Birgit Nilsson Surviving Excerpts from Turandot in Moscow 1964

[@RattusYu]

Two dislikes... probably the ones that Turandot beheaded.

[@terryhammond1253]

I heard Nilsson live as Turandot several times.. and this recording best exemplifies what it was like to hear her live on the opera house. Thrilling. No other voice like it before or since.

[@robertevans8010]

Eva Turner was every bit as good and was also very much like Nilsson also a very fine Brunnhild and Elizabeth I heard her in 1937 live in Covent Garden she and Giovanni Martinelli put on a performance when they sang together that made that Opera popular in London, lot of people are raging on here about being drowned, Opera is not a competition if a singer goes out to do this to a fellow singer then that is not good, singers can be balanced and that is practiced in rehearsals, Pavarotti was no calaf but clever placement made it work for him, Giovanni Martinelli, was different he could be placed on the stage wherever it was wanted. his voice was in the house virile and strong, he was also incredible in duets, he was a musician and he knew tempo and Legato very much a great opera singer , I am now 102 in 11 days time. Caruso many times placed himself between 5 and 10 steps behind singers ( Famous Baritones and Soprano's) to get the right balance, he had perfect pitch. he would have been a perfect Calaf if it had been composed in 1910 or so.

[@wayneblackmonmdjd6870]

You are so right. I got to hear her at the Met many times in this and it is absolutely a recording that captures the power and focus of her voice. It is a shame that a pirate recording of her Oct 68 Tosca was taken off the internet. Gabriel Bacquier's Scarpia was so good, she sang vissi d'arte prostrate, with her face on the stage floor, and filled the whole house. If you never heard her live, you cannot conceive of what she was.

[@operaloverhro3407]

Ich werde neidisch. Bei allen diesen vergleichenden Diskussionen bitte ich einfach darum, nicht zu vergessen, dass auch die vielen, angeblich mäßigen, Vorstellungen die Begeisterung eines seltener werdenden Publikums der Oper die selbige am Leben erhalten. Wir können mit den heute zur Verfügung stehenden Mitteln so viel einfacher vergleichen. Und doch, die live erlebte Aufführung einer Oper kann kaum ersetzt werden. Ich bin absolut dankbar für die vergleichenden Hörmöglichkeiten. So eine Opernaufführung zu erleben, ein Traum. Hat sich für mich bei Turandot leider bisher noch nicht erfüllt. An die Gegner von Obertiteln in Opernhäusern: Ich liebe es, den Inhalt des Gesanges zu erfassen, es gab, Dank DVDs so manches erschreckende, beglückende Erlebnis. Ich liebe die italienische Oper. Diese Turandot lässt mich nicht los, wie wunderbar. 😢😮😊

[@judygarland7186]

@@robertevans8010 did you hear Callas live?

[@rao633]

Beverly Sills who was once invited to a Birgit Nilsson's concert said: "I am very sorry I could not attend the performance last night. But I heard Ms Nilsson's High C from my home." :)) Lol

[@CH-is1vc]

Wow. What a powerhouse she was. She blows the tenor away.

[@puppetoz]

The tenor was no slouch - he did a great job in a fiendish role

[@giorgioan4673]

Unfortunately, Corelli didn't arrive

[@robertevans8010]

@@puppetoz Bruno Prevedi a great tenor and a very fine Calaf.

[@SingerGeneLeonard]

The size and power of her voice!! Just Amazing!!! Sadly we don’t have anyone like her or close to her instrument.

[@contraltissima]

its not so much the instrument (instruments there are always many) Its the old technique which makes her voice big, clear and beautiful and without any wobble, listen to the old singers, most of them have no wobble, Ponselle, Destinn, Eva turner, Renata Tebaldi and so on. its the technique.

[@Tojazzer]

Never did.

[@GeorgiNM]

No-one listens to opera, hence less singers, hence everybody is obliged to sing everything. Voices get ruined in the process. And old-timers droning on about the old greats is zero help, even the opposite.

