Meyer, Kerstin (1928– )

Swedish mezzo-soprano. She made her debut in Stockholm in 1952, and at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, in 1960, as Carmen. She appeared at Glyndebourne from 1961 (where her roles included Monteverdi's Ottavia and Debussy's Geneviève); at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London from 1960 (as Berlioz's Dido, Octavian, and Clytemnestra); and at Bayreuth 1962–64, (as Brangaene). She has taken part in several first performances: in the first British performance of Elegy for Young Lovers and The Visit of the Old Lady (von Einem); premieres of works by Goehr and Searle in Hamburg. In 1966 she created Agave in Henze's The Bassarids (Salzburg) and in 1978 Spermando in Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre. She has often returned to Stockholm.