Solvieg Kringelborn is one of the most celebrated sopranos to emerge from Scandinavia in recent times, Solveig Kringelborn has become a sought after opera and concert performer. On the concert platform she is particularly famed for her interpretation of Scandinavian music, whilst on the operatic stage she receives acclaim not only for her singing but also for her powerful acting ability, due to the combination of her silvery toned voice and intense stage presence.
She regularly works with conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Herbert Blomstedt, Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Claudio Abbado, Sir Neville Marriner and Sir Colin Davis.
Solveig Kringelborn’s recordings for BMG/RCA, Chandos and Virgin include Grieg Songs with Rozhdestvensky, Grieg’s Haugtussa and Olav Tryggvason, Sibelius’ Luonnotar and Lutoslawski songs and most recently a solo recital CD with Malcolm Martineau entitled Black Roses, which won a Norwegian Grammy. In addition, she has recorded Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 for Deutsche Grammophon under Giuseppe Sinopoli.
One of the leading Scandinavian singers with a specialty for Norwegian song, Solveig Kringelborn also possesses a wide operatic repertoire. Engagements over the last couple of seasons have included Ellen Orford Peter Grimes at La Monnaie, Katerina Izmailova Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for San Fancisco Opera, Zurich Opera, Dresden Semperoper, Bayerische Rundfunk and at the Saito Kinen Festival, Rosalinde Die Fledermaus, Tatyana Eugene Onegin and Eva Die Meistersinger at the Metropolitan Opera, Lisa Pique Dame for the Liceu in Barcelona, Elisabeth Tannhäuser in Zurich and Hamburg, Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony at the Komische Oper, Berlin and the Salzburg Festival, Missa Solemnis with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera and with Antonio Pappano and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Marenka The Bartered Bride (Lehnhoff/Kout) for Glyndebourne Festival, Marie Wozzeck (Mussbach/von Dohnanyi), Ariadne auf Naxos at the Opéra National de Paris and her first Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier for Norwegian Opera which she subsequently sang at the Opéra National de Paris. She also made a celebrated recording of Sibelius’ opera The Maiden in the Tower for Virgin.
At the BBC Proms in 1991, Solveig Kringelborn premiered Lutoslawski’s Chantefleurs et Chantefables, written specifically for her by the composer himself. She has since performed this work in many countries, most recently at the BBC Proms in 2007.
More recent seasons have included performances of Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Marie Wozzeck at La Monnaie in Brussels, Elisabeth Tannhäuser at the Baden-Baden Festival, Marietta Die tote Stadt at La Fenice and Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier with the Komische Oper in Berlin.
Concert performances have included Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Münchner Klangverwaltung Orchester at the Birmingham Symphony Hall, Adriana Mater with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a European tour of Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
In 2009/10, Kringelborn sang the title role of Rusalka and the Countess Le nozze di Figaro for Norwegian Opera. She also sang Marietta Die tote Stadt at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Concert performances included Die Schöpfung with the Borustan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra in Turkey and with the Duisburger Philharmoniker in Germany, a concert tour in New Zealand with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Das Paradies und die Peri with the Accentus Choir in Paris and Brussels, a recital with Malcolm Martineau at the Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg and a concert tour with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.
Highlights of the 2010/11 season include Strauss’ Four Last Songs with Goteborg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Brahms' Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Solveig Kringelborn is represented by Intermusica.
August 2010 / 588 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
La Fenice / Marietta Die Tote Stadt
“…with an assured impersonation that was beautiful, blond, sexy, fearless, and vibrantly sung. Mariettas Lied, the opera’s best known tune, was voiced with silvery tone and lovely limpid phrasing.”
James Sohre, Opera Today, March 2009
R. Strauss Four Last Songs
Munich Klangverwaltung Orchestra / Birmingham Symphony Hall
“Tentative at first, she relaxed and let her voice soar for a radiant Beim Schlafengehen.”
Norman Stichcombe, Birmingham Post, November 2008
Refka / Saariaho Adriana Mater
BBC Symphony Orchestra
“But some outstanding singers certainly galvanised this performance. Solveig Kringelborn volatile and distraught as the sister.”
Richard Morrison, The Times, April 2008
“Solveig Kringelborn completed the excellent cast.”
Fiona Maddocks, Evening Standard, April 2008
Marenka / The Bartered Bride
Glyndebourne Festival
“As Marenka, Solveig Kringelborn is engagingly girlfish yet also determined, even fiery, her voice conveying both strength of personality and an appealing rosy-cheeked freshness.”
Stephen Pettitt, The Art, June 2005
“Her silvery timbre and her plangently truthful portrayal”
Michael Church, The Independent, June 2005