Malin Byström

Swedish soprano Malin Byström has this season appeared as Minnie in La fanciulla del West at the Bayerische Staatsoper and as Salome and Tosca at the Royal Opera House, as well as in a concert version of Salome in concert at the Edinburgh Festival. Malin is this spring starring in a new production of Salome at the Wiener Staatsoper. In March, Malin makes her role debut as Rusalka at the Bergen National Opera, and she will also return to the roles of Tosca (Royal Swedish Opera) and Salome (Wiener Staatsoper). The summer of 2023 will include another role debut; Marie in Wozzeck at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

The previous season included the role of Tosca, both at De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam and in guest performances at Staatsoper Stuttgart. Malin also made her role debut as Minnie in La fanciulla del West at the Royal Swedish Opera. In the season of 2020/21 Byström made her critically acclaimed debut at Wiener Staatsoper as Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos. The season also entailed a semi-staged stellar cast production of Tosca at Deutsche Oper Berlin, a role that she repeated at the Royal Swedish Opera, documented for its digital stage Operan Play. The season included another major debut, namely at the Bolshoi, where she made great success in one of her signature roles, Salome.

Malin Byström has been a frequent guest at the Royal Opera House where she has been seen in roles like Salome, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Mathilde in Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Hélène in Les Vêpres Siciliennes, Elettra in Idomeneo, Marguerite in Faust, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Amalia in I Masnadieri.

In 2017 Malin Byström made a praised role debut as Salome at De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam under the baton of Mo Daniele Gatti with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, a role for which she was awarded the prize as the Female Singer of the year at the 2018 International Opera Awards.

Malin Byström has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Donna Elvira and as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the title role of Arabella and as Marguerite in Faust. Malin has sung Tosca at Oper Frankfurt and the role of The Countess Madeleine in Capriccio at Teatro Real in Madrid. In 2016 Malin Byström made her debut at the San Francisco Opera when she performed her first Jenůfa. Malin has appeared in several productions at the Royal Swedish Opera with roles like Die Feldmarschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, the title role in Giordano's Fedora, Desdemona in Otello, Jenůfa, Donna Elvira and Romilda in Serse.

Among Malin Byström’s many other engagements are Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival, Donna Elvira in a filmed live broadcasted performance of Don Giovanni with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Fiordiligi at Bayerische Staatsoper, the title role in Thaïs at the Göteborg Opera and at Palau de les Arts in Valencia (opposite Plácido Domingo as Athanaël), Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro in Aix-en-Provence as well as at Grand Théâtre de Genève, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra in Gothenburg and Elettra in Idomeneo at the Drottningholm Court Theatre.

Malin Byström’s earlier engagements have included Hélène in Les vêpres siciliennes at Grand Théâtre de Genève with Yves Abel, directed by Christof Loy, Fiordiligi with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants in Lyon, Hanna Glawary in Die lustige Witwe in Montpellier, Marguerite in Christoph Loy’s acclaimed Faust production at the Göteborg Opera and Agathe in Der Freischütz in Bregenz. She has sung Donna Anna with René Jacobs in Baden-Baden (released on DVD), in Lepzig, Göteborg and at Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musetta in La Bohème in Mannheim and at the Bregenz Festival, as title role in Hindemith's Sancta Susanna in Montpellier title role of Massenet’s Manon and Fiordiligi at Opera North.

On the concert platform Malin Byström has sung Mendelssohn’s Elias with Kurt Masur and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and Orchestre National de France in Paris, as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 at Teatro alla Scala and in Bonn, and Grieg’s Peer Gynt at the Komische Oper. She has sung Mathilde in Guillaume Tell with Mo Pappano with Orchestra dell’Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and at the BBC Proms in London, concerts which have been released on CD (EMI), She has sung Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Herbert Blomstedt, Strauss’ songs with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Lawrence Renes and Mozart’s C Minor Mass with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Nikolaj Znajder. Her appearances under the baton of Eivind Gullberg Jensen have included Kullervo (Orchestre National de France) Mahler’s Symphony no 4 (Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier) and Vier Letzte Lieder (Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine). She has also sung Vier Letzte Lieder in Stockholm with Ralf Weikert.

Malin Byström studied at the University College of Opera in Stockholm. In 2016 she was awarded the medal Litteris et Artibus and in 2018 she was appointed Court Singer by H.M. the Swedish King. At the 2018 International Opera Awards Malin Byström received the prize as the Female Singer of the year.

February 2023