Posted on 01/11/2006 7:49:14 AM PST by Borges
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Birgit Nilsson, whose prodigious voice, unrivaled stamina and thrilling high notes made her the greatest Wagnerian soprano of the post-World War II era, has died. She was 87.
A funeral was held Wednesday at a church in her native town of Vastra Karup in southern Sweden with only her closest relatives attending, said Fredrik Westerlund, the church's vicar. He did not know when Nilsson died or the cause of death.
Born on a farm in Vastra Karup, Nilsson reigned supreme at opera houses around the world during her long career, which began with her debut in 1946 at the Stockholm Royal Opera as Agathe in Weber's "Der Freischutz" and continued until the mid-1980s when she retired.
She sang a wide variety of dramatic soprano roles, but her reputation was based especially on her mastery of a handful of the most punishing in the operatic repertory. Chief among these was Isolde in Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," which she sang for her sensational debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1959.
She was immediately hailed as a worthy successor to her fellow Scandinavian, Kirsten Flagstad, the Norwegian soprano who owned the Wagner repertory at the Met during the years leading up to WWII.
Other parts Nilsson made her own included Bruennhilde, the warrior maiden of Wagner's "Ring" cycle, the title role of Elektra in Richard Strauss' opera of the same name, and the heroine of Puccini's "Turandot."
At her peak, Nilsson astounded audiences in live performance with the unforced power of her voice, which easily cut through the thickest orchestrations, and with her remarkable breath control, which allowed her to hold onto the highest note for seemingly endless amounts of time. Her interpretive powers grew as her career developed, and she became a moving artist as well as a vocal phenomenon.
Her reputation for dependability was sealed and a piece of operatic lore was written on Dec. 28, 1959, when she sang a performance of "Tristan" opposite three different tenors. Her scheduled co-star, Karl Liebel was ill, and so were his two "covers," Ramon Vinay and Albert DaCosta. Met general manager Rudolf Bing perusaded each of them to go one for a single act so the performance wouldn't have to be canceled.
Nilsson also was renowned among her colleagues for her playful sense of humor. Once asked what was the chief requirement for singing the role of Isolde, she replied: "Comfortable shoes."
Johanna Fiedler, in her book about the Met, "Molto Agitato," tells the story of Nilsson's unhappiness with the gloomy lighting on which Herbert von Karajan insisted for his production of the "Ring." To register her objections, she appeared on stage during one rehearsal wearing a coal miner's helmet with searchlight.
Another legendary Nilsson moment occurred after one of her frequent battle-of-the-high-note contests with tenor Franco Corelli during the second act duet from "Turandot." Enraged that no matter how he tried she could hold onto the climactic high C longer than he could, Corelli apparently got his revenge during their third-act love scene by biting her on the neck instead of kissing her. Nilsson is said to have telephoned Bing to cancel her next performance with the explanation, "I have rabies."
Nilsson's last appearance on the Met stage came more than a decade after she retired, when she took part in an April 1996 gala celebrating music director James Levine's 25th anniversary with the company. After some gracious remarks, she launched into Bruennhilde's "ho-yo-to-ho" battle cry from "Die Walkuere," delivering — at age 77 — a performance that would have been the envy of any younger soprano.
Nilsson made her Swedish debut at the Stockholm Royal Opera in 1947 in Verdi's "Macbeth." In 1954 she received the title "Hovsaangerska," or court singer, for her contributions to Swedish opera.
Even before that, she had dazzled audiences. Her first major foreign engagement came on June 20, 1951, at the Glyndebourne Festival near London, then as Elettra in Mozart's "Idomeneo." Early in 1954, she performed with the Vienna State Opera, and later that year made her first appearance at the Bayreuth Festival.
She sang at the opera houses of Milan — where she scored one of her greatest successes in 1958 in "Turadnot" — Naples, Venice, Rome, Florence, Munich, Zurich, Lisbon and Barcelona as well as major cities in France and Belgium.
Her music education started at age 3, when her mother, an accomplished amateur singer, bought Birgit a toy piano, on which she learned to pick out melodies.
"I sang before I could walk. I even sang in my dreams," she told reporters soon after her opera debut.
After retirement in 1982, she continued to teach master's level courses in singing.
Although she studied at Sweden's Royal Academy of Music, Nilsson said she learned most of her musical skills on her own.
"I'm mostly self-educated. I discovered early how wonderfully easy it was to sing in big localities. In small rooms my voice got tired," she told a Swedish reporter once.
Nilsson married Swedish restaurateur Bertil Niklasson in 1949. The couple had no children.
[Cartoon opens, scenes of Elmer directing a storm.]- The Flying Dutchman overture
(Elmer) Be very quiet I'm hunting rabbits- general opera recitative-style music
- Ride of the Valkyries from The Valkyries:
(E) Rabbit tracks!!!
(E) Kill the rabbit, kill the rabbit, kill the rabbit
(E) Yo ho to oh! Yo ho to oh! Yo ho...
- Siegfried's Horn Call from the Ring Cycle:
(Bugs) O mighty warrior of great fighting stock
(B) Might I enquire to ask, eh, what's up doc??
