Watson (real name, McLamore), Claire

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Watson (real name, McLamore), Claire

Watson (real name, McLamore), Claire, American soprano; b. N.Y, Feb. 3, 1924; d. Utting, Germany, July 16, 1986. She studied voice in N.Y. with Elisabeth Schumann and Sergius Kagen, then received further training in Vienna. She made her operatic debut as Desdemona in Graz in 1951, then was a member of the Frankfurt am Main Opera (1956-58) and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich from 1958 until her farewell as the Marschallin in 1976. As a guest artist, she appeared at London’s Covent Garden (1958-63; 1964; 1970; 1972), the Glyndebourne Festival (1959), and the Salzburg Festival (1966-68). She also sang in Vienna, Milan, Rome, Chicago, Buenos Aires, and San Francisco. Among her other roles were Donna Elvira, Elisabeth de Valois, Eva, Sieglinde, Ariadne, and Tatiana.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire