Birgit Nilsson & The Montreal Symphony Orchestra "In questa reggia" on The Ed Sullivan Show

Birgit Nilsson & The Montreal Symphony Orchestra "In questa reggia" from Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot" on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 21, 1967. Subscribe now to never miss an update: ume.lnk.to/EdS...
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The Ed Sullivan Show was a television variety program that aired on CBS from 1948-1971. For 23 years it aired every Sunday night and played host to the world's greatest talents. The Ed Sullivan Show is well known for bringing rock n' roll music to the forefront of American culture through acts like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones. The entertainers each week ranged from comedians like Joan Rivers and Rodney Dangerfield, to Broadway stars Julie Andrews and Richard Burton, to pop singers such as Bobby Darin and Petula Clark. It also frequently featured stars of Motown such as The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5. The Ed Sullivan Show was one of the only places on American television where such a wide variety of popular culture was showcased and its legacy lives on to this day.

[@chookiechooks]

At the height of her vocal power. She drove audiences WILD with her utterly unique voice. God bless Ed Sullivan. Week after week, he brought the best there was to the popular American audience. We were a better people, a better country then - and this is part of the why.

[@MrNeilsy]

My number 1 choice for Turandot for sure. As Birgit once said, "Isolde made me famous but Turandot made me rich." Incomparable, to say the least.

[@vincec8218]

Please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@allenjones3130]

One of the greatest dramatic sopranos of all time.

[@michaelmiller1215]

The only Soprano who didn’t have to work really hard to sing this aria with its stratospheric tessitura!

[@thomasmbr]

You forgot Sutherland..listen

[@darylgimmillaro7149]

The best Turandot ever...I heard here at the Met with Caballe as Liu

[@rao633]

Tell us a bit more about them performing together. Both Nilsson and Caballe were unique in their roles. How did they sound together on stage, specially when Turandot interrogates Liu? How did people react to their performance?

[@vincec8218]

@@rao633 please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian

[@SilfredoSerrano]

James King was Calaf in those performances

[@philipc67]

No. Check your facts and don't fib. They sang these roles together in Buenos Aires, 1965. Caballe never sang Liu at the Metropolitan; she was scheduled to sing Turandot in the early 1980s but the production was cancelled due to a Met orchestra strike.

[@moorfan1]

And then Birgit comes and they had to bring the whole Montreal orchestra so that the audience could hear the orchestra as well.

[@vincec8218]

Please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@russedav5]

But only barely. A common "problem" was what chance did a mere symphony orchestra have against that incredible voice!, and that without a mike (not that any mere mike would have been capable of even trying a reproduction)! I never cease to marvel at her brilliant exemplifying of the indescribable power God gave man's voice, the greatness of which mere man's well-meant but ever-vain attempts at creating instruments in sincerest imitations (e.g. the pipe organ's "Vox Humana=Human Voice" stop), but for the >99% quite untrained, the power remains unrealized, though there are miraculous exceptions.

[@fabriziogarzi9892]

@@vincec8218 , basta con questa Kasondra. E' pessima.

[@fabriziogarzi9892]

Diciamo che quando l'ho ascoltata a Roma nel Tristano nel '72 il povero Briliot a malapena arrancava...Mehta faceva quello che poteva. Praticamente era un concerto per soprano e ogni tanto degli interventi orchestrali

[@BellaFirenze]

@@vincec8218 She sucks.

[@kristinaherrejon7181]

So unbelievably beautiful.

[@RobertZephiroMilla]

Phenomenon. Nothing more to say. The best ever.

[@vincec8218]

Please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@michaelmiller1215]

Agreed!

[@romearomeo]

Birgit Nilsson era un vero soprano drammatico...non le odierne voci drammatiche fasulle pompate artificialmente...

[@rogermaes6001]

Extatic ! Wonderful singer, wonderful woman, imperial, kind and funny too. I love you Birgit wherever you are. You were a goddess.

[@user-lf5qt9mx9z]

Это великолепно. Насколько все грамотно, выразительно, музыкально. А какая техника. Просто образец исполнения! Браво, брависсимо👏👏👏💖💖💐💐💐

[@apngeram]

Oh my God! That power..

