Camilla Nylund
After being a troupe member in Hanover and at the Semperoper Dresden, Camilla Nylund is now one of the internationally most sought-after singers in her field and is a regular guest at all major opera houses – at the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Metropolitan Opera New York, La Scala di Milano, the Paris Bastille, the Berlin and Hamburg State Operas, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals, in Barcelona, Valencia, Zurich, Helsinki, Cologne, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Tokyo, San Francisco.The artist’s repertoire includes all major parts of the classic-romantic repertoire. Especially with her interpretation of Richard Wagner – Elisabeth, Venus, Elsa, Sieglinde, Senta, Isolde, Brünnhilde- and Richard Strauss – Marschallin, Arabella, Gräfin (Capriccio), Chrysothemis, Kaiserin (Frau ohne Schatten), Ariadne, Salome and Daphne – Camilla Nylund is always setting new artistic standards. Roles such as Marie (Wozzeck), the title role of Jenufa, Eine Frau (Erwartung) and Katerina (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), which she sang for the first time in an highly acclaimed debut in a new production at the Hamburg State Opera in 2023, complete the repertoire of this versatile artist.
Coming from a lyric-dramatic background, Camilla Nylund has been extremely successful in her first full dramatic roles in past seasons. The Zurich Opera House played an important role in this and gave her the opportunity to make her debut after Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), also in all the Brünnhilde roles (Siegfried, Walküre, Götterdämmerung).
For many years Camilla Nylund has been giving distinction to the Bayreuth Festival. In 2011 the artist made her debut on the “Green Hill” as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser. In the following years she appeared as Sieglinde (Walküre), Eva (Meistersinger), as well as in the role of Elsa (Lohengrin). The 2023/24 season also ended in Bayreuth with a new production of Tristan und Isolde under the direction of Semyon Bychkow.
Highlights of the 2024/ 25 season include new productions of Walküre and Siegfried at La Scala in Milan. Camilla Nylund also returns to Zurich as Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer) and can be seen at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin as the Empress (Die Frau ohne Schatten) – one of her signature roles. The Vienna State Opera is also an integral part of her calendar, where she will appear in the title role of Arabella and as Elsa (Lohengrin) in 2025, both under the musical direction of Christian Thielemann.
In addition to her activiy on the international opera stage, she is also a regular guest at all major concert halls – Konzerthaus and Philharmonie Berlin, Herkulessaal Munich, “Isarphilharmonie” Munich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vienna Musikverein, Vienna Konzerthaus, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tonhalle Zurich, Rome, at the BBC Proms, in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Boston and many more.
Camilla Nylund works with all the major maestri of our time in both the opera and concert repertoire, including Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Christian Thielemann, Andris Nelsons, Daniel Barenboim, Philippe Jordan, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Gianandrea Noseda, Riccardo Muti, Marek Janowski, Kent Nagano, Karina Canellakis, Simone Young, Susanna Mälkki, Omer Meir Wellber and Lahav Shani.
Chamber music and lied recitals have always been an important part of her artistic life. Together with Helmut Deutsch she dedicates her recital programs to the romantic German lieder as well as to the composers from her Scandinavian homeland.
In addition to various orchestral concerts, including Bruckner’s Te Deum in Linz, Schönberg’s Gurrelieder at La Scala in Milan and a concert tour with Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the 2024/ 25 season sees her appearing in recitals at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, at the Lausitz Festival, in the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and at the Tyrolean Festival Erl.
The versatile artist showed previously unknown facets during the Corona pandemic. Following an idea by André Heller, whom she met during a new production of Der Rosenkavalier at the Berlin State Opera, the project “Great American Songbook” was born. In this concert film recorded for ORF III, she interprets love songs in the spirit of US show business from the 1930s to the 1970s together with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna conducted by Marin Alsop in varied arrangements ranging from “combo” to large symphonic orchestra. A DVD and CD of the project has been released in December 2022 by Naxos. She sang songs from the “Great American Songbook” in front of an audience for the first time in March 2024 in Hamburg’s sold-out Elbphilharmonie.
In recognition of her artistic achievements, Camilla Nylund has received numerous awards. In November 2022, she was presented with the Lotte Lehmann Memorial Ring – one of the world’s most prestigious awards for female opera singers. In September 2022, she was awarded with the European Culture Prize alongside other high-profile laureats in the Zurich Tonhalle. To honour Camilla Nylund’s long and successful artistic relationship with the Vienna State Opera, the artist was awarded the title of Austrian Kammersängerin (2019). The Semperoper Dresden has also appointed Camilla Nylund as Saxon Kammersängerin. She is also recipient of the Christel Goltz Prize of the Semperoper (2000), the Culture Prize of the Swedish Cultural Fund in Finland, the Pro Finlandia Medal, awarded by the Finnish President (2013), and the Finnish State Prize for Music (2019). Camilla Nylund, born in Vaasa (Finland), first studied with Eva Illes, later in the opera and song class at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Since 2003, she has been working with Irmgard Boas in Dresden. In December 1995 she was awarded the Lilli Lehmann Medal by the International Mozarteum Foundation.
Photo: Camilla Nylund © annas-foto.de
