Sven Hjörleifsson

The Icelandic tenor Sven Hjörleifsson studied in Reykjavik and at the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna, before making his debut at The Icelandic Opera’s studio in 2008.
He is currently a member of the ensemble at Opera Leipzig, the third oldest operatic institution in Europe, where his roles have included the Witch (Hänsel und Gretel), the Steersman (Der fliegende Holländer), Remendado (Carmen), Pong (Turandot) and Froh (Das Rheingold). Among his roles this season Sven will sing Narraboth ( Salome), Cassio (Otello), A young servant (Elektra). Bob Boles (Peter Grimes), Kunz Vogelgesang (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) just to mention some.

Sven began his Austro-German career as member of the ensemble at the Landestheater Linz, a position he was offered after a guest appearance singing Ferrando in Così fan tutte. In Linz, he sang numerous roles including Ernesto (Don Pasquale), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), The Fried Swan (Carmina Burana), Alfred/Dr Blind (Die Fledermaus), Jamil (The Arabic Princess) and the Sorceress, Spirit and Sailor (Dido & Aeneas).

Other roles in various houses have included Belmonte (The Abduction from the Seraglio), Rodolfo (La bohème), Bardolfo (Falstaff), Spoletta (Tosca), Goro (Madama Butterfly) and Tempo (Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno). An experienced interpreter of contemporary and new operas, Sven has created roles in operas by Moritz Eggert, Bruno Strobl, Bernhard Lang, Poul Koutnik and Matthias Kranebitter.

He did his debut at Semperoper Dresden where he jumped in April 2022 as Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro, an experience that brought him another great possibility as A young servant in Elektra at the same house.

In concert, Sven has appeared as the narrator in Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri at the Vienna Konzerthaus and as a soloist in Schubert's Mass in F in the Wiener Musikverein and Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Bach Choir Hannover, as well as taking the part of Jesus in Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives and the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah. At the gala opening of the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik, Sven appeared as a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with Iceland Symphony Orchestra. An experienced lieder singer, he has performed Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin and Schumann’s Dichterliebe in concert and was recently soloist with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra in repertoire of Mozart.

He has worked with conductors like Simone Young , Anna Skryleva, Christoph Gedschold, Ulf Schirmer. Matthias Foremny, Johannes Debus, David Riddell and directors as David Pountney, Peter Konwitschny, Kay Link, Calixto Bleito etc.