Nina Stemme: Wagner - Tannhäuser, 'allmächt'ge jungfrau hör mein flehen'

Nina Stemme (born May 11, 1963 in Stockholm) is an opera singer known for her warm, solid spinto soprano voice, with some qualities of a dramatic soprano. She sang in two singing competitions, Operalia, The World Opera Competition and Cardiff Singer of the World. As winner of Operalia in 1993, Stemme was invited by Placido Domingo, founder of Operalia, to appear with him in a concert at La Bastille (1993); the same concert also took place on January 1, 1994, in Munich. Since her operatic debut as Cherubino in Cortona, Italy, Stemme has appeared with many opera companies, including the Royal Swedish Opera Stockholm, the Vienna State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Geneva, Zürich, Teatro San Carlo Naples, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera New York, and San Francisco Opera, as well as at the Bayreuth, Salzburg, Savonlinna, Glyndebourne and Bregenz festivals. Her roles include Rosalinde, Mimi in La bohème, Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica, Euridice, Katerina in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Marguerite, Agathe, Marie, Nyssia (König Kandaules), Jenůfa, Marschallin, Eva, Elisabeth, Elsa, Senta, Sieglinde, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Isolde. This last brought her critical acclaim at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2003, on disc for EMI Classics with Plácido Domingo, Antonio Pappano and the chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden released in 2005 and most recently at the Bayreuth Festival in 2005 and again in 2006. In 2007 Stemme returned in the role of Isolde to Glyndebourne Festival Opera where she first made her debut in the role... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Stemme Lyrics & English Translation Almighty Virgin, hear my prayer! I cry to thee, All-glorious! Let me perish in the dust before thee, oh, take me from this earth! Make me, pure and angel-like, enter into my blessed realm! If ever, engrossed in foolish fancies, my heart did stray from thee, if ever a sinful longing, a worldly yearning did spring up within me, I wrestled then beneath a thousand smarts, to kill it in my heart! But if I could not atone for every fault - yet receive me of thy grace, that, as a worthy maid, I may draw near thee in humble greeting, only to implore the richest favour of thy mercy for his sin! A link to this wonderful artists personal website: http://www.ninastemme.com/ Please Enjoy! I send my kind and warm regards,