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Anne Sofie von Otter

{{Short description|Swedish mezzo-soprano (born 1955)}}

{{for|the violinist|Anne-Sophie Mutter}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{EngvarB|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Anne Sofie von Otter

| image = Anne Sofie von Otter 2011-10-13 002.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Anne Sofie von Otter (2011)

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1955|05|09}}

| birth_place = Stockholm

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = Mezzo-soprano singer

| alma_mater = Guildhall School of Music and Drama

| spouse = {{marriage|end=d.|Benny Fredriksson|1989|2018}}

| website = {{URL|1=https://www.annesofievonotter.com/|2=annesofievonotter.com}}

}}

Anne Sofie von Otter (born 9 May 1955) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs.

Early life

Von Otter was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father was Göran von Otter, a Swedish diplomat in Berlin during World War II.Paldiel, Mordecai, Saving the Jews: Amazing Stories of Men and Women Who Defied the "Final Solution". Schreiber Publishing ({{ISBN|1-887563-55-5}}), p. 45 (2000). She grew up in Bonn, London and Stockholm. She studied in Stockholm and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where her teachers included Vera Rózsa.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/aug/05/classicalmusicandopera.proms2005 | title=Super von trouper | work=The Guardian | author=Stephen Moss | date=5 August 2005 | access-date=22 June 2016}} In 1982, she won second prize in the ARD International Music Competition.

From 1983 to 1985, she was an ensemble member of the Basel Opera, where she made her professional operatic début as Alcina in Haydn's Orlando paladino. She made her Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, début in 1985 and her La Scala debut in 1987. Her Metropolitan Opera début was in December 1988 as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/17/arts/reviews-music-figaro-among-towering-columns.html|title=Reviews/Music; Figaro Among Towering Columns|work=The New York Times|author=Donal Henahan|author-link=Donal Henahan|date=17 December 1988|access-date=22 June 2016}}

Career

Her recording of Grieg songs won the 1993 Gramophone Record of the Year, the first time in the award's history that it had gone to a song recording. In 2001, she released her album with Elvis Costello, For the Stars,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/21/arts/worlds-mezzo-pop-star-meet-somewhere-between-anne-sofie-von-otter-fresh-start.html|title=Worlds of Mezzo and Pop Star Meet Somewhere in Between; Anne Sofie von Otter: Fresh Start|work=The New York Times|author=Neil Strauss|author-link=Neil Strauss|date=21 May 2001|access-date=22 June 2016}} for which she won an Edison Award. She was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo in 2015 for her album of French songs, Douce France. She is a regular recital and recording partner with Swedish pianist Bengt Forsberg.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/09/arts/music-review-von-otter-from-lieder-to-blues.html|title=Music Review: Von Otter, From Lieder to Blues|work=The New York Times|author=Anthony Tommasini|author-link=Anthony Tommasini|date=9 May 1998|access-date=22 June 2016}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/arts/music/vibrant-singing-at-the-nice-price.html|title=Vibrant Singing at the Nice Price|work=The New York Times|author=Anthony Tommasini|author-link=Anthony Tommasini|date=19 April 2005|access-date=22 June 2016}}{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/arts/music/05otte.html | title=Resilience of the Human Spirit, in Song | work=The New York Times | author=Steve Smith | date=4 May 2009 | access-date=22 June 2016}}

In 2006, von Otter sang the Evangelist in the premiere of Sven-David Sandström's Ordet – en passion. Other work in contemporary music has included singing the role of The Woman in Senza Sangue of Péter Eötvös.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/arts/music/review-a-peter-eotvos-premiere-and-schubert-at-the-new-york-philharmonic.html|title=Review: A Peter Eotvos Premiere and Schubert at the New York Philharmonic|work=The New York Times|author=Anthony Tommasini|author-link=Anthony Tommasini|date=10 May 2015|access-date=22 June 2016}} In other media, she appeared in the film A Late Quartet.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/movies/a-late-quartet-directed-by-yaron-zilberman.html|title=The Strings Play On; The Bonds Tear Apart|work=The New York Times|author=Stephen Holden|author-link=Stephen Holden|date=1 November 2012|access-date=22 June 2016}}

In 2007, she released an album of music written by composers imprisoned in the Nazi ghetto of Theresienstadt concentration camp (also known as Terezin) before their transportation to the death camp of Auschwitz. She collaborated on this project with Christian Gerhaher (baritone) and chamber musicians. She has stated that the material has special personal meaning for her as her father had attempted unsuccessfully during the war to spread information that he had received from SS officer Kurt Gerstein about the Nazi death camps.{{cite news | url=http://forward.com/culture/11634/a-different-aria-00490/ | title=A Different Aria | work=Forward | author=David Bartal | date=17 September 2007 | access-date=22 June 2016}}

In 2016, von Otter sang Leonora in the world premiere of Thomas Adès' The Exterminating Angel, and again in 2017 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She created the principal role of Charlotte in Sebastian Fagerlund's 2017 opera Autumn Sonata, based on the 1979 film by Ingmar Bergman at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki conducted by John Storgårds.Dammann, Guy. The Brilliant Sound of Gnawing Anxiety. Financial Times, Friday 15 September 2017, p. 10.

