Saunders, Arlene (1935– )

US soprano. She made her debut at New York in 1958, as Rosalinde. She sang in Italy from 1960, and was a member of the Hamburg Opera from 1963. In 1965 she appeared in the first performance of Klebe's Jacobowsky und der Oberst (1965), and was well known as Agathe (Weber, Der Freischütz/The Freeshooter), Strauss's Arabella and Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier/The Rose Cavalier), and Mozart's Countess (Le Nozze de Figaro). She appeared at Glyndebourne in 1966, as Pamina. In 1971 she was heard at Washington in the first performance of Ginastera's Beatrix Cenci. She made her New York debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1976, as Eva. She retired from the stage after singing the Marschallin at Buenos Aires, in 1985.