“Norwegian soprano Marita Sølberg as an unforgettable Mimì of the highest international standard”.
Opera Now

Marita Sølberg recently made her role debut as Mimi La bohème at the Norwegian National Opera to critical acclaim, a role that won her the Music Critics Prize in Norway. Highlights in 2012/13 season include Giulietta I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Female Chorus The Rape of Lucretia, and Nedda I Pagliacci at the Norwegian National Opera, Contessa Le nozze di Figaro for Teatro La Fenice and concerts with Le Cercle de l’Harmonie in Bremen and Brussels, Górecki Symphony No. 3 with Sinfonia Varsovia, Haydn Creation with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and a gala concert with the Oslo Philharmonic. Next season she will also sing Donna Elvira Don Giovanni, Antonia Les contes d’Hoffmann, and concerts with BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Orchestre de Paris.

Sølberg was a company member of Staatsteater Stuttgart in 2006-2008, and joined the Norwegian Opera as a Principal Artist in 2008. Her operatic roles include Michaëla Carmen, Gretel Hänsel und Gretel, Contessa Le nozze di Figaro, title role Zaide, Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Celia Lucio Silla, Servilia La Clemenza di Tito, Female Chorus The Rape of Lucretia, Kathrine Sigismund The fourth Watch of the Night, Marzelline Fidelio, and Bellezza Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. She has also made her Glyndebourne Festival debut as Zerlina in Jonathan Kent’s production of Don Giovanni, conducted by Robin Ticciati. Renowned for her performance of Solveig in Peer Gynt, she has sung this role in Norway, Sweden, Germany (Berliner Philharmoniker), Spain and the US. In 2010, She performed ‘Solveig’s song’ at the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo.

Her versatile concert repertoire span across Baroque and contemporary works. Most recently she sang Gounod’s Messe Solennelle de Sainte Cécile with Orchestre de Paris, a Handel, Mozart, Bach programme at the Mozarteum, Salzburg and a European tour of St Matthew Passion with Les Musiciens de Louvre under Marc Minkowski. Other concert repertoire include Purcell’s Ode to St. Cecilia, Bach’s St John Passion and Christmas Oratorio, Pergolesi’s L’Orfeo, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Cäcilienmesse, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Mass in C Minor, Exultate Jubilate and Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Faure’s Requiem, Mahler Symphony Nos. 2 & 4, Berg Sieben frühe lieder and Górecki’s Symphony No.3.

Marita Sølberg performs regularly with Les musiciens de Louvre and Orchestre de Paris, and has also worked with BBC Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Norwegian Baroque Orchestra, Bergen Phiharmonic Orchestra, and Gotenburg Symphony Orchestra. She has also worked with such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Neeme Järvi, Michael Hofstetter, Michel Plasson, Eivind Aadland, Eduardo Lopez-Banzo, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Andreas Spering, Paul McCreesh, Jean-Christoph Spinosi and Roland Böer. Her discography includes Peer Gynt and Grieg’s orchestral songs, both with the Bergen Philharmonic for BIS.

Trained in Norway, Marita Sølberg won the Queen Sonja International Music Competition and was a prize winner at the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna. In 2011, she was awarded the Tom Wilhelmsens Foundation prize at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, in recognition of her artistry and musical achievements as a young artist, both nationally and internationally.

Marita Sølberg is represented worldwide by Intermusica
May 2013 / 522 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.

“One rarely hears a voice like this. It is a voice of almost mystic dimensions, great and fully grown and with a veil of the unspoken, as if it is brought forth from a deep secret source. Marita Sølberg has the potential to be one of our most shining stars without any who can strive up to her height.”
Laagendalsposten

Nedda in Leoncavallo I Pagliacci / Norwegian National Opera
cond. John Fiore / dir. Paul Curran
As Nedda, Marita Sølberg once again convinced, especially vocally. Her smoky soprano was especially well suited to Nedda’s aria, but she was equally wonderful portraying Colombina, showing a both a charming stage presence and a beautiful voice.
Aksel Tollåli, Bach Track, March 2013

Mimi in Puccini La bohème / Royal Norwegian Opera DVD
“Soprano Marita Solberg is as stylistically Italianate as any Mimi I’ve ever heard”.
David Patrick Stearns, Gramophone, February 2013

Contessa in Mozart Le nozze di Figaro
Musikfest Bremen / cond. Jeremie Rhorer
“The enjoyably high standard of the performance was primarily down to the casting. Most noteworthy was Marita Solberg’s splendid Countess; her skilled use of timbre in each and every phrase contributed to the characterisation and content of the role.”

