Birgit Nilsson Stockholm 1964

La Nilsson sjunger arior av Weber, Verdi och Wagner. Ett evenemang från 1964 i Stockholms konserthus med Radiosymfonikerna, dirigenten Stig Westerberg

[@jimbuxton2187]

Perfect technique! Chest high and never moves web she takes a breath... and also her breathing is silent! She starts the pitches on the note.... fabulous.

[@chrishoo2]

I can’t believe that they would interview her between arias!

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Nilsson is one of the greatest sopranos of all time. The greatest Brunnhilde and Isolde who ever lived. She is a legend.

[@alca4697]

and she is my HEROINE

[@cashmerecat9269]

I love her Turandot as well..

[@SymphonyBrahms]

@@cashmerecat9269 Her Turandot was also great.

[@randysills4418]

Kirsten Flagstad was a better Isolde...

[@judasiscariot6133]

@@SymphonyBrahms Nilsson was great as Bruenhilde and Isolde, but the best in those roles was Flagstad. Nilsson was arguably the best Turandot, Elektra, Faerberin...

[@terryhammond8697]

I heard her in New York, Munich, Vienna...A goddess...and here she is at the peak of her career... Sheer perfection.. Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this glorious testament to music and artistry. Nothing else can touch it.

[@williamadolphe7921]

They had NOOOOO idea how good they had it in Stockholm 1964... just NO IDEA!!!!! I am weeping at her Liebestod!.... they are merely clapping!

[@KenWAnderson]

The Swedish audience was too restrained and "polite". There should have been thunderous applause and "Brava!" calls. I'm also amazed that she was subjected to interviewing right up to the time of having to walk on stage!

[@zimnaya]

Birgit's singing of Weber's "Ocean, thou mighty monster" (in German) is breathtaking - such clarion-clear notes...I just couldn't wait for the climax when she sings, "We are saved! Huon, we are saved!" but it was all absolutely magnificent! This is THE definitive version in German, just as Callas' is the definitive version in English. Glorious, crystal-pure singing...in view of which the audience might have exerted themselves just a little more...

[@dubbelhenke854]

Billions of thanks....she was certainly one of the greatest ever. A voice that launched a thousand ships....

[@jongilchrist7229]

She was the greatest helden soprano of the twentieth century with the exception of Flagstad perhaps. No one ever did or has since sung Wagner like her.

[@Operafreak9]

Perhaps"." Nilsson is supreme.

[@raoufzdn]

I heard this great singer around 1980 at London's Albert Hall in a symphony concert of Wagner excerpts . I never will forget the pure lightness, most of the concert was sung at a medium soft loud dynamic, never forced, never too loud, always audible and with a silvery gleaming quality throughout. I remember thinking how mistaken opera singing has been viewed, promoted, and trained in our time. One thing outstanding about this magnificent singer is the old dictum that vocal health lies in the lightness of the so called "head" register. As an afterthought the words of Isobel Bailey, the excellent Scottish soprano, to "never sing louder than lovely" are also relevant here.

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@Twisterjoe]

Never louder than lovely. We sure have lost that advice over the years. Around 25 years ago, my octogenarian barely educated grandfather said that everybody is screaming instead of singing on the radio. Even the opera singers, he said, used to sound beautiful even if I didn't know what they were singing. Now they scream too." I was very touched by that observation that he had once found an oasis of beauty in hearing an opera singer on television or radio, since he did not have any recordings of or knowledge of the operatic repertoire. I am sure that he heard Eleanor Steber or Roberta Peters on talk shows or variety shows and enjoyed the beauty of their sound.

[@deonvandorp2226]

The singer of singers!!! How I miss her!

[@ibrahimsavran4563]

Nilsson was an Tenor Killer with her ability to touch the high notes constantly. Remarkable Operatic Soprano of the last century. Much love and respect.

[@williamadolphe7921]

29:44 they had no idea how good they had it in Stockholm then! If I heard that sound in any theatre today... I'd be screaming loudly out of my mind for all that beauty!

[@holyfox94]

Well. They’re calm Swedes, not hot blooded South Americans. We northerners don’t show our feelings and if we finally do, you don’t want to be around.

[@williamadolphe7921]

@@holyfox94 sounds fascinating! I can only imagine!

[@divox9pqr]

I didn't realize that in addition to being the foremost dramatic soprano of the age, she was a glamorous and elegant lady. As far as the voice was concerned, I marvel at her lyric approach to voice......With this approach, it lasted a long time......This Weber is exquisite......This audience is so muted...conservative. I would have been standing up screaming for joy at that performances....Brava....Brava!!

