Finnish opera singer, soprano. She graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and in 1983 became the first winner of the newly established international 'Singer of the World' competition in Cardiff. In 1986, she made her debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Fiordiligi ('Così fan tutte'). In 1990, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Donna Elvira ('Don Giovanni').
She performs on all the world's major opera and concert stages. She has an extensive repertoire, ranging from Mozart to Wagner, Janáček and R. Strauss. Her interpretations of the roles of Manon Lescaut, Tosca, Salome, Jenůfa and Katya Kabanova in the operas of the same name, as well as Leonora ('Fidelio'), Eva ('Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'), Elsa ('Lohengrin'), Tatiana ('Eugene Onegin'), and Emilia Marty ('The Makropulos Case') have been particularly successful. She currently performs the roles of Emilia Marty, Leokadia Begbick ('Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'), Klytemnestra ('Elektra'), the Kostelnička ('Jenůfa'), the Foreign Princess ('Rusalka'), Sieglinde ('Die Walküre'), Kabanicha ('Katya Kabanova'), Kundry ('Parsifal'), and Madame de Croissy ('Dialogues des Carmélites').
In 2010, she was the first performer of the monodrama 'Émilie' by Kaija Saariaho, written especially for her. She is a recipient of two Grammy Awards for the recordings of 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' and 'Jenůfa', as well as the Royal Philharmonic Society Award. She is a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
She performs on all the world's major opera and concert stages. She has an extensive repertoire, ranging from Mozart to Wagner, Janáček and R. Strauss. Her interpretations of the roles of Manon Lescaut, Tosca, Salome, Jenůfa and Katya Kabanova in the operas of the same name, as well as Leonora ('Fidelio'), Eva ('Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'), Elsa ('Lohengrin'), Tatiana ('Eugene Onegin'), and Emilia Marty ('The Makropulos Case') have been particularly successful. She currently performs the roles of Emilia Marty, Leokadia Begbick ('Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'), Klytemnestra ('Elektra'), the Kostelnička ('Jenůfa'), the Foreign Princess ('Rusalka'), Sieglinde ('Die Walküre'), Kabanicha ('Katya Kabanova'), Kundry ('Parsifal'), and Madame de Croissy ('Dialogues des Carmélites').
In 2010, she was the first performer of the monodrama 'Émilie' by Kaija Saariaho, written especially for her. She is a recipient of two Grammy Awards for the recordings of 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' and 'Jenůfa', as well as the Royal Philharmonic Society Award. She is a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
