Birgitta Svendén is a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

tic (mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano

A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

).

Svendén, who was born in Porjus

Porjus

Porjus is a locality situated in Jokkmokk Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 317 inhabitants in 2005. Geographically it is situated by the shores of Lule River at 499 meter height....

 and raised in Vuollerim

Vuollerim

Vuollerim is a locality situated in Jokkmokk Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 800 inhabitants in 2005.-Famous people:*Zemya Hamilton*Jakob Hellman*Jokkmokks-Jokke*Birgitta Svendén*Lars-Göran Nilsson-External links:*...

, studied at the Opera in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

. She has made an international career in the first place as a Wagner singer, especially at the Bayreuth Festival

Bayreuth Festival

The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...

.

Birgitta Svendén has been a hovsångerska

Hovsångare

Hovsångare , literally Court Singer, is a title awarded by the Swedish monarch to a singer who, by their vocal art, has contributed to the international standing of Swedish singing. The formal title was introduced by King Gustav III of Sweden in 1773, with the first recipients being Elisabeth Olin...

 since 1995. She is also a full member of the Academy of Music and an honorary doctor at the Lulea University of Technology

Luleå University of Technology

Luleå University of Technology or Luleå tekniska universitet of Sweden is Scandinavia's northernmost university of technology. It has four campuses, located in Luleå , Kiruna , Skellefteå and Piteå .-History:The university was founded on 1 June 1971 at Porsön in Luleå as...

.

From 1 August 2005 to 2009, she was the rector of the Opera School in Stockholm. She is since 1 February 2010 General Manager of Royal Swedish Opera

Royal Swedish Opera

Kungliga Operan is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.-Location and Environment:...

.

Recordings

The Flying Dutchman

The Flying Dutchman

The legend of the Flying Dutchman concerns a ghost ship that can never make port, doomed to sail the oceans forever. It probably originates from 17th-century nautical folklore. The oldest extant version dates to the late 18th century....

 (1994), conducted by James Levine

James Levine

James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...

 with Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 orchestra and chorus. Cast included James Morris

James Morris (opera singer)

James Morris is a leading American opera singer with a bass-baritone voice. He is best known for his interpretation of the taxing role of Wotan in Richard Wagner's operatic cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen...

, Deborah Voigt, Jan-Hendrik Rootering

Jan-Hendrik Rootering

Jan-Hendrik Rootering is a German-born bass-baritone, son of the Dutch tenor Hendrikus Rootering from whom he had his first lessons...

, Ben Heppner

Ben Heppner

Ben Heppner, CC is a Canadian tenor, specializing in opera and other classical works for voice.Heppner was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek...

, Paul Groves, and Birgitta Svendén. Audio CD: Sony ASIN: B0000029N4. she also sang Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried in the Met Opera Ring Cycle CD's and DVD's recorded 1987 thru 1991 conducted by Levine with Morris, Behrens, Wlaschiha, Goldberg (Siegfried CD), Jerusalem (Siegfried DVD) and Ludwig.

External links