[@williamadolphe7921]

Exactly! I don't get Stockholm audiences... when you have the most fantastic artist!!!

[@terryhammond1253]

I adored her. She is my all time favorite.

[@caginn]

6:50 Weber - Oberon - Ozean du ungeheuer frim 18:00 verdi - la traviata - act iii prelude 23:25 Verdi - Aida - O Patria Mia 37:50 wagner - tristan und isolde - prelude 48:05 wagner - tristan und isolde - Liebestod Thanks to >>Yanick Péloquin

[@jasonhurd4379]

@cagin Thank you so much for the time codes! They are a great help!

[@SteveL2012]

Love this. I enjoyed seeing her immediately after performing O Patria Mia, and you can see the adrenaline coursing through her. She shows such a supremely confident persona on stage (for good reason), but seeing her smile with relief and wipe her brow backstage says everything. Performing like this was even hard for her-with one of the greatest voices of all time! I’m a deep admirer.

[@caginn]

@@jasonhurd4379 u r welcome. Best

[@andity1]

@@SteveL2012 we are all humans after all. They can feel nervous like the rest of us. Opera singing is not an easy task when done right ☺️ and she explained in other interviews how nervous she could get before a performance

[@colleenreilly5585]

Thank you

[@angelinabychkova7695]

She is wonderful, great!!! Her vocal technology is perfect! Adore!

[@davidmuller9938]

Beautiful unbreakable registers, like a river from a great supported bottom through an incredibly dark middle to laser-like dramatic top. Amazing.

[@maesroger8054]

She always makes me cry of happiness. Birgit Nilsson was not only the greatest dramatic soprano of her time (and some others), she was so noble and glamour in the same time, a real diva... a goddess... a lady. And in the real live, simple and very funny too. Thank you for posting this great moment

[@photo161]

You don't exaggerate, not a bit...a goddess indeed..

[@mckavitt13]

And very funny & down to earth indeed.

[@selini52]

Well,she did not sing here la traviata, so one cannot compare to the greatest of all times. But Ms Nilsons Wagner interpretations are very fine!

[@pepevaladez8096]

Totally agree ! Thanks for sharing your comments. Miss Nilsson was, is and always will be a goddess.

[@rogermaes6001]

@@pepevaladez8096 ♥♥♥

[@davidlink4908]

Absolutely the best singer of her time...she could sing everything with perfection...

[@shicoff1398]

Excellent, she was among the very greatest dramatic soprano's.

[@crazyorganist1609]

Sych a down to earth and humble person. Never forgot who she was

[@user-nr6lv4xn8g]

Великолепная!!! Какая стать!! Никаких ужимок, вентилирования руками ,встала и поет,ещё и интервью !! Дааа....было время..)

[@Sokx41]

Although I have many old 33 rpm records with Ms. Nilsson's voice, i really never stopped to listen, and here I can listen and watch this beautiful lady with her sparkling eyes and soaring voice.

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@josephcollins6033]

OH MY GOD!!!!!! And, I don't believe in a god!!! Ha! This is incredible. Thank you, dear Ake !!!!!

[@thomasdeansfineart149]

But I believe in Birgit Nilsson. This is proof of her existence. I saw her a number of times live. Defining moments of my life. 🙏

[@josephcollins6033]

@@thomasdeansfineart149 I believe in her ,too!! I also saw her several times; stunning; the 8th wonder of the world.

[@doribrown8402]

In a word: sublime.

[@holyfox94]

Good lord! Will we ever have singers of that quality again?🙏🏻

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@herbertverner2875]

alas no

[@fballiache]

Just GREAT!

[@tombeckett8760]

We all know the brilliance of Nilsson. What I love most about this post is that she is a charming goofy natural person offstage. And then of course she sings Isolde with the best.

[@murrayaronson3753]

I went backstage at the old Metropolitan Opera House in January 1966 following a performance of Tosca (FYI Franco Corelli was Cavaradossi). I was blown away by Mme Nilsson's performance. I remember her as being charming, goofy, and friendly to this nineteen year old. Birgit Nilsson was one of the best.

[@mckavitt13]

I too went backstage at the Met to see her after her Brünnhilde in Walküre. She came to open the door bouncing astride a toy horse... we laughed our fool heads off. Must've been in the 70s... I was maybe 20. The whole evening was an experience of a lifetime.

[@toscadonna]

You know they’re good when they can make these arias seem easy to sing.

