Miah Persson

Since her operatic debut as Susanna Le nozze di Figaro in 1998, Swedish soprano Miah Persson has distinguished herself as one of the world’s principal Mozart interpreters, leaving a lasting legacy on those lyric soprano roles for which she has become most celebrated: Susanna, Zerlina Don Giovanni, Sophie Der Rosenkavalier , Poppea L’Incoronazione di Poppea and later Fiordiligi Cosi fan Tutte , Donna Elvira Don Giovanni and Contessa Le nozze di Figaro. Having ‘added a burnish of gold to the silvery soprano that served her so well in Mozart roles’ (The Sunday Times), Miah has now ‘cemented her place as one of the most intelligent Strauss sopranos of our time at the peak of her powers’ (Bachtrack), with impactful role debuts as the Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier and Countess Capriccio.

In the 2021-22 season Miah made her house and role debut as Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at the Semperoper Dresden, followed by Countess Almaviva in Netia Jones’ new production at the Opéra National de Paris. Equally as treasured a performer on the concert platform, she performed Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with both the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta and at Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin conducted by Simone Young; Mahler Symphony No. 2 with Orchestre National de Lyon and Stockholm Swedish Radio Orchestra and Mahler Symphony No. 4 at the BBC Proms with BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Ryan Bancroft. Highlights of the 2022-23 season include a return to the role of the Governess Turn of the Screw with Budapest Festival Orchestra in Budapest and Vicenza; Countess Almaviva in the first revival of Opéra National de Paris’ new production of Le nozze di Figaro at the Palais Garnier; the role of Solomon’s Queen in a tour of Handel’s Solomon with Harry Bicket and The English Concert, performing at Carnegie Hall, LA Opera, San Francisco, London and Madrid; Missa Solemnis with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin; Haydn’s Creation with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal cond. Bernard Labadie and Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestre National de Lyon cond. Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. Miah also returns to Michel van der Aa’s Blank Out, a chamber opera for soprano and 3D film, for performances at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances Berkeley and at the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam.

Throughout her distinguished career, Miah has performed Fiordiligi Cosi fan tutte , Gretel Hansel und Gretel and Pamina Die Zauberflöte at the Metropolitan Opera; Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro and Zerlina Don Giovanni for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden; title role L’Incoronazione di Poppea and Governess Turn of the Screw at Teatro alla Scala; Fiordiligi, Sophie and Susanna at the Wiener Staatsoper; Governess, Fiordiligi, Donna Elvira and Anne Trulove The Rake’s Progress at the Glyndebourne Festival; Donna Elvira at the Theatre Champs Elysées and the Liceu Barcelona; Fiordiligi at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Hamburgische Staatsoper, New National Theatre Tokyo, Bayerische Staatsoper, in Stockholm and for a Deutsche Grammophon recording at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden; Iris Sunken Garden for Dallas Opera and L’Incoronazione di Poppea at Carnegie Hall. She also created the central role in Michel van der Aa’s Blank Out for the Netherlands Opera with performances in Amsterdam, Rome and the Park Avenue Armory, New York.

In concert, Miah has sung Bach Mass in B Minor at Teatro La Fenice; Bach St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic; Beethoven 9 with the London Symphony Orchestra cond. Vladimir Jurowski at the BBC Proms; Brahms Requiem with the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the Gulbenkian Foundation and the London Philharmonic; Peer Gynt with the Vienna Symphony; Nelson Mass at the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg; The Seasons with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic; Mahler 2 with the MDR Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, London Symphony, Teatro alla Scala and the Philharmonie Luxembourg; Mahler 4 with the Basque National Orchestra, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Budapest Festival Orchestra and Orchestre National de Lille; Des Knaben Wunderhorn for the Gulbenkian Foundation; Mozart Requiem with the LA Philharmonic; Schumann Faust Szenen with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester and Vier letzte Lieder with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orkester Berlin, Budapest Festival Orchestra and Montreal Symphony Orchestra; The Creation at the Verbier Festival as well as recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, Wiener Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Pierre Boulezsaal, Spivey Hall, the Schubert Club of St Paul, Cal Performances at Berkeley, Vancouver Playhouse and New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Miah Persson was appointed Hovsångerska, Court Singer, by H.M. the King of Sweden in 2011.