Siv Elisabeth Margaretha Wärnfeldt (born 1956) 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 ...

author, opera and concert singer.

Education and career

Wärnfeldt took a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

at Stockholm University in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, art and theatre science in 1979. She wrote her dissertation on the Swedish composer Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist. She studied music and voice at the

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

, Austria. For many years her vocal teacher was the

Hovsångare The titles Hovsångare (, literally "Court Singer") for men and Hovsångerska () for women are awarded by the Swedish monarch to a singer (usually an opera singer) who, by their vocal art, has contributed to the international standing of Swedish s ...

(Swedish court singer) Birgit Nilsson. In 1986, Wärnfeldt was awarded both the

Birgit Nilsson Prize The Birgit Nilsson Prize is the largest prize in classical music, awarded approximately every three years to an active artist or institution who has contributed an important chapter to music history. Towards the end of her unparalleled, long an ...

and the Wagner Prize. Her opera debut in 1989 was in the part of

Halka ''Halka'' is an opera by Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko to a libretto written by Włodzimierz Wolski, a young Warsaw poet with radical social views. It is part of the canon of Polish national operas. Performance history The first perf ...

at the

Silesian Opera Silesian Opera in Bytom ( pl, Opera Śląska w Bytomiu) is an opera company in Bytom, Silesia, Poland, that was founded in 1945. Its home is the former City Theatre, designed by architect Albert Bohm, that was built in Neoclassical style between ...

in Bytom,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Wärnfeldt has since sung, among others, the part of Donna Anna in Mozart's '' Don Giovanni'' at the

Södra Teatern Södra Teatern is a theatre in Stockholm, Sweden. It is located at Mosebacke torg on Södermalm in Stockholm. The venue is the oldest theatre in Stockholm and is situated in the heart of the city. History Södra Teatern is one of Sweden's o ...

, directed by

Johannes Schaaf Johannes Schaaf (7 April 1933 – 1 November 2019) was a German film, theatre and opera director and actor. Several of his films have been internationally recognized. His focus shifted to opera in the 1980s and he worked with many of the leading i ...

. Other notable parts are Anna Bolena in Gaetano Donizetti's ''

Anna Bolena ''Anna Bolena'' is a tragic opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts composed by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's ''Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena'' and Alessandro Pepoli's ''Anna Bolena'', bo ...

'', Contessa in Mozart's '' The Marriage of Figaro'', Rosalinda in

Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually re ...

's ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

'' and Leonore in

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's ''

Il trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...

''. Wärnfeldt has written several articles since her time at the university of Stockholm and has also been a guest lecturer at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

, and at the

Royal College of Music, Stockholm The Royal College of Music, Stockholm ( sv, Kungliga Musikhögskolan i Stockholm) is the oldest institution of higher education in music in Sweden, founded in 1771 as the conservatory of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The institution was mad ...

. In 2012, she received an M.Phil. from the Åbo Academy. Wärnfeldt is a member of the Swedish writers' union, Sveriges Författarförbund.

Texts and libretti written by Wärnfeldt

*''It's like the light'', a scenic novel by Elisabeth Wärnfeldt based on the poems by Emily Dickinson. Music by Kai Nieminen and produced by Staffan Aspegren *''Symphony No. 231'', "About Völvan..." with music by

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , ; born 2 March 1944) is a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist and pianist, especially known for writing 350 symphonies as of August 2022, along with other works in his extensive oeuvre. Segerstam has con ...

*''She'', with music by Leif Segerstam *''Road map...'', with music by Leif Segerstam *''Völvan'', with music by Leif Segerstam *''Symphony No. 232'', with music by Leif Segerstam *''Symphony No. 233'', with music by Leif Segerstam *''Symphony No. 234'', with music by Leif Segerstam *''Symphony No. 241'', with music by Leif Segerstam *''Symphony No. 242'', with music by Leif Segerstam *''Symphony No. 246'', with music by Leif Segerstam *''Requiem'', "Per-Olof Gillblad in memoriam" with music by Leif Segerstam

Books

*1985 - ''Solvarv'' *1997 - ''Anna och Herr Gud'' *2011 - ''Red''

Music written for, dedicated to or first performed by Wärnfeldt

* Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist - ''Siebenmal Rilke'', songs for soprano and piano or orchestra *Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist - A new gospel, to texts by

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...

and

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

* Jan Wallgren - ''Boye-sånger,'' to the poems by

Karin Boye Karin Maria Boye (; 26 October 1900 – 24 April 1941) was a Swedish poet and novelist. In Sweden she is acclaimed as a poet, but internationally she is best known for the dystopian science fiction novel '' Kallocain'' (1940). Career Boye wa ...

