Maureen Forrester

Acting

Maureen Forrester

Born — Died

1930-07-25 — 2010-06-16

Place of birth

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Known for

Acting

Credits

7 titles

Maureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester (July 25, 1930 – June 16, 2010) was a Canadian operatic contralto. Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in Montreal, Quebec, one of four children of Thomas Forrester, a Scottish cabinetmaker, and his Irish-born wife, the former May Arnold. She sang in church and radio choirs. At age 13, she dropped out of school to help support the family, working as a secretary at Bell Telephone. When her brother came home from the war he persuaded her to take singing lessons. She paid for voice lessons with Sally Martin, Frank Rowe, and baritone Bernard Diamant. In the spring of 1951, Forrester appeared on the CBC radio talent competition Opportunity Knocks, singing "…

Known for

Le Grand Échiquier poster
8.0

Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

Le Grand Échiquier

1972

Mahler and the Millionaire poster
NR

A documentary featuring the making of the July 1987 recording of Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony conducted by magazine publisher Gilbert Kaplan, who developed a passion for this piece of music at an early age and has conducted the symphony with major orchestras.

Mahler and the Millionaire

1983

Festival in Puerto Rico poster
10.0

This short documentary features Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester as she sings at the Festival Casals, a musical event founded by the great Spanish cellist and conductor Pablo Casals and sponsored annually by the Puerto Rican government. Part concert film, part tourism film, Festival in Puerto Rico offers viewers candid glimpses of mid-20th century Puerto Rico intercut with performance footage of Forrester and her husband, violinist-conductor Eugene Kash.

Festival in Puerto Rico

1961

No artwork available
8.0

Filmed in Canada during the Bach 300 Festival the film demonstrates the stunning universality of Bach's music from a graceful cantata duet to a rousing fugue performed by a tap dance ensemble. It is a celebration of the music of J S Bach as it is played, danced, sung, jazzed, computed, tapped, electrified and busked by a wide range of internationally renowned artists. Among the performers highlighted in this spectacular homage are jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, contralto Maureen Forrester, cellist Anner Bylsma, the Canadian Bass and the National Tap Dance Company.

All That Bach

1985

Iolanthe: Gilbert & Sullivan poster
7.0

Half-fae-half-mortal shepherd Strephon wants to wed shepherdress Phyllis, but, although she reciprocates his feelings, she has a dilemma — she is so beautiful that all of the House of Lords, as well as her guardian, the Lord Chancellor, are also desirous of marriage.

Iolanthe: Gilbert & Sullivan

1984

Menotti: The Medium: Maureen Forrester poster
NR

Aided by her daughter (Shauna Farrell) and a mute servant boy (Stelio Calagas), phony medium Madame Flora (Maureen Forrester) swindles her unsuspecting clients using simple parlor tricks -- until a supernatural force reaches out and grabs her by the throat. An eerie ambiance permeates this 1977 televised production (staged at the Comus Music Theatre in Toronto) of composer Gian Carlo Menotti's first major opera.

Menotti: The Medium: Maureen Forrester

1977

Film credits

1980s · 3 titles

Series credits