Elisabeth Söderström most human character in the drama." Born in Stockholm, Söderström received her first musical schooling from Adelaide von Skilondz and later studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. She made her debut in 1947 at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre singing in one of Mozart's lesser-known works "Bastien et Bastienne". From 1949 to 1980 she called the Royal Swedish Opera her home but she frequently appeared at some of the largest opera houses in the world. She was also a regular visitor to the recording studio. Between 1959 and 1964 Söderström was contracted by the Metropolitan Opera in New
Claire Gibault "West Side Story". She has also conducted "Pelléas et Mélisande" (Covent Garden, London), "Le Comte Ory" (Glyndebourne Festival), "Cosi fan tutte" (Opera North), Chabrier's "L'étoile" (Edinburgh Festival), "Zaïde" and "Der Schauspieldirektor" (Bastille), "L'Enfant et les Sortilèges" (Châtelet), Boîeldieu's "La Dame Blanche" (Opéra-Comique, Paris), "Mitridate", "La Donna del lago", "Die Zauberflöte", "Le Nozze di Figaro" and "Bastien und Bastienne" (Nice), "La Clemenza di Tito" (Orléans), "La Traviata" (Nancy), "Idomeneo" and "Cosi fan tutte" (Liège), "Maria Stuarda" (Torino), "La Cenerentola" (Rome) and "Les Oiseaux de passage" (Bologna). She was Claudio Abbado's assistant for "Pelléas et Mélisande" at the Royal Opera House, La