Soile Isokoski

Soile Marja Isokoski (born 14 February 1957) is a Finnish lyric soprano, active in opera, concert works and lieder.

Life and career

Isokoski was born in Posio, Finland. She graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (a cantor-organist diploma, a singing teacher's degree and a singing diploma) and made her concert debut there in 1986.

Isokoski won the Lappeenranta song competition in Finland (1987), the Elly Ameling Competition in the Netherlands (1988), and the Tokyo International Singing Competition (1990). In 1987 she was a finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

She worked first as a church musician in Northern Finland. In 1987 she was engaged as a soloist with the Finnish National Opera and stayed there until 1994. Her first appearance there was as Mimi in Puccini's La bohème in 1987.

Isokoski has sung at all the leading opera houses in Europe, including the Vienna State Opera, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastille, La Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin State Opera, Semperoper, the Hamburg State Opera, and the Cologne Opera.

She made her début at the Metropolitan Opera as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro in 2002. The New York Times wrote on 28 January 2002: "Ms. Isokoski... touched on the Countess' sense of abandonment by the Count without diminishing her regal bearing or the graceful humor she must contribute to the second act. And her dark, burnished soprano should make her a good addition to the Met roster."

In 2007 Isokoski made her San Francisco Opera debut portraying the role of the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. In 2010 she made her Los Angeles Opera debut as Elsa in Lohengrin.

She has also appeared at many festivals such as Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Chorégies d'Orange, The Proms in London, Tanglewood Music Festival and Savonlinna Opera Festival.

Isokoski's song repertoire is extensive. She has given recitals with her regular accompanist all over the world, including in New York, Washington, D.C., Fort Lauderdale, Vienna, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Rome, Athens, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Tokyo.

Isokoski has appeared with many renowned conductors including Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, James Conlon, Andrew Davis, Colin Davis, John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Marek Janowski, Neeme Järvi, Okko Kamu, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Yehudi Menuhin, Riccardo Muti, Sakari Oramo, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam, and Osmo Vänskä.

Roles

Così fan tutte "Fiordiligi" (Mozart) Don Giovanni "Donna Elvira" (Mozart) The Marriage of Figaro "Countess " (Mozart) The Magic Flute "Pamina " (Mozart) Otello "Desdemona" (Verdi) Falstaff "Alice Ford" (Verdi) Simon Boccanegra "Amelia" (Verdi) Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg "Eva" (Wagner) Lohengrin "Elsa" (Wagner) Der Freischütz "Agathe" (Weber) The Bartered Bride "Marenka " (Smetana) Der Rosenkavalier "Marschallin" (Richard Strauss) Capriccio "Countess" (Richard Strauss) Ariadne auf Naxos "Ariadne" (Richard Strauss) Daphne "Daphne" (Richard Strauss) The Tales of Hoffmann "Antonia" (Offenbach) Faust "Marguerite" (Gounod) La Juive "Rachel" (Halévy) La bohème "Mimi" (Puccini) Turandot "Liù" (Puccini) Carmen "Micaëla" (Bizet) Eugene Onegin "Tatjana" (Tchaikovsky) Peter Grimes "Ellen Orford" (Britten) Dialogues of the Carmelites "Madame Lidoine" (Poulenc)

Recordings

CD

Christmas Carols Finlandia Records 1989 Schubert: Lieder Finlandia 1994 Schumann : Liederkreis Op. 39, Frauenliebe und –leben Finlandia 1995 My World of Songs, Schubert, Schumann, Sibelius, Grieg & al. Finlandia 1999 Finnish Songs Ondine 2000 R. Strauss: Orchestral Songs Ondine 2002 Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch with Bo Skovhus Ondine 2002 Artist Portrait Schubert, Schumann, Grieg, Sibelius Warner Classics 2002 Finnish sacred Songs Ondine 2003 Mozart: Arias Ondine 2004 Hymns in Finnish Ondine 2005 Sibelius: Luonnotar, Orchestral Songs Ondine 2006 Songs by Sibelius, Strauss and Berg, Wigmore Hall, Live, BBC Recording 2006 Christmas Carols with YL Male Voice Choir Ondine 2006 Scene d'amore: Scenes and arias by Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Gounod, Puccini, Verdi Ondine 2008 Hindemith: Das Marienleben Ondine 2009 Richard Strauss: Lieder Ondine 2011 Richard Strauss: Three Hymns, Opera arias Ondine 2012 Oi jouluyö, Christmas Carols Ondine 2014 Chausson: Poème de l'amour et de la mer, Berlioz: Les nuits d'été, Duparc: Songs Ondine 2015

