The Norwegian soprano Birgitte Christensen studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. 1999-2003 she was engaged at the opera in Innsbruck.
She regularly works with conductors such as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Fabio Biondi, Jürgen Budday, Paolo Carignani, Francesco Corti, Teodor Currentzis, Alan Curtis, Alessandro De Marchi, Diego Fasolis, Adam Fischer, Leopold Hager, Olaf Henzold, Manfred Honeck, René Jacobs, Steffen Kammler, Nicholas Kraemer, Stefan Klingele, Andrew Manze, Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Federico Maria Sardelli, Peter Schreier, Peter Szilvay, Steven Sloane, Thomas Søndergård, Alexander Vedernikov, Bruno Weil, Michael Alexander Willens and Lothar Zagrosek.
Recent opera engagements have brought her to opera houses such as Staatsoper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Stuttgart, National Theater Mannheim, Komische Oper Berlin, Teatro Municipal de Chile, Bolshoi Theatre Moscow and the Norwegian National Opera.
Her opera roles include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, Violetta in La Traviata, Liu in Turandot, Micaëla in Carmen, Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello, Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia, Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, Musetta in La bohème, Mrs. Fluth in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hanna Glawari in Die Lustige Witwe, Jenny in Mahagonny and Cunegonde in Candide. She has also sung several roles in baroque operas, including the title roles in Handel’s Alcina and Partenope, Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Bellezza in Handel’s Il Trionfo del tempo e del disinganno, Iphis in Händel’s Jephta, Edronica in Telemann’s Der Geduldige Socrates, Gionata in Conti’s David and the title role in Monteverdi’s L'Incoronazione di Poppea.
Birgitte Christensen has appeared in numerous concert halls and festivals throughout Europe. Her exceptionally wide repertoire include works by Monteverdi, Pergolesi, Bach, Handel, Telemann, Haydn, Mozart, Rossini, Beethoven, Bruch, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Fauré, Verdi, Strauss, Mahler, Debussy as well as a number of contemporary composers.
The 2010/11 season included the title role in Handel’s Alcina at Teatro Municipal de Chile, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Micaëla in Carmen in Sandefjord, Verdi’s Requiem with Kristiansund Symphony Orchestra, Erlend Skomvoll’s Requiem at the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, New Years concerts in Harstad as well as in Halden (Norway), arias by Mozart as well as Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Handel’s Alexander’s Feast in Oslo, Verdi’s Requiem in Moss and Mozart’s Requiem at the Vestfold International Festival.
The 2011/12 season included Nedda in I Pagliacci at Oscarsborg Opera Festival, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes at the Norwegian National Opera, excerpts from Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Berg’s Wozzeck with the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Teodor Currentzis, Fauré’s Requiem with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Alexander Vedernikov, arias by Mozart with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Fabio Biondi, arias by Mozart at the Vestfold International Festival with the conductor Michael Willens and Handel’s Messiah in Oslo. She will also participate in a CD recording of bel-canto repertoire (Rossini and others) with the conductor Fabio Biondi.
Assignments in the current and upcoming seasons include Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Violetta in La Traviata at the Norwegian National Opera, Gilade in Vivaldi's Il Farnace at Maggio Musicale in Florence with the conductor Federico Maria Sardelli, 1:st Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Fabio Biondi, Britten’s War Requiem with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Gregor Bühl, Bach's Magnificat and Easter Oratorio with the conductor Herbert Böck, and Bach's Christmas Oratorio in Trondheim with the conductor Viviann Sydnes as well as in Oslo with the conductor Steffen Kammler.
February 2013