Music database

Musician

Anne Sofie von Otter

Anne Sofie von Otter - © Mats Bäcker

born on 9/5/1955 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Anne Sofie von Otter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Anne Sofie von Otter (born 9 May 1955) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs.

Biography

Von Otter was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father was the diplomat Göran von Otter, a Swedish diplomat in Berlin during World War II.[1] She grew up in Bonn, London and Stockholm. She studied in Stockholm and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where her teachers included Vera Rozsa.[2] She made her professional operatic début in 1983 at the Basel Opera, as Alcina in Haydn's Orlando paladino. She made her Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, début in 1985 and her La Scala debut in 1987. Her Metropolitan Opera début was in December 1988 as Cherubino.[3]

Her recording of Grieg songs won the 1993 Gramophone Record of the Year, the first time in the award's history that it had gone to a song recording. In 2001, she released her album with Elvis Costello, For the Stars,[4] for which she won an Edison Award. She was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo in 2015 for her album of French songs, Douce France. She is a regular recital and recording partner with Swedish pianist Bengt Forsberg.[5][6][7]

In 2006, von Otter sang the Evangelist in the premiere of Sven-David Sandström's Ordet – en passion. Other work in contemporary music has included singing the role of The Woman in Senza Sangue of Péter Eötvös.[8] In other media, she appeared in the film A Late Quartet.[9]

In 2007, she released an album of music written by composers imprisoned in the Nazi "model" ghetto of Theresienstadt concentration camp (also known as Terezin) prior to their transportation to the death camp of Auschwitz. She collaborated on this project with Christian Gerhaher (baritone) and chamber musicians. She has stated that the material has special personal meaning for her as her father had attempted unsuccessfully during the war to spread information that he had received from SS officer Kurt Gerstein about the Nazi death camps.[10]

In 2016, von Otter sang Leonora in the world premiere of Thomas Adès' The Exterminating Angel, and again in 2017 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She created the principal role of Charlotte in Sebastian Fagerlund's 2017 opera Autumn Sonata, based on the 1979 film by Ingmar Bergman at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki conducted by John Storgårds.[11]

Von Otter was married to Benny Fredriksson until his suicide on March 17, 2018. He had been an actor and managing director of The Stockholm House of Culture, including the Stadsteatern. The couple has two children and live in Stockholm.[2]

Awards and honours

  • 1995: appointed Hovsångerska by H.M. the King of Sweden
  • 2003: Rolf Schock Prize in the musical arts category
  • 2013: Honorary Degree, University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris[12]

Discography

Selective charting albums

(Peak positions in Sverigetopplistan, the Swedish national record chart)

Year Album Peak positions
SWE GER NED NOR
1993 Grieg Songs (DG) 46  –  –  –
1994 Speak Low 25  –  –  –
1999 Home for Christmas 16  – 72  –
2001 For the Stars
(Anne Sofie von Otter meets Elvis Costello)
25 59 80 33
2006 I Let The Music Speak 13  – 63  –
Noël
(Anne Sofie von Otter & Bengt Forsberg)
59  –  –  –
2007 Terezín / Theresienstadt
(Anne Sofie von Otter / Bengt Forsberg)
56  –  –  –
2010 Ombre de mon amant 32  –  –  –
Love Songs
(Anne Sofie von Otter / Brad Mehldau)
34  –  –  –
2013 Douce France 58  –  –  –

Recordings

Lieder and songs

  • Alban Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder & Der Wein conducted by Claudio Abbado (1995) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Hector Berlioz: Mélodies with Cord Garben (piano) (1994) and Les nuits d'été conducted by James Levine (1995) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Johannes Brahms: Lieder with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1990) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Cécile Chaminade: Mots d'amour with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (2001) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Edvard Grieg: Songs/Lieder with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1993) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Rendezvous with Korngold with Bengt Forsberg (piano) & Friends (1999) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Ingvar Lidholm: Songs and Chamber Music conducted by Björn Sjögren (1996) Caprice Records
  • Gustav Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Thomas Quasthoff conducted by Claudio Abbado (1999) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Kindertotenlieder conducted by Pierre Boulez (2004) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Maurice Ravel: Shéhérazade conducted by Pierre Boulez (2002) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Arnold Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder conducted by Simon Rattle (2002) EMI
  • Franz Schubert: Lieder, with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1997) and Lieder with Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado (2003) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Robert Schumann: Frauenliebe und -leben with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1995) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Jean Sibelius: Anne Sofie von Otter sings Sibelius with Bengt Forsberg (piano) BIS
  • Kurt Weill: Speak Low: Songs by Kurt Weill conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1994) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Hugo Wolf: Spanisches Liederbuch with Olaf Bär (baritone) and Geoffrey Parsons (piano) (1995) EMI
  • Various: Boldemann Gefors Hillborg conducted by Kent Nagano (2008) Deutsche Grammophon
    • La Bonne chanson – French Chamber Songs with Bengt Forsberg (piano) and others (1996) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Brahms / Schumann with Barbara Bonney (soprano), Kurt Streit (tenor), Olaf Bär (baritone), Helmut Deutsch and Bengt Forsberg (piano duet) (1994) EMI
    • Douce France – classical French songs (disc 1) and chansons (disc 2) with Bengt Forsberg (piano) and others (2013) Naive[13]
    • Folksongs with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (2000) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Lieder / Mélodies by Beethoven Meyerbeer Spohr with Melvyn Tan (fortepiano) (2001) Archiv
    • Lieder by Wolf and Mahler with Ralf Gothóni (piano) (1989) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Love's Twilight – Late Romantic Songs by Berg Korngold Strauss with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1994) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Mahler Zemlinsky Lieder conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1996) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Mozart – Haydn: Songs & Canzonettas with Melvyn Tan (fortepiano) (1995) Archiv
    • Music for a While – Baroque Melodies (2004) Deutsche Grammophon[14]
    • Terezín / Theresienstadt with Bengt Forsberg (piano), Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber (piano) and others (2007) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Watercolours – Swedish Songs with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (2003) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Wings in the Night – Swedish Songs with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1996) Deutsche Grammophon

