Lied Concert with Ann Hallenberg

Mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg is one of Sweden’s most distinguished artists on the international opera stage. Her major breakthrough came in 2003, when she stepped in at short notice to replace Cecilia Bartoli at a concert in Zurich. Since then, she has appeared at leading opera houses and concert halls worldwide and has taken part in around forty CD recordings. She was awarded Litteris et Artibus in 2017 and the Opera Magazine Award in 2019, and in 2021 she was appointed Court Singer (Hovsångerska).

In this programme, she is heard in repertoire where the dramatic expression takes centre stage. From Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos, in which the abandoned Ariadne moves in the borderland between cantata and opera, to Rossini’s Giovanna d’Arco, where Joan of Arc emerges in a moment of calling and action. In between, a range of poetic worlds unfolds: Sigurd von Koch’s Die wilden Schwäne, based on Chinese poetry; Wilhelm Peterson-Berger’s Marits visor to texts by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson; Ingeborg von Bronsart’s Die Loreley; songs by Ottorino Respighi; and a world première of B Tommy Andersson’s L’infinito.

Magnus Svensson has served as artistic director of the Lied concert series for several seasons. Alongside his concert career in the Nordic countries and across Europe, he has also performed in Russia and the United States. Since 2012, he has also worked with the Royal Swedish Academy of Music on the reissue of older Swedish music.