Malin Byström

Biography

A commanding presence on the world’s greatest stages Swedish soprano Malin Byström is a frequent guest at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, and Bayerische Staatsoper. Malin’s career is defined by a series of acclaimed performances in roles such as Tosca, Salome and Minnie in La fanciulla del West. She has captivated audiences across iconic venues, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, and the San Francisco Opera.

The season of 2024/25 has brought on two major role debuts: Danae in a new production of Strauss’ Die Liebe der Danae at the Bayerische Staatsoper, and Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at the Wiener Staatsoper. Malin has the recent seasons added several other new roles to her repertoire including Elsa in Lohengrin (Dutch National Opera, Wiener Staatsoper), The Woman in Schoenberg’s Erwartung (Teatro Real), Marie in Wozzeck (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Royal Swedish Opera) and Rusalka (Bergen National Opera).

Malin Byström made her praised role debut as Salome at the Dutch National Opera in 2017 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the baton of Mo Daniele Gatti, a role for which she was awarded the prize as the Female Singer of the year at the 2018 International Opera Awards. Malin has since then performed the role at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, the Bolshoi and at the Edinburgh International Festival (recorded for Chandos).

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

In the season of 2020/21 Byström made her critically acclaimed Wiener Staatsoper debut as Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos. Malin has since then returned to Vienna with roles such as Salome, Minnie in La fanciulla del West and Elsa in Lohengrin.

Malin Byström has been a guest at the Metropolitan Opera with the title role of Arabella, as Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Marguerite in Faust.

At the Royal Swedish Opera, Malin has appeared in several productions including the title roles of Tosca, Jenůfa and Fedora, Die Feldmarschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Minnie in La fanciulla del West, Desdemona in Otello, Donna Elvira, and Romilda in Serse.

Malin Byström has performed the role of Tosca at Oper Frankfurt, the Dutch National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Staatsoper Stuttgart. She has sung the Countess Madeleine in Capriccio at Teatro Real in Madrid and in concert at the Edinburgh International Festival. In 2016 Malin Byström made her debut at the San Francisco Opera when she performed her first Jenůfa. Malin has performed Thaïs at the Göteborg Opera and Palau de les Arts, Valencia (opposite Plácido Domingo as Athanaël), Donna Anna (Salzburg Festival), Fiordiligi (Bayerische Staatsoper), Contessa/Le nozze di Figaro (Aix-en-Provence, Grand Théâtre de Genève), Amelia/Simon Boccanegra (Gothenburg) and Elettra/Idomeneo (ROH, Drottningholm Court Theatre).

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

Malin Byström studied at the University College of Opera in Stockholm. In 2016, she was honored with the Litteris et Artibus medal by H.M. the King of Sweden for her exceptional artistry and contributions to opera, and two years later she was appointed Court Singer.

April 2025

Co-owner and Artist Manager

Elisabeth Haglund

Voices from the Press

”Pure Gold”

“Swedish lyric soprano Malin Byström, portraying Danae, was the principal object of my enthusiasm." "She’s a perfect fit for the role, both vocally and dramatically. The silver timbre of her lyric voice is truly enticing, and she’s marvellously at ease in her stratospheric upper range, so important in defining soprano roles by Strauss. In Act I, she played the fetching spoiled girl to perfection. In Act III, she was positively glowing with humility and contentment. It’s hard to imagine a better Danae.” Die Liebe der Danae/Bayerische Staatsoper 2025

Ossama el Naggar/ConcertoNet.com February 2025

"Revelatory production of Richard Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae in Munich"

"Her phrasing and style show great musicality. Her high notes are superb, and one understands why she has already been cast as the Marschallin. It is a pleasure to see such a radiant singer during curtain calls." Die Liebe der Danae/Bayerische Staatsoper 2025

by Jim Pritchard/Seen and heard international- February 17 2025

"Mit ihrem samtweichen wie dringlichen Sopran war Malin Byström als Minnie Star des Sonntagabends." / "With her velvety and urgent soprano, Malin Byström was the star of Sunday evening as Minnie." La Fanciulla del West/ Wiener Staatsoper 2024

Stefan Ender/Der Standard - January 8 2024

"But the evening belonged to Malin Byström, a fine Salome here in 2018, and now probably unsurpassed in the role, vocally and histrionically. “A sixteen year old with the voice of Isolde,” was Strauss’s description of the requirements, and this was as thrilling an account of the role as the house has heard in a while, to judge by the sustained roar Byström received at her solo curtain call. Her acting was convincing too, not least in her petulant, increasingly insistent “Gib mir den Kopf des Jochanaan”. When rejoicing in kissing the prophet’s decapitated head, wondering insanely if she has thus tasted love, she sang magnificently." Salome/Royal Opera House 2022

Roy Westbrook/Bachtrack - September 11 2022

"Byström’s colossal performance as the insatiable anti-heroine was haunting, her rich warm soprano embracing her character but with a girlish litheness. Hers was the only singer with a costume, initially a white skirt and bodice, playfully knocking back Narraboth’s ardent suggestions and his warnings as she becomes infatuated with Jochanaan. The prophet’s rejection of Salome and, more violently, her mother led to Byström becoming the petulant princess, her elfin presence giving a false gloss to a truly chilling character. It is a huge role and Byström paced it perfectly in a breathtaking performance, drawing on every nuance and playing off her disjointed family to maximum destructive effect." Salome/Edinburgh Festival 2022

David Smythe/Bachtrack - August 15 2022

“Malin Byström was an absolute revelation, a velvety voiced Elisabeth de Valois” - Don Carlos/Wiener Staatsoper 2020

Chanda VanderHart/Bachtrack - October 5 2020

”Malin Byström returned to Stockholm as the Feldmarschallin, confirming her status as one of the greatest operatic singers today. Her natural elegance was perfectly suited to the confident aristocrat; the rich colour palette of her voice managed to convey all the different emotions and moods of the complex character.” Der Rosenkavalier/Royal Swedish Opera

Laura Servidei/Bachtrack - March 21 2019

“It Is unbelievable that the Swedish soprano Malin Byström was performing the role of the Countess for the very first time.

Not only she was perfect vocally and in style, but her incarnation of the widow was fresh, moving, and sophisticated. She has a dark sonorous voice with a velvety quality. Her German diction is perfect, and her interpretation of her final scene was brilliant. She can be heard perfectly over the orchestra when the sound is densest, but at the same time, she can color her voice to reflect her doubts or sweetness.” – Capriccio/Teatro Real Madrid 2019

Mauricio Villa/Operawire - June 19 2019

“…when it came to the big, dramatic phrases at the top end, she had all the ability you might wish for to soar above the orchestra, all with a tone as smooth and clean as the sheer white satin of her costume. The intelligibility of her German was exceptional – perhaps the clearest I've ever heard. Byström looked every inch the part of the teenage princess, pencil thin and fresh-faced. And her portrayal was chilling, perfectly timed in its progression from sulky but relatively harmless teenage rebel moving through to the steadily increasing danger of her obsession with Jochanaan and culminating in her glorying in the realisation of the sexual power she has over Herod. It was the cleanness of the voice and the perfect diction that made the steady repetition of 'Gib mir den Kopf des Jochanaan' into such a chilling refrain. Rarely can such beauty of voice have been combined with a snarl of such viciousness” - Salome/Covent Garden 2018