Complete operas

  • Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle conducted by Bernard Haitink (1996) EMI
  • Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust conducted by Myung-whun Chung (1998) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Bizet: Carmen conducted by Philippe Jordan (2003) BBC/Arte
  • Gluck: Alceste conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner (1990) Philips
    • Iphigénie en Aulide conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner (1990) Erato
    • Orphée et Eurydice conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner (1989) EMI
  • Handel: Agrippina conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner (1997) Philips
    • Ariodante conducted by Marc Minkowski (1999) Archiv
    • Giulio Cesare conducted by Marc Minkowski (2003) Archiv
    • Hercules conducted by Marc Minkowski (2002) Archiv
    • Serse by conducted by William Christie (2004) Virgin Classics
  • Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel conducted by Jeffrey Tate(1989/1990) EMI
  • Massenet: Werther conducted by Kent Nagano (1997) Elektra
  • Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1996) Archiv
    • L'Orfeo conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1987) Archiv
  • Mozart: La clemenza di Tito conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1993) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Così fan tutte conducted by Georg Solti (1996) Decca
    • Idomeneo conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1991) Deutsche Grammophon
    • Le nozze di Figaro conducted by James Levine (1992) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Purcell: Dido and Aeneas conducted by Trevor Pinnock (1989) Archiv
  • Rachmaninoff: Aleko conducted by Neeme Järvi (1997) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli (2002) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Igor Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1999) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin conducted by James Levine (1988) Deutsche Grammophon

Aria recordings

  • Anne Sofie von Otter sings Offenbach, conducted by Marc Minkowski – Deutsche Grammophon
  • Baroque Arias by Handel, Monteverdi, Roman and Telemann, with the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble – Proprius
  • Ombre de mon amant, French baroque arias conducted by William Christie – Archiv
  • Opera Arias by Gluck, Haydn and Mozart, conducted by Trevor Pinnock – Archiv

Oratorios, symphonies, etc

Other music

  • Home for Christmas, classical works and popular tunes for Christmas (1999) Deutsche Grammophon
  • For the Stars, a collection of rock and pop songs (by the likes of Brian Wilson, Andersson–Ulvaeus and Lennon–McCartney), with Elvis Costello and Svante Henryson (2001) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Peter Sculthorpe: Island Dreaming, with the Brodsky Quartet (2001) Challenge Records
  • I Let the Music Speak – Songs of ABBA including "Money, Money, Money" and "The Winner Takes It All" (2006) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Noel, classical Christmas music with Bengt Forsberg (2006) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Love Songs, with Brad Mehldau (2010) Naïve[15]
  • Ottorino Respighi: Il tramonto, with the Brodsky Quartet – Vanguard

References

  1. ^ Paldiel, Mordecai, Saving the Jews: Amazing Stories of Men and Women Who Defied the "Final Solution". Schreiber Publishing (ISBN 1-887563-55-5), p. 45 (2000).
  2. ^ a b Stephen Moss (2005-08-05). "Super von trouper". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  3. ^ Donal Henehan (1988-12-17). "Reviews/Music; 'Figaro' Among Towering Columns". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  4. ^ Neil Strauss (2001-05-21). "Worlds of Mezzo and Pop Star Meet Somewhere in Between; Anne Sofie von Otter: Fresh Start". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  5. ^ Anthony Tommasini (1998-05-09). "Music Review: Von Otter, From Lieder to Blues". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  6. ^ Anthony Tommasini (2005-04-19). "Vibrant Singing at the Nice Price". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  7. ^ Steve Smith (2009-05-04). "Resilience of the Human Spirit, in Song". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  8. ^ Anthony Tommasini (2015-05-10). "Review: A Peter Eotvos Premiere and Schubert at the New York Philharmonic". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  9. ^ Stephen Holden (2012-11-01). "The Strings Play On; The Bonds Tear Apart". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  10. ^ David Bartal (2007-09-17). "A Different Aria". Forward. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  11. ^ Dammann, Guy. The brilliant sound of gnawing anxiety. Financial Times, Friday 15 September 2017, p. 10.
  12. ^ "Anne Sofie von Otter". Upmc.fr. Retrieved 18 January 2018. 
  13. ^ Fiona Maddocks (2013-11-09). "Various: Douce France – review". The Observer. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  14. ^ Anne Midgette (2005-01-16). "Classical Recordings: Anne Sofie von Otter Sinks Her Teeth Into the Baroque". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 
  15. ^ John Fordham (2010-11-18). "Brad Mehldau/Anne Sofie von Otter: Love Songs – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-22. 

External links

This page was last modified 13.04.2018 22:28:48

This article uses material from the article Anne Sofie von Otter from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.