Nilsson recording session humour

[JoshuaMazur]

3 people couldn't get to the ring in time.

[jpryan31]

Ha! That's great.

[Ariadne7710]

She is absolutely and utterly magnificent. She had a great sense of humour and I am sure she found the idea of parading the horse on the stage very funny. Lighten up people. Don't take everything so seriously and the horse didn't look at all upset. He probably thought he was being taken for a nice walk. The stables of the Vienna riding school are round the corner from the Opera house so he wouldn't have minded I nice little walk.

[bluetagg]

When will people learn to respect animals. Not a funny scene at all.

[ShawDAMAN]

@bluetagg I think it's kind of funny. I'm no more a fan of animal abuse than you, but how was the horse mistreated here? It was just paraded around a bit,.....??

[classicalgalNYC]

She is amazing!

[musikenergy]

And after she sees the horse, she still sings Wagner perfectly. LOL

[angryjalapeno]

Upper-class humor. Not always funny

Nilsson is fantastic.

[saxamaphoneguy1]

STUPID HORSE! HE RUINED A MAGNIFICENT NILSSON/WAGNER MOMENT! haha it was pretty "clever" of them. God, Birgit was such a goddess...nobody beats her Brunnhilde for me (or isolde, or elektra...the list goes on)

[MrNeilsy]

If ever there it was evident as to how easy she made singing a dramatic role appear to be, it's in this video segment. She makes singing Brünhilde seem like a walk in the park. However, you read her book and you learn she always prepared her voice carefully for the roles she sang. If it was high like Turandot, she prepared the voice differently than if she were singing Wagnerian roles or Strauss for that matter. Such an intelligent singer she was.

[mdgaultney]

It's nice to see that even the greats like Nilsson can goof up. She came in a beat early on the word "grane" with the music right in front of her! Makes me feel better when I see a legend do it.

[unclejuniorsoprano]

This Solti version of Wagner's Ring will never be topped. As for why there's a horse on stage, what a stupid question. That's not really a horse at all but two guys wearing a Halloween costume. Unfortunately for the guy at the back end, the fellow in front had a bad problem with flatulence, which is why everyone started laughing.

And that's the truth!

[geigenmarie]

@unclejuniorsoprano You know: now I'm asking myself, how your own horses looked like, if you think this horse is a fake! :D :P

[fontenayperi]

why is there a horse on stage?

[gerardbedecarter]

Magnificent!

[Diazra]

I haaaaaate seeing this video! Why, she does is so effortlessly! With one breath she gives birth to a storm. Oh dear, this is so frustrating for a vocal student ;) hahahahaha.

I <3 Nilsson

[rumpwrestler]

I saw NIlsson's first Vienna Isolde, her first Bayreuth Isolde, her performances in San Francisco, London, the MET. There was no one like this woman. Her last Isolde in Munich (complete performances with Vickers) had me in tears. Brilliant!

[rumpwrestler]

I saw NIlsson's first Vienna Isolde, her first Bayreuth Isolde, her performances in San Francisco, London, the MET. There was no one like this woman. Her last Isolde in Munich (complete performances with Vickers) had me in tears. Brilliant!

[Operanut9]

@rumpwrestler

You are so right. no one like her. Absolutely unique experience when experienced live..

[OdedFriedGaon]

awesome video!

nice to have a look at such professionalism, taking a lighter approach, reminding all of the lightness of life. or maybe i'd like to think that.

[goldenthroat86]

Das ist der Grane!

[wardropper]

If Solti was in on the gag, he still looked pretty pissed to me. Nevertheless, Nilsson did make a mistake, so they would have had to do another take anyway.

[gondorado]

They were testing the balance. It was a test. TEST.

[waltermontani]

sublime!!!

[isabelle070209]

Et elle réussit à ne pas perdre sa concentration.

[vqro]

I love the reaction to her mistake and then to the horse showing up.  She was the greatest.

[saxamaphoneguy1]

@vqro So wonderful! If it weren't for that tiny mistake, I'd be upset that they had to ruin such a wonderful take! She sounds great even messing up though, I'd pay even for that!

[goldenthroat86]

Solti MUST have been in on the gag...otherwise I imagine he would have been pretty pissed. I love how cute and girly Birgit is!

[HerrWozzeck]

He was in on the joke; he commented on it afterwards. Too bad that shot was cut out; it was hilarious watching Nilsson's expression there.

[lhrlyc]

i don't think he was drunk

[JeeRant]

Solti's like, "Yeah, yeah, real funny...now BACK TO WORK!"

[HerrWozzeck]

Solti was actually supposedly in on the gag, so it's not surprising that he's all, 'now back to work'.

[Caredhel]

She's hilarious. :) But man, those guys would SO get fired if they did it nowadays...

[OperaBaritoneJoe]

I learned horses can go up stairs.

[XPRT10R]

They can, but they cant go DOWN the stairs. Just ike cows

[cmmenah]

I just love how she could strike those high tones with a perfection others would not have in a real stage o serious rehearsal. She seems so happy doing this... she enjoyed singing with perfection. If you do not know what DIVA means, dowload this video to your personal library. (Just the video, not the horse.... LOL)

[MAPIAKALLAS]

jajajajajaja hay poor Nilson she was shock to see that horse she was cute how she sing that note looking at the horse lol

[HoD3]

hojotoho nilsson!

[tobobba]

wooow!!! Fantastic" She was called a silvertrumpet..I like to say goldentrumpet..

[FrikkieJacobs]

0:35-0:48

phycho condutor man

:)

[violdick]

First of all, you're an idiot.

That conductor was none less than Georg Solti, who did all of the major recordings with Nilsson and the Vienna Philharmonic, and ended his career as the conductor of the Chicago Symphony. Under his direction, Chicago was then the worlds best orchestra, with Berlin running a very close second. His performances were electrifying.

Secondly, I will spell those two words for you: "psycho conductor". That's leagues above a psycho idiot, FriggenFickenFreakyFrikkieJaco­bs

[opera1dan2]

I think it was just a bit of a joke. Calm down mate.

[violdick]

You'd be surprised at just how stupid people can be today. When I grew up, classical music was taught in ALL public schools. Today, very few have it in their curriculum. Kidding or not, it lacked respect for one of the greatest conductors who EVER lived in this world, and one of the best interpreters of Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, and Gustav Mahler.

I don't suffer idiots, fools, nor disrespect. If it's a joke, by now, everyone here KNOWS to place "LOL" after the joke. The kid's an idiot.

[opera1dan2]

I think that's why he put a smiley face after.

[ludowicovan]

terrific

[ATsarIsBorn]

She never forgave John Culshaw for certain of his remarks, and his balances in the studio. He said to her, "What you have to understand is that each flute player, each oboe player, everyone in this orchestra is as much of a prima donna as you are, and wants just as much to be heard." To which she replied, "And how many people will purchase this recording to hear the flute?"

[myrtha77]

looooooool!!!

[textthing]

I love Nilsson. Such an easy-going lady, and one of the finest singers of the 20th century. She'll be sorely missed.

[birgitnilsson]

She is already missed by the whole worl dof opera!!

[brunorausch]

Fantastic !!!

[sandytheslayer]

Birgit was the coolest person EVER!

[Operanut9]

@sandytheslayer

Sandy,

thanks for saying "person" instead of "singer." She was both,, of course, but waht a human being!!!! An absolute model of humnaity at its best.

[stankskarm]

At least she was not scared of horses, being a farmers daughter form southern Sweden..! Nice.

[wilhelmvongloeden]

This has always been one of my most cherished documentaries, I own it on DVD. It was so unusual to hear Birgit Nilsson coming in off-beat (and all present take it which so much humor), but I never imagined someone would inform me of what she said when she realized she had got it wrong. Her fun reaction to the presence of the horse tops it off. Immortal.

[mortdk]

I think it defintily looks like she says "jävlar" in Skaansk/Swedish ... :-)

[loboestepario24]

and what does that means? Please let us know!

[mortdk]

It means "devil" or "hell" in swedish. But it is often used for fun also ... :-)

[speranza3]

Idiomatically translated it means "damn it"

[walawee]

is it horses that can't go down stairs?...i hope not

[gondorado]

Do not worry now for what might have happened 40 years ago if the problem -if existed one- has already been solved.

[SieglindeMoos]

This is so funny. The reason for this is that Nilsson had to handle a greedy horse in her first ever performance as Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung. During the rehearsals she would feed it sugar cubes to keep it calm, but at the premier she forgot them and the horse wanted to push her into the orchestra pit... She managed though.

[suede008]

This is Birgit at her best, great singing, foul mouth, appreciating horseplay. She was one hilarious cool maestra no matter how fast the world was spinning around her. Lovely lady, one of the best that ever entered an operastage. Always there for us to keep in loving memory !!

[phanface]

That's a lucky horse.

[jetsetjordan]

It seems the players may not have noticed untill Birgit was looking around and sining and they heard her moving.

[wotanman]

Ahh that witty Sarah Jessica Parker.. a consumate comedienne as always!

[mortdk]

@lignel:

Yes, that's hilarious and actually shows Nilsson the way she were; not a prima donna at all. By the way, I think she says "Jävlar" which means the same... :-)

[cbfoto]

I like the nice horse.

[lignel]

One of the funniest moment of this clip is when she misses the pitch on "Grane, mein Ross" and curses in Swedish; you can read it on her lips: "Helvete!" which means "Hell".

[gondorado]

Do you think so? I thinks she says "damn it". Could it be?

[lyghdha]

She says "jävlar"... A Swedish curse...

[gondorado]

and what jävlar means?

[lyghdha]

Well, "damn it" is close.

[gondorado]

Thanks. I think you are right, I was reading her lips and she says the word you told me she said. Thank you again. Mario, from Argentina.

[Prissie27]

Jävel means satan or devil. And it's plural. So she says "devils". Swedish cursing. It's a pretty strong cursing word. But can also be used for fun. ;-)

[gondorado]

Thank you for your help.

[lusciousbobby]

This is the greatest singing of all time. Such power, such perfect pitch, such beautiful tone. I am an enthusiastic fan of Anna Netrebko and hope she can fill these very large and beautiful Nilsson opera shoes. Nilsson proves that the voice is resilient even when pushed so hard.

[33blueberries]

...ok..there are so many things wrong with that comment. Anna Netrebko is like a speck of dust being thrown around by the hurricane of Birgit Nilsson, to say nothing of other great sopranos of the past 100 years whose repertoire is actually comparable to that of Netrebko. Netrebko is a light-weight, in every possible sense of the word. Nilsson's voice was resilient for the very fact that it was hardly pushed at all.

[despina92]

I totally agree with you! Bravo!

[alejimenez76]

@33blueberries Netrebko is a mute picture!!my God !!

[alejimenez76]

Responder a este vídeo...  this was hilarious, her face when she saw the horse!!! lol!! her eyes shine!!

[31071946]

FUNNNY!!!!!!

[liljohnnotbigjohn]

well... Ride into the flames! Great vid, thank you for posting!!

[redsox2213]

hmm....kinda awkwardly funny.

[vkaminsky]

Obviously a gorgeous voice, however, she also appears to have had a cute personality.

[nickbaritone]

Oh yes I've seen this. It's very funny.

[Greatfan]

No te contesté en castellano porque por ahi eras argentino pero vivías en USA y ya tu segundo idioma era el inglés. No soy nada argentino para eso. Hay gente que ni sabe que puedo hablar media palabra en inglés. Abrazos !

[pinevillegal88]

Love, love, love, love, LOVE her! Please post if you have any clips of Birgit. There is just no one like her.

[conmaleta]

BRAVA BIRGIT!!!

[qwe07]

Her face is hilarious when she jumps back a little from shock! Even with the messup, it's still incredible; I love her voice!

[Greatfan]

I find this is one of the videos that better illustrate Nilsson's voice in her glorious days, plus it gives us a sample of DECCA stupendous recording sessions !

[nyc88s]

I have always seen the still photo of Nilsson laughing at the horse, but it is fun to see it in context. Funnier is the face she makes right before the horse enters, when she sings a high note flat and knows it!

[Greatfan]

I agree 100%: her amused face is funnier than the entrance of that horse !!! What I do not agree is about that high note. I think what she did was to enter ahead of the beat, before time when she sings GRANE, MEIN ROSS !!! ( The Grane was sung ahead ) Anyhow her face is funny !

[nyc88s]

We are both right! She does sing the Grane a full beat early, and realizing already something is wrong the F-sharp on Ross is definitely under pitch. Then comes the little tantrum. I think the triple take she does when she actually sees that horse is priceless. No comedienne could have done it better. I love this video.

And yes, there has never been anything like Birgit in her glory days, launching those fearless high notes like missles. May she rest in peace...

[Greatfan]

You are right, I see it now. Yes, the F Sharp is under pitch ! We are both right as you say and I agree 100 % on what you say about Birgit and her glory days. Thanks for writing !

[gondorado]

I'd like to know what she was recording, where and when. You are so smart, perhaps you¡ll be able to answer that. Thx. From Argentina

[Greatfan]

I am from Argentina too ! She was recording " The Twilight of the Gods " ( el Ocaso de los Dioses ) de Wagner con Georg Solti for DECCA. It was in 1964. Best wishes !

[gondorado]

Por qué no me contestaste en castellano? Jeje, los argentinos siempre somos iguales. Gracias por desasnarme, de todos modos.