Jussi Bjorling sings "Di tu se fedele" from Ballo

[gpcolucci]

PURE MAGIC...THIS MAN WAS A PURE MIRACLE OF SOUND...TRYING TO DESCRIBE THIS VOICE IS ABOUT AS USELESS AS TRYING TO WALK ON WATER...IT HAS TO BE HEARD...IF GOD COULD SING HE WOULD STILL HAVE TO TAKE A BACK SEAT TO JUSSI..THANKS FOR POSTING THESR REMARKABLE CLIPS...WHERE CAN I GET THESE MOVIES?

[norpsa]

any1 happens to have the link to the whole documentary?

[deutschefach]

Imho he is wonderful because he keeps the vowels open in the lower part of the voice and does not add weight. Because he does not tank up on color his shift to dark timbre above the staff is very slight. Later on in life he was not as disciplined as he is here, or maybe he decided to add half a shadow to of color because it pleased him Here the voice is exactly right on every tone. He has solved all the problems and can concentrate on the music. No wonder he was so successful.

[achantus1]

According to people that actually heard Bjørling live, the recordings just don't do him credit. In reality his voice was immensely more rich and beautiful than it sounds in these recorings.

[arumtriphyllum79]

Meraviglioso! Questo tipo di emissione stringe un po' in gola, ma che dire?

[donaldrose]

Well it isn't the low C below the bass clef but it is a lovely baritonal sound. My personal belief is that most tenors should be able to sing the bass-baritone repertoire and vice versa. It all comes down to sound technique. As a tenor you work the lower notes to give a comfortable richness to your voice. Great Bassos like Bryn Terfel can move effortlessly into the F's and G's and I imagine Terfel can get to B-flat if he wanted which gives his top notes squillo.

[seektheforce]

@donaldrose Terfel never had a secure top. Bjoerling was a lyrico-spinto tenor. So he had the low stuff built in.

[aristopus]

He died on the stage in 1960. Not too many people alive actually heard him live.  I'd give ten years of my life to do so.

[UU2]

@aristopus Jussi Bjorling died in his sleep from a heart attack. You must be thinking of another singer who died on stage. There was one, I just can't think of his name right at the moment. Leonard Warren? I can't remember...

[norpsa]

@aristopus That was Leonard Warren

[Agorante]

Almost no tenors actually sing the low C on "irati". Most just sing another A Flat. Bjorling himself skipped the low note in his 1940 Met recording. In his fifties recordings, as here, he sings it.

This may be the best version ever recorded. Di Stefano has beauty of voice but his High B Flat is not too good. Bergonzi has good style but lacks the ring. Gigli has the ring but his style is a bit crude. Jussi had it all.

[zgopify]

@Agorante Imagine if one could have Di Stefanos velvet pianissimos, with Bergonzis flair and interpretation and Bjoerlings spectacular high notes! There you'd have 'three tenors' huh? Aw well we just have to be thankful that we've got the recordings..

[Siriussupporter]

From the Baltic sea and the archipelag of Stockholm. Jussi had a house and spent every summer there. You bet the locals could here his lovely voice especially when he been having herring and some snaps.

[FacePaster]

what a miraculous voice. So brilliant on top and warm on bottom. Perfectly produced.

[juanmlleras]

His voice is impecable. The high note is flawless.

The boat is also gorgeous!

[ElPiconeroalCognac]

A voice of sandpaper with high notes that make one's ears beg for cessation.

[Honken]

Tell that to Dorothy Caruso when she claimed him to be Enricos predecessor.

The recording is very unpleasant as the mics were to sensitive, but if you honestly believe that this man had a voice of sandpaper it might be time to tune your hearing aid grandpa.

[ElPiconeroalCognac]

I don't need a hearing aid and I have 30 years of listening to tenors in my head spanning a century of recordings. I can say with zero qualm that this voice is not great. I am one of those people that's simply not afraid to poke a stick in the sacred cow that is Jussi Bjorling. It's a horrendous sound.

[bustudent100]

Horrendous sound? If thats what you think , then you have wasted 30 years of your life listening to utter garbage as bjorling is king of the tenors. Im not a rabid fan like you would find with corelli or callas fans so you are free to your own opinion, but you must simply have a problem with your ears to say bjorling has a horrendous sound. Bjorling was pavarotti's idol and he had sense enough to know he would never be as good as bjorling

[ElPiconeroalCognac]

You are free to think otherwise. Please do. I wonder sometimes if it's his pleasant, smiling, charming personality that people confuse with a pleasant voice. It can't possibly be that, but I'm at a loss to explain how anyone could think he's at the top of any tenor list. To even compare him to Caruso makes me mad. Are all of you drunk, like he was most of the time?

