Fassbaender, Brigitte (1939– )

German mezzo-soprano and stage director, the daughter of Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender. She studied at the Nuremberg Conservatory and made her debut in Munich, in 1961, as Nicklaus; her other roles have included Sextus, Eboli, Marina, and the Countess Geschwitz. She sang Dorabella at Salzburg in 1970, and appeared at the Easter Festival in 1973 as Fricka. On her debuts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London (1971) and the New York Metropolitan Opera House (1974) she sang Octavian, and she was well known as Carmen and Charlotte. Her Glyndebourne debut in 1990 was as Clairon in Capriccio. She staged Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose at Munich in 1989, and the British premiere of Schreker's Der ferne Klang for Opera North in 1992. She was also successful as a concert singer (with Das Lied von der Erde/The Song of the Earth).