Swedish soprano Julia Sporsén is known for the intensity with which she portrays her characters. Her performances have been described as “fiery” (Opera Magazine), “searing” (The Sunday Times), and “almost unbearably moving” (The Spectator), and she is praised for her virtuosic and expressive singing as well as her stage presence and captivating acting skills.
Julia has sung roles including Katya in Weinberg’s The Passenger, the title role in Martinu’s Julietta and Rosalinde Die Fledermaus for English National Opera, where she also created two roles in world premieres: Julia in Torsten Rasch’s new opera The Duchess of Malfi, and Antigone in Julian Anderson’s Thebans for English National Opera. She also created Regan in the world premiere of Promised End by Alexander Goehr for English Touring Opera.
Julia enjoys a close relationship with Opera Holland Park, where she has sung Katya Kabanova, Micaela, Gilda and Nedda to critical acclaim. Other notable appearances include Tebaldo Don Carlos for Opera North (also recorded for Chandos Records), Kumudha in John Adams’s opera A Flowering Tree, Pamina and Micaela for Göteborg Opera, Micaela for the Royal Swedish Opera and Violetta for Folkoperan in Stockholm.
Recent and future highlights include a return to Scottish Opera as Pat Nixon Nixon in China and Fleana in Zingari, Fox Gold-Spur The Cunning Little Vixen with Opera Holland Park, Young Girl in Schoenberg’s Moses and Aaron at the George Enescu Festival in Budapest, Ingeborg in Elfrida Andrés opera Fritiofs saga, and Waltraute in Die Walküre at Gothenburg Opera, and a return to Folkoparen in Stockholm for Isolde Tristan and Isolde.
In 2021/22, she takes up the position of Artist in Residence at Kulturhuset Spira in Jönköping, Sweden.
This biography is for information only and should not be reproduced.
Ravel's Sheherazade & Ariadne arias, Kulturhuset Spira, Jönköping Sinfonietta
(November 2021)
Julia Sporsén as an artist in residence is a stroke of luck. She is an absolutely brilliant soprano who is able to create charge in the music, regardless of whether it is drama with Strauss or painfully beautiful with Ravel.
Jönköpings-Posten
Kulturhuset Spira – recital as an Artist in Residence
(August 2021)
"Dich, teure Halle" from Wagner's "Tannhäuser" is a perfect party starter in itself, which is further highlighted here by the fact that Julia Sporsén not only sings it with both power and finesse but also steps onto the stage with a coat and suitcase and begins by tearing off her face mask …Wagner's "Wesendoncklieder" were even more dramatised which added a much-needed nerve to the romantic songs … During these six charged minutes [in Den Försvunna], Julia Sporsén does the piece full justice with intensity, presence and brilliant singing
Rikard Flyckt, Jönköpings-Posten
Isolde (Tristan und Isolde)
Folkoperan (October 2020)
Julia Sporsén is sensational - it’s hard to believe that this is her first real Wagner role.
Bo Löfvendahl, Svenska Dagbladet
Julia Sporsén, who easily would have been able to match a full-scale orchestra, makes a very strong role debut as Isolde. The brilliance of her high notes is well complemented by Jesper Säll's shadier tenor.
Axel Englund, Expressen
Julia Sporsén is a minor sensation as Isolde, with a large and strong presence both vocally and theatrically. With her dramatically Gothic charisma, she responds best to Tunström's rich and symbolist imagination.
Camilla Lundberg, SVT
Julia Sporsén's dramatic soprano is magnificent ... with character and presence.
Claes Wahlin, Aftonbladet
Pat Nixon (Nixon in China)
Scottish Opera (February 2020)
Julia Sporsén sang with compelling warmth.
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph****
“[As] the president’s thoughtful wife, Pat Nixon, Julia Sporsén [is] compelling and convincing."
Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian*****
Julia Sporsén gave a towering performance as the ever-elegant First Lady.
David Smythe, Bachtrack
Julia Sporsen’s radiant Pat is almost as moving as Janis Kelly’s at ENO and the Met, in her touching loyalty to her husband and her empathy with the victim of an unscrupulous landlord in the dance sequence.
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times
Special bouquet goes to Julia Sporsén, whose winsome Pat Nixon transcended politics, history, the stage and just about everything else, in a way that told us what it was like to be a bit-player in international politics and still maintain some integrity.
Andrew Clark, Opera Magazine
The principals were good: strong-voiced and persuasive in their individual roles. … Pat, sung by Julia Sporsén, is lighter and, true to character, slightly hysterical.
Christopher Lambton, The Arts Desk
Julia Sporsén’s infinitely touching Pat Nixon.
George Hall, The Stage****
The multi-national cast that Scottish Opera has assembled for these performances is without a weak link. … Of a wonderful three-part evening, it is the second act, which revolves around Pat Nixon (Julia Sporsen) and Madame Mao (Hye-Youn Lee), that is the absolute sensation of the night.
Keith Bruce, The Herald*****
Julia Sporsén blossoms with genuine concern as his wife, Pat
Ken Walton, The Scotsman*****
Frida Andrée: Fritiofs saga (Ingeborg)
Gothenburg Opera (March 2019)
Ingeborg is by far the largest role in the work, and soprano Julia Sporsén creates an extremely impressive interpretation of all its contradictions. The longing for sea air and freedom that Andrée captures with restrained harmonisations and passionate melodic twists becomes an expanded human space in Sporsén’s richly characterised and detailed performance.
Magnus Haglund, GöteborgsPosten
Ingeborg / Julia Sporsén…. impresses with her high notes.
Helen Flensburg, Borås Tidning
Julia Sporsén’s Opera Repertoire
| John Adams | A Flowering Tree (Kumudha) |
|---|---|
| Julian Anderson | The Thebans (Antigone) |
| Bizet | Carmen (Micaela) |
| Britten | Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford) extracts |
| Cilea | Adriana Lecouvreur (title role) extracts |
| Donizetti | L’Elisir d’Amore (Adina, Giannetta) |
| Detlev Glanert | Caligula (Livia) |
| Alexander Goehr | Promised End (Regan) |
| Handel | Rinaldo (Armida) extracts |
| Janáček | Jenufa (Jenufa, Jano) |
| Martinů | Julietta (Julietta) |
| Menotti | The Consul (Magda) extracts |
| Mozart | La clemenza di Tito (Vitellia) extracts |
| Poulenc | La voix humaine (Elle) |
| Puccini | La bohème (Mimì, Musetta) |
| Rameau | Dardanus (Iphise) |
| Torsten Rasch | The Duchess of Malfi (Julia) |
| Smetana | The Bartered Bride (Mařenka) extracts |
| Strauss (J.) | Die Fledermaus (Rosalinde) |
| Tchaikovsky | Iolanta (Iolanta) |
| Verdi | Don Carlos (Tebaldo) |
| Wagner | Parsifal (First Squire, Flower Maiden) |
| Weinberg | The Passenger (Katya) |
Julia Sporsén’s Concert Repertoire
| Brahms | Requiem |
|---|---|
| Beethoven | Mass in C |
| Elgar | The Kingdom |
| Gounod | St Cecilia Mass |
| Haydn | The Creation |
| Handel | Jephtha (Iphis) |
| Mendelssohn | Psalm 42 |
| Mozart | Requiem |
| Pergolesi | Stabat Mater |
| Rutter | Psalmfest |
| Saint-Saens | Requiem |
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