Swedish Wedding Of Prince Carl Philip Is Royal Musical Miss

Non-Operatic Pairing: Prince Carl Philip with 
his bride Sofia. See the full program of the
 wedding ceremony by clicking here.

HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden married Sofia Hellqvist on June 13, 2015, in The Royal Chapel of The Royal Palace. Following the footprint for the nuptials of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia Sommerlath, assembling guests were treated to "compositions for Royal Weddings" by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johan Helmich Roman, and George Friederic Händel. That would be the end of the classical music for this ceremony. What followed was the inclusion of non-traditional music such as "Athair ar Neamh" by Enya for the Procession,  "Fix You" by Coldplay (sung by Salem Al Fakir) before the Intercession, and "Joyful, joyful" (sung by Samuel Ljungblahd) at the Bridal Recession. No surprise that a love of pop music runs in the family, as his parents were treated to an ABBA concert at the Royal Opera the night before their wedding in 1976. As this trend toward lack of vocal music at young royal weddings continues, will opera singers be banished from these events in the future? There is a plethora of actively performing Swedish sopranos and mezzo-sopranos that could have been engaged for this special occasion, including Anne Sofie von Otter, Miah Persson, Nina Stemme, Katarina Karnéus, Ann Hallenberg, and more. Check out videos of the country's overlooked singers (including Peter Mattei), after the jump.

Elisabeth Söderström Singing Sibelius Made Available For Third Time

The latest release of a famous recording. Pre-order here.

Recorded at Kingsway Hall in London between December 1978 and November 1981, this set of complete songs from Jean Sibelius features baritone Tom Krause and soprano Elisabeth Söderström accompanied by pianists Irwin Gage and Vladimir Ashkenazy as well as guitarist Carlos Bonell. It won the Gramophone Award for "Solo Vocal Award" in 1985. Originally released on LP, this 4-CD set was available previously only by Universal Japan and then as part of a special limited-edition Gramophone Awards Collection series on Decca. For connoisseurs, this edition sets the standard quite high in the artistry department. Born in the Swedish-speaking region of Finland, Sibelius didn't begin to learn Finnish until age 11. His songs were made popular worldwide by opera singers Birgit Nilsson and Jussi Björling through their recitals, concerts, and recordings. Scandinavian music in general continued to be under-represented on disc until Elisabeth Söderström recorded a 1957 program of works that ranged from Erik Gustav Geijer to Ture Rangström. Since the initial release of Decca's Sibelius songs, the industry has produced a plethora of recordings featuring the composer's vocal gems interpreted by artists such as Karita Mattila, Anne Sofie von Otter, Monica Groop, Katarina Karnéus, Soile Isokoski, and Barbara Bonney.  Listen to excerpts from Sibelius: The Complete Songs by clicking here. Read a 2004 review of the Gramophone re-issue, and see the complete list of songs, after the jump. [Source, Source]

Anne Sofie Von Otter Leads New CD Releases For Spring 2015

A Host Of Talent In "Les Contes D'Hoffmann" At Teatro Real Madrid

Eric Cutler in the title role of Hoffmann
(Photo: Javier del Real/Teatro Real)

Stage director Christoph Marthaler brings together a young cast of invigorating talent including Eric Cutler (Hoffmann), Vito Priante (Four Villains), Measha Brueggergosman (Antonia/Giulietta), Ana Durlovski (Olympia), and Altea Garrido (Stella). The seasoned veteran of the group, mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, portrays the character of Nicklausse. Conductor Sylvain Cambreling leads the ensemble. The production premiered May 17 and runs through June 21. For more information on the cast and production dates, click here. Watch a preview video after the jump of highlights from the production.

Anne Sofie Von Otter Serves Up Two Sides of French Song

"The love of Sweden's most famous singer for the French language is well known. Anne Sofie von Otter performs this album with exceptional sensitivity and intelligence. Von Otter's successful journeys beyond the boundaries of classical music, whether with Elvis Costello or Brad Mehldau, inform her unique view of two centuries of French Chanson, from Mélodies by Fauré and Debussy to Barbara, Piaf, Ferre, Moustaki, and Trenet. United by the magic of words and the emotion of simple and sensitive music, these melodies are timeless treasures of the French heritage and spirit, which this great artist performs with her legendary elegance." [Source] Preview the EPK for the album and check out the entire track list for the 2-CD set after the jump. You can pre-order your copy of the recording here.