[@ethanhill9460]

She is beautiful in the costume.

[@niconico7281]

Un fenomeno vocal de la naturaleza! La sonoridad en la zona aguda son bombas atómicas. Gracias por esta grabacion histórica. Sin duda esta entre las 5 mas Grandes.

[@wotan10950]

This is wonderful! I actually met Birgit Nilsson in 1981 at her picture-book signing. When she heard it was my birthday, she was very excited and signed with a big flourish! And she was wearing comfortable shoes!

[@mckavitt13]

I met her too, backstage at the Met... after her Brünnhilde in Walküre. I'd taken my mother for her birthday & signed the list for a backstage visit as was customary for fans at the Met. Nilsson came to the door, riding a low toy horse, laughing & just so friendly & funny! This after a Brünnhilde of a lifetime. Unforgettable. Immortal.

[@melbapatti]

What effortless, sonorous, GORGEOUS steady singing. Why can’t any singers sing steady and effortlessly these days? Look at this again. No tension anywhere, no bulging throat veins. To say nothing of her musical integrity and discipline. Nilsson and Flagstad were both equally great Wagnerians, and Flagstad had the warmer richer tone, but no denying Nilsson had the better high notes. Neither had the beautiful lower register of Traubel, so I have to take all three ladies to my desert island. Nilsson for Götterdämmerung, Flagstad for Walküre and Traubel for Tristan und Isolde.

[@Greg07623]

How could anyone give this a thumbs down? Crossed eyed maybe?

[@philipcondenzio5987]

Tone deaf and stupid, most likely.

[@Bravilor]

At half time in the interview I think she is moved by the music, not nervous for the interview. She often seemed visibly moved by the music she sang. Sometimes crying. She wrote in her autobiography that in a way, she wished that after the last note, there would be a minute of silence for the audience and herself to just float in the universe of music. And then the applause can come. She also wrote that she once had to go home from a rehearsal since she couldn't sing, because she was so profoundly affected by the music. And here I thought I loved music ... there are some who love it even more, it seems.

[@snrnsjd]

Beautiful woman and beautiful voice

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@65attila]

From a special dimension of GLORY a concert by the great Birgit Nilsson.

[@williamadolphe7921]

Ake!!! thank you so much! what a concert they had in Stockholms Konserthus...... in 1964. Have not heard anything like this since then!

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@rubenbenitez8342]

Queeee hermosuraaaaa, que relajada para cantar y que clara su dicción, quedé impresionado!!!

[@robertdonkers]

What a large audience, a big star appreciated!

[@SteveL2012]

A liebestod for the ages. ❤

[@pilouetmissiou]

very kind to see her and hear her voice and her laugh ! thanks for posting this beautiful document ..

[@katia1239]

for those of who do not speak Swedish, it would be nice to have subtitles...

[@iwanttogrow2003]

ONE IN THE WORLD OF THE BEST OPERA SINGER

[@RattusYu]

Thank you for this! Nice to see Birgit Nilsson in concert

[@nkkbee]

I love her

[@frankfurter6561]

Thanks for this upload. What a great pleasure to hear such singing quality.

[@photo161]

At a point in this magnificent soprano's extraordinary career when she could do no wrong. A truly great concert!

[@jean-bernarddartigolles7460]

eoselan7 je

[@hrh4961]

One year later, she sang her first Elektra, also in Stockholm. If you can find a recording of it you will be blown away. It is spectacular. Certainly not like the later videos from the Met when the bloom was definitely off the lingonberry.

[@toscadonna]

My Mom saw Birgit in Elektra in Vienna in the 1960s, and she said it was the scariest thing she’d ever heard. “Agamemnon!”

[@photo161]

A magnificent performance...so very moving.

[@sophietulga-norman9886]

Great Singer! Thanks for sharing this wonderful concert. I wish I was in the audience and listening her amazing voice!

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@toscadonna]

@@vincec8218 I listened to Kasondra, and that is a beautiful instrument. Her high notes are really nice and focused, but if you’re her teacher, her lower, chest voice notes need to keep that same forward focus and not fall back into the throat. If she works on that, her whole voice will get stronger and more balanced. But she’s definitely a talent. Congratulations.🎉❤

[@Ursaminor31]

The passion that divine human voice can stir in us is truly wonderful.

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@josedomingosgiffonirosa8362]

Só uma grande artista e uma voz belíssima para dar vida ao dificílimo papel de Isolda na ópera de Wagner! Birgit Nilsson imortalizou esse papel com sua voz e desempenho inconfundíveis! Maravilha!

