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Kerstin Meyer (1928-2020)

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Kerstin Meyer (1928-2020) In memoriam: Kerstin Meyer (1928-2020) Kerstin Meyer var en av de spännande unga sångare som inledde en internationell karriär i Stockholm i början av 50-talet. En påfallande vacker kvinna och en utomordentlig musiker blev hon snart en remarkabel musikdramatisk artist på världens operascener. Meyer erövrade en stor och mångskiftande repertoar från barockopera över Wagner, Verdi och Richard Strauss till moderna verk, där hon uruppförde en rad krävande roller. Hennes röst var en mörkt färgad mezzosopran som kunde expandera både lyriskt och dramatiskt. Efter debuten som 24-åring på Kungliga Operan som Azucena i Trubaduren 1952 (alltså som mor till den 48-årige hjältetenorenSet Svanholm!) sågs hon uppenbarligen som en ny altsångerska. Jordgudinnan Erda i Nibelungens ring blev hennes nästa större uppgift. Men om mezzosopranen Meyer på höjdpunkten av sin karriär kunde ha svårigheter med vissa höjdtoner som Eboli i Don Carlos kastade hon många år senare höga C omkring sig som Adalgisa i Norma. Meyer började tidigt. Född 1928 kom hon in på Musikaliska Akademins konservatorium som nittonåring och därefter Operaskolan. Bland hennes första lärare fanns Arne Sunnegårdh och den legendariska ryska koloratursopranen Andrejeva von Skilondz. Under sin internationella karriär studerade hon vidare för Pola Novikova och Vera Rosza. Redan i september 1951 stod hon på scenen i oktetten av valkyrior vid Operans gästspel medValkyrian i Köpenhamn och i december samma år sjöng hon altpartiet Messiasi vid Operans traditionella uppförande av Händels oratorium i Storkyrkan. Efter sina debuter studerade hon vidare i Italien. Tillbaka på Operan gjorde hon 1953 den kvinnliga titelrollen i Simson och Delila och fick 1954 sitt definitiva genombrott med titelrollen iCarmen i en ny, oerhört uppmärksammad uppsättning av Göran Gentele. Det var första gången som Bizets opera spelades i Sverige med originalets talade dialog, vilket verkligen gav operaartisterna möjlighet till ett starkt karaktäriserat utspel som skådespelare. Som många firade Carmen kritiserades också Meyer från vissa håll för att vara för vågad, för fräck. Fans till hennes dyrkade föregångare,Gertrud Pålson- Wettergren, Stockholms dominerande Carmen under ett kvartssekel, lovade i vissa fall att aldrig mer sätta sin fot i operasalongen. Men för en hel generation blev Meyer nu den ikoniska Carmen. För nutida lyssnare låter Meyers gestaltning från en radioinspelning från 1954 (på CD sen 2008) framför allt elegant, ja, sofistikerad snarare än vulgär. I Genteles uppsättning låg också sympatierna starkt hos titelrollen, inte hos den obalanserade, våldsamme Don José. Hela produktionen blev en sensation och Carmen blev härefter Meyers signaturroll. 1957 följde ännu en av Meyers glansroller, Glucks Orfeus i en nyuppsättning på Drottningholmsteatern. Snart följde engagemang på en rad av Europas stora operascener, vilket tidvis innebar att hon övergav Kungliga Operan för fastare engagemang på operascener i Hamburg och Väst-Berlin, frånsett framträdanden i en lång rad länder och grammofoninspelningar under dirigenter som Herbert von Karajan och John Barbirolli. En internationell karriär som varade in på 1980-talet. Hon medverkade vid Glyndebournefestivalen under många säsonger från 1961, vid Wagnerfestspelen i Bayreuth 1962-65. På Metropolitan i New York gjorde hon både Carmen och Orfeus. Listan på Meyers ”kreationer” av nya operor blev imponerande och omfattade verk av bl.a. Hilding Rosenberg, Hans Werner Henze, György Ligeti och Peter Maxwell Davies. En flott tolkning av Baba den skäggiga damen, i Igor Stravinskijs Rucklarens väg i regi av Ingmar Bergman, med premiär 1961, hör också dit. Hennes arbetskapacitet var häpnadsväckande. Hon bemästrade två roller i Händels Alcina och spelade in lieder avArnold Schönberg med Glenn Gould, hon ”sjöng” solostämman i densammes melodram Pierrot Lunaire och när Hamburgoperan gästade Stockholm fick hemmapubliken höra henne i helt nya roller i Claudio Monteverdis Odysseus hemkomst och Alban Bergs Lulu. Man kände hennes kvaliteter som sångare och skådespelare men Meyer kunde alltid överraska med att ge varje roll nya och ofta förvånande karaktärsdrag. Kerstin Meyer avslutade sin karriär som rektor för Statens Musikdramatiska skola under ett decennium 1984-94 samtidigt som hon var en uppskattad pedagog både i Sverige och utomlands. Hon var en skicklig administratör och hennes många elever vittnar om en kärleksfull och inspirerande mentor med ovärderlig kunskap och erfarenhet. Scenen hade Meyer lämnat 1982 men fullständigt oväntat återkom hon så sent som 2013 som Madame Armfeldt i Sondheims musikal Sommarnattens leende (A little night music) på Malmö Opera. Själv glömmer jag aldrig ”min” första Carmen. Stefan Johansson, regissör och dramaturg.
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