Anne Sofie von Otter – Home for Christmas (SWE)

Boasting an unrivalled and multi award-winning discography, mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter’s versatility has seen her work with legendary artists ranging from the late greats of Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado and Giuseppe Sinopoli to Elvis Costello, Brad Mehldau and Rufus Wainwright.

An ever-evolving repertoire has played a key role in sustaining Swedish-born von Otter’s international profile, from an early position as the superlative Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) of her generation, to her acclaimed creation of Leonora in the world premiere of Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel at Salzburger Festspiele and Royal Ballet & Opera. Recent highlights include Madame de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmélites) at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) in Christof Loy’s production at Bayerische Staatsoper, L’Opinion Publique (Orphée aux Enfers) in Barrie Kosky’s staging at Salzburger Festspiele, and Mérope (Oedipe) at Opéra National de Paris.  Adding further to an impressive catalogue, the past few seasons have seen role debuts as the Countess (Pique Dame) at La Monnaie under Nathalie Stutzmann and Adelaide (Arabella) at Teatro Real under David Afkham.

Anne Sofie von Otter has been the muse and inspiration for several contemporary composers, in particular Mikael Karlsson whose song-cycle, So We Will Vanish, is dedicated to her and presented last season with Danish National Symphony Orchestra and with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra both conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste.  She created the role of Gaby in the 2023 world premiere of his opera Melancholia at Royal Swedish Opera and that of Justine in Fanny and Alexander, given its world premiere at La Monnaie last season in a staging by Ivo van Hove, conducted by Ariane Matiakh and live streamed internationally. Last season also saw the world premiere of Philippe Manoury’s new work Die letzten Tage den Menschheit at Oper Köln.

Equally recognised as a concert and recital singer of exceptional gifts, von Otter’s career has taken her around the globe as a regular presence on the world’s most prestigious stages excelling in a diverse repertoire including works by Mahler, Berlioz, Bach and Kurt Weill, and her expansive Lieder recordings range from classics by Schubert, Schumann, Wolf and Mahler, through lesser-known compilations from Cécile Chaminade, Korngold, Peterson-Bergen and Stenhammar.

Maintaining a busy schedule, in the 2025/26 season there will be recital tours to North America with long-term collaborator Kristian Bezuidenhout presenting Schubert’s Schwanengesang, and to Japan and Hong Kong with a festive trio programme.  She will add the role of the Baroness in performances of Vanessa with Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons and give further performances of So We Will Vanish with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Helsinki Philharmonic both under the baton of Pekka Kuusisto.  von Otter also takes to the opera platform for performances as Cornelia (Giulio Cesare) at Opernhaus Zürich, as Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande) at Staatsoper Unter den Linden and returns to the role of Ottavia in Christoph Marthaler’s visionary setting of L’incoronazione di Poppea for Royal Danish Opera.

Anne Sofie von Otter is one of today’s most recorded artists with an incomparable catalogue built across a career now spanning more than four decades at the top of her profession. A lengthy and exclusive relationship with Deutsche Grammophon produced a wealth of acclaimed recordings including the Grammy-winning Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Claudio Abbado, Handel’s Ariodante, Giulio Cesare and Hercules with Marc Minkowski and a collaboration with pop legend Elvis Costello on For the Stars. On Naïve Classique, her double CD of Mélodies and Chansons, Douce France, received the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. von Otter immortalized many of her operatic characters on disc: Octavian with Bernard Haitink and the Staatskapelle Dresden and on DVD with Wiener Staatsoper under Carlos Kleiber; Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) under James Levine; La clemenza di Tito and Orfeo ed Euridice under Sir John Eliot Gardiner; and Ariadne auf Naxos under Giuseppe Sinopoli.

Bengt Forsberg is one of Sweden’s leading pianists and is particularly esteemed as a recital accompanist. With Anne Sofie von Otter, he has given recital tours across North America, Asia and Europe and together they have made numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon including a multi award-winning recital disc of songs by Grieg. For Hyperion he has recorded solo piano music by Schubert, Schumann and late Romantic Swedish composers and his collaboration with Swedish cellist Mats Lidström has resulted in several critically acclaimed albums. Bengt Forsberg has also collaborated with violinists Pekka Kuusisto and Cecilia Zilliacus and cellists Andreas Brantelid and Kati Raitinen. He is renowned for his championing of lesser-known composers including Eric Korngold, Josef Suk, Percy Grainger and Rebecca Clarke.

As a chamber musician Bengt Forsberg has been a guest artist for two consecutive years at the Perth Chamber Music Festival in Australia and appeared in a three-concert showcase at New York’s Alice Tully Hall as Artistic Advisor and performer. He also runs his own Chamber Music Society in Stockholm.

Born in Edsleskog, Sweden, Bengt Forseberg studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Gothenburg, before continuing in London with Peter Feuchtwanger and in Copenhagen with Herman D. Koppel.

Swedish songwriter, producer and guitarist Fabian Fredriksson, born 1991, is a graduate of Musikmakarna, a Swedish producing and song writing school.

Fabian appears as guitarist on the Grammy-award winning CD ‘Douce France’, and on a recording with Anne Sofie von Otter and Bengt Forsberg ‘A Simple Song’ released in 2018.

Fabian enjoys playing with Leif Kaner-Lidström and Anne Sofie von Otter and regularly joins them at performances and festivals including Naantali, Neuhardenberg, and at Teatro Massimo di Palermo.

After graduating at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen under Mogens Ellegaards supervision, his career took a high flight. He toured with Les Ballets C de la B, the international dance company of Alain Platel, performing La Tristeza Complice (1996) and Pitié (2008) throughout Europe, the USA, Brazil and Congo. Philippe Thuriot was invited to play with orchestras like Oxalys, Het Collectief (Reinbert De Leeuw), Il Gardellino, Ictus, De koninklijke muntschouwburg (Patrick Davin), Klangforum Wien, BJO and WDR jazz orchestra. Various composers wrote an accordion concerto especially for Thuriot: Dick Van der Harst, Peter Vermeersch , and Dirk D’ase (in the Wiener Konzerthaus) 

In 2015 he recorded the Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach for the Warner Classics / Klara label. In 2018 he recorded a second solo disc with own arrangements of music by Couperin and Ravel. Both cd’s were highly praised by the international music press and received favourable reviews. 

He performed at numerous international festivals such as Crete Senesi in Tuscany, in honour of the 70th birthday of Philippe Herreweghe. He also played together, amongst others, with Ellery Eskelin, René Lussier, Uri Caine, Mark Feldman and Maria Schneider, each of them a master in the jazz scene. 

Right now he is working on a few new projects: I Silenti (music by Monteverdi, arranged by Fabrizio Cassol and Tcha Limberger) Besides that, he is also creating two solo-performances: Bach In Time (improvisations on J.S. Bach) and Made in France (from French baroque to French musette). As can clearly be deducted from all stated above, Phillipe is a musical centipede, his interests ranging from jazz and improvisation to classical music.