The Swedish soloist Susanne Rydén is one of Europe's leading sopranos specialising in early music. Inspired by her love and understanding of the colourful Baroque repertoire, she works regularly with internationally acclaimed ensembles and conductors, recent concert seasons having included Bach's Christmas Oratorio with Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Fransisco, the St. Matthew Passion with the Nederlandse Bachvereiniging, a programme of Handel with Harry Bicket and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm, Bach's St. Mark Passion with the Academy of Ancient Music at the Easter Festival in Lucerne, Handel's Messiah with the Bach Collegium Japan under Masaaki Suzuki, concerts with Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Concerto Copenhagen, Mozart Concert Arias with the Australian Brandenburg Baroque Orchestra and Paul Dyer, and European tours with Emma Kirkby as well as Collegium Vocale and Philippe Herreweghe. Susanne Rydén frequently appears as a guest artist at major European music festivals and concert venues, and her global touring has taken in, for example, Australia, the USA, Japan, Russia and South Africa.
She has performed at numerous European opera houses and festivals in roles including Dido, Dido and Aeneas and Titania The Fairy Queen by Purcell, Poppea L'incoronazione di Poppea, La Musica L'Orfeo and Minerva Il Ritorno d'Ulisse by Monteverdi, Eurydice Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck, Dorinda Orlando, Galathea Acis and Galathea and Meleagro Atalanta by Handel, and Amahl Amahl and the Night Visitors by Menotti. In 2004 she sang the soprano solo in the opera Song of Songs, a role written especially for her by the Swedish composer Hans-Ola Ericsson. Susanne Rydén has worked with several choreographers and dancers, for example Ismael Ivo, the Serapions Ensemble, Susanne Jaresand and Catherine Turocy and is experienced with both modern choreography and baroque gestures.
She was designer and creator of the elaborately staged performance depicting the life of the Swedish queen Christina's Journey, which toured Europe between 2004 and 2007 (www.queenchristina.com). The production was awarded various prizes and Susanne Rydén honoured by the Swedish Early Music Society for her services to early music. A television production of Christina's Journey was recorded by Swedish television and broadcast on the national network.
Susanne Rydén's deep fascination with chamber music has led her to explore - with the fortepiano specialist Mark Tatlow - the song repertoire of the 18th and 19th centuries. Their first joint recording, Haydn Songs and Cantatas was released in August 2007. Ms Rydén's many other chamber music partners include Lars Ulrik Mortensen, the Freitagsakademie and the ensemble Bell'arte Salzburg. The contemporary Swedish composers Kim Hedǻs and Hans-Ola Ericsson are presently composing chamber music for Susanne Rydén, and first performances are planned for the spring of 2009.
Susanne Rydén has made numerous recordings for labels including Harmonia Mundi, BIS, Avie, Caprice and cpo Germany, several of which have won awards. Future recordings include Handel Cantatas and a second duo-recording with Emma Kirkby due for release in May 2010, followed by a European concert tour.
In 2009 Susanne Rydén will be appearing at the Bodensee Festival under the direction of Jaap ter Linden. She will also be performing with the Kölner Akademie at the European Festival at Passau and touring Croatia with the orchestra Musica Florea. The 2009/2010 season will see her appearing at the Drottningholm Court Theatre and in San Fransisco, singing Dorinda in Handel's Orlando under Nicholas McGegan in a Göttingen Handel Festival production from 2008. She will also be singing Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and, in 2011, the title role in Handel's opera Teseo.
Susanne Rydén studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. She is now herself in constant demand to teach at music festivals around the world.
In 2007 she was appointed a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music.