Biography / CV | Marianne B. Kielland

BIOGRAPHY

SHORT:

"A singer with such a charisma challenged her colleagues." (Dreh-Punkt-Kultur) Mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland is famous for her strong stage presence and musical integrity. Gramophone Magazine writes about her: "The mezzo-soprano is quite outstanding: strong, firm, sensitive in modulations, imaginative in her treatment of words, with a voice pure in quality, wide in range and unfalteringly true in intonation."

She is educated from Norwegian Academy of Music, where she studied with Svein Bjørkøy. She has also studied with Oren Brown and Barbara Bonney.

She is one of Europe’s foremost concert singers, and she regularly appears in the concert halls of Europe, Japan and America with conductors such as: Masaaki Suzuki, Andrew Manze, Michel Corboz, Leonardo Alarcon, Herbert Blomstedt, Christopher Moulds, Jordi Savall, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Rene Jacobs, Pablo Heras-Casado, Han-Na Chang, Juanjo Mena and Ottavio Dantone.
Although Marianne Beate Kielland focused her 25 year long career on the concert repertoire, she has also performed operas on major opera stages: Bolshoj-theatre in Moscow, Opera Comique in Paris, Opera Royal of Versailles, Salzburg Mozartwoche and New Nathional Theatre in Tokyo.

In 2012 she was US Grammy nominee in "Best Vocal Classical Album» for "Veslemøy Synsk" by Olav Anton Thommessen, and with this and more than 65 other recordings and a wide range of repertoire and performances, she is established as a remarkable interpreter of music from baroque to contemporary era. She is the artistic leader of Oslo Chamber Music Festival and part-time associate professor at Norwegian Academy of Music.

COMPLETE:

Marianne Beate Kielland is established as one of the foremost singers of Europe and is the only Norwegian singer to have received a US Grammy nomination in the category Best Vocal Classical Album. The versatile mezzo-soprano started her international career as an ensemble member of the Staatsoper Hannover, and since then she has been working frequently with leading orchestras, ensembles and opera houses, enjoying a vast repertoire spanning from early 17th century works through to Classical, Romantic and the contemporary eras.

In the 2023/24 season, she performs the role of Cornelia in Händel’s Giulio Cesare on tour in Japan with Bach Collegium Japan, and the role of Annio in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg. In concert, she performs Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and with the Münchner Philharmonic Orchestra, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra and St John’s Passion with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, songs by Alma Mahler with Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, and Frank Martin’s Golgotha with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic, among many other projects.

Recent highlights include the title role in Händel’s Giulio Cesare at New National Theatre in Tokyo with Rinaldo Alessandrini, Monteverdi’s L'Orfeo (Speranza/Proserpina) at Opéra Comique Paris and a production of Fux’ Corona d’Arianna with Alfredo Bernardini for the Graz festival. Among her concert highlights are Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Bach Collegium Japan and Masato Suzuki in Saitama and Tokyo, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Ottavio Dantone, Mozart’s c-minor mass in Salzburg with Jordi Savall, and concerts with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest led by Aapo Häkkinen, with the Gulbenkian Orchestra and NDR Orchester Hannover led by Andrew Manze. Caldara’s Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo with the Freiburger Barockorchester and René Jacobs, Mozart’s Requiem with Jordi Savall and his orchestra, Haydn’s Stabat Mater with Andrew Manze and the Mozarteum Orchestra at the Salzburger Festspiele, Handel’s Messiah with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover and Andrew Manze, Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben with Anima Eterna and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with South Jutland Symphony Orchestra. She also appeared at the inauguration festival of Haydneum Budapest under the baton of Vashegyi György and at the Handel Festival Moscow.

She has performed with major orchestras and ensembles including Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker as well as with period ensembles such as Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Concerto Köln, Gli Angeli Genève, Les Talens Lyriques, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, RIAS Kammerchor and Swedish Chamber Orchestra; she has worked with such distinguished conductors as Fabio Biondi, Herbert Blomstedt, Rune Bergmann, Michel Corboz, Thomas Dausgaard, John Fiore, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, Fabio Luisi, Marc Minkowski, Vasily Petrenko, Daniel Reuss, André de Ridder, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Jordi Savall, Thomas Søndergård and Robin Ticciati.

Kielland is in great demand for baroque opera roles, such as Dido in Dido and Aeneas by Purcell, Merope in Vivaldi's Oracolo in Messenia (an extensive tour with Europa Galante), Messaggiera and Proserpina in Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Fernando in Attilio Ariosti’s La Fede nei tradimenti, Apollo in Handel's Terpsichore, Ercole in Caldara’s Il piu bel nome, Monteverdi's Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and Aronne in Francesco Nicolò Fago’s Il Faraone Sommerso. She has also performed Fricka in Das Rheingold, and she looks forward to adding roles such as Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) and Waltraute (Götterdämmerung) to her repertoire.

Kielland has made more than 60 CD recordings of oratorios, operas, cantatas and songs by Bach, Händel, Vivaldi, Caldara, Scarlatti, Beethoven, Schumann, Mahler, Mussorgsky, Martin, Chausson, Korngold, von Suppé, Schönberg, Webern, Berg and Sigurd Islandsmoen.

She regularly performs song recitals with pianist Nils Anders Mortensen. The duo performed at the Philharmonie in Cologne and at the Musée d’Orsay in 2022, in addition to several concerts in Norway. They have also appeared in Estonia, Russia and Finland. Furthermore, she has collaborated with pianists such as Leif Ove Andsnes, Pascal Roge, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Lise de la Salle and Jos van Immerseel.

In addition to her busy career as a freelance singer, Marianne Beate Kielland is the artistic leader of Oslo Chamber Music Festival and is also part time associate professor at Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.

