Birigitte Christensen Biography

The Norwegian soprano Birgitte Christensen studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.

Her career started as a member of the ensemble at the opera in Innsbruck. Since then she has appeared at opera houses and festivals such as Opéra National de Paris, Opernhaus Zürich, Staatsoper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Stuttgart, National Theater Mannheim, Komische Oper Berlin, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Theater an der Wien, Teatro Municipal de Chile, Opéra de Versailles, Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie, Bolshoi Theatre Moscow, Ruhrtriennale, Innsbruck Festival of Early Music and most frequently; the Norwegian National Opera.

Early roles for Birgitte Christensen included Fiorilla in IL TURCO IN ITALIA, Helena in Britten’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, Musetta in LA BOHÈME, Mrs. Fluth in THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR and Cunegonde in CANDIDE. She quickly moved on adding Donna Anna in DON GIOVANNI, Vitellia in LA CLEMENZA DI TITO, Konstanze in DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL, Violetta in LA TRAVIATA, Liu in TURANDOT, Nedda in I PAGLIACCI, Micaëla in CARMEN, Desdemona in Rossini’s OTELLO, Rosalinde in DIE FLEDERMAUS, Hanna Glawari in DIE LUSTIGE WITWE and Jenny in MAHAGONNY. More recently she has sung the title role in Beethoven’s LEONORE, Isolde in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, the title role in Gluck’s IPHIGENIE EN TAURIDE, the title role in Gluck’s ALCESTE, the title role in Haydn’s ARMIDA, Elisabetta in DON CARLO, Amelia in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, the title role in AIDA and Ellen Orford in PETER GRIMES. 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 Handel’s JEPHTHA, Eva in Scarlatti’s IL PRIMO OMICIDIO, 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 frequently appears in 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, Britten, Weill and a large number of works of contemporary composers.

She regularly works with conductors such as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Fabio Biondi, Jürgen Budday, Gregor Bühl, Herbert Böck, Gianluca Capuano, Paolo Carignani, Francesco Corti, Teodor Currentzis, Alan Curtis, Paul Daniel, Thomas Dausgaard, Alessandro De Marchi, Diego Fasolis, John Helmer Fiore, Adam Fischer, Mikhail Granovsky, Leopold Hager, Olaf Henzold, Manfred Honeck, Robert Howarth, Leo Hussain, René Jacobs, Marek Janowski, Alexander Joel, Ralf Kircher, Nicholas Kraemer, Stefan Klingele, Christian Lindberg, Andrew Manze, Enrique Mazzola, Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Stefano Montanari, Christopher Moulds, George Petrou, Tobias Ringborg, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Federico Maria Sardelli, Peter Schreier, Steven Sloane, Marc Soustrot, Thomas Søndergård, Alexander Vedernikov, Mario Venzago, Bruno Weil, Michael Alexander Willens and Lothar Zagrosek.

Recent engagements include Isolde in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE in Tokyo under the baton of Marek Janowski, Iphigénie in Gluck’s IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE at the Opernhaus Zürich, the title role in Beethoven’s LEONORE in Berlin, Hamburg, Freiburg and Bucharest with the conductor René Jacobs, excerpts from AIDA in a televised Opera Gala at the Norwegian National Opera, Verdi’s REQUIEM in Rome, Beethoven’s SYMPHONY NO. 9 in Vienna, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Hamburg and Athens under the baton of Teodor Currentzis, Bruckner’s TE DEUM as well as Haydn’s HARMONIEMESSE with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Beethoven’s SYMPHONY NO. 9 with the Arctic Philharmonic, Mendelssohn’s ELIJAH in Moss and Kirsten Flagstad in the new opera FLAGSTAD by Ketil Bjørnstad.

October 2024