Elisabeth Söderström
An artist of great intelligence and musical perception, Elisabeth Söderström grew from a promising young lyric soprano to a sovereign artist able to dominate a wide selection of lyric and spinto roles for three decades. Initially underrated (save by those who knew her well), she advanced to being the delight of many of her era's most distinguished conductors. Her recital repertory ranged through the great Austro-German composers, a fruitful assortment of Scandinavians, Benjamin Britten and other important English composers, substantial numbers of Czech and other Central and Eastern Europeans, and a clutch of Russians. She also had a penchant for parlor songs, sometimes slightly naughty. With a voice best described as attractive rather than ravishing, she managed to establish herself as a notable singer of Mozart and Strauss and her performances of Janácek's leading ladies were standard setting.
Söderström's father was Swedish, her mother Russian. She trained with the celebrated coloratura soprano Adelaïde von Skilondz, star of the St. Petersburg Imperial Opera. After studying at the Royal Academy of Music and Opera School in her native Stockholm, Söderström made her debut at the age of 20 at the Drottningholm Court Theatre as Bastienne. She was subsequently engaged by the Swedish Royal Opera, where she remained a member for decades, singing such roles as Louise, Violetta, Mimì, Euridice, the heroines of Les contes d'Hoffman, Pamina, all three soprano principals in Rosenkavalier, Tatiana, and the eponymous characters of Janácek. Söderström made her Salzburg debut in 1955, singing Ighino in Pfitzner's Palestrina. She first sang at England's Glyndebourne Festival in 1957 and remained there for more than two decades, singing roles as light as Susanna and as heroic as Leonore.
In 1959, Söderström made her first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera as Susanna. Evidence that management at the various venues she visited (the Metropolitan in particular) did not know quite what to do with her gifts was seen in the fact that in that very same year, 1959, she performed Sophie at the Metropolitan, Octavian at Glyndebourne, and the Marschallin at Stockholm. Only with later engagements did the Met understand her protean talent. In 1960, Söderström made her first appearance at Covent Garden singing Daisy Doody in Karl-Birger Blomdahl's Aniara with the Stockholm Opera.
If the Metropolitan failed to capitalize on Söderström's abilities until a second round of engagements from 1983 to 1987, the rest of the opera world benefited during the interim from acquaintance with a singing actress of the first rank. Söderström's Australian debut came in 1982 when she performed one of her signature Janácek roles, Emilia Marty, in Adelaide. In addition to her appearances in contemporary works by Henze and Ligeti, she had become a welcome guest in Vienna and continued to flourish in the ensemble atmosphere of Glyndebourne, winning special praise for her Frau Storch in Strauss' Intermezzo and for the Countess in the same composer's Capriccio.
Söderström's skills as a recitalist and concert singer were under continual refinement. Her recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis under Otto Klemperer was justly applauded, as was her role in Sir Simon Rattle's recording of Britten's War Requiem. Her winning presence in recital inevitably meant an evening of communicative singing. Her several volumes of Russian song recorded with Vladimir Ashkenazy added immeasurably to Western understanding of this rich, but too seldom performed repertory. Likewise, her explorations of Scandinavian song opened new vistas to those who heard her live performances and listened to her recordings.
© TiVo
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Jean Sibelius : Songs
Elisabeth Söderström, Tom Krause, Irwin Gage, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (Live at the Royal Festival Hall, 06/02/1961)
Carlo Maria Giulini, Philharmonia Orchestra, Fernando Corena, Elisabeth Söderström
Classical - Released by Ica Classics on 9 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: The Nursery / Prokofiev: The Ugly Duckling / Gretchaninov: The Lane
Elisabeth Söderström, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jul 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Janácek: Jenufa
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1983
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Janácek: The Makropulos Case; Lachian Dances
Elisabeth Söderström, Peter Dvorský, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Mackerras
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1979
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: The Songs
Elisabeth Söderström, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Finlandia; Luonnotar; Tapiola etc.
Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Horst Stein, Elisabeth Söderström
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Janácek: Kát'a Kabanová
Elisabeth Söderström, Nadezda Kniplova, Peter Dvorský, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Mackerras
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1977
Gramophone Record of the Year16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphony No.15 "From Jewish Folk Poetry"
Elisabeth Söderström, Ortrun Wenkel, Ryszard Karcykowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Schubert: Goethe Lieder
Elisabeth Söderström, Paul Badura-Skoda
Lieder (German) - Released by naïve classique on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphony No. 4; Finlandia; Luonnotar
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Elisabeth Söderström, Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 May 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet; Seven Poems Of Alexander Blok; Two Pieces For String Quartet
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Elisabeth Söderström, Fitzwilliam Quartet
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Feb 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Songs Vol.1
Elisabeth Söderström, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jul 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Songs Vol.2
Elisabeth Söderström, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 21 Jul 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Missa Solemnis Op. 123
Elisabeth Söderström, Marga Hoffgen, Waldemar Kmentt, Martti Talvela, Otto Klemperer
Classical - Released by Mangora Classical on 17 Feb 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony No. 3, Facetter
Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Elisabeth Söderström, Sixten Ehrling, Antal Doráti, Sergiu Comissiona, Yuri Ahronovitch
Classical - Released by Caprice on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alfvén: Symphony No. 4
Elisabeth Söderström, Gösta Winbergh, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Stig Westerberg
Classical - Released by Bluebell on 1 Jan 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Les Illuminations, Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Simple Symphony
English Chamber Orchestra, Elisabeth Söderström
Classical - Released by Arabesque Recordings on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jussi Björling Memorial Concert
Opera - Released by Swedish Society on 1 Sep 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dallapiccola: Works for Voice and Ensemble (Mono Version)
Elisabeth Söderström, Frederick Fuller, Luigi Dallapiccola
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier - excerpts
Elisabeth Söderström, Régine Crespin, Hilde Güden, Heinz Holecek, Silvio Varviso, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 13 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo