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Cristina [Christine, Christina] Deutekom (born: Christine Engel) is a Dutch soprano opera singer. Renowned for her coloratura technique. Her voice was that of a dramatic coloratura, although lirico spinto with an incredible coloratura technique would probably be more accurate. She sang with virtually all the leading tenors of her time: Franco Corelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Alfredo Kraus, Carlo Bergonzi and Nicolai Gedda.
After some smaller roles, her break through came in 1963, portraying the Queen Of The Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at De Nederlandse Opera. She then sang the same role at all major European opera houses and also at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1968. In 1974 she opened the MET season next to Plácido Domingo as Elena in I vespri siciliani.
Meanwhile Cristina Deutekom had been extending her repertoire. Besides the Queen of the Night, her Mozart roles included Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito. She also scored triumphant successes in Italy in the great bel canto roles of Rossini (Armida), Bellini (Norma, I puritani) and Donizetti (Lucia di Lammermoor).
Cristina Deutekom went on to achieve international fame in a repertoire that also embraced the great dramatic Verdi roles (Abigaile in Nabucco, Lady Macbeth, Leonora in Il trovatore, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Elena in I vespri siciliani and the roles that were captured in commercial recordings: Giselda in I Lombardi and Odabella in Atilla). Finally, she went on to sing the title role in Puccini's Turandot.
Cristina Deutekom's stage career ended in 1985, when she suffered a heart attack. She turned to giving master-classes internationally. As of 2001, she was a guest teacher at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague. After suffering a stroke in 2004 she retired from public life.
Repertoire (in opera): L.v. Beethoven: Fidelio (Marzelline); Bellini: Beatrice di Tenda (Beatrice), Bianca e Fernando (Bianca), Norma (Norma), I Puritani (Elvira); Cherubini: Medea (Medea); Donizetti: Anna Bolena (Anna Bolena), Lucia di Lammermoor (Lucia); Mozart: Cosi fan tutte (Fiordiligi), Don Giovanni (Donna Anna), La Clemenza di Tito (Vitellia), Die Zauberflöte (Königin der Nacht); George Frideric Handel: Alcina (Alcina); Puccini: Turandot (Turandot); Rossini: Armida (Armida), Mosè in Egitto (Sinaide), Semiramide (Semiramide); Camille Saint-Saëns: Henry VIII (Catherine de Aragon); R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Marianne Leitmetzerin); Verdi: Alzira (Alzira), Attila (Odabella), Un Ballo in maschera (Amelia), I Lombardi (Giselda), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), I Masnadieri (Amalia), Nabucco (Abigaille), Rigoletto (Gilda), Simone Boccanegra (Amelia/Maria), Il Trovatore (Leonora), I Vespri Siciliani (Elena); Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Woglinde), Das Rheingold (Woglinde), Die Walküre (Walküre)
Honours: Grand Prix du Disque of the Charles Cros Academy, Paris, 1968; Palco Icenico d'Oro, Mantova, 1971; Monteverdi d'Oro, Venezia, 1972; Premio Romeo e Juliët, Verona, 1972; Singer of the year, Milan, 1973; Rigoletto d'Oro, Mantova, 1973; Knight in the order of Orange-Nassau, 1974; Singer of the year, Milan, 1974; Arena d'Oro, Verona, 1976. |
