Nina Grieg

Nina Grieg
Grieg in about 1934
Born	Nina Hagerup (1845-11-24)24 November 1845 Bergen, Norway
Died	9 December 1935(1935-12-09) (aged 90) Copenhagen, Denmark
Nationality	Danish-Norwegian
Occupation	Lyric soprano
Spouse	Edvard Grieg (m. 1867)
Children	1

Nina Grieg, née Hagerup (24 November 1845 – 9 December 1935) was a Danish–Norwegian lyric soprano.

Early life and family

Nina Hagerup was born in Bergen, Norway. She was the first cousin of composer Edvard Grieg, whom she married.

Career

The couple often performed concerts together in Europe, usually to rave reviews. Edvard considered her the best performer of his songs.

She was featured as a soloist in Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah with Musikselskabet Harmonien (later known as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra) in 1866.

The English composer Frederick Delius dedicated two sets of songs to her in the years 1888–1890.

Nina Grieg never recorded professionally, but two amateur recordings made on wax cylinders have been preserved (in quite poor condition) and have been issued on the Simax label.

Personal life and demise

She married her first cousin, Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, on 11 June 1867, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Nina and Edvard identified as Unitarians.

After his death in 1907, she moved to Denmark. In Copenhagen, she attended a Unitarian church. She died 28 years later at the age of 90. She was cremated and her ashes were placed with her husband's' ashes in a mountain tomb near Troldhaugen.

See also

• List of coupled cousins