Cheryl Studer was born in 1955, in Midland, Mississippi, USA. She studied at Interlochen, Switzerland, and with Hans Hotter in Vienna. In 1983 she joined the Bavarian State Opera, where she sang Marenka in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, Irene in Wagner’s Rienzi, Sieglinde in his Die Walküre and the Empress in Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten. She returned to the USA for her American début as Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen.
She has a fine, flexible soprano voice, and rapidly became a star of the international opera circuit, with performances such as Freia (in Wagner’s Das Rheingold) in Berlin, Mathilde in Rossini’s Guiglelmo Tell (William Tell), and her Vienna début as Chrysothemis in Richard Strauss’ Elektra.
At The Met she has sung Donna Anna in MozartΓÇÖs Don Giovanni, and Electra in his Idomeneo.
The pressures on young stars in the modern opera market-place, mean that she has occasionally been criticised for taking on r├┤les too heavy for her voice, but for her many fans she shines as an all round performer on the opera stage and in her many recordings.
