Norwegian recording artist Sissel Kyrkjebø, known internationally as Sissel, has recorded songs for twelve studio albums and has collaborated with other recording artists for vocal duets and featured songs on their respective albums. Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos and her combined solo record sales (not including soundtracks and other albums to which she contributed) amount to 10 million albums sold, most of them in Norway, a country with 5 million people. Her albums have also sold well in Scandinavia, the US and Japan. Together with Odd Nordstoga, they are the only Norwegian artists to have an album go 11 times platinum in album sales for Strålande jul (Glorious Christmas) in 2009.
Sissel's musical style runs the gamut from pop recordings and traditional folk songs, to classical vocals and operatic arias. She possesses a "crystalline" voice and wide vocal range, sweeping down from mezzo-soprano notes, in arias such as Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix from Saint-Saëns's opera Samson et Dalila, to the F natural above soprano C.
Sissel has sung duets with singers like Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Bryn Terfel, Josh Groban, Neil Sedaka, Mario Frangoulis, Russell Watson, Brian May, Tommy Körberg, Diana Krall, Warren G, Charles Aznavour, Dee Dee Bridgewater and The Chieftains. She sings mainly in English and Norwegian, and has also sung songs in Swedish, Danish, Irish, Italian, French, Russian, Icelandic, Faroese, German, Neapolitan, Maori, Japanese, and Latin.
Her participation on the Titanic film soundtracks, singing the Olympic Hymn (Hymne Olympique) at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and the tour with the Lord of the Rings Symphony has made her voice familiar to people all over the world. Sissel received her first U.S. Grammy nominations on 6 December 2007 for a collaboration with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Spirit of the Season, a collection of songs from the choir's 2006 Christmas concert featuring Sissel and the Orchestra at Temple Square, was nominated for the Best Classical Crossover Album of the Year, as well as Best Engineered Classical Album.
Released songs by Sissel ABCDFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUWYZ +KeyIndicates single releaseIndicates promotional single release theIndicates song co-written by Sissel
Song Artist(s) Writer(s) Album(s) Year Ref. "A Life So Changed" Sissel Kyrkjebø James Horner Titanic 1997 "A Promise Kept" Sissel Kyrkjebø James Horner Titanic 1997 "A Time to Love, a Time to Cry" Sissel Kyrkjebø Sidney Bechet Reflections IV 2020 "An Ocean Of Memories" Sissel Kyrkjebø James Horner Titanic 1997 "An Raibh Tú Ag An gCarraig (Were You At The Rock?)" Sissel Kyrkjebø Dominic Ó Mongain The Best of Sissel 2000 "Adagio" Sissel Kyrkjebø Tomaso Albinoni De beste, 1986–2006 2006 "Adeste Fideles" Sissel KyrkjebøPlácido DomingoJosé Carreras John Francis Wade Christmas in Moscow 2014 "After All" Sissel Kyrkjebø Bill Maxwell Reflections II 2019 "All Good Things" (vers. 1) Sissel Kyrkjebø Morten Abel All Good Things 2000 "All Good Things" (vers. 2) Sissel Kyrkjebø Morten Abel Sissel 2002 "Alle hav består av dråper" Sissel KyrkjebøOslo Gospel Choir trad.Ragnar OlsenSvein Gundersen Soria Moria 1989 "Alma Redemptoris Mater" Sissel Kyrkjebø trad.Per Kolstad Innerst i sjelen 1994 "Alt det som skinner" Sissel Kyrkjebø Anne Grete Preus 2021 "Amazing Grace" Sissel Kyrkjebø John Newton Soria Moria 1989 "Angel Rays" Sissel Kyrkjebø Gemma HayesStephen Endelman My Heart 2004 "Angels from the Realms of Glory" Sissel KyrkjebøMormon Tabernacle Choir James Montgomery Spirit of the Season 2007 "Ave Maria" Sissel Kyrkjebø trad.Schubert In Symphony, bonus track 2001 "Ave Maria" Sissel Kyrkjebø, Bryn Terfel trad.Schubert My Heart 2004 "Ave Maria" Sissel Kyrkjebø, Plácido Domingo trad.Pietro Mascagni Sacred Songs 2002 "Ave Verum Corpus" Sissel Kyrkjebø trad.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Into Paradise 2006 "Bachianas Brasileiras" (vers. 1) Sissel KyrkjebøGli Scapoli Heitor Villa-Lobos Everything Must Change 1998 "Bachianas Brasileiras" (vers. 2) Sissel Kyrkjebø Heitor Villa-Lobos Into Paradise 2006 "Barndomshjemmet" Sissel Kyrkjebø Magnus Brostrup Landstad De beste, 1986–2006 2006 "Bereden väg för Herran" Sissel Kyrkjebø Frans Michael Franzéntrad. Nordisk Vinternatt 2005 "Bergensiana (Jeg tok min nystemte)" Sissel Kyrkjebø Johan Nordahl Brun De beste, 1986–2006 2006 "Better Off Alone" Sissel Kyrkjebø Alf Bretteville-Jensen All Good Things 2000 "Beyond Imagination" Sissel Kyrkjebø Richard Marx My Heart 2004 "Bist du bei mir" Sissel Kyrkjebø, Plácido Domingo Johann Sebastian Bach Sacred Songs 2002 "Blod i brann" Sissel Kyrkjebø Stig NilssonSvein Gundersen Soria Moria 1989 "Born to Be Loved" Sissel Kyrkjebø Lucinda Williams Reflections II 2019 "Breakaway" Sissel Kyrkjebø Graham LyleBenny Gallagher Gift of Love 1992 "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" Sissel Kyrkjebø, Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka Gift of Love 1992 "Bred dina vida vingar" Sissel Kyrkjebø Lina Sandelltrad.Per Kolstad Innerst i sjelen 1994 "Bruremarsj" Sissel Kyrkjebø trad. Nordisk Vinternatt 2005 "Calling You" Sissel KyrkjebøOslo Gospel Choir Bob Telson Gift of Love 1992 "Can't Go Back" Sissel Kyrkjebø Alf Bretteville-Jensen Sissel 2002 "Carol Of The Bells" Sissel KyrkjebøPlácido DomingoCharles Aznavour Peter J. WilhouskyMykola Leontovych Christmas in Vienna III 1995 "Carrier Of A Secret" (vers. 1) Sissel Kyrkjebø David FormanJørn Dahl All Good Things 2000 "Carrier Of A Secret" (vers. 2) Sissel Kyrkjebø David FormanJørn Dahl Sissel 2002 "Carrier Of A Secret" (vers. 3) Sissel Kyrkjebø David FormanJørn Dahl CD-Single 2002 "Christmas Medley"