Monica Groop, mezzo-soprano

Finnish mezzo-soprano Monica Groop´s wide-ranging career is based upon repertoire of great music adventurousness. Specialties in non-mainstream music and standard fare have enabled this artist to appear in concert and operatic roles across the world. Her repertory is a rich and varied mixture of Baroque, solid classical repertoire and modern masters.

An accomplished recitalist, Monica Groop has given solo recitals at the New York´s Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, London´s Wigmore Hall and Musikverein in Vienna. In honor of the Schubert bicentenary and the Brahms centenary, she joined pianist András Schiff for three Brahms/Schubert recitals in Austria and an all-Schubert recital at the 1997 Lucerne Festival. She appears regularly with pianists András Schiff, Rudolf Jansen, Roger Vignoles, Ilmo Ranta and Gustav Djupsjöbacka. She has in addition appeared with pianists Cord Garben, Michel Beroff, Bruno Rigutto, Stephen Kovacevic, Leif-Ove Andsnes, Boris Berezovsky, Ralf Gothoni and Helmut Deutsch.

It is noteworthy that Monica Groop was the first Finnish female singer to be invited to give a song recital at the Salzburg Festival accompanied by the famous pianist András Schiff. As a recitalist she has appeared at numerous festivals all over the world like the Flanders Festival in Brussels (Jansen), Glyndebourne Festival (Schiff), Musiktage Mondsee Salzburg (Schiff), Schubertiade Feldkirch (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Schiff), Schubertiade Schwarzenberg (Deutsch), Schloss Grafenegg Vienna (Jansen), Rheingau Festival (Jansen), Mozart Festival La Coruna (Jansen), Risör Festival Norway (Andsnes), Helsinki Festival (Schiff), Savonlinna Opera Festival (Jansen), Aix-en-Provence (Djupsjöbacka), Forqalqiuer (Gothoni), Verbier Festival (Kovacevic, Beroff) as well as at Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Lubimov, Berezovsky), Bolzano (Jansen), Villabertran (Vignoles), Santiago de Compostela (Vignoles), Lugo (Vignoles), Madrid (Jansen), Dresden (Ranta), Frankfurt (Vignoles), Schloss Elmau Garmish-Partenkirchen (Vignoles), Paris Louvre (Berezovsky), Aberdeen (Vignoles), Edinburgh (Ranta), London St Lukes (Jansen) and Stockholm (Love Derwinger).

A prolific recording artist, Monica Groop has made over sixty recordings. One of her major projects has been the complete recording of the 170 songs by Edvard Grieg for BIS (7 CDs). Another major project has been the complete Sibelius songs together with Anne-Sofie von Otter also for BIS. It is of note that she was one of the few non-German artists involved in the extensive project of complete Loewe Songs for the German label CPO. She also recorded the complete Allan Pettersson Songs for the same CPO label. Other recordings include French opera arias (Flamme d´amour), famous Baroque arias (Arie amorose) and the Bach Alto Cantatas for Warner. The San Francisco Chronicle noted about the Bach recording that "Groop´s sound is a marvel, a rich, velvety sonority with a wealth of color informing every note. Even more striking though, is the clarity and forthrightness that she brings to Bach´s music". She has also recorded for Sony, DECCA, Deutsche Gramophone, Chandos, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Harmonia Mundi France, Accent, Arabesque, Capriccio, Hänssler Classic, Opus 111, Naïve, Nightingale Classics, Vanguard Classics and the Finnish labels Alba and Ondine.