed an emotional punch. The voice, still unmistakably that of Maureen Forrester, had faded, but the artistry, stagecraft and drive to express herself in song were as strong as ever.
Derek Bampton, pianist
When I did my first concert with her in 1979, she was performing works she had done virtually all her life. At that time she also told me how she learned her repertoire: First she memorized the words; then spoke them aloud with inflections that an actress would use; then she spoke them in the rhythm of the notes. Meanwhile she learned the music, using only vowels, and when she finally put all together, it came seamlessly. And while it was a longish process, it stayed with her always.
Another thing she told me - and which I have passed on to many others - was: "Remember, the stage is your living room and the audience is your friend. … So show them a good time."
The late Malcolm Forsyth, composer, conductor
That laugh! That laugh! I think it was not two minutes after meeting Maureen in Calgary that first time, that I heard that laugh. To put it delicately it was the most startling laugh imaginable. It might also be described as one of the dirtiest laughs I had ever heard. It was 1975, and she was about to give the first of countless performances of my Three Metis Folksongs from Saskatchewan. In a state of some trepidation I greeted her as warmly as I could, to find myself overwhelmed by that all-embracing warmth and humanity which I later came to know well. "Don't worry about first performances," she said, "it always improves in later efforts." I was at the stage of being grateful for one performance of a new work, and here she was talking about multiple performances? I felt like hugging her immediately.
Stuart Hamilton, vocal coach, pianist, founder of Opera in Concert
Maureen Forrester was always supremely confident in her artistic abilities and this confidence allowed her to be the most generous of colleagues. In 1975, for the second season of Opera in Concert, Maureen offered to sing, without fee, the leading role of Charlotte in Massenet's opera Werther. The title role was being sung by a talented young student from the Opera Department of the University of Toronto, Paul Frey. At the time, Maureen was appearing as Ulrica in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
At one of the rehearsals for Werther, Paul said to me, "I know that I'm singing the title role, but I don't want to take the final bow at the end of the performance. The audience is coming to hear Miss Forrester, not me. She has to take the last bow." I conveyed this conversation to Maureen and she said, "Leave it with me." Maureen had a private conversation with the stage manager, my nephew, Doug Marshall, a huge bear of a man. When it came to the bows at the end of performance, Paul went to go out before Maureen, but Doug, standing behind him, put his arms around Paul in a big bear hug and Maureen slipped out in front of Paul to receive a tumultuous ovation from the audience. Doug then let Paul go and the audience greeted Paul with a great roar of approval while Maureen beamed. As we left the stage, she said to me, "You see, I was right. The opera is after all called Werther, and Paul deserved the final bow."
Timothy Porteous, former director, Canada Council
In 1984, barely into Maureen's tenure as Chair of the Canada Council, Pierre Trudeau's government tabled Bill C-24, which included a provision to make the national cultural institutions, including the Canada Council, CBC/Radio Canada and the National Arts Centre, "accountable" to the government. The arts community immediately recognized that this meant the government intended to abolish the arms' length principle and would be telling us how to spend the money it grants us. This was unacceptable. The fight was on, with Maureen leading the charge.
At the point when it seemed that Bill C-24 was likely to pass third and final reading in the House of Commons, Maureen called the office of the President of the Treasury Board, the senior minister responsible for its passage. Even though she was playing the title role in Iolanthe at Stratford on the Saturday and then had to dash to Ottawa to receive an honorary degree and sing a short recital the next day, she invited the minister to her suite at the Four Seasons Hotel for Sunday morning.
At 7:30 a.m. the minister joined Maureen and me for a tense breakfast meeting, where it quickly became evident that the government would not back down. "Well then," I clearly remember her saying, "if this legislation goes through, I'll be submitting my resignation as Chair of the Canada Council!" The minister's jaw dropped and the discussion ended abruptly.
No adviser in any office had recommended this position to Maureen, nor briefed her on what she might say that morning. She spoke out intuitively and passionately. Within hours, when the legislation arrived on the floor of the House for its third and final reading, the offensive paragraphs had been dropped! Maureen had saved a principle basic to the independence of the arts.
Catherine Robbin, mezzo-soprano
When I was a young singer in need of career advice, Maureen was very helpful to me. After a meeting over lunch one day, we walked back to our cars and it happened that we had parked behind one another on the street. We stood looking at our respective cars, mine a humble, green Honda Civic and hers a long, magnificent, gold Lincoln. Laughingly I said, "Well, Maureen, there you have it." With that she tossed her head back, slipped her arm around my shoulders and replied, "Honey, if you want to be treated like quality, you gotta package yourself like quality."
The tribute A Serenade for Maureen Forrester takes place Monday at 3 p.m. in the Avon Theatre in Stratford, Ont. For more information, call 1-800-567-1600.
These interviews have been condensed and edited.