Ingrid Bjoner

Ingrid Kristine Bjoner Pierpoint (8 November 1927 – 4 September 2006) was a Norwegian soprano who had an international opera career between 1956 and 1990. She was particularly celebrated for her portrayal of Wagnerian heroines and for her performances in operas by Richard Strauss. In addition to performing in operas, Bjoner was an active concert soloist and recital performer throughout her career.

Biography Background Ingrid Kristine Bjoner was born at Kråkstad in Akershus, Norway. Her parents were Johan Bjoner (1877–1950) and Alma Prestangen (1890–1982). She was the eighth of nine children born to a farming family. Bjoner was educated as a pharmacist at the University of Oslo during which time she also studied voice with Gudrun Boellemose. She drew considerable public notice after an extraordinary performance at Oslo Cathedral which reoriented her path towards a professional musical career. She travelled to Germany for further voice lessons with Paul Lohmann at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt and Franziska Martienssen-Lohmann in Düsseldorf.

In 1956, Bjoner made her first professional appearance singing the roles of the Third Norn and Gutrune for a radio broadcast of Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and starring Kirsten Flagstad as Brünnhilde. In 1957 she made her stage debut as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Norwegian National Opera; reprising the role later that year for her debut at the Wuppertal Opera. Bjoner went on to sing several more roles in Wuppertal between 1957 and 1959. Also in 1957, she portrayed the title role in Handel's Rodelinda at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre through the invitation of Flagstad.

Career In 1959, Bjoner joined the roster at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein where she sang regularly for three seasons. That same year she made her first appearance at the Vienna State Opera where she returned periodically through 1986 in such roles as Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, Desdemona in Otello, Leonore in Fidelio, Rezia in Oberon, and the title role in Turandot.

In 1965, Bjoner made her debut at La Scala as Elsa and in 1967 she returned to Covent Garden to appear in three operas: Leonore in Fidelio, Senta in The Flying Dutchman, and Sieglinde in Die Walküre. That year she made her debut at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires as Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten returning in 1969 for Der Freischütz, Fidelio, Der fliegende Hollander and 1980 again as Leonora. She appeared at the Salzburg Festival in both 1969 and 1970 as Leonore and reprised that role again in a return to the Met in 1971. In 1970 she performed for the first time at the Teatro Real, the Royal Danish Opera, and the Pittsburgh Opera. In 1972, she made her debut at the Palais Garnier singing Isolde and the title role in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. She returned to the Met again in 1974 to sing Turandot. She returned to La Scala in 1975 to sing Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung. Other notable appearances during the 1970s include performances at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, Royal Swedish Opera, Norwegian National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, and several Bayreuth festivals among others.

Awards In 1964, she was awarded the St. Olav's Medal by King Olav V of Norway and in 1980 she was made a Commander in the Royal Order of St. Olav. In 1992, her bust by sculptor Nils Aas was unveiled at the Norwegian Opera. In 1995, she was awarded the Anders Jahre Cultural Prize (Anders Jahres kulturpris) jointly with Jan Garbarek.

Personal life In 1960, she married Thomas Reynolds Pierpoint Jr. (1922–1999). She died in 2006 in Oslo.