Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.classica.mod
Titolo: Anne Sofie von Otter

E' stata definita nel NG non moderato forse la migliore cantante in
attività. Io però non l' ho mai sentita. Allora ho fatto una ricerca,
ovviamente in Internet, su di lei. Qui di seguito ne riporto alcuni
stralci ke ritengo interessanti x tutti.
Intanto è un mezzo-soprano ed è nata a Stoccolma. Poi non è vero ke
non abbia mai cantato in Italia, anzi è stata proprio alla Scala nell'
87 ed ha tenuto un recital nel '96 (si vede ke non c' ero o se c' ero
dormivo...)
Seguono notizie anke sulla sua discografia. Qualcuno ha dei suoi CD?
LUX
TEATRO ALLA SCALA
Attività di VON OTTER ANNE SOFIE
Stagione: 1986/1987 
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO - CHERUBINO (SOPRANO) 
6.7.1987 ore: 2000, 
ALCESTE - ISMENE (SOPRANO) 
13.3.1987 ore: 2000, 5.3.1987 ore: 2000, 8.3.1987 ore: 2000, 
Stagione: 1995/1996 
CONCERTO DI CANTO ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER - MEZZOSOPRANO (MEZZO SOPRANO) 
1.4.1996 ore: 2000, 
da: 
http://www.dgclassics.com/artists/otter/otter.htm
about Anne Sofie von Otter 
Anne Sofie von Otter was born in Stockholm and studied at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Following classes in
lied interpretation with Erik Werba in Vienna and Geoffrey Parsons in
London she began to study regularly with Vera Rosza. Her repertoire
encompasses a wide range of works from the Baroque period to
20th-century music.
Anne Sofie von Otter has achieved a reputation as one of the finest
mezzo-sopranos in Europe and the USA. She has performed at many of the
world's greatest opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera in New
York, the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), La Scala Milan and the
Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 1984 she made her debut with the Accademia di
Santa Cecilia in Rome under Giuseppe Sinopoli. Her 1985 debut at
Covent Garden as Cherubino led to appearances in Munich, as well as to
a series of Berlioz performances, under the direction of Sir Colin
Davis. At Covent Garden she also sang for the first time the title
role of La Cenerentola (1991). In 1994 Anne Sofie von Otter made her
Vienna State Opera debut as Idamante in Idomeneo. The artist toured
Japan in 1994, appearing in Der Rosenkavalier with the Vienna State
Opera ensemble.
Anne Sofie von Otter has also made a name for herself at international
festivals. In 1984 she performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and
then at the Berlioz Festival in Lyon, singing in L'Enfance du Christ
and in La Damnation de Faust under John Eliot Gardiner. The year 1992
saw her debut at the Salzburg Easter Festival with performances of
Wolf's Spanisches Liederbuch, which she also sang in London's Wigmore
Hall in 1993. At the Salzburg Festival 1992 she appeared as Ramiro in
Mozart's La finta giardiniera and returned there in 1994 to sing in
Mozart's C minor Mass with John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque
Soloists. In 1996 Anne Sofie von Otter gave her first recital at the
Salzburg Festival and made an extensive tour of Europe and North
America, which included her acclaimed USA recital debut. She received
enthusiastic press acclaim for her performance of Handel's Ariodante
(under Marc Minkowski) throughout Europe in January 1997.
In 1990 Anne Sofie von Otter was named "Recording Artist of the Year"
with an INTERNATIONAL RECORD CRITICS AWARD. In 1995 she was honored as
"Singer of the Year" at the CANNES CLASSICAL AWARDS and at Germany's
ECHO-KLASSIK AWARDS. She was named "Artist of the Year" at the
GRAMOPHONE AWARDS 1996 and in France with the DIAPASON D'OR 1997. 
Anne Sofie von Otter has recorded for DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON GESELLSCHAFT
since 1985 . 
RENDEZVOUS WITH KORNGOLD
Anne Sofie von Otter - Bengt Forsberg & Friends
2CD 459 631-2 	
In this new recording, Anne Sofie von Otter and her longtime musical
partner Bengt Forsberg present the irresistible power and beauty of
Erich Korngold's songs and chamber music. This fascinating release
offers several world première recordings, such as 4 Shakespeare Songs,
op. 31, as well as a new arrangement by Bengt Forsberg of Marietta's
Lied for voice, piano and string quartet. Also included: Korngold's
Quintet for 2 Violins, Viola, Violoncello and Piano, op. 15 and Suite
for 2 Violins, Violoncello and Piano (left hand), op.23. 
