# Anja Silja



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

A soprano who I have long had great respect for is Anja Silja, going back to the 60's with her Bayreuth recording of _Dutchman_ conducted by Sawallisch. She had a very wide repertoire covering most of Wagner, Berg, Strauss (both) Janacek, Verdi and even Rossini! She was active on stage from her early 20's * and still going strong in her 60's. Admittedly she never had the most gorgeous voice but she did have a great sense of drama and how to use the voice to convey it (sound familiar?) She is particularly well known for her lighter Wagner roles from working with Wieland Wagner in Bayreuth and, more recently, much older characters such as Kostelnicka and Herodias. There is even a video from around 2000 of her singing Schoenberg's _Erwartung_.

Here is a rare video of the _Meistersinger_ quintet from a 1963 Bayreuth performance with Josef Greindl and Wolfgang Windgassen, conducted by Thomas Schippers...






And from _Fidelio_, Abscheulicher from a 1968 Hamburg studio performance...






* Depending on who you believe. Some sources said that she was born in 1935 but she insisted that it was 1940 and that was what was on her birth certificate.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

a fine singer with a pleasant voice and versatile rep, but I've always found the voice a tad "colorless"


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I have more respect than liking for her. The voice itself does nothing for me, but she seems to have used it to sing absolutely everything, and was reportedly a terrific actress. The list of her roles on Wiki is mind-boggling:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anja_Silja


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I found Anja to be the very best Senta of the 10 Dutchman recordings I have. I have her on the Klemperer Dutchman.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Not great. Often shrill and off pitch, I assume her successes were largely the result of her dramatic talents, not her vocal ones. I'm not overly fond of the many Bayreuth recordings I have with her in lead roles, although I think she's fine in small doses, as Freia or a Blumenmadchen. She has a feverish and girlish intensity that kind of works for Senta but I don't find enough pleasure in listening to her to spin either the Klemperer or the Sawallisch recordings too often.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

If my brain is not playing tricks (it tends to do that these days) I believe I saw Silja as Kostelnicka with Mattila as Jenufa about 7 years or so ago at the Met and was quite impressed with her.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> I have more respect than liking for her. The voice itself does nothing for me, but she seems to have used it to sing absolutely everything, and was reportedly a terrific actress. The list of her roles on Wiki is mind-boggling:
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anja_Silja


she sang Wagner live when she was _21_?!
Lord have Mercy!


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> she sang Wagner live when she was _21_?!
> Lord have Mercy!


And, unlike others who rushed in where others fear to tread, she was still singing successfully in her 60s


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

She had a sensational audition with Solti when she was 18 when she sang the Liebestod from Tristan and the Queen of the Night's aria from the Flute. He hired her on the spot. She was an amazing singer but I always thought her voice unrivalled for unloveliness.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Saw Miss Silja a few times in San Francisco. A voice that could peel paint off the walls - shrill and strident is what I most remember, though she was good on stage. Lulu was the first opera I saw in San Francisco starring Miss Silja while still in college (on a free ticket provided by my Humanities class). Salome and Emilia Marty, Katya Kabanova, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk followed a few years later - she rolled on the floor in Salome. Fortunately, no Italian operas or "Standard repertoire," though Salome could count as standard in SF. Wouldn't buy anything with her in it. 
I almost forgot her Regan in Reinman's noisy opera "Lear!" She also sang the Nurse in FROSCH, very screamy.


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