Rautavaara: Cantos, Die Liebenden etc. Finlandia 1989 Mendelssohn: Elias, op. 70 Harmonia Mundi 1993 Mahler: Symphonie 4 Symphonie für Sopran und Orchester 1993 Mozart: Così fan tutte Accent 1993 Mendelssohn: Paulus, op. 36 Opus III 1995 Sibelius: Kullervo Op 7 Chandos 1995 Gothoni: Der Ochs und sein Hirte Ondine 1995 Fux: La deposizione dalla croce Novalis 1995 Schubert: Mass E-flat major, D 950, Berlin Classics 1996 Kokkonen: Requiem BIS 1996 Sibelius: Finlandia / Luonnotar etc. Deutsche Grammophon 1996 Mahler: Symphonie 2 in C minor Fonit Cetra Records 1997 Schubert: Die Verschworenen Opus III 1997 Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op.45 Opus III 1997 Zemlinsky: Der Zwerg EMI 1997 Mozart: Don Giovanni Deutsche Grammophon 1998 Schubert: Missa Solemnis, Stabat Mater, Salve Regina Ondine 1999 Mendelssohn: "Lobgesang" Eine Symphonie Cantate No. 2 Opus III 2000 Beethoven: Fidelio 2000 Beethoven: Symphonie No 9 Teldec 2000 Sibelius: Conferment and Coronation Cantatas etc. Ondine 2000 Zemlinsky: Sämtliche Orchesterlieder EMI 2000 Live from the Kuhmo Festival, A Century of Finnish Chamber Music Ondine 2002 Zemlinsky: Lyrische Symphonie EMI 2002 Halévy: La Juive RCA 2002 Pacius: Die Loreley BIS 2003 Graun: Der Tod Jesu Querstand 2004 Nielsen: Complete Symphonies Deutsche Grammophon 2005 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 EMI 2005 Wiener Opernfest 2005 Orfeo 2005 13. Festliche Operngala für die Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung Sony BMG 2007 Sibelius: Kullervo Ondine 2008 Schönberg: Gurrelieder Signum 2009 Gounod: Faust Orfeo 2010

DVD

Vienna State Opera gala concert – 50th anniversary of the reopening Live: Vienna, 5 November 2005 13. Festliche Operngala für die AIDS-Stiftung. Live-Aufnahme aus der Deutschen Oper Berlin vom 11. November 2006 Ioan Holender Farewell Concert: Live From the Vienna State Opera 2010 Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites BelAir Classiques 2011

Awards and recognitions

1st prize in the Lappeenranta song competition 1987 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition 1987 finalist 1st prize in the Elly Ameling Competition 1988 1st prize in the Tokyo International Singing Competition 1990 The Pro Finlandia medal in honour of her notable contribution to Finnish music 2002 Gramophone Editors's Choice Award, Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss (Ondine) 2002 The State Prize for Music 2005 Gramophone Award nomination for Songs by Sibelius, Strauss and Berg 2006 MIDEM Classical Award, Sibelius: Luonnotar Orchestral Songs (Ondine) 2007 BBC Music Magazine Award, Disc of the Year and Vocal Award, Sibelius: Luonnotar Orchestral Songs (Ondine) 2007 The Sibelius Medal of the Sibelius Society of Finland 2007 The title of Kammersängerin in Vienna 2008 Diapason d'Or 2008, Sibelius: Kullervo with YL Male Voice Choir, Helsinki PO/Leif Segerstam, Tommi Hakala Prix Caecilia 2009, Hindemith: Das Marienleben Honorary Doctorate from the University of Helsinki 2011