Terje Stensvold ends his operatic career

The Norwegian baritone Terje Stensvold has sung Barak in Christof Nel's production of Richard Strauss‘ Die Frau ohne Schatten at Oper Frankfurt since if first opened on February 2nd 2003. This singer, whose roles in Frankfurt have included highly acclaimed performances of Wotan in the Frankfurt Ring , took his leave from Frankfurt singing the Dyer in Die Frau ohne Schatten on Sunday November 16th 2014, at 15.30hrs in the Opera House at the age of 71, and ended his extraordinary operatic career.

After the performance Opera Intendant Bernd Loebe said farewell to Terje Stensvold on stage with the rest of the cast, giving him a photo album documenting his roles in Frankfurt, a book of photographs of the Frankfurt Ring and a glass of champagne. Loebe also announced his intention that this production of Die Frau ohne Schatten will – altering his original plan – be staged again in Frankfurt after all. Stensvold had sung 116 evenings – said Loebe – in Frankfurt. „His voice drew the audience into the events on stage, without ever forcing. It's warmth aroused a feeling of wellbeing in the listener. Thank you for everything, Terje!“ Mezzo-soprano Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, who had been singing the role of the Amme, spoke on behalf of the Ensemble. „Terje, you are just as wonderful a person as your voice. You colleagues will miss you and wish to well!“ The singer, obviously moved, gave his thanks for all the friendly words and said: „My career often felt like a fairy tale, and all fairy tales have an end. I will never forget the friendship that I have experience here. Frankfurt really is my favourite stage in Germany!“

Afterwards, in the Holzfoyer, a great many members of the audience listened to the artist and Intendant in conversation, during which the various stations in this extremely nice singer's career were mentioned. Loebe mentioned that the lion’s share of Stensvold's career was spent in the Ensemble in Oslo and that it was surprisingly late, at the age of 52, when his so called „old age career“ began, which took him to many of the leading opera houses in the world (see biography below). Naturally Frankfurt played a large role in this.

To the surprise of the audience this event ended with Dirk Jenders, chairman of the Frankfurt Richard Wagner Verband (RWV), awarding the „Frankfurt Richard Wagner Verband's Rheingold Prize“ to Terje Stensvold for his interpretation of Wagner roles – including Wotan in the Ring des Nibelungen: „Thank you for your great artistry. Your successor has a hard act to follow!“ This award bestows the holder with honorary membership of the Frankfurt RWV Frankfurt. The Laudatio was given by General Music Director Sebastian Weigle, who received this award in 2010. Weigle remembered the „great musical humanity“, that spoke through Stensvold's voice. The singer thanked everyone by singing „Bless this house!“ to piano accompaniment.

Since 2000 this Norwegian baritone has appeared regularly at leading opera houses around the world, including the Hamburg, Munich, Berlin and Vienna state operas, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, Royal Opera in Stockholm, the Théâtre La Monnaie in Brussels, Zurich Opera, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, La Scala Milan, Covent Garden in London, in Toronto and the Salzburg Festival. He sang around eighty roles while a member of the ensemble at the Norske Opera in Oslo: including Jago (Otello) and Klingsor (Parsifal), Gianni Schicchi, Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni, Danilo (The Merry Widow) and Professor Higgins (My Fair Lady). Terje Stensvold also sang regularly in Frankfurt, where he recently enjoyed a triumph with Wotan, conducted by Sebastian Weigle (Ring, CD and DVD on OehmsClassics). Other roles in Frankfurt included the Flying Dutchman, Jochanaan (Salome), Balstrode (Peter Grimes), Alfio and Tonio (Cavalleria rusticana / I Pagliacci), Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper (Lulu) and Don Pizarro (Fidelio).

He recently appeared in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle and at the Proms in London under Daniel Barenboim. Other conductors with whom this bariton has worked have included Leif Segerstam, Philippe Jordan, Donald Runnicles, Kent Nagano and Franz Welser-Möst. Recent engagements have included Wotan in Melbourne, for which he received the Helpmann Award for Best Male Opera Singer in a production in Australia. Terje Stensvold has recently been included, the first Norwegian opera singer to be so, in the Kirsten Flagstad Hall of Fame. The King of Norway named him Knight 1st Class of the order of St. Olav in 2008. His discography includes the Flying Dutchman under Bruno Weil (Harmonia Mundi) and Walter Braunfel's Jeanne d’Arc under Manfred Honeck (DECCA). A recording of his last opera, Die Frau ohne Schatten, in Frankfurt, will be released in due course, on OehmsClassics.