Maria Ewing

Her first European performance was at La Scala, Milan as Mélisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. Her repertoire includes Carmen, Dorabella in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Salome, Marie in Berg's Wozzeck and Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Ewing is particularly well known for her sensitive interpretation of the title role in Richard Strauss's Salome, where Oscar Wilde's stage directions for the original play specify that, at the end of the so-called Dance of the Seven Veils, Salome lies naked at Herod's feet. Ewing appeared fully nude at the end of this sequence, in contrast to other singers who have used body stockings. She also sang and appeared in Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.

Ewing's discography includes video versions of Salome and Carmen and audio versions of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Pelléas et Mélisande. She has also recorded concert music by Ravel, Berlioz and Debussy and programs of popular American song. She played Rosina in a Glyndebourne production of Il barbiere di Siviglia (1982), available on DVD. Read Less

Their daughter is the actress Rebecca Hall. Ewing makes her home near her birthplace. Read Less