Latest releases in 1999: 
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Thomas Quasthoff, Claudio Abbado
and the Berlin Philharmonic 
Anne Sofie von Otter sings the role of Baba the Turk in Stravinsky's
The Rake's Progress with John Eliot Gardiner 
discography 
DISCOGRAPHY 
(selected items from Anne Sofie von Otter's CD catalogue) 
BACH: St. Matthew Passion
Bonney - Monoyios - Chance - Schmidt - Rolfe Johnson - Crook - Bär -
Hauptmann - John Eliot Gardiner - The Monteverdi Choir - The English
Baroque Soloists 
3CD 427 648-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION - Arias & Choruses: CD 429 773-2 
Also available: BACH: Christmas Oratorio - 2CD 423 232-2 ARCHIV
PRODUKTION - Arias & Choruses: CD 427 653-2 
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 
Orgonasova - Rolfe Johnson - Cachemaille - John Eliot Gardiner -
Monteverdi Choir - Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
CD 447 074-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION - Complete Symphonies box set: 5CD 439
900-2 
BERG: 3 Pieces for Orchestra op. 6 - Seven Early Songs (orch. version)
- Der Wein 
Claudio Abbado - Wiener Philharmoniker 
CD 445 846-2 
BERG: Seven Early Songs (piano version) / KORNGOLD: Lieder / R.
STRAUSS: Lieder 
Bengt Forsberg
CD 437 515-2 
BERLIOZ: La Damnation de Faust 
Terfel - Lewis - van Halem - Myung-Whun Chung - Philharmonia Chorus &
Orchestra 
CD 453 500-2 
BERLIOZ: Les Nuits d'été - Six Mélodies op. 7 - La Belle Voyageuse - 
La Captive a.o. 
Cord Garben, piano - James Levine - Berlin Philharmonic
CD 445 823-2 
BRAHMS: Lieder
Bengt Forsberg 
CD 429 727-2 
GRIEG: Lieder
Bengt Forsberg 
CD 437 521-2 
HANDEL: Marian Cantatas and Arias
Reinhard Goebel - Musica Antiqua Köln 
CD 439 866-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION 
HANDEL: Messiah 
Auger - Chance - Crook - Tomlinson - Trevor Pinnock - The English
Concert and Choir 
2CD 423 630-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION - Arias & Choruses: CD 427 664-2 
HANDEL: Ariodante (Anne Sofie von Otter sings the title role) 
Dawson - Cangemi - Podles - Croft - Sedov - Marc Minkowski - Les
Musiciens du Louvre 
3CD 457 271-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION 
HAYDN: "Arianna a Naxos" & Lieder / Mozart: Lieder 
Melvyn Tan, fortepiano
CD 447 106-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION 
MAHLER: Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Quasthoff - Abbado - Berlin Philharmonic
CD 459 646-2 
MAHLER: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen- Rückert-Lieder /
ZEMLINSKY: Maeterlinck 
John Eliot Gardiner - North German Radio Symphony Orchestra
CD 439 928-2 
MAHLER: Lieder / Wolf: Lieder
Ralf Gothoni
CD 423 666-2 
MONTEVERDI: L'incoronazione di Poppea (Anne Sofie von Otter sings
Ottavia) 
McNair - Hanchard - Chance - John Eliot Gardiner - The English Baroque
Soloists 
3CD 447 088-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION
Also available: MONTEVERDI: L'Orfeo (Anne Sofie von Otter sings
Messaggiera) 
2CD 419 250-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION 
MOZART: La clemenza di Tito (Anne Sofie von Otter sings Sesto)
Rolfe Johnson - McNair - Varady - Robbin - Hauptmann - John Eliot
Gardiner - The Monteverdi Choir - The English Baroque Soloists 
2CD 431 806-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION
Also available: MOZART: Idomeneo (Anne Sofie von Otter sings Idamante)
3CD 431 674-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION 
MOZART: The Marriage of Figaro (Anne Sofie von Otter sings Cherubino)
Te Kanawa - Upshaw - Hampson - Furlanetto - James Levine -
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra 
3CD 431 619-2 - Excerpts: CD 435 488-2 
PURCELL: Dido and Aeneas (Anne Sofie von Otter sings Dido)
Varcoe - Dawson - Trevor Pinnock - The English Concert and Choir 
CD 427 624-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION 
SCHUBERT: Music for "Rosamunde" 
Claudio Abbado - Chamber Orchestra of Europe 
CD 431 655-2 
SCHUBERT: Lieder 
Bengt Forsberg
CD 453 481-2 
STRAVINSKY: The Rake's Progress (Anne Sofie von Otter sings Baba the
Turk)
Terfel - Bostridge - Gardiner - London Symphony Orchestra
2CD 459 648-2 
SCHUMANN: Frauenliebe und Leben - 5 Lieder op. 40 - 15 Lieder 
Bengt Forsberg
CD 445 881-2 
TCHAIKOVSKY: Eugene Onegin
Allen - Freni - Shicoff - Burchuladze - James Levine - Staatskapelle
Dresden
2CD 423 959-2 - Excerpts: CD 445 467-2 
WEILL: The Seven Deadly Sins - Songs 
Bengt Forsberg, piano: John Eliot Gardiner - North German Radio
Symphony Orchestra 
CD 439 894-2 
ZEMLINSKY: Lieder 
Bonney - Blochwitz - Schmidt - Garben 
2CD 427 348-2 
LAMENTI by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Purcell, Bertali, Legrenzi - Reinhard
Goebel 
Musica Antiqua Köln 
CD 457 617-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTIO 
"RENDEZVOUS WITH KORNGOLD" Songs and Chamber Music 
Bengt Forsberg & Friends
2CD 459 631-2 
"WINGS IN THE NIGHT" Swedish Songs by Alfvén, Stenhammar, 
Peterson-Berger a.o. 
