Åsa Jäger

Soprano

This season Swedish dramatic Soprano Åsa Jager makes her role debut as Isolde Tristan und Isolde at Norrlands Operan in Sweden, and travels to Gothenburg Opera to appear as La Cieca La Giaconda in concert. She returns to the role of Brunnhilde Götterdämmerung under the baton of Kent Nagano with Dresden Music Festival and Concerto Cologne and sings the role in concert at Dresden Kulturpalast, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Friedrichsforum Bayreuth, Philharmonie Koeln, Lucerne Festival and Philharmonie de Paris.

Last season, she sang Brunnhilde Siegfried in concert at Prague State Opera, Philharmonie de Paris, Koelner Philharmonie, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, and Lucerne Festival, winning outstanding reviews. She appeared at Elbphilharmonie in excerpts from Götterdämmerung, and returned to Landestheater Coburg as Senta.

Recent engagements include her house and role debut as Senta Der fliegende Holländer at Gothenburg Opera, and her appearances as Brunnhilde Die Walküre with Kent Nagano’s The Wagner Cycles, a unique project led by Dresden Music Festival with Dresden Festival Orchestra and Concerto Köln, winning the highest accolades for her portrayal of the heroine.

”Here again, Åsa Jäger sang a robust, radiant Brünnhilde, whose seemingly inexhaustible vocal capacities were once again breathtaking”. Bachtrack, March 2023

”The Siegfried-Brünnhilde is probably the most difficult of the three Brünnhilde in “Der Ring des Nibelungen”: she has no warm-up phase, must be fully present right away in a challenging vocal range. Åsa Jäger, who already thrilled the Coburg audience as Walküre, shone again this time with her sovereign mastery of this short but difficult role. In addition to the glistening, explosive high notes, the soprano found a dramatically blossoming tone with depth of soul in the lyrical moments.” Neue Presse, March 2023

”With the Swedish Åsa Jäger, a Brünnhilde with a phenomenal voice was on stage in Coburg.” BR Klassik, March 2023

Åsa Jäger’s Brünnhilde legitimises all possible scenic nonchalance. In “Die Walküre” she overwhelmed the audience by her pure vocal presence in the dramatic as well as in the heartfelt phrases, in “Siegfried” she repeats exactly this in “her” scene.” Der Opernfreund, March 2023

Alex Ross lists Notable performances and recordings of 2022: ”I spent much of May in Germany, exploring the country’s incomparable network of opera houses. The lesson is much the same as in the American orchestral field: bigger and richer is not necessarily better. In Coburg, a city of forty-one thousand, the young Swedish soprano Åsa Jäger took possession of the mighty role of Brünnhilde, her voice aglow with the confidence of arrival”. The New Yorker, December 2022

“The vocal discovery of the night was the young Swedish soprano Åsa Jäger, who sang Brünnhilde with clarion tone, crisp diction, and infectious zest. This run of performances marks not only Jäger’s German début but also her début in any Wagner role. I suspect that later in her career she will look back fondly on Coburg, where her ascent began” The New Yorker, June 2022

“…and with Åsa Jäger there is a great Brünnhilde on the small stage, for which many larger houses should envy Coburg. So much tenderness with so much dynamic range and height, so much ladylike, yet youthful vocal elegance with so much dramatic sincerity: this is how a young Brünnhilde must sound”. Der Opernfreund, June 2022

“Among the guest soloists, one in particular stood out at the premiere: Åsa Jäger as Brünnhilde. The young Swede not only mastered the role…but also sang her very first Hojotoho with such a lively lightness, confidence in the high notes and penetrating power that it was a real joy. She also succeeds in portraying a compelling role that requires concentration, strength, talent and courage. Bravura, a stroke of luck from a Wotan child! Bamberg Richard Wagner Verband, April 2022

“First and foremost, we should mention the young Swedish soprano Åsa Jäger, who lets her luminous voice resound powerfully and expansively as the wild Valkyrie, only to let soft, lyrical tones be heard in the final touching dialogue with the father”. Neue Presse, April 2022