Top Songs By Birgit Nilsson
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ALBUMGreat Swedish Singers: Set Svanholm (1943-1958)Herbert Sandberg, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Set Svanholm, Nils Grevillius, Stockholm Royal Orchestra, Elisabeth Söderström, Florence Widgren, Inge-Gerd Norlin, Hjordis Schymberg, Birgit Nilsson, Sixten Ehrling, Lars-Erik Larsson, Sigurd Bjorling, Tor Mann & Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
ALBUMWagner: Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods)Astrid Varnay, Wolfgang Windgassen, Birgit Nilsson, Paula Lenchner, Josef Greindl, Elisabeth Grummer, Maria von Ilosvay, Hermann Uhde, Bayreuth Festival Chorus, Hans Knappertsbusch, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Gustav Neidlinger, Elisabeth Schartel & Dorothea Siebert
ALBUMWagner, R.: Walkure (Die) [Opera] (Karajan) (1958)Hans Hotter, Birgit Nilsson, Ludwig Suthaus, Herbert von Karajan, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Christa Ludwig, Jean Madeira, Lotte Rysanek, Gerda Scheyrer, Margareta Sjoestedt, Martha Rohs, Rosette Anday, Hilde Rössel-Majdan, Leonie Rysanek, Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus, Judith Hellwig & Gottlob Frick
ALBUMWagner: Wagner at the Royal Swedish Opera - Tannhauser - Parsifal - Siegfried Excerpts (Sung in Swedish) (1955-1959)Sixten Ehrling, Leon Bjorker, Georg Svedenbrant, Arne Ohlson, Royal Swedish Orchestra, Margareta Bergstrom, Einar Andersson, Sven-Erik Jacobsson, Set Svanholm, Royal Opera Chorus, Sigurd Bjorling, Anna-Greta Soderholm, Hjordis Schymberg, Arne Tyren, Arne Wiren, Elisabeth Söderström, Sven-Erik Vikstrom, Conny Soderstrom, Ingvar Wixell, Eva Prytz, Carrie Nilsson, Margareta Bakker-Sunnegardh, Kerstin Meyer, Joel Berglund, Kjerstin Dellert, The Royal Orchestra & Birgit Nilsson
ALBUMMozart, W.A.: Don Giovanni - Die Zauberflote - Le Nozze Di Figaro (1952-1967) (Royal Swedish Opera)Sigurd Bjorling, Eva Prytz, Herbert Sandberg, Paul Hoglund, Sven-Erik Jacobsson, Lilly Furlin, Gosta Bjorling, Birgit Nilsson, Stockholm Royal Orchestra, Margareta Bergström, Margareta Bakker-Sunnegardh, Hjordis Schymberg, Conny Söderström, Folke Jonsson, Olle Sivall, Kerstin Meyer, Royal Swedish Opera Chorus, Sven-Erik Vikström, Ingvar Wixell, Anna-Greta Söderholm, Busk Margit Jonsson, Jan Sparring, Birgit Nordin, Bo Lundborg, Judith Garellick, Arne Wiren, Lars af Malmborg, Michael Gielen, Martti Talvela, Elisabeth Söderström, Uno Stjernqvist, Arne Tyrén, Ingeborg Kjellgren, Aase Nordmo-Lovberg, Edith Thallaug, Carl-Axel Hallgren, Bengt Rundgren, Gunilla Slattegard & Erik Saeden
ALBUMStrauss: Der Rosenkavalier & Beethoven: Fidelio (Highlights)Kerstin Meyer, Ingeborg Kjellgren, Knut Erik Sundquist, Conny Söderström, Uno Stjernqvist, Bo Lundborg, Barbro Ericson, Arne Tyrén, Royal Court Orchestra, Birgit Nilsson, Sven-Erik Vikström, Royal Swedish Opera Chorus, Eva Prytz, Sixten Ehrling, Leon Björker, Sigurd Bjorling & Erik Saeden
Birgit Nilsson's Popular Music Videos
In questa reggia (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, January 24, 1965)
Birgit Nilsson
O mio babbino caro (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, November 27, 1960)
Birgit Nilsson
In Questa Reggia (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, May 21, 1967)
Mr. Pelletier, Birgit Nilsson & Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Pace, pace, mio Dio (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, June 26, 1966)
Birgit Nilsson
Vissi d’arte
Birgit Nilsson
About Birgit Nilsson
Artist Biography
The vocal talents of Birgit Nilsson were first recognized when she began to sing in her church choir. She studied voice with Ragnar Blennow in Bastad and later at the Royal Music Academy Stockholm with Joseph Hislop and Arne Sunnegärdh. She made her opera debut at Stockholm where her first important role was Agatha in Der Freischütz, and in 1947 she sang Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth there. Her first important international appearance came in 1951 as Elettra in Mozart's Idomeneo at the Glyndebourne Festival. In 1952, she sang Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Florence. Her first important appearances in Wagner operas came in 1953 at Stockholm where she sang Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Isolde for the first time. The following year she made her Bayrueth debut as Elsa in Lohengrin and in the same season sang Ortlinde in Die Walküre. She later appeared there as Isolde and as Brunnhilde. It was in Munich during the 1954-1955 season that she first sang Brunnhilde in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen and during the same season she sang her first Salome. In 1957, she sang the complete Ring cycle in London. At the Vienna State Opera she was heard as Elsa, Sieglinde, Elisabeth, Aida, and Sent. In 1957 she sang Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio and the following season sang her first Turandot. She was also highly regarded for her interpretations of Elektra and the Barak's Wife in Die Frau ohne Schatten. Her other important Italian roles were Tosca, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera and Aida. She sang at all of the major opera centers of the world including Tokyo, Paris, Buenos Aires, Chicago, San Francisco, and Hamburg. Also she sang Turandot in Moscow with the Teatro alla Scala. At the age of 62, a performance of Strauss' Elektra was videotaped at the Metropolitan Opera House and broadcast around the world.
Because of her full schedule of opera performances, Nilsson did not sing in many concerts or recitals although early in her career she did sing the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven on several occasions, including one at Bayreuth. She did give some recitals including tours of Australia and Japan as well the major music centers of Europe and North America. Her recital programs concentrated on the German and Scandinavian songs, including some rarely heard pieces by Stenhammar. She often sang "I Could Have Danced All Night" as an encore.
The voice of Birgit Nilsson was like a laser beam that cut through the orchestra, unlike the voice of Kirsten Flagstad or Jessye Norman which are like a wall of sound. It was a large voice with such brilliance that at times it gave the sensation of being sharp of the intended pitch. Happily all of her important roles have been preserved on recordings. As long as the operas of Wagner are performed, the voice of Birgit Nilsson will be remembered, and no one has sung Puccini's Turandot with more brilliance or security. Her autobiography, Mina minnesbilder, was published in 1977 at Stockholm.
Hometown
Västra Karups, Sweden
Genre
Classical
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