Maria Bengtsson
Swedish soprano Maria Bengtsson is praised as ,,...exceptionally touching, with radiant tone…” (The Daily Telegraph), for ,,... a marvellous, deeply touching characterisation, her voice yearning ever more luminously...the stage flooded with human warmth" (The Spectator) and “...magnificent singing Swedish soprano Maria Bengtsson...the voice has a wonderful luminosity - like a "halo", a ray... high art of messa di voce…" ( Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
Bengtsson performs at international venues like the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Opera Bastille and Palais Garnier in Paris, Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Deutsche Oper in Berlin, La Scala in Milan,Teatro Real in Madrid, Wien Staatsoper and San Carlo in Napels.
Maria Bengtsson´s recognizable warm and radiant timbre is particularly suitable for Richard Strauss lyric soprano roles, like Arabella, Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Contess in Capriccio and Daphne. Her love for Mozart's music has accompanied her on stage for more than 20 years in roles such as La Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte. In 2021 she added Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes to her repertoire and has had a great success singing the role in Madrid, London and Paris.
The season 2025/2026 began for Maria Bengtsson at Müpa Budapest as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the baton of Iván Fisher. She will return to Baden- Baden Festspielhaus in October singing Vier letzte Lieder with the pianist David Fray in a Balletproduction by John Neumeier and make her debut at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza as Donna Anna under the baton of Iván Fisher. In November she will sing Verdi Requiem in Malmö under the baton of Christian Schulze and in Berlin under the baton of Kai- Uwe Jirka. Maria will in December return to Baden- Baden Festspielhaus singing Donna Anna under the baton of Iván Fisher and also return to Malmö Live for a New Year Gala under the baton of Martyn Brabbins. Beginning of 2026 Maria Bengtsson makes her debut with the Orchester de National Lyon singing Lyrische Symphonie of Zemlinsky under the baton of Simone Young. In March she will debut at Teatro Regio Torino singing Vier letzte Lieder under the baton of Betrand de Billy and in April she returns with Bertrand de Billy and Vier letzte Lieder to Orchestre de National Lyon. Following her big success as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes in the extrodinary production by Deborah Warner played in Madrid, Paris and London she will in May return to the Royal Opera House in London. At the end of the season she makes her debut in June at Detmold Konzerthaus singing Sieben frühe Lieder under the baton of Per- Otto Johansson.
Maria Bengtsson has worked with conductors such as Kiril Petrenko, Daniel Barenboim, Sebastian Weigle, Vladimir Jurowski, Thomas Hengelbrock, Bertrand de Billy, Sir Donnald Runnicles, Sir Mark Elder, Adam Fischer, Simon Young, Antonello Manacorda, Asher Fisch, Michael Gielen, Marc Minkowski, Gustavo Dudamel, Ivor Bolten, Riccardo Muti, Phillip Jordan and Lorenzo Viotti and with directors such as Deborah Warner, Calixto Bieto, Sir David McVicar, Tobias Kratzer, Peter Konwitschny, Claus Guth, Keith Warner, Alex Ranisch, Jan Philipp Gloger, Hans Neuenfels, Andreas Homoki, Vincent Boussard, Philippe Arlaud, Dimitri Tcherniakov, Kasper Holten, Sebastian Baumgarten, Herbert Fritsch, Jonathan Miller and Marco Arturo Marelli.
Maria Bengtsson studied singing at the University in Freiburg in Breisgau 1995-2000. 2000-2002 she was a member of the Volksoper in Vienna and from 2002-2007 she was in the ensemble of the Komische Oper in Berlin and sang all her important Mozartroles under the baton of Kiril Petrenko.
