1948 to 1953 to tenor Jan van Mantgem, and from 1954 until her death to former tennis player and TV doctor Hans van Swol. Gré Brouwenstijn died in 1999 at age 84 in Amsterdam and was buried at Zorgvlied cemetery. Recording Of published opera recordings, many are taken from live performances; her studio recordings include Un ballo in maschera (excerpts), Der Freischütz (excerpts), Tiefland and Die Walküre, beside Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under André Cluytens. Tove in Gurre-Lieder is preserved as part of an Edinburgh performance in 1961 under Leopold Stokowski. Quote Dutch music critic Paul Korenhof wrote of Brouwenstijn: Her gifts were even more evident in seemingly passive roles such as Verdi’s two Leonoras (Il Trovatore and La Forza del destino) and Desdemona. When Gré Brouwenstijn sang these roles, she was more than a soprano who sang her arias beautifully but was otherwise little more than a decorative element in the drama being presented by the tenor and baritone. As a contemporary of Callas, Olivero, Rysanek, Varnay and Mödl and influenced by many great conductors and directors of the fifties, she realized that beautiful singing alone did not make an opera, but that the singing must emanate from the character being portrayed. References External links Profile and discography 1915 births 1999 deaths Dutch operatic sopranos People from Den Helder 20th-century Dutch women opera singers