This stunning performance tears at the heart as it does, for two reasons; first, as a natural response to the magnificence of Nilsson's artistry, and secondly because one understands that the world never has, no, nor never will hear dramatic singing of this caliber ever again.
Noone will ever be able to sing like Nilsson. Because it is not only the voice, but her being that sings. She almost scares me. She is so incredibly sexy.
That is one of the most moving things I have witnessed. She is not of this world. Her singing is magnificent, superhuman, beautiful. Thank you for posting this.
at 1:20 the A3 is sung the way it should be - poor June tries to sing this :// what else will we see in our days... Gruberova singing Norma and Bolena, Anderson singing Salome, next it will be Dessay singing Brunhilde :)))))
This is gut wrenchingly good. I have the CD of the same gala performance but seeing her is singing it even more impressive. The final phrase always makes me shiver with tears in my eyes. Un-be-lie-va-ble! And she is truly bringing down the house...
That sound in the background is not the prompter, it's an 'artifact' of the compression process involved in converting the orignal file to the .FLV stored on YouTube. (it's the sound equivalent of the 'auras' you can see around objects when you save an image as a .JPG with a high compression rate.
1966--18 years old--Salome--Birgit Nilsson--my first opera performance ever--the old Met just before they tore it down--box seats--guest of a rich, gay, Cuban refugee--he falls in love with me; I fall in love with opera.
1966--18 years old--Salome. Birgit Nilsson--my first opera performance ever--the old Met just before they tore it down--box seats--guest of a rich, gay, Cuban refugee--he fell in love with me; I fell in love with opera.
There are no words for this, only tears. And the young singers of today should really pay attention to this. It´s maximum supported, maximum open and maximum forward sounding. It´s both grounded and divinely excellent. It´s not this or that.. it´s the whole.
Of course Nilsson was great, that's what made her so famous and beloved. And I saw her in many of her great roles. But to dismiss her colleagues is silly. Jones, Behrens, Malfitano, Mattila, and Voigt bring other great aspects to Salome because they are all fantastic artists.
Haha! Compare Voight with Nilsson?! What a joke.. Mrs Voight will NEVER bee able to go these extra miles, her voice is miles away from Nilssons tornado. I really like Voight but sopranos like Nilsson are simple no longer made this days. And Nilsson is considered to be the greates dramatic soprano ever. And there is a reason for that. She ruled Strauss and Wagner, we are still waiting for the next big thing here. They will never show up, because Nilsson RULES! ;)
She was sumpin, that's for sure. After the prima for "Frau Ohne Schatten", she went to Eva Marton's dressing room, the latter who cracked the ceiling with her incredible voice, and said, OK, kiddo, you take the 3 Brunhildes, I'm ready to quit!
@operaleonie - There IS no comparison. With all due respect, Miss Voight's voice doesn't come within miles and miles of the Mastedon voice that was Nilsson's! If you expect Voight to compare with Nilsson, you are going to be VERY disappointed!
@Zva26 Well, we have to wait and see. It is true that Nilsson's voice is great, but people still say that Miss. Voight's voice still pours out like liquid gold even though she a lot of weight. It is true that Nilsson knows better german, but I bet Miss. Voight could go up those extra miles.
@operaleonie I've heard her sing the role, and, despite how much I like Voigt, she really shouldn't be singing Salome. The voice sounds like it struggles against the orchestra, especially in its low range. All I can say is that I hope Voigt finds a way to survive Walkure in April (I especially want this as I'm seeing it then).
@Zva26 I agree. Voight is nothing compared with Nilssons force of nature, there haven't been, nore will there ever come a soprano that could come close to Nilsson. So just like the fact that it simply doesn't get better than this ;) lol
This video is permanent among my YT favourites. Wow!
I believe that soetimes you are in an audience (it has never happened to me, unfortunately) - and then suddenly you realize that this performance is beyond compare. I believe that a lot of people understood this when she "opened" her arms in the end of this aria that gala evening.
Astonishing! The voice filling the highest notes as if the Met were a mere chapel, then fining down in half a minute to project the legendary deathnote as if from the grave. The close-up of "Allein, was tut's" is monumental in its force and discipline. Strauss's Salome is impossible, but Nilsson's sonic boom can make a 54-year-old fatlady into the most exquisite diva, not only for her voice but for the shimmering red thigh-slit gown that renders her dangerously vulvular as she takes her bows.
She should have stopped singing in 1975. By going on after losing her middle register, she made the audiences uncomfortable. Here though, she is outstanding. Flagstad had a more beautiful voice, but no singer ever sung above the most thundering Wagner or Strauss orchestras, like Nilsson. When she sang in Verona, she was heard all over town.
I agree with everybody...she was possibly greatest lyric dramatic soprano in operatic history. Though she was 54 at the time of this recording she sang an incredible Brunnhilde in San Francisco in 1981at 63! I won't waste time comparing thie magnificent voice with the horrible crop of Brunnhilde's we must suffer these days, but thank God for recordings. As good as she was with Wagner and Stauss, her Verdi and Puccini roles are easily as good. Her recordings with Corelli surpass most others.
