Marianne Beate Kielland

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.

Career

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.

Engagements

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.

On Stage

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.

Recordings

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.

recitals

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.

Styriarte visitors already know her from the production Arianna, the Fux.opera festival Vol. 5 (2022), in which she slipped into the role of Thetis. She appeared as Clelia in Costanza e Fortezza (2023).