Family life

Von Otter was married to Benny Fredriksson until his suicide on 17 March 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/high-profile-death-prompts-backlash-against-metoo-in-sweden-1.3444849|title=High-Profile Death Prompts Backlash Against #MeToo in Sweden|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=30 July 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/celebrity/famed-swedish-opera-singer-blames-supernumbermetoo-for-her-husband%E2%80%99s-suicide-%E2%80%98you-can-break-a-person%E2%80%99/ar-BBLfxZJ|title=Famed Swedish Opera Singer Blames #MeToo for Her Husband's Suicide: 'You Can Break a Person'|publisher=MSN|access-date=30 July 2018}} He was an actor and managing director of The Stockholm House of Culture, including the Stadsteater (Stockholm City Theatre). The couple had two children. She lives in the capital Stockholm.

Awards and honours

  • 1995: appointed Hovsångerska by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.ne.se/uppslagsverk/encyklopedi/l%C3%A5ng/anne-sofie-von-otter|title=Anne Sofie von Otter|encyclopedia=Nationalencyklopedin|access-date=22 April 2019}}
  • 2003: Rolf Schock Prize in the musical arts category{{cite web |url=https://www.kva.se/en/priser/rolf-schockprisen/pristagare |title=Rolf Schock Prize Laureates |publisher=Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences |access-date=22 April 2019 }}
  • 2013: Honorary Degree, University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris{{cite web|url=http://www.upmc.fr/fr/universite/histoire_et_personnalites/les_docteurs_honoris_causa/dhc2013/anne_sofie_von_otter.html|title=Anne Sofie von Otter|website=Upmc.fr|access-date=18 January 2018}}

Discography

=Selective charting albums=

File:Anne Sofie von Otter på Grammisgalan 2013.jpg

(Peak positions in Sverigetopplistan, the Swedish national record chart)

class="wikitable"

! align="center" rowspan="2" width="10"| Year

! align="center" rowspan="2"| Album

! align="center" colspan="5" width="20"| Peak positions

scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | SWE
{{cite web|url=https://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Anne+Sofie+von+Otter|title=Discography Anne Sofie von Otter|website=swedishcharts.com|access-date=27 October 2022}}

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | AUS
{{cite Ryan|page=295}}

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | GER
{{cite web|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/suche?artistId=Anne+Sofie+von+Otter|title=Discographie von Anne Sofie von Otter|website=offiziellecharts.de|language=de|access-date=27 October 2022}}

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | NED
{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Anne+Sofie+von+Otter|title=Discografie Anne Sofie von Otter|website=dutchcharts.nl|language=nl|access-date=27 October 2022}}

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | NOR
{{cite web|url=https://norwegiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Anne+Sofie+von+Otter|title=Discography Anne Sofie von Otter|website=norwegiancharts.com|access-date=27 October 2022}}

1993

|Grieg Songs (DG)

| style="text-align:center;"| 46

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1994

|Speak Low

| style="text-align:center;"| 25

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1999

|Home for Christmas

| style="text-align:center;"| 16

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

| style="text-align:center;"| 72

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

2001

|For the Stars
(Anne Sofie von Otter meets Elvis Costello)

| style="text-align:center;"| 25

| style="text-align:center;"| 81

| style="text-align:center;"| 59

| style="text-align:center;"| 80

| style="text-align:center;"| 33

rowspan=2|2006

|I Let the Music Speak

| style="text-align:center;"| 13

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

| style="text-align:center;"| 63

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

Noël
(Anne Sofie von Otter & Bengt Forsberg)

| style="text-align:center;"| 59

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2007

|Terezín / Theresienstadt
(Anne Sofie von Otter / Bengt Forsberg)

| style="text-align:center;"| 56

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

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rowspan=2|2010

|Ombre de mon amant

| style="text-align:center;"| 32

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| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