[@wn8565]

Really appreciate you posting this! What a great time capsule, thank you!

[@gerardmignon700]

Isolde parfaite. le chant wagnérien le plus pur.

[@raulgarat5860]

Una de las Grandes cantantes del siglo XX. Tuve la suerte de verla varias veces en nuestro querido teatro Colon !!!

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@delibeslakme6451]

Tanto Birgit Nilsson como Joan Sutherland extraordinarias sopranos....tenían la mandíbula pronunciada... que les sirvió (según ellas) a la perfecta emisión de la voz, por mas de 40 años.

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@RafaelaMartinelli]

her expression at the end of Liebestod... what a bliss...

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@FranciscoFerrerGaliana1930]

MARAVILLOSA

[@BellaFirenze]

Bravissima!

[@eduardojanho-abumrad3113]

Simplesmente maravilhosa!

[@fredsmith6310]

A gem!

[@berlinzerberus]

INCREDIBLE

[@rubenbenitez8342]

Que hermosuras, sigo escuchando y me conmueve

[@romearomeo]

Birgit Nilsson era una vera stupenda soprano drammatica...e non le odierne voci drammatiche fasulle pompate artificialmente...

[@Tkimba2]

Fenomeno!

[@voltaire1377]

THANKS FOR TRANSLATION !!!!

[@Zva26]

The Grand Empress of Dramatic Sopranos along with Kirsten Flagstad.

[@HarbingerOfBattle]

Kirsten had better trills than Birgit, but trills are not everything.

[@randysills4418]

She really doesn't trill... Flagstad did a very nice trill in this aria...

[@omarsomehow69]

Flagstad didn't have any true trills either

[@virtuosacoloratura9740]

FANTASTICA!

[@moorfan1]

LEGEND

[@cadoh8143]

Maravilhosa a grande Nilsson!!!👏👏👏

[@trucoalaspardasalaspardas30]

Impresionante!!!!!

[@voraciousreader3341]

After that fantastic “Liebestod, one really wonders what they’d have to hear to get them to stand and applaud??

[@bokewilhelm1452]

hörte diese stimme schon in den fünfzigern im prinzregententheater war dort als statist, als gesangsstudent

[@danielrindel7655]

siempre te recrdaremos tetro colon argentina BIRGIT grazias

[@Eiswirth1]

Such tepid responses from an audience that should've been screaming its approval.

[@zimnaya]

How absolutely correct you are! They really all very tepid, and she bows to them...they should be on their feet and bowing to her!

[@TedATL1]

Well.....Swedes are a little uptight, particularly that generation.

[@bobzeschin3154]

@@TedATL1 Marian Anderson wrote in her memoir how undemonstrative the audiences were at first when she sang in Stockholm in 1931.. It didn't take the Swedes long to thaw out, and soon "they embraced me wholeheartedly." On a subsequent tour, the audiences' were so enthusiastic one newspaper referred to "Marian fever." Scandinavia became one of her favorite places to sing, and she returned many times. Still, even allowing for Nordic reserve, you'd think her countrymen would give the hometown girl a bigger hand!

[@michaelvarcoe-cocks9147]

I think they were just too stunned!

[@andity1]

Poor Mrs.Nilsson.. they bother her while warming up.. and she is so nice to them..

[@familypondman]

Never understood why she was so famous and still don't, many moments of breaks in the voice constantly, but what a dress!!!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@johnrondeau9222]

The dress is hideous as is her voice much of the time

[@IngerNordh]

Min mann Paul var där , en hängiven Wagner och Birgitt Nilsson älskare som vi delar! TACK !

[@marksmith3947]

Did any singer have such an effortless technique? Of course she is working , but you don't see any strain or visible effort at all. Much more relaxed than Sutherland, for example -- and she has words! By the way, was she wearing high heels? I believe she did recitals in heels sometimes. Another comparison is with Pavarotti. He has a very obvious passagio technique. I believe he described deliberately closing his throat partially through the passagio. Nilsson's voice is seemless

[@devisfugolo413]

Che meraviglia bravissima

[@vincec8218]

Per favore ascolta il soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", voce magnifica kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@LiteratureTodayUK]

Don't mess with class - and 5 octaves!

[@stezstezic4450]

5 octaves? Nonsense!

[@giglistignanipinza]

Is anyone who knows the rep especially well able to post the program she sings here?? Would be much appreciated!

[@normandyanick]

Ozean du ungeheuer frim Weber's Oberon. O Patria Mia from Verdi' s Aida. Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.