Bengt Forsberg
CD 449 189-2 
"LA BONNE CHANSON" Works by Chausson, Fauré, Martin, Poulenc, Ravel
a.o. 
Bengt Forsberg - Chamber Ensemble
CD 447 752-2 
OPERA ARIAS by Mozart - Haydn - Gluck 
Trevor Pinnock - The English Concert 
CD 449 206-2 ARCHIV PRODUKTION 
THE BERLIN GALA - A Salute to Carmen 
Anne Sofie von Otter sings excerpts from Bizet's Carmen
Terfel - Alagna - Shaham - Pletnev - Claudio Abbado - Berlin
Philharmonic 
CD 457 583-2 
THE ARTIST'S ALBUM - ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER 
Brahms - Gluck - Grieg - Handel - Mahler - Monteverdi - Mozart -
Schubert - Weill a.o. 
Forsberg - Gothoni - Tan - Gardiner - Goebel - Levine - Minkowski -
Pinnock 
CD 457 688-2 
ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER 
The Artist's Album 
CD 457 688-2	
Anne Sofie von Otter: The Artist's Album is a selection of the
mezzo-soprano's favorite music from her Deutsche Grammophon and Archiv
Produktion catalogues 
CD accompanied by full-color hardcover book containing articles,
information on Anne Sofie von Otter's life and the music, and
personally selected photos from the artist's private collection 
Repertoire spans Anne Sofie von Otter's recording career with the
yellow and silver labels. Included are songs by Brahms, Fauré, Grieg,
Korngold, Mahler, Rangström, Schubert and more; an excerpt from
Handel's cantata "Il pianto di Maria -- Giunta l'ora fatal" with
Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua Köln; arias from Mozart's Don
Giovanni with Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert, and, with John
Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists, from Don Giovanni and
Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea; "Tu, preparati a morire" from
Handel's Ariodante with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre; a
selection from Mahler's Rückert-Lieder and the Weill song "I'm a
Stranger Here Myself" with John Eliot Gardiner and the North German
Radio Symphony Orchestra, and, with Mirella Freni, James Levine and
the Staatskapelle Dresden, an excerpt from Tchaikovsky's Eugen Onegin.
Includes two never-before-released recordings: "Nacqui all'affanno"
from Rossini's La Cenerentola with James Levine and a Kurt Weill song
from "Berlin im Licht" 
"What else is new?"
Recently released:
Anne Sofie von Otter sings the title role in:
HANDEL: Ariodante 
von Otter · Dawson · Cangemi 
Podles · Croft · Sedov · Coadou 
Minkowski · Les Musiciens du Louvre
Chorus of Les Musiciens du Louvre
3CD 457 271-2
ARCHIV PRODUKTION 
New recital CD:
SCHUBERT: Lieder 
including "Ave Maria, "Heidenröslein", 
"Im Abendrot", "Waldesnacht" and more
von Otter · Forsberg
CD 453 481-2
Special note: On 6 May 1998, Anne Sofie von Otter makes her Carnegie
Hall recital debut!
Discography status: July 1999
Availability of titles may vary in different territories.
