Waltraud Meier

Grammy Award winner Waltraud Meier is a German dramatic soprano and mezzosoprano singer She is particularly known for her Wagnerian roles as Kundry Isolde Ortrud Venus Fricka and Sieglinde but has also had success in the French and Italian repertoire appearing as Eboli Amneris Carmen and Santuzza She resides in Munich Meier has performed in the worlds famed opera houses including La Scala Covent Garden Metropolitan Opera the Vienna State Opera the Bavarian State Opera Lyric Opera of Chicago and Colón Theater She performed Wagner at the Mecca of Wagner performance the Bayreuth Festspielhaus She has performed under the batons of conductors including Riccardo Muti Daniel Barenboim Claudio Abbado James Levine Lorin Maazel Zubin Mehta and Giuseppe Sinopoli Waltraud Meier was born in Würzburg Germany She sang in various choral groups during her younger years Upon finishing her secondary education she began graduate studies in English and Romance Languages while also taking voice lessons She studied singing with Professor Dietger Jacob In 1976 she decided to concentrate on a singing career and soon thereafter debuted at the Würzburg Opera as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana Over the next several years she performed regularly at the opera house in Mannheim 197678 She resides in Germany