Anne Sofie von Otter Creates Two Musical Worlds in Australia

Mezzo-soprano down under in Sydney
(Photo: Jane Dempster/The Australian)

Mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter performed at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony in the Concert Hall on November 3 and as part of the Utzon Music Series in the Utzon Room on November 6. "From her recordings and reputation, I knew Swedish mezzosoprano Anne Sofie von Otter was a remarkable artist. What her two Sydney concerts also demonstrated was her impressive stylistic range. Whether she's singing classical, jazz or pop, von Otter is assured across her tessitura and sustains superb dynamic control and nuanced tone colours. The first half of her Sydney Symphony concert was devoted to a selection of Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne. Von Otter is renowned for her capacity to completely capture a song's character. So it proved here. Her strong sense of line created sensitively shaped accounts of 'Bailero' and 'La Delaissado,' her precise attack and clarity of articulation invigorated 'L'aio de Rotso' and 'Lou Boussu' and she showed delightful comic touches in 'Lou Coucut'.....von Otter sensibly employed a microphone in her selection of popular

Anne Sofie von Otter To Sing Recital in Hong Kong

"Widely acclaimed as one of the world’s most accomplished singers both in opera house and concert hall, Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter returns to Hong Kong after her highly praised début concert in 2008. The versatile singer has made a special reputation as a Lieder singer. Song repertoire she has recorded covers a wide spectrum, from Baroque to Mozart to the more standard repertoire of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Richard Strauss and Mahler, and to the less widely explored territories of Grieg, Weill, Korngold and Chaminade. Her recordings of Grieg’s songs and ‘Mots d’amour’, a collection of Chaminade mélodies won her the prestigious Gramophone Awards, which also named her as ‘Artist of the Year’ in 1996. Her coming Hong Kong recital has a very special Scandinavian flavour. Appearing with her long-time musical partner, the Swedish pianist Bengt Forsberg, von Otter will perform a very specially conceived programme of works by Mahler, Liszt, Grieg, Sibelius, Schubert, Korngold and Weill." [Source]

Program for the recital is after the jump.

Brad Mehldau Discusses Working With Anne Sofie Von Otter

(Photo: Richard Dumas/Naïve)

In 2006 young jazz star Brad Mehldau collaborated with opera singer Renée Fleming to record an album that was described as "A collection of duets for voice and piano, Love Sublime is based on the writings of poets Rainer Maria Rilke and Louise Bogan and addresses faith and doubt, youth and aging, male and female, romantic yearning and mature reflection. The voices of the writers are very much present in the melodies and rhythms of Love Sublime." Then in the fall of 2010 he released an album with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, Love Songs, bringing together works of the greatest songwriters including Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Barbara, Michel Legrand, Leonard Bernstein, Paul McCartney, Joni Michell and others. Now on tour together, the duo performs a concert on February 23 presented by the Place des Arts

Anne Sofie von Otter Wins Over $20K

"Anne Sofie von Otter is to receive the coveted Frankfurt Music Prize for 2011. The versatile mezzo-soprano will be presented with the award and the €15,000 prize money on the eve of Musikmesse. With it, the jury has not only acknowledged an outstanding voice, but also the artist's varied repertoire, which ranges from Baroque to jazz. The prize will be presented on the eve of Musikmesse 2011, 5 April 2011, during the PRG LEA Awards ceremony in the Festhalle Frankfurt. The trustees of the Frankfurt Music Prize selected Anne Sofie von Otter for her extraordinary voice, her extremely varied, cross-genre repertoire and her bold interpretations." Past recipients of the prize include Brigitte Fassbaender (1985), Sir Georg Solti (1992) and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (2001).  [Source, Source]

Birds of a Feather Flock to the Canary Islands

Some of the world's most exotic opera canaries will be landing on the archipelago, from January 7th to February 12th, to celebrate the 27th year of the music festival. A wonderful way to spend the first winter months of 2011. Artist line-up after the jump.