[@user-ht1tf9ip7c]

Великолепное исполнение! Биргит Нилльсон обладала феноменально прекрасным голосом! Браво!

[@ev4875]

She’s NO WORDS! So amazing

[@ev4875]

She also sang in my opinion the best Aida ever.

[@karinaazatyan4231]

Sublime Turandot!!!!

[@brucereid6299]

The Ed Sullivan Show was amazing. To think on one show, you could present Elvis, The Beatles and Birgit Nilsson-and people watched! That voice was such a force of nature-wow!!

[@vincec8218]

Please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@brucereid5120]

@@vincec8218 , I like her voice. It is not completely Italian in timbre. And she ignores some words, when it’s not convenient for her to enunciate. But definitely a lot of potential!!

[@vincec8218]

@@brucereid5120 she is Armenian American...I've heard her three times in person...live, the voice is massive for a lyric soprano...the timbre is ravishingly beautiful and instantly recognizable

[@brynjarhoff-lr6hw]

🎉Fantastisk,en slik sopran finnes ikke nu.2024 Brynjar Hoff

[@David-dz3ig]

fantastic performance from Ms. Nilsson despite the fast tempo! It would have been wonderful if Franco Corelli had entered unexpectedly to sing his part of the aria...it would have been a powerhouse reaction from the audience.

[@rrgallo967]

A M A Z I N G.....

[@juanflores7057]

Wooo impresionante, con que facilidad llega a las notas

[@vincec8218]

Por favor escucha a la soprano Kasondra Kazanjian

[@jerryalbertleonmendoza1858]

Esa tal casondra no es mejor que nilsson en este papel

[@manuelfarinelli3839]

🏆🏆wonderful, wonderful🏆🏆

[@vincec8218]

Please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@LenguaBorracha]

Enorme 😍

[@victorrangel93]

Thank you for uploading it. I love seeing her in color

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian

[@pederlettstroem980]

Fantastic performance!

[@vivianbelissima]

BRAVAAAAAA

[@TomElvisSmith]

This episode was broadcast from Montreal's Expo '67.

[@vincec8218]

Please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@SingerGeneLeonard]

This is the kind of soprano you want to sing Turandot not Netrebko

[@Ludmila-sf9un]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@adriand6883]

It's impressive that she can sing this at such a ridiculously fast tempo, but the conductor should have been a bit slower. Then Nilsson's voice could have really shined!

[@jonbaum]

Maybe there were time issues given it was a TV broadcast

[@vincec8218]

@@jonbaum please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@vincec8218]

Please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@fabriziogarzi9892]

Caro, figuriamoci, era Birgit che dirigeva!

[@RudasGabor]

ÉVA MARTON "A" TURANDOT! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@wotan10950]

I saw Nilsson onstage a few times, but never as Turandot. However, we did see Gwyneth Jones, and my wife and I went backstage to meet her. She was a petite soft-spoken lady, and my wife asked, “was SHE the soprano who just obliterated the entire orchestra and chorus?!”

[@ev4875]

Omg. I saw her. She was peeling paint off walls

[@ev4875]

Wait. Could have been Dimitova. This would have been 95 or 96

[@wotan10950]

@@ev4875 I never saw Dimitrova onstage. Definitely Dame Gwyneth. We got autographed photos from her.

[@paulettezonneveld95]

No other whom ever lived is that divine God's gift eternal

[@patrickbell9976]

If it's too fast, that's not her fault...the conductor.

[@ev4875]

Yeah. Slightly.

[@user-ys7el2hx8q]

Nilsson WAS TURANDOT

[@80Mrmirko]

Quando si parla di Turandot la Nilsson non ha alcuna naturale rivale. Nessuna riesce neanche ad avvicinarsi…

[@pederlettstroem980]

Nessuna.

[@thomasmbr]

Hit the pitch but strident. Love her Wagner…

[@ransomcoates546]

I like the fast tempo.

[@ER1CwC]

Folks, following the poor ratings of the Callas/London Tosca broadcast, the show instituted a 4 minute for all operatic performances. Tempi choices and cuts were thus made accordingly.

