The profile of Norwegian soprano Mari Eriksmoen continues to rise through her regular appearance on Europe’s major opera, concert and recital stages, and she is consistently praised for her compelling blend of radiant stage personality and purity of vocal tone.
On completion of her studies in Oslo (Norwegian Academy of Music), Paris (Conservatoire National Superieur) and Copenhagen (Royal Danish Academy of Opera), Eriksmoen was invited almost immediately to debut as Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Theater an der Wien, launching her career and marking the beginnings of a close and ongoing collaboration, appearing there since as Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Euridice (Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo), Agilea (Handel’s Teseo), Servilia (La clemenza di Tito) and as Susanna, Zerlina and Fiordiligi in the Da Ponte Trilogy conducted by the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
Eriksmoen made her role debut as Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande) in an acclaimed staging for Opera Vlaanderen by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet and Marina Abramović, of which Forum Opéra wrote “her French diction was faultless, her voice like crystal, and she embodies the hypnotising fragility of this heroine to perfection.” Further performances followed at Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, and she reprises the role and staging this season marking her debut at Grand Théâtre de Genève.
Eriksmoen was unanimously praised for her performance in the world premiere of “Waiting”, a symphonic passion based on Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, set to the music of Edvard Grieg, conceived and staged by Calixto Bieito as part of the 2019 Bergen International Festival with subsequent performances at Bilbao’s Teatro Arriago, Copenhagen’s Tivoli Concert Hall and Vilnius’ Russian Drama Theatre. “Waiting” features as part of Opéra national du Rhin’s 20/21 season, marking her house debut, conducted by Eivind Gullberg Jensen.
Other operatic highlights include both Susanna and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) for Den Norske Opera, Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) at Oper Frankfurt, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the BBC Proms, La Fée in Damiano Michieletto’s production of Cendrillon at Komische Oper Berlin under Henrik Nanasí, Waldvogel in Daniel Barenboim’s epic Ring Cycles at Teatro alla Scala and, most recently, her first Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) in a semi-staging for the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding.
In concert, Eriksmoen has performed with Orchestre de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, Oslo Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, Münchner Philharmoniker, and the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum among others. Last season’s appearances brought some key additions to her already expansive repertoire including Mater gloriosa in Mahler’s Symphony No.8 under Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and both Britten’s Les Illuminations and Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with Ed Gardner.
On disc, Eriksmoen’s debut recital album on Alpha of songs by Grieg, Grøndahl, Wolf and Strauss with Alphonse Cemin was hailed as “poised, elegant and persuasive” (Guardian), and 2021 saw the release of her new recording of Handel and Mozart arias with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Jan Willem de Vriend on Challenge Classics. Eriksmoen otherwise features on Schumann’s Szenen aus Goethes Faust with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Daniel Harding (Naxos), Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, both with Akademie für alte Musik Berlin under René Jacobs (harmonia mundi) and Glyndebourne Festival conducted by Robin Ticciati (Opus Arte DVD).
As of August 2021