[@neilnetherly939]

The thing about Birgit that I most admire and respect is how she always tried to keep the voice as light as possible, even in demanding roles such as those of Wagner which demand a fuller sound through the middle of the voice, into the upper range. Turandot, although very challenging, allows for places for a more slender sound, as long as it's supported and you actually have the chops for the role. Not many do or know how to tailor the voice to keep it fresh. She recognized these challenges and also realized that to be a better singer, she needed to sing other roles to keep the voice as fresh and flexible as possible. That's something that you just don't see these days. These days it's more about sing what you'll get paid to sing, regardless of how it affects the voice, and future management of the instrument as well vocal growth and health. Birgit is such a wonderful singer above all. Even roles that her voice isn't exactly suited for, you have to admire how she navigated those roles as well as she could, given such a powerful instrument. We could all learn something by watching videos in which Birgit talked about singing and her career, as well as read her autobiography and other books about singing for which she was interviewed.

[@bozhidarbogdanov4840]

One of the best vocal performances of Turandot Birgit Nilsson ever gave!

[@tamsuiman]

+1

[@terryhammond1253]

This is it! Exactly what Nilsson sounded like in the ooera house! I heard her many times. Thrilling. No other voice like it.

[@magicmonkichi]

Amazing! She had the voice of a dagger, the 'attack' on the high notes were epic.

[@wilsonwatt9283]

This is true but listen also to the low notes in the riddles section. They are more powerful than some contraltos.

[@Roheryn100]

A dagger - yes, that’s what I have always thought....like hurling icicles.

[@marlenehartley7742]

I heard her several times live at the Met and the role is hers. Her voice was this powerful. An endless flow of glorious sound just like this recording.! Never to be forgotten

[@axelzeltsch7791]

Nilsson a perfect Turandot, Brünnhilde and Isolde

[@pederlettstroem980]

axel zeltsch Salome and ........

[@Roheryn100]

This seems far darker and more malevolent than my recording with Corelli....

[@lugano1999]

The radiance of her upper voice was something that no microphone could ever capture. I heard her live three times as Elektra at the Paris Opera in 1975. When she sang she literally altered your body chemistry.

[@ransomcoates546]

By 1975 she was in pronounced decline.

[@uliwidmaier5192]

How awesome! Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@wayneblackmonmdjd6870]

February 1969 in Elektra at the Met was the best I ever heard. Absolutely, the mikes couldn't capture the voice. She was the highest paid singer at the Met for a valid reason.

[@wayneblackmonmdjd6870]

@@ransomcoates546 Ha. Some decline.

[@ransomcoates546]

@@wayneblackmonmdjd6870 Well I have never heard such out of tune strident sounds from a great singer as I did in a mid-70’s Met ‘Gött.’ She sang far past what was prudent for her reputation.

[@michaelroberts6894]

She was more than amazing - she was gigantic in these great operas She sang and has never been equalled since !

[@marlenehartley7742]

Agree. Never been equaled since.

[@UMVELINQANGI]

Wow! La Nilsson is stunning here. It's a pity the complete performance is lost, but at least we have these wonderful excerpts to cherish.

[@fredojoaquim4764]

Not all sopranos can sing the demanding role of Princess Turandot. Nillson certainly is able and does it magnificently. 🌹

[@MrQbenDanny]

FANTASTICA!!! I surrender to THIS Turandot!! This scalding hot Moscow performance was probably one of her favorites, and the only missing piece is Franco. Great post! THANK YOU!

[@roymayh3819]

Epic voice, she can just kill with those notes. Spectacular and inimitable.

[@danielintheantipodes6741]

Thrilling singing. Really wonderful.

[@Ppress322]

In addition to her amazing voice she was a wonderful, kind person. A pleasure to work with.

[@potusumanbibingka]

Only Franco Corelli can sing with Birgit Nilson without getting drowned.

[@Operafreak9]

Although distorted, this gives more of an idea of what she sounded like in the opera house than her recordings do. It was simply unbelievable. I am told by someone who was there, that audeince members looked at each other with mouths open in disbelief when she unleashed her first Isolde in New York at the Met.

[@wayneblackmonmdjd6870]

Front page news in NY Times

[@wayneblackmonmdjd6870]

Thank you for posting. Her voice was never truly captured on recordings, and this really gives an idea. I was at a performance of Die Walkure when she aimed a high B flat right at me. I've never been the same since.

[@terryhammond1253]

Incredible. I heard Nilsson 'live' many times in all her greatest roles... mostly in New York...but also in Munich as The Dyers Wife in Die Frau Ohne Shatten. A shattering and unforgettable experience! No-one else had her power and rock solid accuracy on those high notes.

[@MG-fh4ed]

Unbeatable. Platinum and Gold!

