Biography
Pianist Bengt Forsberg built much of his reputation through long-standing partnerships with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, yet he has also maintained active careers in chamber ensembles and as a solo recitalist who champions overlooked scores. Born on July 26, 1952, in Edleskog, Sweden, he first enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music in Gothenburg with the goal of becoming a church organist before shifting his focus to piano and completing his studies in 1978. Advanced training took him to Copenhagen for lessons with Herman D. Koppel and to London for work with Peter Feuchtwanger.
Although his supporting role often places him in the background, Forsberg’s recordings as a collaborative pianist have drawn consistent attention since his debut in 1988, when he accompanied Ilona Maros on Swedish Contemporary Vocal Music. His most prominent alliance remains the one with von Otter; their partnership began in 1989 with a BIS disc of songs by Jan Sibelius and has since encompassed Scandinavian repertoire alongside less familiar fare such as works by Cécile Chaminade. One of their most celebrated projects assembled songs written inside the Terezin concentration camp during World War II.
As a soloist Forsberg has tackled technically demanding and seldom-heard works, including Nikolai Medtner’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 50, which he performed with the Stockholm Philharmonic in 1999. His programs regularly feature Charles Alkan, Kaikhosru Sorabji, and standard French literature. For Hyperion he has recorded several Saint-Saëns pieces, while other releases survey music by Charles Koechlin, Léon Boëllmann, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
In 2018 von Otter and Forsberg issued the multinational program A Simple Song on BIS. He has also partnered with instrumentalists, joining violinist Cecilia Zilliacus for works by the little-known Amanda Maier and violist James Boyd for York Bowen’s viola-and-piano music. In 2020 he accompanied cellist Andreas Brantelid on the Naxos release Russian Tales: Myaskovsky, Glazunov. Following a pandemic-related hiatus, Forsberg reappeared in 2024 on a BIS chamber recording devoted to Marcelle de Manziarly, bringing his discography to roughly fifty titles.
Although his supporting role often places him in the background, Forsberg’s recordings as a collaborative pianist have drawn consistent attention since his debut in 1988, when he accompanied Ilona Maros on Swedish Contemporary Vocal Music. His most prominent alliance remains the one with von Otter; their partnership began in 1989 with a BIS disc of songs by Jan Sibelius and has since encompassed Scandinavian repertoire alongside less familiar fare such as works by Cécile Chaminade. One of their most celebrated projects assembled songs written inside the Terezin concentration camp during World War II.
As a soloist Forsberg has tackled technically demanding and seldom-heard works, including Nikolai Medtner’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 50, which he performed with the Stockholm Philharmonic in 1999. His programs regularly feature Charles Alkan, Kaikhosru Sorabji, and standard French literature. For Hyperion he has recorded several Saint-Saëns pieces, while other releases survey music by Charles Koechlin, Léon Boëllmann, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
In 2018 von Otter and Forsberg issued the multinational program A Simple Song on BIS. He has also partnered with instrumentalists, joining violinist Cecilia Zilliacus for works by the little-known Amanda Maier and violist James Boyd for York Bowen’s viola-and-piano music. In 2020 he accompanied cellist Andreas Brantelid on the Naxos release Russian Tales: Myaskovsky, Glazunov. Following a pandemic-related hiatus, Forsberg reappeared in 2024 on a BIS chamber recording devoted to Marcelle de Manziarly, bringing his discography to roughly fifty titles.
Albums

Marcelle de Manziarly: Chamber Works
2024

Max Reger
2023

A Tribute to Curiosity
2022

Russian Tales
2020

Brahms-Fuchs: Sonatas for Cello and Piano
2020

Swedish Violin Treasures
2020

Swedish Miniatures
2020

Röntgen, Maier, Hägg & Others: Piano Works
2019

A Simple Song
2018

Budbærersken
2017

Amanda Maier, Vol. 2
2017

Let Beauty Awake
2017

Fauré: The Music for Cello & Piano
2017

Neglected Works for Piano
2016

Francis Poulenc • Sonatas • Elegy • Trio • For Winds and Piano
2015

Pergament: Violin Sonata in B Minor & String Quartet No. 1
2011

Swedish Contemporary Vocal Music
2011

Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 18 / 6 Moments musicaux
2010

Terezín / Theresienstadt
2007

Noel
2005

Anne Sofie von Otter: Noël
2005

Watercolours . Swedish Songs
2004

Widor & Magnard: Cello Sonatas; Koechlin: Chansons bretonnes
2003

Smörgasbord: Encores and Short Pieces for Cello and Piano
2001

Chaminade: Mots d'amour
2001

Chaminade: Songs; Chamber Music
2001

Brahms: Choral Works
2000

Anne-Sofie von Otter - Folksongs
2000

Saint-Saëns: Cello Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 etc.
1999

Koechlin & Pierné: Cello Sonatas
1998

Grieg & Delius: Complete Music For Cello And Piano
1998

Swedish A Cappella, Vol. 1
1997

Schubert: Lieder
1997

Boëllmann & Godard: Cello Sonatas
1996

Wings in the Night: Swedish Songs
1996

La Bonne Chanson - French Chamber Songs
1996

Sibelius: Songs, Op. 13, 50, 90, and Others
1995

Schumann: Frauenliebe und -Leben, Op.42; 5 Lieder, Op. 40; Ausgewählte Lieder
1995

Lindblad & Josephson: Choir Music
1995

Sibelius: Music for Violin and Piano, Vol. 2
1994

Korngold: Songs and Chamber Music
1994

Weill: Speak Low
1994

Berg / Korngold / R. Strauss: Lieder
1994

Grieg: Songs
1993

Sibelius: Music for Violin and Piano, Vol. 1
1992

Brahms: Lieder
1990

Sibelius: Songs, Vol. 1
1989
