Birgitta Svendén (née Lundberg, 20 March 1952), is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

operatic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

. Svendén was born in Porjus and then raised in

Vuollerim Vuollerim () is a locality situated in Jokkmokk Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingd ...

. She studied at Operahögskolan in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, and later embarked on an international career in the first place as a Wagner singer, especially at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

where she sang several performances between 1983 and 1999, many of those as Erda. She was also a frequent guest at the Metropolitan Opera in New York between 1988 and 2000. Her artistic base remained at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

where she was contracted from 1981 to 2004. Birgitta Svendén was appointed hovsångerska in 1995. She is also a full member of the Academy of Music and an honorary doctor at the Lulea University of Technology. From 1 August 2005 to 2009, she was the rector of the Opera School in Stockholm. Since 1 February 2010, she has been General Manager of the Royal Swedish Opera.

Recordings

'' The Flying Dutchman'' (1994), conducted by James Levine with Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus. Cast included James Morris, Deborah Voigt,

Jan-Hendrik Rootering Jan-Hendrik Rootering (born 18 March 1950 in Wedingfeld near Flensburg) is a German-born operatic bass, son of the Dutch tenor Hendrikus Rootering from whom he had his first lessons. After further study at Hamburg's ''Musikhochschule'' he began ...

, Ben Heppner, Paul Groves, and Birgitta Svendén. She also sang Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried in the Met Opera Ring Cycle CDs and DVDs recorded between 1987 and 1991 conducted by Levine with Morris, Behrens, Wlaschiha, Goldberg (Siegfried CD), Jerusalem (Siegfried DVD) and Ludwig.

Videography

* ''The Metropolitan Opera Gala 1991'', Deutsche Grammophon DVD, 00440-073-4582

References

External links

* 1952 births Living people People from Jokkmokk Municipality Swedish operatic mezzo-sopranos Opera managers {{Sweden-opera-singer-stub