[@Paulofibonelli]

Tá pra nascer cantora de ópera igual essa

[@MrQwerty88]

Any chance you could disable the videos popping up on the screen at the end? It stops us from being able to see the last 10 seconds of the video. Especially considering that this is the only upload of this video on the entire internet.

[@jackwynnemusic2367]

It's only 10 seconds

[@MrQwerty88]

@@jackwynnemusic2367 If you read my comment I said "10 seconds". You're not informing me of anything I didn't already say. Maybe you don't understand the significance of a singer like Birgit Nilsson, but any video of her is valuable. To be able to see the full video without links popping up on it is not much to ask.

[@jackwynnemusic2367]

@@MrQwerty88 hmh k whatever you're just annoying me

[@MrQwerty88]

@@jackwynnemusic2367 You're annoying yourself. You're the one commenting nonsense on somebody's post.

[@Shamsithaca]

@@MrQwerty88 Please take it outside.

[@bytheway1031]

🎂Birgit Nilsson 05-17-2022

[@user-iw9qc3oq6w]

Real turandot.

[@user-hv1lk8wj1b]

👍👍👍

[@rao633]

Nobody noticed that an entire part of the area is missing?

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian

[@dubbelhenke854]

A bit to rushed - but she is fantastic anyway!

[@tobiaspeter6555]

This is, of course, fantastic singing. These trumpet notes!!! But I miss Italianità.

[@alexandrkolesnikov9062]

James Bond music😂

[@ER1CwC]

That was Tosca!

[@gerardmignon700]

Le pauvre chef dirigeait quel opéra là? West side story?

[@vincec8218]

Please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@BellaFirenze]

Where was Franco?

[@cavali5593]

surely the best, but such bad writing for the voice needs a real good singer, and she was the best

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian

[@michaelvaughn2091]

Oh yes. If only Puccini had known how to write for the voice, he might have achieved some success.

[@mattiheiskanen597]

This made here very very rich.

[@LaDivinaLover]

Clearly you’re OBSESSED with denigrating Nilsson which is beyond odd. One can like Callas and not be a sour harpy. Every video of hers I’ve watch you been spewing vitriol like the typical Callas widow. La Divina would he embarrassed of you. Move on.

[@theoperatripleaxel5417]

The tempo is quite fast, very different from her usual interpretations, i guess she was in a "bad day voice" so they did it a bit faster (I say bad day voice, but nilsson was famous for being one of the 3 best in the world with callas and flasgtad, so her bad day is still perfect for sure).

[@yannicklaunoy2097]

Maybe was it too long for popular TV...

[@patrickgueguin792]

@@yannicklaunoy2097 The singer cannot sing faster than the orchestra lol

[@neilfunk1857]

There is a whole section of the aria that was cut, beginning with "Pure nel tempo che ciascun ricorda..." The fast tempo is probably for time.

[@gregberg5559]

I agree with the others who have replied to you- I'm sure this brisk tempo and the removal of one of the central sections of the aria was so it would not be too long. I'm sure it had nothing to do with whether or not she was in good voice. (I think she sounds absolutely fine.) The Sutherland/Horne "Mira o Norma" is also abridged. If you wanted to be on Ed Sullivan, you had to play by his rules.

[@vincec8218]

@@gregberg5559 please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian

[@alanyoung448]

I'm

[@qsilverboy01]

Just noticed that first half of the aria she sung with too much staccato, should be serene legato as written in the score.

[@michaelvaughn2091]

Too bad she didn't have you around to critique her interpretation. She might have had a career.

[@lukasmiller486]

Just realized, she looks like Susan Boyle!

[@richardhutton8743]

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your socks, blasphemer!

[@Tkimba2]

Too messy. Even the vibrato is instabile. No nuances. She had much better performances.

[@torresedith4023]

Where can we listen to your performance?

[@Tkimba2]

@@torresedith4023 No, I m sorry

[@tita4359]

Umm..the vibrato is stable but ok..this is amazing singing. So effortless yet huge and loud

[@adriand6883]

The problem is that it was too fast. This tempo doesn't give her room for full expression unfortunately.

[@theoperatripleaxel5417]

the tempo is toooo fast for TV, it was strange to me at first too.

[@TheFrankozzi]

Too fast ..zero feeling ..rock solid voice but i dont like the performance.