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, Umberto Benedetti, 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, 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 season 2009/10 included the title role in L'Incoronazione di Poppea at the Norwegian National Opera, Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue with the conductor Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the conductor Andrew Manze, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra as well as on Iceland with the conductor Hörður Áskelsson, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle in Hamar, and Verdi’s Requiem with the Nordfjord Opera.
The season 2010/11 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 Festival.
Forthcoming assignments include Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier as well as additional performances of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at the Norwegian National Opera and Nedda in I Pagliacci at Oscarsborg Opera Festival. She will also sing excerpts from Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Berg’s Wozzeck with the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Teodor Currentzis.
August 2011