“Großen Anteil am hohen und beglückenden Niveau der Aufführung hatten die Sänger und Sängerinnen. An erster Stelle ist hier die Gräfin von Marita Solberg zu nennen, deren Timbres in jeder Phase zu Inhalt wurden: großartig.”
Kreiszeitung, September 2012

Mimi in Puccini La Bohème / Norwegian National Opera 
cond. Eivind Gullberg Jensen / Kirill Karabits / dir. Stefan Herheim
“My top production of the year in Scandinavia was Norwegian National Opera’s La Bohème. [...] This production [saw] two casts of excellent young singers, in particular Norwegian soprano Marita Solberg as an unforgettable Mimì of the highest international standard”.
Ingrid Gäfvert, Opera Now, December 2012

“The performance is musically a dream. Marita Sølberg could sing Mimi in any of the world’s opera houses and receive ovations.”
Ståle-Wikshåland, Dagbladet, January 2012

“Norwegian National Opera’s own Marita Sølberg shines as Mimi. The voice is refreshingly powerful and rich, with a wealth of nuances.”
Ragnhild – Veire, Norwegian Broadcasting, January 2012

“Marita Sølberg’s Mimi is an experience in itself. Her voice is warm and clear and she masters all nuances.”
Tori-Skrede, Verdens-Gang, January 2012

Zerlina in Mozart Don Giovanni 
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Glyndebourne / cond. Robin Ticciati / dir. Jonathan Kent
“Marita Sølberg was making her house debut as Zerlina, as pretty as a National Gallery-full of pictures and with equally attractive sound.”
Rodney Milnes, Opera Magazine, August 2011

Wernicke Actus Tragicus
Div musicians / cond. Michael Hofstetter
”Marita Sølberg was of the soloists that impressed us, with a shining precise and sincere sound...”
Norwegian broadcasting, September 2008

“Sølberg has a fabulous sound all over her register, and her sound is warm both in the deep register as in the high register.”
Dagbladet, September 2008

Celia in Mozart Lucio Silla
Staatstheater Stuttgart / cond. Konrad Jungänel
“Marita Sølberg as Silla’s sister Celia was vocally excellent.”
Stuttgarter Zeitung, November 2007

“Marita Sølberg as Silla’s sister Celia shone with her gentle soprano shimmer and the soothing, precious tone of a beautiful soul.”
Bannstatter Zeitung, November 2007

Wernicke Actus Tragicus
Staatstheater Stuttgart / cond. Michael Hofstetter
“Marita Sølberg stood out from the ensemble with her spirited performance as the Diva.”
Schwäbisches Tagblatt, November 2006

“Soprano Marita Sølberg’s performance was especially impressive.”
Die Rheinpfalz, November 2006

“The soloists were excellent: Marita Sølberg gave a winning performance full of charm and radiance.”
Pforzheimer Zeitung, November 2006

“Of the soloists, faced with challenging recitatives and arias, Marita Sølberg was especially outstanding.”
Vaihinger Kreiszeitung, November 2006

Wernicke Actus Tragicus
Div musicians / cond. Michael Hofstetter
“The singing parts were not many, but enough for Marita Sølberg in the role of Solveig to show that she has an amazing voice and a performing…”

“Highlights were Marita Sølberg’s crystal clear sounding Solveig.”
Schwäbisches Tagblatt, November 2006

Solveig in Egk Peer Gynt
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra / cond. Rolf Gupta
“And not surprisingly, the gentler moments made the strongest impact Tuesday night. Solveigs Song, sung with such winning warmth by Marita Sølberg was clearly the emotional centre of the evening.”
Star Tribune, October 2005

Pamina in Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Norwegian National Opera / cond. Eivind Aadland
“….many sang her praise after her debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Norwegian National Opera, some went as far as saying that Marita is the best Pamina the NNO ever singing it.”
Per Magne Midjo, Trønder-Avisa, August 2003

Arias Humperdinck and Puccini
Norwegian Opera Orchestra / cond. Manfred Mayrhofer
”Marita has above all an amazingly beautiful voice,” quote Ingrid Bjoner, member of the jury in the Queen Sonja International Singing competition, herself a legendary interpreter of the great soprano roles. The jury agreed that she had the most beautiful voice of all the finalists. “And it is a voice with great possibilities of development.”
Erik Modal, , January 2003

Pamina in Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Norwegian National Opera / cond. Eivind Aadland
“But first of all the premiere of the season was a breakthrough for Marita K Sølberg. The expectations to her debut was huge after her great victory last year in the Queen Sonja International Singing competition. From the first seconds she showed great singing capacity and Paminas aria was a highlight in the performance, formed beautifully.”
NRK classic, November 2002

L'Ange in Messiaen Saint François d’Assise
Trondheim Symphonic Orchestra / cond. Gregor Bühl
“And after this concert we know what an angel sounds like. Rarely has it been a greater resemblance between the performance of what an angel is and what Marita K.Sølberg sang.”
Laagendalsposten, July 2002