琳達．華生｜女高音

榮獲葛萊美獎提名的女高音琳達․華生，是當今最搶手的戲劇女高音，也是演唱華格納及史特勞斯歌劇女主角的最佳人選。她在東京首次演唱《女武神》中的布倫希德大獲成功，乘勝接下維也納國家歌劇院2004/2005樂季的全本指環製作。此後，她在世界最重要的歌劇院一再演唱布倫希德一角，包括了華盛頓歌劇院、柏林國家歌劇院、阿姆斯特丹歌劇院、巴黎夏特雷劇院以及紐約大都會歌劇院等。2006年至2010年，她成為拜魯特音樂節中最受矚目的布倫希德。琳達․華生創下的紀錄無人能及:雙管齊下推出影像及錄音版的布倫希德，並且包辦《女武神》《齊格飛》《諸神黃昏》中不同階段的布倫希德，完勝所有發行過全本指環錄音的華格納女高音。

2012/2013樂季，琳達․華生參與了好幾個不同的《指環》製作，像是卡爾斯魯爾國家劇院、漢堡國家歌劇院、杜塞道夫萊茵歌劇院、巴黎國家歌劇院，外加布宜諾斯艾利斯柯隆劇院的《一夜指環》製作(即《指環》菁華版，將原本四個晚上的歌劇濃縮為九小時演完)，她都是演唱最吃重的女主角布倫希德。 

2013/2014樂季，她在布宜諾斯艾利斯及杜塞道夫萊茵歌劇院演唱艾蕾克特拉，在萊茵歌劇院演唱《玫瑰騎士》中的元帥夫人及布倫希德，在維也納國家歌劇院演唱伊索德。 

出生於美國舊金山，琳達․華生於波士頓新英格蘭音樂院求學時獲頒傅爾布萊特獎學金，得以負笈維也納音樂院深造。職業生涯之初，她在法國亞琛歌劇院演唱次女高音，之後轉往萊比錫歌劇院演出《崔斯坦與伊索德》中的布蘭甘妮及《唐懷瑟》中維納斯等角。1997年，她以維納斯一角登上維也納國家歌劇院舞台；1998年，在辛諾波里指揮之下，首次於拜魯特音樂節演唱《帕西法爾》中的昆德麗。

她在杜塞道夫萊茵歌劇院任職期間，大幅拓展了女高音曲目。時至今日，她仍與萊茵歌劇院維持密切關係，定期駐院客席演出元帥夫人、蕾奧諾拉、阿麗雅德妮、歐楚德和昆德麗等拿手角色。

琳達․華生的輝煌事蹟不可勝數，除了在拜魯特音樂節登台演唱超過12載，以提勒曼指揮維也納國家歌劇院製作的全本《指環》錄音版本 (2012)獲得葛萊美獎提名之外，還在巴登巴登節慶大劇院首演艾蕾克特拉、於紐約大都會歌劇院演唱昆德麗（葛濟夫指揮）、洛杉磯首演《沒有影子的女人》染布工之妻（長野健指揮）、與柏林愛樂在大都會歌劇院演出昆德麗（阿巴多指揮、帕華洛帝演唱帕西法爾一角）、史卡拉歌劇院演唱《羅安格林》中的歐楚德、在大都會歌劇院（巴倫波因指揮）以及佛羅倫斯五月音樂節（祖賓梅塔指揮）中演唱伊索德等。

她與世界最著名的指揮包括伯恩斯坦、艾森巴哈、蓋堤、葛濟夫、李汶、梅塔、長野健、帕帕諾、泰特、迪華特、沙洛能和已故的辛諾波里等人合作。琳達․華生的傑出演出收錄於許多CD及DVD中，其中包括由提勒曼所指揮的《艾蕾克特拉》以及拜魯特音樂節演出的全本《指環》。

這個樂季，琳達․華生將於維也納國家歌劇院演出布倫希德，並在匈牙利國家歌劇院的指環製作中登台；將於漢堡歌劇院演出艾蕾克特拉、哥本哈根皇家歌劇院演唱染布工之妻。最近，她在簡文彬大師指揮下，於萊茵歌劇院首度演唱杜蘭朵一角，卓越表現獲得了各界一致好評。

Linda Watson｜Soprano

Grammy Nominee Linda Watson is one of today’s most sought-after dramatic sopranos for the operas of Richard Wagner. The success of her first “Walküre” Brünnhilde in Tokyo resulted in her being engaged to sing the entire “Ring” at the Vienna State Opera in 2004/05. Since then, Linda Watson has sung Brünnhilde in all important opera houses of the world, including the Washington Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. From 2006 to 2010 she was the celebrated Brünnhilde at the Bayreuth Festival. She also holds a record for appearing on audio and video recordings of the “Ring”: no other soprano has recorded all three Brünnhildes on so many complete recordings. 

Also in the season of 2012/13, Linda Watson’s calendar included several productions of the “Ring”: at the State Theatre Karlsruhe, the Hamburg State Opera, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and at the Opéra National de Paris. At the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires she mastered the mammoth project of the “Ring in one Evening”, a nine-hour-long adaptation of all four operas, in which Brünnhilde is the largest role. 

Among her commitments in the 2013/14 season are Elektra in Buenos Aires and Düsseldorf, the Feldmarschallin and Brünnhilde, both also at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Isolde at the Vienna State Opera. 

Born in San Francisco, Linda Watson completed her initial studies at the New England Conservatory of Boston, after which she received numerous scholarships, including a Fulbright, which allowed her to continue her studies at the Vienna Conservatory. 

She began her career as a mezzo-soprano at the Aachen Theatre, followed by an engagement at the Leipzig Opera, where her repertoire included roles such as Brangäne and Venus. In 1997 Venus was the role with which she made her debut at the Vienna State Opera and in 1998 came her debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Kundry, under the musical direction of Giuseppe Sinopoli. 

A commitment with the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf provided Linda Watson with the opportunity to develop a large repertoire as a soprano. To date, she remains connected to the house, where she has sung roles like Marschallin, Leonore in “Fidelio”, Ariadne, Ortrud and Kundry, as a regular guest. 

Among Linda Watson’s most outstanding engagements, in addition to her long activity in Bayreuth which extended over twelve years, are her debut as Elektra at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and  the “Ring” at the Vienna State Opera in 2012 both under Christian Thielemann,for which she received a Grammy nomination and a CD recording has now been released, Kundry at the Metropolitan Opera New York under Valery Gergiev, her first Färberin under Kent Nagano in Los Angeles, Kundry with the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado, and, with Placido Domingo in the title role, at the MET, Ortrud at La Scala, and Isolde under Daniel Barenboim at the MET and the Maggio Musicale in Florence with Zubin Mehta.

She has worked with famous conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, Antonio Pappano, Jeffrey Tate, Edo de Waart, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the late Giuseppe Sinopoli. Numerous CD and DVD recordings document the art of Linda Watson, including the entire “Ring” from Bayreuth and “Elektra”, both under the baton of Christian Thielemann. 

This season Watson will be heard as Brünnhilde in the Ring at the Vienna State Opera, as well as a new Ring production at the Hungarian State Opera, Elektra in Hamburg, and she sings the Färberin at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. She also enjoyed great success in her debut as Turandot under Maestro Wen-Ping Chien at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.