Birgit Nordin (22 February 1934 – 7 April 2022) was a Swedish operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

. She was a member of the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

from 1958 to 1986, and regularly appeared at the

Drottningholm Festival Drottningholm, literally "Queen's Islet", is a locality situated in Ekerö Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden, with 398 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the island Lovön in lake Mälaren on the outskirts of Stockholm. Drottningholm Palace, the ...

where she performed twelve major Mozart roles, including Susanna in ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

'' and Pamina in ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

''. She also performed internationally, appearing in the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

Glyndebourne Festival Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

, Copenhagen and others. She became known as the Queen of the Night in '' Trollflöjten'',

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

's film adaptation of Mozart's opera.

Life and career

Born in

Sangis Sangis () is a locality situated in Kalix Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to t ...

Norrbotten Norrbotten (), sometimes called North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland. Administration The traditional provinces of Swede ...

, Nordin attended school in

Haparanda Haparanda (; Meänkieli and Finnish: ''Haaparanta'', ) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda has a population of 9,166 inhabitants (2024). Haparanda is ...

. She attended the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

from 1956 to 1958, studying under Britta von Vegesack. Later she trained with

Lina Pagliughi Lina Pagliughi (27 May 1907 – 2 October 1980) was an Italian-American opera singer. Based in Italy for the majority of her career, she made a number of recordings and established herself as one of the world's finest lyric coloratura sopranos of ...

in Italy. Nordin joined the company of the

in Stockholm, where she worked from 1958 to 1986. Her debut was as Oscar in Verdi's ''

Masked Ball ''Masked Ball'' () is a 1917 Hungarian film directed by Alfréd Deésy and featuring Béla Lugosi and Norbert Dan. The screenplay was written by Francesco Maria Piave, Eugène Scribe and Antonio Somma. It was based on the opera '' Un ballo in mas ...

'' on 21 October 1958 and she was part of the company that visited London and the

in 1960. Starting in 1960, she regularly appeared at the

where she performed twelve major Mozart roles, including Susanna in ''

'' and Pamina in ''

''. In 1968, she participated in the world premiere of Franz Berwald's '' Drottningen av Golconda'', with

Elisabeth Söderström Anna Elisabeth Söderström (married name Olow; 7 May 192720 November 2009) was a Swedish soprano who performed both opera and song, and was known as a leading interpreter of the works of Janáček, Rachmaninoff and Sibelius.Elizabeth Sleeman, ' ...

in the title role. Abroad, Nordin appeared at the 1968

as Blonde in Mozart's ''

Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () (Köchel catalogue, K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's . The plot concer ...

''. She performed the role of Jenny Smith in ''

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' () is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the in Leipzig. Some interpreters have viewed the play as a ...

'' in Copenhagen in 1970, and appeared on Danish television as ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

'', also singing in Bach's

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of th ...

in Berlin that year. Other roles included Gilda in Verdi's ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'', Rosina in Rossini's ''

Il barbiere di Siviglia ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy '' ...

'' and Mélisande in Debussy's '' Pelléas et Mélisande''. Nordin held the Christina Nilsson Fellowship twice, and was appointed a Hovsångerska (court singer) in 1973. She appeared in the 1975 film ''Trollflöjten'',

's film adaption of Mozart's opera ''The Magic Flute'' sung in Swedish, as the Queen of the Night. After retiring from the stage, Nordin undertook some teaching and stage direction.

Private life

Since 1977, Nordin was married to the Swedish bass–baritone (1939–2007). She died on 7 April 2022 at age 88.

Recordings

* * * * * *

Compilations

* * *

Video

References

External links

* archived on 10 June 2013 * *
"Birgit Nordin"
(recordings) muziekweb.nl {{DEFAULTSORT:Nordin, Birgit 1934 births 2022 deaths Swedish operatic sopranos People from Kalix Municipality Royal College of Music, Stockholm, alumni 20th-century Swedish women opera singers