Da 
http://www.philclas.polygram.nl/class/am-o/otter.htm
ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER 
HECTOR BERLIOZ
- La Damnation de Faust
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
- Agrippina
- Jephtha
- Messiah
- Messiah (excerpts)
FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY
- Elijah (Sung in English)
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
- Ave verum corpus, K.618
- Così fan tutte 	WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
- Great Mass in C minor, K.427 
- Kyrie, K.341
- Requiem, K.626 
JACQUES OFFENBACH
- Les contes d'Hoffmann 
GIUSEPPE VERDI
- Quattro pezzi sacri 
- Requiem 
da: 
http://www.classiccd.co.uk/artists/otter/otter.html
Her CD of the Seven Deadly Sins was a big hit. She's more comfortable
portraying men and she says she is out to shock. Neil Evans asks Anne
Sofie von Otter to explain her constantly surprising career
Anne Sofie von Otter has become one of the hottest properties in
classical music. Why? She is a favourite singer of John Eliot Gardiner
who has cast her in a series of trailblazing vocal CDs. But
astonishingly when she auditioned for the conductor in 1985 the
statuesque Swede failed to make an impression. 
It was only later when he heard her in a Mozart concert performance
that his ears pricked up and she was asked to record the part of the
messenger in Monteverdi's Orfeo. She has never looked back. Less than
ten years on, every CD creates a critical storm. This month there are
two new discs of songs by Mozart, Haydn and Sibelius to follow the
success of the Gardiner Verdi Requiem and last year's sensational Kurt
Weill. 
Breaking away from baroque and romantic music she recorded Weill's
Seven Deadly Sins not in the lower version you would expect a mezzo
soprano to use, but in the original high keys. "A lot of people think
you have to sing them in a Lotte Lenya style with a thousand
cigarettes in your voice," she says. "But you can be just as actressy
and emotional when you sing them in the soprano version." 
At the top, literally
It was not the first time she had recorded precipitously at the very
top of her register. In an earlier recital she sang Alban Berg's Seven
Early Songs, becoming one of the first mezzos to sing what is really a
work for high soprano. "I have always sung the high version because it
feels right artistically and I am able to do it." 
Otter can't understand why people assume that because she is a mezzo
she is better suited with lower versions. She has always tried to sing
in the keys intended by the composer. "But from now on I will try and
be sensible and transpose down. I have had a couple of bad experiences
recently and it hurts my vocal chords. I have just turned 40 so I will
have to be more careful." 
The temptation to sing high and expand the voice is understandable
because there is not a large repertory for mezzo-sopranos. But now she
is established as a major singing talent she does not feel her
ambitions swinging so much towards soprano territory. "I could sing
comfortably Rosina in the Barber of Seville but the character doesn't
interest me and I am not really a soprano or bel canto mezzo. I used
to wonder about singing more roles. But the biggest development now is
in the middle range which will become more weighty." 
Singing in high registers is just one indication of Otter's artistic
adventurousness and willingness to take risks. "I believe in shock
effects," she says. "You have to work with little tricks. Purity of
sound is not interesting at all unless you throw yourself along and
convey the colour of the words." 
This sensitivity to word-painting has made her an outstanding song
recitalist. And two new discs will reflect an Otter specialilty -
Nordic song. Later in the year, DG releases a Swedish song disc of
music by Rangstrom, Alfvén and Stenhammar. But it is the Sibelius
songs on BIS released this month which are particularly suited to what
she describes as her masculine temperament. 
Who wears the trousers?
"Sibelius is mostly written from a man's point of view," she says.
"Often when I sing male songs I feel very much at home. I sometimes
feel when I portray women I am not especially feminine." This might
explain why she has become one of the leading interpreters of operatic
trouser roles such as Idamante, Octavian and Romeo. "I like to throw
my weight around so I can identify with these roles. They suit the way
I am on stage and my height and bearing." 
With this stage personality and cool temperament she could not be
further removed from today's other great mezzo-soprano Cecilia
Bartoli. Otter has a much larger repertoire than the bubbly Italian
who still limits herself largely to Mozart and Rossini. But Otter is
very aware she doesn't have the same publicity pull. 
"I think of Cecilia Bartoli who is so beautiful and has that amazing
smile and sparkle and I think, Oh dear! But I couldn't care less if I
am not a household name. I am happy to be still busy and have a
husband and children." 
Her working relationship with Gardiner continues apace with two new
discs typical of Otter's versatility, Monteverdi's Poppea and Mahler
songs. The Mahler is particularly close to her. "The music always
speaks to me and he is incredibly moving. You need to be sincere
because he didn't just set any silly poem. They really come from the
depths of the heart. If you try and perfume it, it becomes artificial.
As long as I have the Mahler which is ideal for my type of voice I
will be happy." 
