Bjoner, Ingrid

Bjoner, Ingrid, Norwegian soprano; b. Kraakstad, Nov. 8, 1927. She studied pharmacy at the Univ. of Oslo (graduated, 1951) and pursued vocal training at the Oslo Cons, with Gudrun Boellemose, at the Frankfurt am Main Hochschule für Musik with Paul Lohmann, and in N.Y. with Ellen Repp. After making her operaric debut as the 3^rd Norn and Gutrune with the Norwegian Radio in Oslo in 1956, she made her stage debut as Mozart’s Donna Anna with the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo in 1957. She sang at the Stockholm Drottningholm Court Theater (1957), the Wuppertal Theater (1957–59), the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf (1959–61), the Bayreuth Festival (1960), and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (from 1961). On Oct. 28, 1961, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Elsa in Lohengrin, remaining on its roster until 1968 and returning again in 1971-72 and 1974-75. In 1967 she sang at London’s Covent Garden and in 1974 she returned to N.Y. to sing the Duchess of Parma in the U.S. premiere of Busoni’s Doktor Faust at Carnegie Hall.

In subsequent years, she concentrated her career on European engagements. She also toured throughout the world as a concert singer. Later she served as a prof. at the Royal Danish Cons, of Music in Copenhagen (from 1991) and at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo (from 1992). Bjoner was especially admired for her roles in operas by Wagner, Verdi, and Richard Strauss. She also won praise as Beethoven’s Leonore, Iphigenia, and Turandot.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire