Birgit Nilsson – Wikipedia

Birgit Nilsson , pseudonym of Birgit Märta Svensson (Västra Karup, 17 May 1918 – Bjärlöv, 25 December 2005), was a Swedish soprano.

Born in a farm of a small location in the county of Skåne (100 km north of Malmö), he received the first musical education from his mother, who, when he was just three years old, gave her a toy piano. The talent for singing was noticed for the first time when he entered the choir of his church. He then began his studies with Ragnar Blennow in Båstad and, in 1941, with Joseph Hislop and Arne Sunnegard at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm.

He made his debut at the Royal Opera of Stockholm in 1946, when, with a notice of only three days, he had to replace the singer who played Agathe in The Freischütz . Later, in the autobiography, he remembered that first experience as very negative. Many other roles followed in works by Strauss (Marshal), Verdi (Aida), Wagner (Sieglinde, Senta), Puccini (Tosca), Mozart (woman Anna), Čajkovsky, all sung in Swedish language. A certain notoriety came to her from the interpretation of the Verdiana Lady Macbeth conducted by Fritz Busch, who became its mentor. Under his guidance his career took flight: thanks to him he obtained in 1951 the first important engagement outside Sweden, interpreting Elettra in Idomeneo Al Glyndeborne Festival Opera.

In 1953 there was the debut at the Staatsoper of Vienna, where for more than 25 years he would become a fixed presence. So it was Elsa in Lohengrin At the Bayreuth Festival in 1954 (he returned to Bayreuth in various roles until 1969) and Brünnhilde at the Bavarian state work and the Monaco Festival. He played the role of Turandot alla Scala in 1958 and later in various other Italian theaters.

Debut in the United States in 1956 in Tristan and Isolde At the work of San Francisco and three years later he triumphed in the same role at the Metropolitan Opera of New York. It was also present in other important theaters all over the world: Berlin, Royal Opera House in London, Tokyo, Paris, Buenos Aires. His was a very long career, which continued until the eighties, when he sang mainly in the roles of Elettra and the “wife of the dyer” in The woman without shadow .

He retired from the scenes in 1984, returning to his homeland in the south of Sweden.

He had married in 1948, but had no children. In 1977 the autobiography had been published My memory pictures And in 1981 the Swedish post office had issued a stamp that portrayed her in the role of Turandot. Among the many conferred them, the gold medal stands out Those of which , the highest honor of the Swedish government.

He died at the age of 87 in his home of a small village near Kristianstad.

Birgit Nilsson imposed himself on the music scene leaving a characteristic imprint in the works of Richard Strauss ( Solomè ed Electric in particular), in Turandot by Giacomo Puccini and in Wagner, of which he performed all the main titles by earning the reputation of major Wagnerian soprano of his time, heir to Kirsten Flagstad. However, as already mentioned, he also performed, also in several other important roles, including Donna Anna, Leonora in Fidelio , Aida, Lady Macbeth, Amelia, Tosca.

It was surprising for the vocal power and for the great control of the breath, which, combined with a ferrata technique, allowed her to penetrate easily through the thicker orchestrations and to keep the acute notes for very long times. However, it was not only a vocal phenomenon, but it also exhibited considerable qualities of interpreter, also recognizable in some cornerstones of the Italian repertoire, such as the aforementioned Aida It is Tosca . The acting qualities saw a constant improvement during the career, while always prevailing the vocal overwhelming power.

• ( IN ) Birgit Nilsson, La Nilsson: My Life in Opera , University Press of New England, 2007.

• Nilsson, Märta Birgit . are sape.it , De Agostini.
• ( IN ) Birgit Nilsson . are British encyclopedia Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
• Birgit Nilsson , in Historic Archive Ricordi , Memories & c ..
• ( IN ) Birgit Nilsson . are AllMusic , All Media Network.
• ( IN ) Birgit Nilsson . are Discogs , Zink Media.
• ( IN ) Birgit Nilsson . are MusicBrainz , MetaBrainz Foundation.
• ( IN ) Birgit Nilsson . are Internet Movie Database , IMDB.com.
• The official site . are birgitnilsson.com . URL consulted on December 14, 2015 (archived by URL Original December 20, 2014) .