(E) I'm going to kill the rabbit!! - Ride of the Valkyries
(B) Oh mighty warrior t'will be quite a task
(B) How will you do it, might I enquire to ask?? - Siegfried's Horn Call
- General recit. music:
(E) I will do it with my spear and magic helmet!
(B) Your spear and magic helmet?
(E) Spear & magic helmet!
(B) Magic helmet?
(E) Magic helmet!
(B) Magic helmet
(E) Yes, magic helmet and I'll give you a sample
[Elmer gives a sample of his power] - Flying Dutchman overture
(B) Bye
(E) (that was the rabbit)
[Chase scene] - General chase music
- Overture to Tannhauser:
[Bugs appears, dressed as Brunhilde, riding on a white horse. Elmer is stupefied.] (B) Yes I know it I can't help it
(E) Oh Brunhilde, be my love
- Tannhauser Overture:
(E) Return my love, a longing burns deep inside me
(B) Return my love, I want you always beside me
(E) A love like ours must be
(B) Made for you and for me
(B&E) Return, won't you return my love, for my love is yours
- Ride of the Valkyries:
(E) I'll kill the rabbit
(E) Arise storms
(E) North winds blow, south winds blow
(E) Typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes. . . SMOG!
(E) Flash lightning! Strike the rabbit!
- Tannhauser overture:
(E) What have I done?? I've killed the rabbit....
(E) Poor little bunny, poor little rabbit... - Tannhauser overture
(B) (well what did you expect in an opera, a happy ending???)
Birgit Nilsson
http://www.lottelehmann.org/lehmann/llf/about/profiles/llf_advisoryProfile52.html
Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson was born in 1918 in the town of Vastra Karup in the province of Skane (Scania) in southern Sweden. She married Bertil Niklasson, a veterinary student she met on a train, on September 10, 1948.
Miss Nilsson made her operatic debut in 1946 as Agathe in Der Freischütz with only 3 days notice. Her debut came shortly after she had joined the Swedish Opera School. After her brief stint as Agathe, Miss Nilsson made her breakthrough performance as Lady Macbeth in 1947 at the Royal Opera in Stockholm.
News: The Richard Tucker Foundation Gala is being given at
Covent Garden on 10th June 2001. The participants include one of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation's Advisors, Grace Bumbry. Birgit Nilsson is Guest of Honour.
Miss Nilsson attained international stardom after a performance as Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1959. She says, though, that the single biggest event in her life was when she was asked to perform at the opening of the 370th season at La Scala as Turandot in 1958. She became the first non-Italian other than Maria Callas ever granted the privilege of opening a season at La Scala.
In 1966, Miss Nilsson was asked to appear in a rather unusual performance at the Metropolitan Opera. During a showing of Tannhäuser, she was asked to sing the parts of both Venus and Elisabeth. They did not appear on stage at the same time, of course!
Birgit Nilsson is probably best known for her portrayals of Turandot, Brünnhilde in Richard Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen (a role with which she made her La Scala debut in 1958), Isolde in Tristan und Isolde, and Elektra. Miss Nilsson is also known for her interesting relationship with Rudolf Bing. When Bing was asked if Birgit was difficult, he replied, "Not at all, you put enough money in and a glorious voice comes out." When preparing her taxes Miss Nilsson was asked if she had any dependents. "Yes," she said, "Rudolf Bing." Miss Nilsson retired from opera in 1984.
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She could shiver the timbres of a large hall with the best of them.
RIP Birgit Nilsson
fyi - 2 pages of pics. varied roles,concerts,personal
http://sopranos.freeservers.com/birgitni.htm
My father, the ultimate Caruso fan, would kill me, but I think Bjoerling's voice WAS better.
Great loss, fortunately there are many recordings out there and her teaching and sponsorship of the arts will produce more sopranos in the years to come.
In her prime she once broke a church window at a concert with her powerful voice.
My favorite is still "Long-Haired Hare."
("Leopold!" "Leopold!" "Leopold!")
Did an image search on Google.
Thanks for a reminder of the classics I grew up with.... I really loved those cartoons and it wasn't until I was an adult that I recognized the music and its significance.
The Barber of Seville was my all time favorite.
Every so often my husband will break into his Giovanni Jones imitation as well ;-).
I read your profile just for fun. Have you been able to hear any opera performed in Europe while you've been there? The Staatsoper in Vienna Austria is a marvelous hall - not to be missed if you go through the area on your travels.
Talk about a "quick study"! Holy cow!
Not only that, she broke a boar tusk once!
She died on Christmas Day, but as she wanted a quiet funeral the media were not informed until after it was over. Not even the Swedish king knew, and she had been offical singer to the Swedish court for many years. Of course, she gave her last performance as far back as 1984.
Back when that was made, naturally the adults would have recognized the takeoff on Leopold Stokowski. Now you have to wonder how many adults would. :[
Bugs- "My gal don't do much talking
Dances even when she's walking..."
Giovanni -"One and two and three and four she dances all day long!"
Never fails to crack me up.
My husband and I use that one a lot in theaters and concert halls, especially when we go see PDQ Bach perform.
My favorite PDQ Bach piece is the Echo Sonata for Two Unfriendly Groups of Instruments.
Was that from Wagner's Tannhauser?
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