The Swedish opera singer Katarina Dalayman leads this summer’s Master Class during the Birgit Nilsson Days on the beautiful Bjäre Peninsula. In parallel with a long and highly successful international career, Katarina Dalayman also teaches young singers, and from 4-7 August she will lead the Master Class in repertoire that includes both arias and lieder with an audience in the Birgit Nilsson Hall at Kulturhuset Ravinen in Båstad. The course ends with a concert on 8 August where the course participants – tomorrow’s opera and singing stars – will be accompanied by pianists Elisabeth Boström and Jacob Lidåka, who will also participate as course leaders. This summer’s Master Class is organised for the eleventh consecutive year!
Katarina Dalayman has sung both large dramatic soprano parts (e.g. Brünnhilde, Isolde and Elektra) and in recent years several character roles for mezzo-sopranos. She has appeared on the world’s leading opera stages such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Opéra de Bastille in Paris, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Teatro alla Scala and the Salzburg Festival etc.
Her more recent performances include Kundry in Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Jonas Kaufmann and Peter Mattei in a production that was broadcast live worldwide; Brangäne in Tristan and Isolde, recorded live from the Metropolitan and on DVD; as well as appearances with Bryn Terfel in Die Walküre at the Tanglewood Festival in the US and as Ortrud in Lohengrin at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She is currently performing the role of Herodias in Salome at the Rome Opera.
3 short questions for Katarina:
Did you meet Birgit…?
– Yes, the first time when I participated in her Master Class in Stockholm in 1987. Then we met on a few other occasions, including at the Met when I sang Brangäne and she tried to come incognito, but someone in the audience saw her and started to clap, whereupon everyone stood up and started cheering and applauding. Great!
What do you mainly want to convey when you teach?
– I like working with technique. It’s important for me to find the beauty and freedom of the voice. I think we talk far too little about it nowadays. Then, of course, it’s also about expression, if the technique is right.
What is your relationship with Skåne and the Bjäre Peninsula?
– I love Skåne but have not been to the Bjäre Peninsula so far, except for Hovs Hallar on a number of occasions, absolutely fantastic – wonderful walks! Birgit Nilsson’s Museum of course, but have not visited yet… swimming from the rocks or jetties in Skåne are a dream, preferring it to sandy beaches. I would like to visit Norrvikens Trädgårdar, and Flickorna Lundgrens kafé, which is not actually on Bjäre … if there is time.
Birgit Nilsson Days 4-10 August
https://birgitnilsson.com
For interviews, pictures or further information, contact Gitte Lindström Harmark at Birgit Nilsson Museum tel. +46 70-5780517
masterclass@birgitnilsson.com