Love Songs
(Anne Sofie von Otter / Brad Mehldau)

| style="text-align:center;"| 34

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

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2013

|Douce France

| style="text-align:center;"| 58

| style="text-align:center;"| {{spaced ndash}}

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Recordings

=Lieder and songs=

  • Alban Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder & Der Wein conducted by Claudio Abbado (1995) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Hector Berlioz: Mélodies with Cord Garben (piano) (1994) and Les nuits d'été conducted by James Levine (1995) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Les nuits d'été conducted by Marc Minkowski (2011) Naïve
  • Johannes Brahms: Lieder with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1990) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Cécile Chaminade: Mots d'amour with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (2001) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Edvard Grieg: Songs/Lieder with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1993) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Rendezvous with Korngold with Bengt Forsberg (piano) & Friends (1999) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Ingvar Lidholm: Songs and Chamber Music conducted by Björn Sjögren (1996) Caprice Records
  • Gustav Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Thomas Quasthoff conducted by Claudio Abbado (1999) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Kindertotenlieder conducted by Pierre Boulez (2004) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Maurice Ravel: Shéhérazade conducted by Pierre Boulez (2002) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Arnold Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder conducted by Simon Rattle (2002) EMI
  • Franz Schubert: Lieder, with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1997) and Lieder with Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado (2003) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Robert Schumann: Frauen-Liebe und Leben with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1995) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Jean Sibelius: Anne Sofie von Otter sings Sibelius with Bengt Forsberg (piano) BIS
  • Kurt Weill: Speak Low: Songs by Kurt Weill conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1994) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Hugo Wolf: Spanisches Liederbuch with Olaf Bär (baritone) and Geoffrey Parsons (piano) (1995) EMI
  • Various: Boldemann Gefors Hillborg conducted by Kent Nagano (2008) Deutsche Grammophon
  • La Bonne chanson – French Chamber Songs with Bengt Forsberg (piano) and others (1996) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Brahms / Schumann with Barbara Bonney (soprano), Kurt Streit (tenor), Olaf Bär (baritone), Helmut Deutsch and Bengt Forsberg (piano duet) (1994) EMI
  • Douce France – classical French songs (disc 1) and chansons (disc 2) with Bengt Forsberg (piano) and others (2013) Naive{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/10/douce-france-anne-sofie-von-otter-review | title=Various: Douce France – review | work=The Observer | author=Fiona Maddocks|authorlink=Fiona Maddocks | date=9 November 2013 | access-date=22 June 2016}}
  • Folksongs with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (2000) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Lieder / Mélodies by Beethoven Meyerbeer Spohr with Melvyn Tan (fortepiano) (2001) Archiv
  • Lieder by Wolf and Mahler with Ralf Gothóni (piano) (1989) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Love's Twilight – Late Romantic Songs by Berg Korngold Strauss with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1994) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Mahler Zemlinsky Lieder conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1996) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Mozart – Haydn: Songs & Canzonettas with Melvyn Tan (fortepiano) (1995) Archiv
  • Music for a While – Baroque Melodies (2004) Deutsche Grammophon{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/16/arts/classical-music-classical-recordings-anne-sofie-von-otter-sinks-her.html|title=Classical Recordings: Anne Sofie von Otter Sinks Her Teeth Into the Baroque|work=The New York Times|author=Anne Midgette|author-link=Anne Midgette|date=16 January 2005|access-date=22 June 2016}}
  • Terezín / Theresienstadt with Bengt Forsberg (piano), Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber (piano) and others (2007) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Watercolours – Swedish Songs with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (2003) Deutsche Grammophon
  • Wings in the Night – Swedish Songs with Bengt Forsberg (piano) (1996) Deutsche Grammophon

=Complete operas=

=Aria recordings=

  • Anne Sofie von Otter sings Offenbach, conducted by Marc Minkowski – Deutsche Grammophon
  • Baroque Arias by Handel, Monteverdi, Roman and Telemann, with the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble – Proprius
  • Ombre de mon amant, French baroque arias conducted by William Christie – Archiv
  • Opera Arias by Gluck, Haydn and Mozart, conducted by Trevor Pinnock – Archiv

=Oratorios, symphonies, etc=

=Other music=

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{Official|https://www.annesofievonotter.com/}}
  • {{IMDb name|0653141}}
  • {{Charlie Rose view|2616}}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20080514191048/http://www.sfcv.org/arts_revs/vonotter_10_25_05.php Review by Lisa Hirsch in San Francisco Classical Voice]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20140308095051/http://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Anne+Sofie+von+Otter Swedish Charts.com search on Anne Sofie von Otter]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20140313094317/http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Anne+Sofie+von+Otter Dutch Charts.nl search on Anne Sofie von Otter]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20140308134608/http://norwegiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Anne+Sofie+von+Otter Norwegian Charts.com search on Anne Sofie von Otter]

{{Schock Prize laureates}}

{{Gramophone Hall of Fame}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|Opera}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otter, Anne-Sofie}}

Category:1955 births

Category:Living people

Category:Singers from Stockholm

Category:Swedish expatriates in England

Category:21st-century Swedish nobility

Category:Swedish operatic mezzo-sopranos

Category:Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Category:Edison Classical Music Awards winners

Category:Grammy Award winners

Category:Rolf Schock Prize laureates

Category:Deutsche Grammophon artists

Category:Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music

Category:Litteris et Artibus recipients

Category:20th-century Swedish women opera singers

Category:21st-century Swedish women opera singers

Category:Prize-winners of the ARD International Music Competition

Category:Swedish people of Walloon descent