Anne-Lise Berntsen

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Anne-Lise Berntsen (28 August 1943 – 3 November 2012) was a Norwegian soprano. She was born in Drammen and grew up in Eggedal, the daughter of Harald Berntsen and Arnhild Rossetnes. She trained at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and studied further in Aarhus, The Hague and London. Berntsen made her concert debuts in Aarhus and London in 1978, and her opera debut occurred in Stockholm in 1984. Composer Hans Gefors wrote the role of Lollo in Vargen kommer with Berntsen in mind. She taught for several years at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Berntsen had a long collaboration and personal relationship with Nils Henrik Asheim; together they created the Engleskyts project, which produced two albums, Engleskyts and Kom Regn, featuring Norwegian folk hymns and organ improvisations. She also appeared in the film Derailment (1993). Berntsen was married twice and divorced: first to Erwin Fötschl (1966–1967), with whom she had a son; then to Øyvind Gunnarsjaa (1969–1987), with whom she had a daughter.