Kari Frisell (20 August 1922 – 3 June 2022) was a Norwegian

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 Hz to A5 in choral music, or to ...

and pedagogue.

Musical career

Frisell studied under in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, and further in Vienna and New York. She made her concert debut in Oslo in 1946. In 1946 she also performed as Michaela in

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...

's opera ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'', staged in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. She also starred in the 1946 film ''

Vi vil leve ''Vi vil leve'' (We Want to Live) is a Norwegian film from 1946 directed by Olav Dalgard and Rolf Randall. The film deals with the German occupation of Norway. The film studies professor Gunnar Iversen characterizes it as "an uneven and choppy fi ...

''. She was assigned with the

Norwegian National Opera The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet () is a Norwegian opera company and ballet company. The first fully professional company each for opera and ballet in Norway and the only such professional organisation in the country, it is currently resi ...

from its inaugural year in 1958 to 1971. As song pedagogue Frisell was assigned with the

Oslo Conservatory of Music The Oslo Conservatory of Music () was a music school in Oslo, Norway. The school was established by Ludvig Mathias Lindeman and his son Peter Brynie Lindeman in 1883 in Christiania (as Oslo was then called) and was named the Organist School () ...

from 1970, and with the

Norwegian Academy of Music The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norwegian: ''Norges musikkhøgskole'', NMH) is a university-level music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the ...

from 1973 to 1988. She was awarded the

Norwegian Music Critics Award The Norwegian Music Critics Award (''Den norske Musikkritikerprisen'' or ''Kritikerprisen'') is awarded by the Norwegian Critics' Association (''Norsk Kritikerlag'') and has been awarded every year since 1947. Norwegian Critics' Association (in Norw ...

for 1963/64.

Personal life and death

Frisell was born in

on 20 August 1922. She was married to painter Jan Thomas Njerve. She died in Oslo on 3 June 2022, aged 99.

References

1922 births 2022 deaths People from Oslo Norwegian operatic sopranos Academic staff of the Norwegian Academy of Music {{Norway-singer-stub