Elizabeth Reiter

Reiter was born in Chicago[1] where she was a member in the Lyric Opera's children's choir.[2] She sang as a child in over 100 productions, for example in Puccini's La Bohème and Tosca, Ponchielli's La Gioconda, Boito's Mefistofele, Bizet's Carmen, Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades, Verdi's Otello and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel at the Lyric Opera.[3] At the age of 16, Reiter made her professional debut as Young Maria Celeste in the world premiere of Glass's Galileo Galilei (Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and London’s Barbican Center).[2][4] She studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music[5] where she performed several roles in the opera program.[6] She took part in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.[5]

Reiter joined the Oper Frankfurt in the 2013/14 season, where she appeared in roles including Armida in Handel's Rinaldo,[7] Mozart's Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Gretel in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel,[8] Valencienne in Lehàr's Die lustige Witwe,[9][10] Anne Trulove in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Renee / Alice in Neuwirth's Lost Highway,[11] and the title role in Janáček's Das schlaue Füchslein.[5][12] In 2018, she appeared in the double role Renee/Alice in the German premiere of Olga Neuwirth's Lost Highway. A reviewer of the Los Angeles Times noted:

The key role is that of Renee/Alice. Whether as Fred's icy wife or Pete’s insatiable lover, she is a woman true to her own feelings, lacking in deception in a world where there is nothing else real. She generates more mystery than the Mystery Man, which is the secret of her incredible allure. Soprano Elizabeth Reiter, however, is more the abused Renee and the purposeful Alice who wears her motivation on her sleeve and in her vocal cords, as though an everyday Carmen or Melisande or Lulu.[13]

In September 2021, she appeared as Melissa in Handel's Amadigi, conducted by Roland Böer, and alongside Brennan Hall in the title role, Kateryna Kasper and Beth Taylor. A reviewer noted her sharp coloraturas and dramatic outbursts, portraying the harsh character, and intense acting up to her death scene.[14]

She appeared as a guest at Opera Memphis and the Opera Philadelphia among others. She performed as Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Tanglewood Music Center, conducted by James Levine, and as The Dragonfly in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges at the Castleton Festival, conducted by Lorin Maazel.[5]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she gave house concerts from her home.[5]

• Official website
• Elizabeth Reiter in the German National Library catalogue
• Elizabeth Reiter / Albums Naxos Records
• Elizabeth Reiter goodmantheatre.org
• Aspen Music Festival musicweb-international.com 2004
• Oper Frankfurt zuhause: Wohnzimmerkonzert mit Elizabeth Reiter und Takeshi Moriuchi (2020) on YouTube