And in the future
As well as more Mahler we are promised Massenet's Werther, Bartók's
Bluebeard and the Wolf Italian Liederbuch with Bryn Terfel. With her
ambition to sing Didon in Berlioz's epic The Trojans, Otter is
obviously proving that the mezzo repertory can be just as endless as
the soprano's. She points to her heroine Christa Ludwig who really
started recording with impact in her fifties and "has done it all". 
But she insists she will not sing anything she is not ready for. "I
won't sing things that don't suit me. Deutsche Grammophon never offers
me things I shouldn't be doing. I have been offered Elvira in Don
Giovanni several times on the stage but I have decided to play safe. I
am not in the business of breaking CD records." 
So far she's not doing too badly.

 Seguono notizie anke sulla sua discografia. Qualcuno ha dei suoi CD?
Io ho questi:
Bach: Passione secondo Matteo - Gardiner
Bach: Oratorio di Natale - Gardiner
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo - Gardiner
Handel: Marian Cantatas & Arias - Goebel
Handel: Ariodante - Minkowski
AA.VV.: Lamenti - Goebel
e sono tutti ottimi CD. Ecco, direi che Gardiner, cosi' patinato e
luccicante ma un po' vuoto, e' il direttore d'elezione per la von Otter;
non e' un caso dunque che canti spesso con lui. 
Invece l'Ariodante e' una delle migliori realizzazioni di opera barocca
in circolazione e lei canta il ruolo eponimo (originariamente scritto
per un castrato) piuttosto bene; non ha forse moltissima grinta, ma per
fortuna il personaggio non ne richiede granche'.
Ottimo anche l'altro CD handeliano, che contiene:
Haec est Regina virginum HWV 235
Ah! che troppo ineguali HWV 230
Donna, che in ciel di tanta luce splendi HWV 233
Il pianto di Maria: "Giunta l'ora fatal" HWV 234 
        (spurio, di G.Ferrandini)
[so che non te ne frega niente: aggiungo questi dettagli piu' che altro
per Arsace che ci va in sollucchero ;-)]
Invece il limite di cui parlavo prima - il voler strafare - appare
evidente nel CD "Lamenti", dove affronta una cantata di Vivaldi per
contralto ("Cessate, omai cessate") che e' evidentemente troppo grave
per le sue corde, con risultati ahime' piuttosto negativi.
M.

 dormivo...)
Ha anche cantato Oktavian alla Fenice non moltissimi anni fa, verso il
'93/'94.
Credo che sia una buona cantante fastidiosamente pompata dalla sua casa
discografica, ha ottima tecnica e presenza scenica ma e' complessivamente
un po' pallida sia come interprete che come qualita' del timbro. Insomma,
come dice Maurizio, la cantante ideale per Gardiner, pallido lui pallida
lei.
[R]

LUX
Si. Io ne ho uno nel quale canta i 5 Rukert Lieder di Gustav Mahler, insieme
ai "Canti di un apprendista errante" e altre composizioni, bellissime, di
Zelimski (non ricordo come si scrive esattamente).
Inoltre avevo intenzione di sapere come canta i Canti d'estate di Berlioz,
che ho sentito ieri a Santa Cecilia e che mi sono piaciuti moltissimo.
La von Otter ha, a mio avviso, un bel timbro, e sa dare un'interpretazione
personale e intimista ai Lieder di Gustav Mahler (l'ho sentita solo lì),
forse, dove serve, è poco "aggressiva", ma comunque dimostra di meritare
tutto il successo che le è stato tributato. Il cd di cui ho parlato è della
DG, e costa circa 40.000 (almeno quando l'ho comprato io).
Saluti,
Lorenzo

 DG, e costa circa 40.000 (almeno quando l'ho comprato io).
Noooo, Lux, queste sono le notizie terribili che co fanno capire come sia
strano il mercato del disco.
Pensa che sulla mia classica bancarella io lo stesso disco l'ho trovato a
lit. 15.000. incredibile.
Confermo, interpretazione davvero bella.
Pietro

per le sue corde, con risultati ahime' piuttosto negativi.
Non la conosco questa registrazione, ma in caso c'č quella di Scholl.
Arsace
_______________________________
Handel non puň mia Musa
Cantar in un istante
Versi che degni sian della tua Lira.

lit. 15.000. incredibile.
Don' t worry: non spenderò mai ItL 40,000 x un CD, oltrettutto di
artisti ke non conosco. Come ben sai preferisco spendere Itl 108,000
per la Nona dal vivo diretta da Muti.
LUX