Claire Watson (née McLamore) (February 3, 1927 – July 16, 1986) was an American operatic soprano, particularly associated with Mozart and Richard Strauss roles.
She was engaged by the Frankfurt Opera in 1955, where she sang a wide range of roles, notably: Countess Almaviva, Pamina, Elisabeth, Leonora, Aida, Tatyana, Fiordiligi, Elisabeth de Valois, and the Die Marschallin, in which role she made her debut at the Royal Opera House in London in 1958, and at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1960.
[1] A singer of considerable warmth, musicality and sincerity, Watson was also greatly admired as Ariadne, the Countess in Capriccio, and especially as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, of which she left a memorable recording, conducted by Benjamin Britten himself.
She can also be heard on other recordings: as Agathe in Der Freischütz, under Lovro von Matačić, as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, opposite Nicolai Ghiaurov and Nicolai Gedda, under Otto Klemperer, as well as Eva in a live recording of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, under Joseph Keilberth.
She also sang the Countess in the famous Karl Bohm DVD recording of "Le Nozze di Figaro" from the Salzburg Festival of 1966 with Ingvar Wixell, Reri Grist, Walter Berry and Edith Mathis.