Kjerstin Dellert

{{Infobox musical artist

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Kjerstin Dellert

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Kjerstin Dellert i Allsång på Skansen 2013.jpg

| image_size =

| landscape =

| alt =

| caption = Kjerstin Dellert in June 2013

| background = solo_singer

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1925|11|04}}

| birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden

| origin =

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2018|03|05|1925|11|04}}

| death_place =

| genre = Opera

| occupation = Singer

| instrument =

| years_active = 1948–2015

}}

Kjerstin Dellert (4 November 1925 – 5 March 2018) was a Swedish opera singer and theater manager.{{cite web|url=http://www.arbetarbladet.se/slakt-o-vanner/fira-o-uppmarksamma/kjerstin-dellert-det-ar-vidrigt-att-fylla-90|title=Kjerstin Dellert: "Det är vidrigt att fylla 90"|accessdate=12 October 2017}}

Life

=Early life=

Born in Stockholm, Dellert made her opera debut at Stora teatern (the old Gothenburg Opera stage) in Gothenburg in the 1950s.{{cite web|url=https://www.hd.se/2005-11-02/kjerstin-dellert-fyller-80-ar-den-4-november|title=Kjerstin Dellert fyller 80 år den 4 november|accessdate=12 October 2017}}

=Vocalist career=

Her career as a vocalist had begun when she won an Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts contest in 1948 with Someone to Watch Over Me.{{cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/leva-och-bo/bildspecial-folj-med-hem-till-kjerstin-dellert/|title=BILDSPECIAL: Följ med hem till Kjerstin Dellert|date=13 September 2010|accessdate=12 October 2017}}Kjerstin Dellert i förtroende {{ISBN|91-0-057326-4}} pg. 84

From the mid-1950s to the 1970s she worked primarily at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm in a variety of opera roles, including Floria in Puccini's Tosca and Harry Martinson/Erik Lindegren/Karl-Birger Blomdahl's opera Aniara in 1959.{{cite web|url=https://www.dn.se/arkiv/kultur/aniara-opera-for-orostider/|title="Aniara" – opera för orostider – DN.SE|date=8 January 2001|accessdate=12 October 2017}}

Dellert was also the initiator and producer of a few gala shows for particular celebrations, such as the show financed by Sweden's Parliament and given in 1976 at the Stockholm Opera for the wedding of King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia (where ABBA first performed Dancing Queen and she performed O, min Carl Gustaf)Dagens Nyheter, 19 June 1976. and a review at Södra teatern for her own 50th birthday in 1975.Expressen (5 November 1975) & Hänt i Veckan (13 November 1975). At the latter, she summarized with a Swedish version of My Way, describing her own life till then with lyrics by Lars Jacob; the words were updated by him so that Dellert could use it for her last recording in 2015 for her 90th birthday, produced by Emil Eikner.Catarina Ericson-Roos I väntan på räven; Kjerstin Dellert på livets scener ISBN 9789189063839 pp. 222 "Den 4 november 1975 fyllde Kjerstin Dellet femtio år och hon firade som det anstod en primadonna. ... För detta tillfälle hade vännen och skribenten Lars Jacob skrivit texten: [lyrics]" & 329 "Trehundra personer uppvaktade på Confidencen. ... Hennes sång förevigades på YouTube med hjälp av vännen och kabaréproducenten Emil Eikner. ...Lars Jacob hade gjort en lätt uppdatering av texten"

She dubbed the singing voice of Eva Dahlbeck for the role of Helena in the film Sköna Helena (1951). She participated in Melodifestivalen 1972 with "Kärlek behöver inga ord", finishing fourth.

=Other activities=

File:Nils-Åke Häggbom & Kjerstin Dellert 2015.jpg

Dellert was the managing director of the Ulriksdal Palace Theatre Confidencen. Since the mid-1990s she has been retired from the stage, officially retired from the Swedish Royal Opera since 1979, but briefly in 2005 made a critically acclaimed appearance as Maria Callas in the play Master Class by Terrence McNally at Confidencen and Lorensbergsteatern in Gothenburg.[http://www.gp.se/kulturnoje/1.68456-ord-och-inga-visor-med-dellert?m=print Article] in Göteborgs-Posten, 23 November 2005.

=Personal life=

In her first marriage Dellert was the mother of artist and entertainment personality Thomas Dellert, her only child.

= Awards =

Dellert was awarded the Illis quorum by the Swedish government in 1994.{{Cite web |date=January 2006 |title=Regeringens belöningsmedaljer och regeringens utmärkelse: Professors namn |url=https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/61bab671f59a46af81cb11ee99e0d0eb/regeringens-beloningsmedaljer-och-regeringens-utmarkelse-professors-namn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102152834/https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/61bab671f59a46af81cb11ee99e0d0eb/regeringens-beloningsmedaljer-och-regeringens-utmarkelse-professors-namn |archive-date=2021-11-02 |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=Regeringskansliet |language=sv}}

Illness and death

On Christmas Eve 2016 Dellert suffered a stroke.{{cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/noje/kjerstin-dellert-drabbad-av-stroke|title=Kjerstin Dellert drabbad av stroke|accessdate=12 October 2017}} She died at home on 5 March 2018, aged 92, in the presence of Nils-Åke Häggbom, her husband since 1968.{{cite web|url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/a/wE4k7n/kjerstin-dellert-har-dott|title=Kjerstin Dellert har dött|first=Leo|last=Pettersson|work=Aftonbladet|accessdate=5 March 2018}}