Berit Norbakken Solset

Berit Norbakken Solset is one of the most sought-after sopranos in Scandinavia.

As a concert singer she performs regularly all over Europe, and has also given concerts in Tokyo/Japan and Sydney/Australia.

Her repertoire spans the history of Western music, from the Renaissance and baroque periods up to the most recent contemporary music.

BBC Radio 3 gave the following review of her recording of Ave Maria by Fartein Valen (Refractions, 2013, BIS Records):

«…and so wonderfully performed, and the fabulous soprano, Berit Norbakken Solset, who has exactly the right blend of straightness, so you can hear every note, but when she decides to open up, it´s just fabulous, for me, it´s got everything…».

She appears regularly with the group Barokksolistene in different concerts and recordings, and most notably their award-winning recording and concert series ‘The Image of Melancholy’.

Berit Norbakken Solset made her opera debut in Ophelias – Death by Water Singing, by Henrik Hellstenius. Her opera roles have included Abel in Il Primo Omicidio (Scarlatti), Adonis in Giardino d’Amore (Scarlatti), Ermione in Oreste (Handel), Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini), Belinda in Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), Sigrun in the world premiere of Malleus Maleficarum (Rasmussen) and an ensemble part in Melancholia (Haas).

She works closely with Ottavio Dantone and the ensemble Accademia Bizantina, and performs regularly with conductors including Juanjo Mena, Andreas Spering, Mikhail Pletnev, Robert King, Olof Boman, Benjamin Bayl, Herbert Böck, Simon Gaudenz, Bernard Labadie, Andrew Parrott, Vasily Petrenko, George Petrou, and Jos van Immerseel.

Photo Credit: Maria Baaring