[@omairagamboa7821]

Increíble, quién es el director?

[@Vocalgold1955]

Miraculous!

[@mckavitt13]

Total silence... Mozart spoke of it in a positive way... would have been an appropriate response... to this immortal performance.

[@LiteratureTodayUK]

I love how's she seems to be a bit of a flirt 4:03 - though I have no idea what's he is saying, lol!

[@Bravilor]

She says her husband is her little elephant mascot.

[@johnrondeau9222]

Why didn't she keep her chin down retroflex?

[@ransomcoates546]

Interesting that she knows exactly where the portamento should be in Verdi, but she's struggling against her instincts and the result is not so idiomatic.

[@Ridicolosamente]

What's the first aria?

[@golden-63]

Ozean, du Ungeheuer! from Oberon by Weber.

[@Ridicolosamente]

Thank you!

[@WotanKlingsor]

15:24!!!!

[@MrSkylark1]

FLAGSTAD was the one that EXCELLED.

[@mckavitt13]

MrSkylark1 For sheer ease of production, yes. And nobility of stature & style.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Then go comment on Flagstad's videos. Flagstad was great. But Nilsson was greater. Here is the list of great Wagnerian sopranos: 1. Nilsson. 2. Traubel. 3. Flagstad. 4. Varnay. 5. Modl.

[@leedsuza1]

Why do we always need to compare? To their credit, both did something extraordinary. We should celebrate these two enigmatic personalities giving them both the credit they both deserve.

[@azriel8549]

Wright. Great. Don't waste any more time (and words) and keep listening to Mrs. Flagstad and enjoy!

[@dudeforcaster8630]

It must really be very tiring to be so tedious.

[@Altonahh10]

Selbst bei Nilsson hört man, was für eine kaum singbare Arie die der Rezia aus "Oberon" ist. Da kann man nur Töne produzieren, aber keine Gefühle, was allerdings auch nie die große Stärke der Schwedischen Sirene war ;-) Ihre Aida lässt mich nicht beeindruckt zurück, sondern eher mit der Frage, wieso sie nicht Amneris gesungen hat

[@SatanAteMySocks]

Sie hätte niemals eine Mezzo-Rolle gesungen.

[@Altonahh10]

Amneris können auch Soprane singen, aber ich finde sie bei Mezzos auch entschieden besser aufgehoben :-)

[@SatanAteMySocks]

Das sind dann aber schon eher "tiefgelegte" Soprane, oder? Nilsson hätte schon aus Sorge um ihre Höhe eine solche Partie nicht gesungen. In ihrer Autobiografie erwähnt sie aber, wie einst die Varnay Amneris in den Staaten sang, und man sie erstaunt fragte, warum sie, als Sopranistin, denn nicht die Aida sänge? "Für 1000 Dollar würde ich auch den Wotan singen", so ihre Antwort.

[@Altonahh10]

Nilsson hatte eines mit Karajan gemein: Die Gier nach Geld. Das lässt sie ein wenig dümmlich dastehen. Ich will nicht sagen, dass sie ihre Karriere nicht gut geplant hätte, aber die Hellste scheint die schwedische Walküre nicht gewesen zu sein ;-) Somit nehme ich die Aussage bzgl. Wotan nicht wirklich ernst, aber erneut geht es als Motivation um die Kohle. Und sie hat das auch unumwunden zugegeben.

[@SatanAteMySocks]

Du hast mich missverstanden - das mit Wotan sagte, Nilsson zufolge, Astrid Varnay.

[@SuperCapelle]

La vrai technique

[@MG-fh4ed]

Effortless rendition. Brava!

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian, "Tu che di gel sei cinta", terrific voice kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqezp42rp56KeMU

[@photo161]

Magnificent singing of course, but weak conducting. If only to hear Nilsson with Furtwangler. now that would truly be something!

[@esuna6352]

We had not have a Nilsson-Furtwangler, but we had Flagstad-Furtwangler and Modl-Furtwangler which is absolutely glorius enough.

[@alexpolyansky]

Дирижирует Карлсон;)

[@evgeny9965]

Is the audience drugged?

[@Tojazzer]

One needs no further proof that Nilsson was in love with the music. Callas was in love with herself.

[@fan2jnrc]

Callas WAS the music, so she was in love with herself, yes.

[@Operafreak9]

Thank you. With sibgers lime Fleming and Callas they always concentrate on themselves. Nilsson said it. " The drama is in tbe music."