Never saw her perform live (I was born in 1980) . Nilsson's voice was the greatest in the universe - always perfect technique, a grand, glorious voice that could sing Wagner, Strauss, Verdi & Puccini. Her Salome is out of this world. Today's spoiled, young sopranos don't know how to sing opera. We need another Nilsson but we shall never hear another
I agree! I heard her sing at that same performance. I was just a freshman in college and attended the CSO regularly - those were great days with Solti/Giulini. If I could only go back and relive some of those experiences with the current knowledge and appreciation that I have!
There is no dramatic soprano voice ANYWHERE (if there ARE any, that is!) around today that fan even touch the hem of Nilsson's gown. Hers was a voice that could reduce a full symphony orchestra to a small string ensemble. I heard her do a concert version of Salome in Chicago in 1974 with Georg Solti, and Nilsson's voice filled that huge hall like a force and Amazonian power of Godzilla. We will never hear her like again ==== in ANY lifetime.
@Zva26 At some point in the late 60's or very early 70's she just got sick to death of stupid critics (excuse the tautology) and their imbecilic, vicious remarks abt. her size and just stopped singing Salome on stage at the MET. I guess the critics really showed her (and us)! Then after a Salome famine in NY of 5 or 6 years, she came back to Carnegie with Sir Georg and...well, you heard it. A voice of the centgury.
@assindiastignani - I had the great opportunity to interview her in Chicago when she was here for "Turandot" in 1970. She was NOT at all fat. She was, of course, tall and big boned, but she was wearing a black pants suit, and she looked very stylish and downright slim. She had a wonderful sense of humor and told me that she considered Turandot "my vacation role" because it was only about 40 minutes of actual singing time". She even served coffee and "Swedish Toast". How lucky I was!!!
@Zva26 Of course she was never fat, never really even that big - she was a dramatic soprano and that's the way they come, with big frames and big bones. But don't forget, this was pre-Jessye Norman, Sharon Sweet, Alessandra Marc, et.al. The critics didn't yet know what hefty really was
@assindiastignani - You're right. of course. Jane Eaglin and Christine Brewer are weighty Amazons also. Nilsson was probably the slimmest of all the great Wagnerian sopranos. Moreover, in a different repertoire, let us not forget that Montserrat Caballe' was probably the most physically hefty and overweight soprano that ever performed on the stage. A great spinto voice, certainly, but very far from the illusion one wants in those Italian roles. Joan Sutherland was not a small woman either.
@Zva26 Monserrat Caballe ate a lot of cream, pastries etc just because of her obsession with the belief that it helped her voice becoming xtra smooth! Nilsson herself thought this was hilarious.
@mozzrt - I saw Caballe' do Violetta in Chicago in 1970, and when she made her entranfe in Act I *wearing a bustle under her white gown, the audience gasped and there were a few laughs as well. Of course, when she started to sing, the laughing stopped. Her Violetta had, of course, no "physique du role" at all. One critic said that this Violetta looked like she was dying from too much cholesterol. It WAS a bizarre sight to see a Violetta so fat that no costume could even modify anything.
@Zva26 Weight changes the sound. A Heavy person, does have more support. for the sound, and since they have fat evenly distributed over their body, some of their resonating chambers also have a thin layer of fat, where there might not have been one before.. There is a difference in the sound. NIlsson was wonderful. She was never fat.. just a big woman.. who looked comfortable on stage. Loved her! Caballe on the other hand, never was my cup of tea.
@MrCafiero Ok, Mr. Expert.. What I say is verifiable through biology.It is an entirely resonable explanation for the phenomenon. Offer a different one, that is reasonable. Also.. Fat people who play stringed instruments have a different sound, as to females. For instance harpists, with softer, fatter fingers have a "softer" more elegant sound, than folks who are skinny, whose sound has more ping. ( a male harpist for instance).
@leonardovittori1 It is *NOT* verifiable through biology. A heavy person does not have "more support". Support comes from the inspiratory tension holding against expiratory tension. That has nothing to do with weight. You can be heavy or thin and not have proper support.
@MrCafiero Oh yes it is, Fat folks have greater natural ability from weight, to exhale, competely clearing the lungs of old air.. So that stacking is not as much a problem for them.. Why don't you ask Deborah Voigt? She herself, explained it well. Again.. the resonating chambers would have to be affected by fat.
@leonardovittori1 That is ridiculous. So a fat person can "exhale" better than Michael Phelps? I don't think so. And singing is NOT JUST ABOUT EXHALING!!!!! It is about holding inspiratory tension against expiratory tension. And Deborah Voigt does not impress me. The change that happens when someone loses a lot of weight quickly is that the fatty tissue around the muscles in the larynx changes and it takes time to readjust. It is better to lose weight slowly. That is the only difference.