[@tamsuiman]

+1

[@marcelloneri1096]

Santo Cielo ! Santo Cielo ! Irraggia prodigiosa e ammutolisce . . Ach ach , Wunderbar e Mamma mia . . puro splendore .

[@williammorris584]

That “In questa reggia” made my day.

[@Abigayl1950]

The Great 👍 Birgit always releases !!!!!! Her rendition is astonishing and technically it is the best !! I still remember her last ELEKTRA at TEATRO alla SCALA of MILANO : my GOD , what an overwhelming Artist 👩‍🎤 !! I love ❤️ Birgit so much , also because she’s been a very nice woman . Probably the greatest Wagnerian of our Century !!!

[@robertevans8010]

One of the Greatest Wagnerians of the Century, there were many incredible Soprano's between 1900 and 1940 I was lucky enough to see the Two best Pre War I think Leider and Flagstad, Nillson she was a friend of Lauritz Melchior and I do believe there is a recording of them singing live in the 50's after he had retired, I would love to hear that again, Leider was the most incredible musician and was equally good in Italian and French as well as German. her voice was the biggest of the three mentioned, Melchior and Lorenz both said that she was their Favourites. Nilsson was to me and I saw her a lot, very direct and correct in her singing, but could sometimes be Histrionically off, but that was rare, Phenomenal voice.

[@randysills4418]

No, Flagstad was the greatest Wagnerian of the last century...

[@jerelzoltick6900]

@@randysills4418 I agree Flagstad - more beautiful voice ...better legato....

[@bodiloto]

divina .

[@tenorinmunich]

Birgit is just unbelievable !

[@contraltissima]

great and beautiful singing! and her voice sounds darker here live than in recordings.

[@fredojoaquim4764]

The Magnetic 🌷and Magnificent 💖🌟 Birgit Nilsson.🌹🌻. I also adore Franco Corelli.🌟💖

[@potusumanbibingka]

Netrebko left the chat

[@Operafreak9]

Simply unbelievable. This shows what she could have sounded like with the proper recording in her Wagner.

[@faustojoselopez2656]

Absolutely the BEST.

[@teodorojaranilla5008]

INCREDIBLE...NILSSON MUST HAVE BEEN AT THER HEIGHT..both size and fullness.and power...and SPAN WOW!!!

[@MrQwerty88]

I think maybe 6000 of the video's views are me on repeat haha

[@dubbelhenke854]

Well who can blame you? It's supernatural!

[@photo161]

How remarkably impressive is Prevedi in these excerpts - an outstanding dramatic tenor - ...How underrated he was at the time...sad...

[@yusukeundisolde]

その暖かい声に、 彼女の人柄が滲み出ている。

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Incredible voices battle against luxurious music. Breathtaking! Much more satisfying than sports at an arena. But oddly very similar to Gladiators in the Collieseum. We are thrilled the same by sex and guts under Puccini's encompassing music. After all we are human. I shout BRAVO a thousand times.

[@azriel8549]

Una voz como una catedral.

[@susandrakenviller3683]

She also makes longer lines than almost any other Turandot who chop up their singing before and after climaxes. The 'SEI TUO NOME' is massive and almost scary! Who could refuse this woman! A man's head would fall off his shoulders by itself when she 'screams' at you.

[@octaviamymuse]

Ok, we all know that La Nilsson is beyond any mortal description. But who is this tenor? He doesn’t disappoint.

[@Mario292752]

Beautiful

[@anibalveloso4503]

Qué pedazo de voz. Lo terminó tapando a Prevedi en "una es la morte"

[@jimmychoo1857]

Prevedi is also fantastic here! Can’t imagine, what the public had to feal!

[@axelzeltsch1668]

Her Roles were Isolde, the three Brünnhildes, Färberin, Elektra, Salome and Turandot

[@alfredoloyola921]

thank you. vinicious!!for answering my question,thats what i thought.

[@filipszyga7394]

Puccini was fantastic with this unexpected changes of dynamic.

[@Roheryn100]

The buildup from 13:43 is extraordinary !

[@Luifernal6]

such Power, Prevedi avoiding the high C 😂

[@gerardcohen7780]

Gavazzeni est hors de pair. Quelle musicalité ! Nilsson était extraordinaire. Elle ne criait jamais mais possédait des réserves de puissance illimitées. Même ses notes les plus immenses étaient suivies de notes encore plus gigantesques. Quand on était dans la salle on avait l'impression d'une force tellurique.