[madisonelectronic]

@ElPiconeroalCognac He was drunk a lot but never during a performance or rehearsal. But of course he skipped a lot of rehearsals.

[phantom4087]

If you have been going to the opera for 30 years, you never heard him live. A very good friend of mine saw him in the 1940s, and he tells me that Jussi Bjorling had a golden sound: about the size of Pavarotti, but more sensitive. That said, just for the hell of it, I'd like to say that my favorite tenor is Enrico Caruso.

[marokt]

I have an old friend, who once saw Caruso live, and he said he was silver, and steel, and so on...

[Pawelp]

The legato is impeccable... incredible

[edraith]

Magnifico! Verdi cantato in Svedese e resta splendido!

[donfardin]

bellissima interpretazione. Voce calda, piena e squillante. ottimo il sibem finale

[neronnenn]

Finalmente qualcuno che la canta col salto di due ottave!!!!

[assindiastignani]

Oh my goodness, that is just too wonderful for words.

[kittycrunch456]

He is so fascinating to watch. With pure joy he sings...

[HomoAlba]

And technically, this is how it would have been spoken, seing as it took place in Sweden.

[noonah08]

Jussi by Robert Levine says it best: "the tear in his voice communicates instantly; it connotes tenderness, sweetness and sincerity. And the remarkable 'ping' of his easy upper register is thrilling- even heroic. He means business. His singing was as natural as speech there is such joy in his singing that it becomes and end in itself."

[ideale123]

thrilling, heroic, joyous

[fantasopera]

jussi es y será uno de los mas grandes de la ópera...

[kittycrunch456]

Miracle that he was among human beings on this earth... Adorable as a young man with a baby face ).

[tonyantony]

He sings a baritonal low C!Even Caruso who was a baritonal tenor didn't sing it!Great Jussi!

[cocoloco707]

genius

[Oskarbly]

SÅ BRA BRA BRA BRA Du är Jussi. I evighet - Den store störste och bäste!

[figaro92]

che grande tenore, peccato che sia così poco conosciuto :-(

[neronnenn]

mi ricordo che Jussi è stato sempre poco considerato dai critici italioti, a torto...

[figaro92]

si infatti, che peccato!

[wollestoncraft]

yes,phyramus, only u know a studio track is used on the soundtrack for a movie musical scene filmed outdoors. He is still actually singing in the scene; since he was not an Olivier-caliber actor he is obviously enjoying himself (as compared to some of his later tv performances in a studio, in a tux) & I enjoyed watching & hearing it. U hear beautiful singing & can only try to 1up another poster as your comment. Try enjoying the music & not trying to show how "clever" u are @ another's expense.

[cicadada]

How he enjoys singing! This is the greatest singer of all time.

[pirana9]

50 years ago I started my love for opera-singing with listening to his fabulous voice. He was one of the best. For now and ever

[wollestoncraft]

How wonderful to hear (and see) him singing so spontaneously and with such joy. He seemed to be

more constrained in a tux or costume on the stage.

[phyramus7]

Yeah right Wollestoncraft... I just wonder how the full orchestra managed to hide that well in that tiny boat...

[796824]

All tenors should listen to this and learn 'how' to sing. The squillo and chiaroscuro are obvious

[francotenelli]

what a squillo, amazing voice

[PVcondo]

Amazing voice. Too bad I was never able to hear him live.

[mailace]

Jussi Bjoerling is in an elite league with the greatest tenors of the last 120 years. Caruso, Gigli,DiStefano, Pavarotti. All recordings by Bjoerling are vintage Jussi. He was simply superb with a limpid tone that seemed to originate in the great open spaces of his homeland, Sweden. No tenor training today can afford to miss listening to the large body of material that Bjorling recorded. Listening to him is a study in how to sing.

[RudySunseeker]

Couldn´t agree more! Jussi had such a solid musical and technical base to work from, allowing him to create "easy" perfection every time. Thanks!

[RudySunseeker]

@mailace

Great comment!

Yes, the three tenors (Caruso, Gigli and Björling), the young Di Stefano and Pavarotti, will we ever hear the likes of them?

Today, looks and acting are stressed, singers go for the big money too early, if they have the chance, whereas before they would study and train for years to achieve a solid foundation.

It´s a sad story.

[seektheforce]

@RudySunseeker I'm being patient...sorta.... I'm sure aiming to do it right. =)