Anne Sofie von Otter

For the violinist, see Anne-Sophie Mutter.
Anne Sofie von Otter

Anne Sofie von Otter (2011)
Born (1955-05-09) May 9, 1955
Stockholm
Occupation Mezzo-soprano singer
Website annesofievonotter.com

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

Biography

Von Otter was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father was the diplomat Göran von Otter and she grew up in Bonn, London and Stockholm. After studying in Stockholm and Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, she was engaged by the Basel Opera, where she made her operatic début in 1983 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 1988 as Cherubino.[1]

She has had notable success in roles of Mozart, Handel, and Monteverdi. In recitals, she excels in the music of Mahler, Brahms, Grieg, Wolf and Sibelius. 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 an album with Elvis Costello, for which she won an Edison Award. Among the conductors she has worked with repeatedly are William Christie, Marc Minkowski, Claudio Abbado, John Eliot Gardiner, and Myung-Whun Chung. Most of her recitals and many of her recordings have been collaborations with Swedish pianist Bengt Forsberg. In 2003, von Otter was awarded a Rolf Schock Prize in the musical arts category.

In 2006, von Otter sang the Evangelist in the premiere of Sven-David Sandström's Ordet – en passion, on 24 March in Stockholm.[2]

In 2007, she released a highly praised 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 explained that the material has special personal meaning for her as her father, a Swedish diplomat in Berlin during World War II, had attempted unsuccessfully during the war to spread information that he had received from SS officer Kurt Gerstein about the Nazi death camps.[3]

She is married to Benny Fredriksson, an actor and theatre director, and has two children.

Awards

Discography

Selective charting albums

Anne Sofie von Otter, 2013

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

Year Album Peak positions
SWE
[5]		 GER
 NED
[6]		 NOR
[7]
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

Complete operas

Aria recordings

Oratorios, symphonies, etc

Other music

References

  1. ↑ The Metropolitan Opera Association Database
  2. ↑ Broman PF. Ordet – en passion. Introduction to Swedish Radio performance, accessed 4 January 2010
  3. ↑ Lebrecht, Norman. "Tales of the Recording Angel", 31 October 2007. The Lebrecht Report. Accessed 17 August 2011
  4. ↑ Swedish Royal Court official home page
  5. ↑ "Anne Sofie von Otter discography". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "Anne Sofie von Otter discography". dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "Anne Sofie von Otter discography". norwegaincharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 February 2014.

External links

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