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The great Swedish singer, Birgit Nilsson, has passed away. She apparently died already ten days ago, the funeral service took place today. Nobody knew about it, the family desired to keep it this way, as the burial took place in the small church of the village in south Sweden where she was born. A spokesman for the family said that they wanted to avoid masses of journalists, TV cameras and generally curious members of the public.

Birgit Nilsson had a long life and career (she was 87 at her death), worked until some years ago as a coach and gave master classes after retiring from the stage. She excelled in Wagner and Richard Strauss operas, her most famous performances were as Isolde in "Tristan and Isolde" and "Die Frau ohne Schatten"

by Strauss.

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What a great artist, and what monumental dedication to her art. The most profound event of my (limited) opera experience was a performance of Elektra. Yes, the one in which she broke her leg, yet completed the opera. Having not seen the opera before, I did not realise things were "different", just naively marvelled at the depth of grief and pain she was delivering. Years later I went to see her again in Elektra. She did not need a broken leg to be profound. Thank you for your art, Ms. Nilsson, may you rest in peace.

The report by Associated Press has some wonderful tales of her sense of humor, such as catching rabies from Franco Corelli:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Obit-Nilsson.html

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Courtesy of the Met, here is a review of her debut as Isolde, 1959.

At the end of the review is a clickable photo.

The lengthy review, from the Times, begins:

"Birgit Nilsson filled the Metropolitan Opera House last night with the glory of the finest Isolde since the unforgettable days of Kirsten Flagstad two decades ago.

In her New York debut the Swedish soprano assumed one of the most demanding roles in the repertory and charged it with power and exaltation. With a voice of extraordinary size, suppleness and brilliance, she dominated the stage and the performance. Isolde's fury and Isolde's passion were as consuming as cataclysms of nature.

Before the first act was over a knowing audience at the Met's new production of "Tristan und Isolde" was aware that a great star was flashing in the operatic heavens. At the end of the act the crowd remained in their seats, waiting for Miss Nilsson to take a solo bow. And when she came out alone, they roared like the Stadium fans when Conerly throws a winning touchdown pass."

The reference is to Chuckin' Chuck Conerly, the New York Football Giants QB in the '50's. One must go to keyword search, enter Nilsson, and scrole down to 1959.

http://66.187.153.86/archives/frame.htm

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Helene, I also was at her 1971 Isolde and it was simply earth-shattering. However, whenever I think of The Big B (or the Great White Godess, as we called her) I think first of the 1966 TURANDOTs with her and Corelli. You never heard anything like it; the recording doesn't give a clue. These two just pinned you to your seat, the opera house seemed to vibrate from the sheer magnitude of their singing. One night, after the Riddle Scene, the audience broke in with a prolonged, shouting ovation and the show came to a dead standstill for almost 3 minutes.

Nilsson has a little sceptre that she carried (it looked like an all-day-lollipop actually!) and after Corelli guessed the third riddle, she would throw it across the stage in a fury. Corelli would pick it up and kneel, handing it back to her just as Act II ended. During the run (I saw 5 performances - incredible!) she was throwing it further and further each night. Then she threw it WAY the heck across the stage and Franco refused to go get it. He just stood there, with his arms folded across his chest and a gloomy pout on his face. The curtain fell, and he hadn't budged.

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Standing there with his arms folded was a pose Corelli struck more than once with Nillson. At the end of a Met Turandot I attended, Corelli, arms folded, looking bored and unhappy, waited for her to descend the long staircase to his side. When she got there, he vigorously kicked the train of her dress out of his way and started singing gloriously. As did she. They were true golden-age singers in both voice and temperament.

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By the time I heard her live, in Die frau ohne Schatten in San Francisco, her voice (though still huge) had gone all breathy and little-girlish and was actually hard to bear. But her characterization of the Dyer's Wife was still worth it. So human. She was a great singing actress.

My first box-set opera was Tristan und Isolde; from the very beginning of that she was so angry, so exciting. She really allowed a lot of passion into her voice. Brave artist.

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I would imagine she's coaching the angels on their portamenti.

Maybe on their high C's, but not on their portamenti, as Nilsson as a rule didn't sing them. What separates her "Ho jo to ho" from past Wagnerian singers like Frida Leider or Lillian Nordica or Helen Traubel or Kirsten Flagstad was her refusal to sing "Ho jo to ho-oh" with the huge swooping portamento at the end.

But anyway, RIP to a great singer and a smart, funny woman.

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A good exercise would be to make a cd of Frida Leider and Birgit Nilsson singing the same arias. Because they are the polar opposites, although both were dramatic sopranos.

Leider had an extremely prominent, fast vibrato, a rather round, warm timbre, and a decidedly old-fashioned (meaning liberal) use of portamenti. Leider also had an excellent trill. Her Ho jo to ho strongly resembles a coloratura aria, with the trills and the portamento capped off with a high C. Leider was at home in the Italian rep (in a way Nilsson was too) because of the accuracy of her scale, her easy trill, and the almost Italianate warmth of her voice. At the same time even contemporary reviews remarked that her voice was not that large, and that her top was shaky.

Nilsson's voice was like the Star Wars beam -- it was razor sharp and completely straight (with little to no vibrato, as dirac pointed out). She used little to no portamento, which made her singing seem even more knife-like. Her timbre had an almost star-like brightness, she of course had no problems with high C's, and anyone who ever heard her commented on how large and penetrating her voice was. Nilsson could sing roles Leider never could have attempted, like Elektra, Turandot, or Salome.

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I would imagine she's coaching the angels on their portamenti.

Maybe on their high C's, but not on their portamenti, as Nilsson as a rule didn't sing them. What separates her "Ho jo to ho" from past Wagnerian singers like Frida Leider or Lillian Nordica or Helen Traubel or Kirsten Flagstad was her refusal to sing "Ho jo to ho-oh" with the huge swooping portamento at the end.

But anyway, RIP to a great singer and a smart, funny woman.

I'll have to differ here. Nilsson didn't use portamenti on the hojotoho on the Solti recording but most certainly did live.

It's true she did not make excessive use of it but take a listen to the E. Klieber Fidelio, Act III Turandot, Lady Macbeth & even Elsa's Dream in the Lohengrin.

She used it sparingly but she used it well.

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I'm very sorry that I never heard her live, although I'd have been too young to really appreciate the experience, anyway. As Tommasini and others have noted, on recordings you don't get the thrilling sensation of hearing that giant voice ride the orchestra (and recordings don't do justice to really big voices).

Nilsson was on my first opera box set too, Paul -- it was Turandot with Bjoerling and Tebaldi. I still remember bringing it home from Berkeley.

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There will be a special program, Birgit Nilsson: A Force of Nature in her honor at Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center) on Tuesday, May 23 at 7:30. Tributes from many friends and colleagues, plus Nilsson on film.

"Host: Dame Gwyneth Jones

With appearances and tributes by:

Martina Arroyo

Lili Chookasian

Irene Dalis

Mignon Dunn

Lauren Flanigan

Anna Moffo

Regine Resnik

Thomas Stewart

Edgar Vincent

and other surprise guests"

Tickets are $75 ($50 for Opera Guild members). Extra for a post-program Champagne reception. Information:

212-769-7009

or at

http://www.metoperafamily.org/guild/calend...il.aspx?id=1148

The Met has also given a 30-photo set of Ms. Nillson (click to enlarge each):

http://66.187.153.86/Imgs/Nilsson.htm

This one, in her coal-miner's hat (Die Walkure), is a must-see:

http://66.187.153.86/Imgs/NilssonWalkureHelmet1.jpg

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