[@alexandrkolesnikov9062]

Супер запись!

[@gerardmignon700]

Complètement dément, délirant !

[@johndlabella]

Wow..

[@rattusyu5905]

It sounds different from the La Scala '64 with Franco Corelli. That recording sounds bad but more on fire. This Moscow recording sounds more like ice. Fire... Ice... get it? ;)

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

*Nilsson gave an interview which she said that one role have more possibilities to be interpreted. She used Isolde as example saying that some performances she gave one Isolde more passionate and in others one Isolde more vindictive. She concluded with the sentence "Both are right!" I have a line of thought in this direction. ;)*

[@johnpickford4222]

Got it (unfortunately).

[@alfredoloyola921]

a kiss can change your life forever!!for good or for worst in the case of turandot and calaf,was for the better,but in many cases,a kiss can change the course of your life in a very drastic way.

[@johnyohalem6507]

In 1964, her voice still had a beauty and freshness that did not survive much longer. I first heard her (and in this opera) in 1968. By the Isoldes and Brunnhildes of 1970 and the Elektra of 1971, a harshness had crept in. She was always amazing, but the youthful beauty evaporated; she no longer had the sensuousness of her youth. She ran on technique after that, and her later Elektras and Dyer's Wives were magnificent but cold. I wonder if the cancer treatment (which she refused to publicize) had an effect?

[@SatanAteMySocks]

Well don't forget that by 1970 she was in her early fifties - a difficult age for all female singers. That's when Christa Ludwig had her vocal crisis as well.

[@randysills4418]

I never knew she had cancer...

[@ER1CwC]

@omarsomehow69 Yes it was discussed in the recent documentary that came out. Not sure if it’s still on KZbin. I think she got it treated in 1968. Kept it on the down low obviously.

[@ER1CwC]

@@SatanAteMySocks I think Ludwig’s crisis was more of a result of trying to sing Eboli for Karajan, though…

Amazing.

[@ladyrotha5420]

Elemental.

[@juanjosedubal]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@divox9pqr]

Magnificent voice and in this character no tenor was able to match her at that time...Franco... perhaps....or Jussi, but he had already past.

[@wilsonwatt9283]

I believe you are right. Corelli did match her when she sang with him and perhaps Vickers could have done so if he had sung Calaf with her. Certainly the Vickers/Nilsson performance of Tristan are epic in their power and beauty. Prevedi here sounds fine except when he had to sing with her when he simply disappears.

[@contraltissima]

Jussi???? hahaha, hes voice was not big!

[@robertevans8010]

Jussi was not a strong voiced Tenor and was a little small, the Tenor here was Bruno Prevedi a very fine Calaf, Corelli yes he was powerful, and had the Stature, but he was often full of nerves, I heard him many times with Callas and he was certainly capable of holding his own with Nillson.

[@СеклитаЛимариха]

Люблю.

[@quercingtime]

5:06 rip tenor

[@tjw2469]

5:07 where is tenor's voice???

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

*HAHAHAHA The tenor preferred avoid it due Nilsson's GIGANTIC voice*

[@Anduril919]

It depends on where the mic is. If this is a real audience recording and the mic is far away from the singers, then a comparison can properly be made. Otherwise, the mic position can make any one singer appear louder than they truly are in the theater.

[@matOpera]

Kai Yan pretty sure he didn’t sign the high C. He came back in on the lower E-flat

[@robertevans8010]

@@matOpera The Balance was not correct, Prevedi was a Baritone before he became Tenor and much like Del Monaco preferred the High B, Grob Prandl drowned out many Tenors as well. Then, that is not what opera is about, the balance as to be right on the stage, if there were microphones higher up in the Bolshoi then that could have been the reason, also Nillson and Prevedi and the Conductor may have done this on purpose, this is what I think happened. Prevedi was a very fine artist.

[@germanquintero10121946]

EXQUISITA

[@karlheinzkratz8987]

Unübertroffen. Nilsson hat bis heute keine Nachfolgerin.

[@MarioHernandez-qr4vx]

Ghena Dimitrova!

[@MarioHernandez-qr4vx]

Ghena Dimitrova!

