Silja’s family was of Finnish extraction. Both her parents were actors and her musical ability was quickly recognized by her grandfather, Egon van Rijn, who was her singing coach from her sixth to her twenty-sixth year, giving her an extremely secure vocal technique. She made her first public appearance aged only ten at Berlin’s Titania Palast and thereafter toured as a child prodigy.
In 1956 Silja made her operatic stage debut at Braunschweig (Brunswick) as Rosina / Il barbiere di Siviglia. She sang with the Stuttgart Opera in 1958 and the Frankfurt Opera in 1959, the year in which she attracted attention as the Queen of the Night / Die Zauberflöte at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, having already sung this role with the Vienna State...
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BOULEZ, Pierre: Triptyque (Le) (Vienna Festival, 2003) | |
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BOULEZ, Pierre: Triptyque (Le) (Vienna Festival, 2003)
Composers:
Falla, Manuel de -- Schoenberg, Arnold -- Stravinsky, Igor
Artists:
Boulez, Pierre -- Damiens, Alain -- Ensemble InterContemporain -- Silja, Anja
Label/Producer: Digital Classics Distribution |
HUMPERDINCK, E.: Hansel und Gretel (Royal Opera House, 2008) | |
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HUMPERDINCK, E.: Hansel und Gretel (Royal Opera House, 2008)
Composer:
Humperdinck, Engelbert
Artists:
Allen, Thomas -- Connell, Elizabeth -- Damrau, Diana -- Davis, Colin -- Kirchschlager, Angelika -- Matshikiza, Pumeza -- Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden -- Silja, Anja -- Tiffin Boys Choir -- Watson, Anita
Label/Producer: Opus Arte |