KORT:

Magasinet Gramophone skriver om Marianne Beate Kielland: «The mezzo-soprano is quite outstanding: strong, firm, sensitive in modulations, imaginative in her treatment of words, with a voice pure in quality, wide in range and unfalteringly true in intonation.»

Hun har studert ved Norges Musikkhøgskole under Svein Bjørkøy, men har også studert med Oren Brown og Barbara Bonney. Hun er i dag etablert som en av Europas fremste sangere, og opptrer jevnlig på konsertscenene i Europa og Østen og Amerika under dirigenter som Masaaki og Masato Suzuki, Andrew Manze, Leonardo Alarcon, Herbert Blomstedt, René Jacobs, Christopher Moulds, Jordi Savall, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Pablo Heras-Casado, Han-Na Chang, Juanjo Mena og Ottavio Dantone.
Selv om Marianne Beate Kielland har fokusert på konsertrepertoaret i sin 25 år lange karriere, har hun også gestaltet operaroller på store scener, som Bolshoj-teateret i Moskva, Opera Comique i Paris, Opera Royal i Versailles, Winterfestspiele i Salzburg og New National Theatre i Tokyo.

Kielland ble i 2012 nominert til Grammy innen kategorien «Best Vocal Classical Album» for sin CD-utgivelse «Veslemøy Synsk» av Olav Anton Thommessen, og har med denne og over 60 andre innspillinger, samt utstrakt konsertvirksomhet befestet seg som en bemerkelsesverdig interpret av repertoar fra barokken helt fram til vår tids musikk.

KOMPLETT:

Marianne Beate Kielland - mezzosopran er etablert som en av de fremste konserterende sangere i Europa, og hun er den eneste norske sangeren som noensinne har blitt nominert til US Grammy i kategorien Best Classical Vocal Solo.

Den allsidige mezzosopranen startet sin internasjonale karriere som ensemblemedlem ved statsoperaen i Hannover i 2001. Siden da har hun jobbet jevnlig med ledende orkestre og ensembler med et bredt repertoar helt fra musikk fra det 17. århundre, via klassisisme, romantikk og vår tids musikk.

Hun opptrer regelmessig med ledende orkestre og ensembler i Europa, som alle norske orkestre, Gøteborg Symfoniorkester, Dansk Radios Symfoniorkester, München Philharmoniker, Orchestre de Radio France, Wiener Symfoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Radio Filharmonish Orkest Nederland, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nord-Deutsche Rundfunk, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra og flere av BBC-orkestrene, for å nevne noen.
Innen tidligmusikkfeltet har hun markert seg som en eksellent utøver av musikken fra denne tiden, og hun opptrer regelmessig med verdens ledende barokkensembler som Freiburg Barockorchester, Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, Bach Collegium Japan, Le Concert des Nations og Jordi Savall, Europa Galante, Concerto Italiano, Anima Eterna, Concerto Köln og Orchestra of the 18th Century. I Norge er hun en fast samarbeidspartner med tidligmusikkensemblene Barokkanerne og Oslo Circles.

Gjennom sin karriere har hun samarbeidet regelmessig med noen av vår tids ypperste dirigenter: Herbert Blomstedt, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Fabio Biondi, Thomas Dausgaard, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, René Jacobs, Andrew Manze, Marc Minkowski, Vasily Petrenko, Daniel Reuss, Helmut Rilling, Christophe Rousset, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Jordi Savall, Masaaki Suzuki, Thomas Søndergård, Fabio Luisi, Ottavio Dantone, Petr Popelka, Han-Na Chang, Juanjo Mena, Pablo Heras-Casado og Stephan Zillas.

Selv om Kielland har fokusert mesteparten av sin karriere på konsertscenen - hvor hun har gjestet de største konsertscenene og ledende festivalene i Europa, har hun også gestaltet utvalgte roller på operascenen, som Annio i Mozarts Clemenza di Tito (Salzburg Winterfestspiele 2024), Cornelia i Händels Giulio Cesare (Tokyo og Osaka 2023), Giulio Cesare i Händels opera med samme navn (Japan National Opera 2022), Messaggiera i Monteverdis Orfeo (Operaen i Oslo 2008), Speranza og Proserpina i Monteverdis Orfeo (Opera Comique i Paris i 2021 og Versailles 2024) og Dido i Purcells Dido og Aeneas på Bolshoj-teateret i Moskva i 2020.

Marianne Beate Kielland har medvirket på mer enn 60 innspillinger av lieder, oratorier, operaer, kantater av komponister som Bach, Händel, Vivaldi, Caldara, Scarlatti, Beethoven, Schumann, Mussorgsky, Martin, Chausson, Korngold, von Suppé, Schönberg, Webern, Berg, Grieg og Mozart. Særlig har hun også fokusert platekarrieren på å spille inn uinnspilte norske romanser, så langt av Elling, Olav Kielland, Groven, Dørumsgaard og samlede sanger av Sigurd Lie.
I 2012 ble hun nominert til US GRAMMY Award i kategorien Best Classical Vocal Solo for albumet Veslemøy Synsk, med musikk av Grieg og Olav Anton Thommesen.

Hun opptrer jevnlig med pianist Nils Anders Mortensen, og duoen har stått for en rekke av de nevnte platene over, samt opptrådt i Norge, Frankrike, Tyskland, Estland, Russland og Finland. Hun har også opptrådt med pianister som Leif Ove Andsnes, Håvard Gimse, Pascal Roge, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Lise de la Salle og Jos van Immerseel.

Marianne Beate var kunstnerisk leder for Risør Kammermusikkfest i 2019, var medlem av Oslo Kammermusikkfestivals kunstneriske råd 2020-2022 og er fra 2023 og fram til dags dato kunstnerisk leder av Oslo Kammermusikkfestival.