Birgit Finnilä

Swedish concert and contralto and opera singer. Born January 20, 1931 in Sibbarp, Halland County. Finnilä has been elected a member of the Royal Academy of Music. Finnilä has studied for Ingalill Lindén in Gothenburg and for Roy Henderson at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After a successful debut in Gothenburg in 1967 as Orpheus at the Stora Teatern, she has won international fame for her interpretations of Bach, Bruckner, Mahler and Wagner. She has mainly performed at festivals, including at La Scala and the operas in Munich and Paris. She has sung under conductors such as Abbado, Solti, Leinsdorf, Karajan, Barenboim, Kubelik, Gardiner, Negri, Mackerras, Barbirolli and Sergiu Comissiona. Concert performances have been Birgit Finnilä's main area, but she has also successfully participated in operas by, among others, Britten (Lucretia), Gluck and Mozart. She has also participated in recordings for EMI, for example as Marcellina in Figaro's wedding and in Bruckner's Te deum and Shostakovich Lady Macbeth from Mtsensk. Several recordings with music by Bach have also been made for Erato Records, including Matteuspassionen and Johannespassionen, a recording with Schumanns Frauenliebe und Leben for Swedish Society Discofil and an LP with Mahler songs for Bluebell Records. A recording of Vivaldi's Juditha triumphant for Philips has won an international award.