Marianne Beate Kielland
Mezzo-soprano
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Marianne Beate Kielland is recognized as one of Europe’s leading concert singers. She is known for her calm intensity, deep connection to language and line, and the clarity of her musical intentions. Dreh-Punkt-Kultur described her as “a singer with such a charisma [who] challenged her colleagues,” while Gramophone noted “a voice pure in quality, wide in range and unfalteringly true in intonation, imaginative in her treatment of words.” With more than 25 years of experience, she has developed a repertoire spanning early Baroque to contemporary works, performing regularly with major orchestras, ensembles, and festivals across Europe, Asia, and North America.
Highlights of the 2026/27 season include her return to the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Annio in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito led by Jordi Savall, and the title role in Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra under Aapo Häkkinen on tour in Europe. On the concert platform, she performs twice with the Oslo Philharmonic, singing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 conducted by Dinis Sousa and Bach’s St John Passion led by Richard Egarr. Further highlights include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Bergen Philharmonic under Jan Willem de Vriend, Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and Dmitry Matvienko, and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra under Ruth Reinhardt. She also returns to Japan for Bach’s Mass in B minor with Bach Collegium Japan and Masato Suzuki, among other engagements.
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In the 2025/26 season, she sang Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Wiener Symphoniker led by Fabio Biondi, Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus and Bach’s Magnificat with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Rinaldo Alessandrini, and Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Orchestra of the 18th Century. On the symphonic stage, she has performed Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Oulu Symphony Orchestra, Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder with the Brandenburger Symphoniker, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Bergen Philharmonic. Other recent highlights include Haydn’s Stabat Mater at the Salzburger Festspiele with the Mozarteumorchester under Andrew Manze, Annio in La clemenza di Tito at the Salzburg Mozartwoche, and the title role in Giulio Cesare at the New National Theatre in Tokyo. Further operatic credits feature Speranza and Proserpina in Monteverdi’s L'Orfeo at Opéra Comique Paris and Fux’s Corona d’Arianna at the Styriarte Festival in Graz.
Kielland has performed with major orchestras and ensembles worldwide, including the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, and Wiener Symphoniker. In the early music domain, she is regularly invited by leading period ensembles such as the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Concerto Köln, Gli Angeli Genève, Les Talens Lyriques, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, and RIAS Kammerchor. Over the course of her distinguished career, she has worked under the baton of conductors including Fabio Biondi, Herbert Blomstedt, Rune Bergmann, Michel Corboz, Thomas Dausgaard, John Fiore, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, Fabio Luisi, Marc Minkowski, Vasily Petrenko, Daniel Reuss, André de Ridder, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Jordi Savall, Thomas Søndergård, and Robin Ticciati.
A prolific recording artist with over 70 albums, her recording of Olav Anton Thommessen’s Veslemøy synsk earned a Grammy nomination. An active recitalist alongside pianist Nils Anders Mortensen, with recent appearances in Oslo, Utrecht, Trondheim, Paris, Cologne and Hamburg, she served as Artistic Director of the Oslo Chamber Music Festival until 2025 and is Associate Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music.
General Management: Tiben Artists
