The prize, one of the largest in the world of classical music, is given every three or four years to recognise the achievements of an active artiste in the field.
Stemme was honoured “for her interpretations of the dramatic soprano repertoire with her respect for the composer’s intentions, her tireless dedication to the dramatic soprano repertoire, and for being a great Wagnerian soprano of today,” the jury said in a statement.
The Birgit Nilsson Prize was founded by the singer herself before she died in 2005 aged 87 with hopes of inspiring young artistes to reach their full potential.
One of the greatest Wagnerian sopranos of the twentieth century, Nilsson, the daughter of a Swedish farmer, made her breakthrough at Milan’s legendary La Scala as the cold Princess Turandot in 1958.
“It is a great honour to be recognised for my work, but it is even greater to be recognised in my home country by a world-renowned organisation that bears the name and carries the legacy of a legend… my idol Birgit Nilsson,” Stemme, who is the fourth to win the prize, said in a statement.
The 55-year-old performed as Isolde twice (2005 and 2006) in Richard Wagner’s opera “Tristan und Isolde” at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany and also appeared in Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot” and in Richard Strauss’s “Elektra”.
In 2013, she won the International Opera Award for the Best Female Singer.
Previous laureates include Spain’s Plácido Domingo (2009), Italian conductor Riccardo Muti (2011), and the Vienna Philharmonic (2014).
Stemme will receive her award in the presence of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia at an October 11 ceremony in Stockholm.
The prize jury includes Wagner’s great-granddaughter Eva Wagner-Pasquier, who is also the former co-director of the Bayreuth Festival, as well as the former president of the Vienna Philharmonic, Clemens Hellsberg.