*Boel Dirke - ''Damen det brinner'', a jazz opera, to texts by

Bodil Malmsten Bodil Malmsten (19 August 1944 – 5 February 2016) was a Swedish poet and novelist. Malmsten was born in Bjärme, Östersund Municipality. Due to her parents' early separation, she grew up at her maternal grandparents and at foster care in Vä ...

*Hans Ove Olsson - Petrarca Sonett for song and piano, to text by

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...

*Olov Olofsson - ''700 days'', a scenic oratorio, to text by Maria Jacobs *

Monica Dominique Monica Dominique (née ''Danielsson'', born 20 July 1940 in Västerås) is a Swedish pianist, composer, and actress.Hugo Ball Hugo Ball (; 22 February 1886 – 14 September 1927) was a German author, poet, and essentially the founder of the Dada movement in European art in Zürich in 1916. Among other accomplishments, he was a pioneer in the development of sound poetry. ...

*Ulf Johansson - ''Lobeshymnus,'' to texts by Rainer Maria Rilke *Lars Jergen Olson - ''Vägmärken,'' to texts by

*Lars Jergen Olson - ''Fem Kärlekssånger,'' to texts by Maria Wine *Lars Jergen Olson - ''Sex sånger,'' to texts by J.L. Runeberg *Lars Jergen Olson - ''Requiem'' (recorded but not yet performed) *Stefan Säfsten - ''Tre nya sånger,'' to texts by

and Nelson Mandela *Stefan Säfsten - ''Stormen for Soprano and Saxophone quartet,'' to texts by

Ebba Lindqvist ''Ebba'' Helfrid ''Lindqvist'' -Galéen (April 7, 1908 in Oscar Fredrik parish, Gothenburg, grew up in Grebbestad – September 5, 1995 in Varberg), was a Swedish writer (poet). She studied for a Master's degree in Uppsala and became a Swedish ...

*The part of Witwe Bolte in

Alexander Blechinger Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

’s ''

Max And Moritz ''Max and Moritz: A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks'' (original: ''Max und Moritz – Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen'') is a German language illustrated story in verse. This highly inventive, blackly humorous tale, told entirely in rhym ...

'' to libretto by

Wilhelm Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

at the St. Margarethen Opera Festival, world opening 17 June 2008

Discography

*2000 -

Monica Dominique Monica Dominique (née ''Danielsson'', born 20 July 1940 in Västerås) is a Swedish pianist, composer, and actress.Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra The Moravian Philharmonic (''Moravská filharmonie Olomouc'') is a Czech classical orchestra founded in 1945. Its resident venue is the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc. The current director is conductor Petr Vronský. Notable collaborators include ...

conducted by Peter Schmelzer *2007 - ''Lights in Wintertime'' Christmas carols with the Högalidskyrkan Choir conducted by Anna Lena Engström *2008 - ''Songs of love'' with Franz Liszt's ''Petrarca Sonnets'' among others, pianist Stefan Nymark *2008 - Felix Mendelssohn's ''Hear my prayer'' with Kinna kyrkokör conducted by Hans Åke Månsson *2008 -

’s ''

Max and Moritz ''Max and Moritz: A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks'' (original: ''Max und Moritz – Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen'') is a German language illustrated story in verse. This highly inventive, blackly humorous tale, told entirely in rhym ...

References

External links

elisabethwarnfeldt.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warnfeldt, Elisabeth 1956 births Living people Swedish operatic sopranos Swedish sopranos 20th-century Swedish women writers 21st-century Swedish women writers

Alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...