Jenny Sandelin – soprano (Finland)
“Soprano Jenny Sandelin was all lyrical passion as Simón Bolívar’s mistress Manuela, vowing to sacrifice her reputation to join him at his deathbed, then revealed unsuspected dramatic resources as Mary Queen of Scots fiercely claiming royal power in the evening’s brilliant finale.”
– New York Classical Review
”She conjured a vivid, soaring portrait of Bolivar’s married mistress, about to leave home to be at the dying conqueror’s side.” Soprano Sandelin was splendid in the monologue (Mary Queen of scots), using her richly dramatic instrument to bring the queen to life.”
– BroadwayWorld
Jenny Sandelin fulfills the spinto repertoire with a vocal radiance and intensity to be reckoned with. The Finnish soprano is becoming well known for her vocal stamina as well as her charismatic stage presence.
The prize winner of the Italian Opera Florence Competition in March 2018 and the Altamura-Caruso International Voice Competition in October 2017, the winner of the 2011 Ostrobothnian Voice Competition and a multiple national and international prestigious grant receiver, Ms. Sandelin has been singing as a soloist at Vaasa Opera. She has sung the roles of Minerva in Offenbach’s ”Orphée aux Enfers”, Flora in Verdi’s ”La Traviata”, Filippyevna in Tchaikovsky’s ”Eugene Onegin” and Rosalinde in Strauss’ ”Die Fledermaus”. She also covered the roles of Tatyana in ”Eugene Onegin” and the title role in Puccini’s ”Madama Butterfly”.
Jenny was praised for her outstanding performance as Manuela from the opera Simón Bolivar and the queen from Mary Queen of Scots in two concerts in New York to celebrate the operas composer Thea Musgrave’s 90th Birthday in May 2018.
In recent seasons she has appeared in productions of Puccini’s Suor Angelica (title role) in Helsinki, which was a much acclaimed role debut in spite of the two week notice in which she made the role ‘brilliantly her own’.
Another significant debut includes the main role of Mother in the world premiere of the opera ”Kohti Kotia” composed by the renowned Finnish contemporary composer, Ilkka Kuusisto.
Ms. Sandelin’s operatic repertoire also includes the title roles of Puccini’s Tosca and Manon Lescaut and the role of Leonora in both ”Il Trovatore” and ”La forza del destino” by Verdi. Jenny is currently preparing the Verdian roles of Aida (Aida) and Desdemona (Otello) and Wagnerian roles of Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer), Elsa (Lohengrin) and Elisabeth (Tannhäuser), of which she has performed scenes in concerts.
In addition to her operatic repertoire, Ms. Sandelin is an accomplished recitalist and concert performer, having given numerous opera- and lied concerts throughout Europe and the US. Her lyric dramatic voice is at its best in the repertoire of Puccini, Verdi and Wagner and she is specialized in lied repertoire of Sibelius and Kuula.
Mozart’s ”Great Mass in C minor”, Pergolesi’s ”Stabat Mater”, Shostakovich’s ”7 Romances” on poems by Alexander Blok, Verdi’s ”Sei Romanze” (1838) and Wagner’s ”Wesendonck Lieder” are also part of her concert repertoire.