[@tobiolopainto]

The conductor is slow. She speeds him up! As well she should. They should agree about tempi before the performance, not during the show. Nilsson had this problem with Stokowski during the Met revival in 1961. He tended to change tempi and the chorus and soloists and the orchestra were often not together. Stoky wasn't invited back. I was in the boys chorus at the time and was onstage during the question scene because I was a scroll bearer. Nilsson and Corelli were wonderful, but so was everyone else!

[@Archonnoir]

Tobias Mostel Changing tempi was a trademark of Stokowski. I don’t think it was unexpected. Also his performance is well praised. I assume the reason he wasn’t invited back was that he rarely conducted opera anyway.

[@robertevans8010]

Stokowski was a poser. Toscanini was a conductor.

[@tobiolopainto]

@@robertevans8010 I am second to no one in my love of Toscanini. However, there were other wonderful conductors, too. Stokowski was a great conductor. (He could pose and so could Toscanini). Check out Stoky's performance of LvB's 7th Sym. from 1927. It's on the same level as Toscanini's 1936 perf. with the NYPhil. Maybe the last mvt is a little less urgent. But urgency isn't the only way to present this music. It was Stoky that put Philadelphia on the map as far as an orchestra went. When Stoky took over the NBC in 1941, that orchestra developed a silkier sound that it had with Toscanini- - likewise when Toscanini conducted the Phil. S.O. in 1941, it developed a sharper sound than it had under Stokowski. There's room at the top for a few great conductors. Bruno Walter is up there, also Furtwangler, Mengleberg, Reiner, E. Kleiber, Weingartner, Ansermet, etc.

[@robertevans8010]

@@tobiolopainto I do concur, Stokowski and Toscanini would you love to go to a dinner with that pair, and bring in Furtwangler as the Special guest! Fireworks.

[@tobiolopainto]

@@robertevans8010 Toscanini and Mengleberg were both conducting the NY S.O. (before the merger to create the NY Phil) at the same time in the late 20s and 30s. Before WWII, Toscanini, like everybody else, respected Furtwangler. But during the war, Mengleberg and Furtwangler behaved so badly (they were pro-Nazi, and Mengleberg became the minister of culture for the Nazis. Furtwangler was lauded by Goebbels for being "eager" to conduct for Hitler and Nuremberg rallies) that they lost the admiration of all who were not Nazis. I wouldn't have gone to dinner with any of them.

[@alfredalfred3571]

wonderfull !!! who is the tenor ?

[@boazraspoutine9316]

Luckily afterwards we also had Ghena Dimitrova , a powerful round voice and its golden color

[@contraltissima]

but Nilsson has much more beauty in the sound. Ghenas sound is not very appealing, big but far from beeing as beautiful as Birgits

[@germanquintero10121946]

PURA DELICIA

[@alfredoloyola921]

the role of the tenor in turabdot is more difficult for a tenor singing the title role of calaf than the role of turandot. turandot is a short role,very dramatic demanding a lot of tension in a dramatic soprano voice but is short.calaf is a large role for the tenor and the orquestra is there almost to kill the tenor!!tenors know what am talking about,just look at the score!!scare!!very scare!!

[@Abigayl1950]

Alfredo Loyola , I do not agree . In my opinion it is always a mistake to compare a Role to another One ☝️ !!

[@jefolson6989]

Prevedi is better than I remembered

[@alfredoloyola921]

who is the tenor?anybody knows?

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

*Bruno Prevedi ;)*

[@gerardmignon700]

Sutrout où est le ténor avec nilsson !

[@SilfredoSerrano]

Bruno Prevedi was quite a famous tenor. More so in Europe than in US which is why you probably have never heard of him.

[@Abigayl1950]

Alfredo Loyola , he is BRUNO PREVEDI : he sung a lot also beside María CALLAS at LA SCALA of MILANO and so on .....

[@johnpickford4222]

Could this be from London as Prevedi sang this with here there?

[@mavoisine3]

Netrebko is the modern-day Nilsson. I think she might even be slightly better.

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

This shame are you paying on debit or credit?

[@mavoisine3]

@@JoanSutherlandFan Are you joking? Anna is the best Turandot that ever was. She carries the light.

[@ilgattopardo3231]

I hope you are just trolling and you are not serious...

[@ilgattopardo3231]

@@mavoisine3 Roselle, Scacciatti, Turner, Cigna, Grob-Prandl...

[@jorgegoncalves7295]

Ah ah ah!!!!!!