@MrCafiero The larynx btw is part of the pharynx.. ( it is divided into three sections..Tthere is fat of course around the muscles in the larynx.. My point exactly. and the whole business of inpiratory and expiratory tension( holding your breath). is only part of the picture.. You use the diaphraghm to expell the air, with greater or less force. Also you control the collapse of the ribs on the lungs.
@leonardovittori1 The pharynx is A part of the whole larynx, but is where the sound RESONATES! The vocal folds are in the larynx. The fat does not make you sing better. The diaphragm is directly effected by the insp/expir tension. You do not control the lungs. The only thing you can directly control are the insp.and exp. muscles which control the diaphragm and what happens to the air.
@MrCafiero WRONG AGAIN: Here .. read it and weep. The human pharynx is conventionally divided into three sections:the nasopharynx, the oropharynx, and the laryngopharynx( this is from the Mayo Clinic Web site... BTW..
@leonardovittori1 Are you for real? No shit Sherlock. Who doesn't know that? The PHARYNGEAL CAVITY....LOOK IT UP IN THE DICTIONARY. And, as I said, it accounts for 97%+ of total vocal resonance. And...guess what? It is made up of all those things you listed. UH...english 101?
@MrCafiero Read your previous comment.. " The Pharynx is a part of the whole larynx.." did you write this or did someone else? The larynx is a part of the pharynx.. .. AND there are muscles and ligaments.. all which are covered in fat..or mixed with fat, and.. this will change the nature and the size of the resonating cavity. Leading to a different sound. That was my point.
@leonardovittori1 Right, the laryngoPHARYNX....right, the pharnx is PART of the WHOLE LARYNX which includes the * larygopharynx*. That is what I wrote. And the pharyngeal CAVITY accounts for most all the resonance in the voice. You, however, wrote that "fat people exhale better" and that "fat" is better because it is in the resonators which is complete crap. I teach...I know my anatomy VERY well.
@MrCafiero NO, you have mispoken, and you are not scientifically accurate so admit you made a goof and.. then forget it , everyone including your pefect ass does.
@leonardovittori1 First of all, I didn't speak, I wrote something. Secondly, you cannot comprehend English apparently. Nothing I wrote was in error. The laryngopharynx is part of the larynx. DER! Get a clue and stop polluting the world with your idiotic statements about fat people exhaling better and all the other NONSENSE you wrote.
@MrCafiero You are impossible. I was trying to be nice, but now I am not going to be. You have the intelligence of a salamander.. an IQ of less than of a moron. The pharynx is not a part of the larynx.. it is vice versa.. so go get educated, read an anatomy book,because i have had it with you and I am going to take you apart, one limb at a time, on this you tube, because, I have seen you insulting the rest of the world, like they are dumb, when it is you who are an imbecile.
@leonardovittori1 People like you are what is wrong with the world. They are so stupid they cannot even see it. LARYNGOPHARYNX. Notice there are both LARYNGO and PHARYNX in the word! Get a clue. People like you don't pay attention to what someone actually writes, but rather INTERPRETS what they write based on your own lack of knowledge. PHARYNGEAL CAVITY. Look it up. No wonder the voice world is in such a MESS!
@MrCafiero Your statement is like saying that the digestive system is part of the stomach! Thats how stupid your statement is. What a dummy.. I rest my case.
@leonardovittori1 That makes no sense. The laryngopharynx is right behind the larynx. It is one of the THREE different pharynx areas. It is therefore NAMED the LARYNGOPHARYNX as it is in the larynx area. This is not difficult. A child could understand this.
@leonardovittori1 Are you this stupid really? There are three parts to the pharyngeal cavity. I should have said, "larnx AREA" in my first statement since you couldn't figure it out on your own. As in the STOMACH is in the abdomen area. What a doofus.
@MrCafiero I am not the one who said that the pharynx was a part of the larynx.. You were.. So you are the moron.. Now go back to your idiocy an enjoy
@leonardovittori1 People like you amaze me. You do NOTHING, contribute NOTHING to opera and yet bark all the time about things you are ignorant of. The laryngopharynx is part of the laryngeal area you twit. And being fat doesn't help any of it. Go away, get a life, and stop posting nonsense.
@leonardovittori1 And the PHARNGEAL CAVITY is comprised of all three pharynx regions: laryngopharynx, oropharynx, and nasopharynx. Which was my point. That is the biggest resonator in the voice. FACT. And it is not better to be fat as you claim. More fat in cavities would make them less resonant. Basic common sense.
@MrCafiero No.. I did not claim it was made up of fat.. I said, that fat, was an integral part of muscles.. and it is! .. and if so, then it will change the composition of the resonating chamber, thus the sound.. Lose the weight, change the sound. Simple.
@leonardovittori1 Uh, yes you did. You claimed it changed the resonators which actually would make less sound. Secondly, Losing fat quickly changes spacing and the body eventually adjusts. So being fat is not better.
@leonardovittori1 "The larynx btw is part of the pharynx.. " is what you wrote. And I said that the pharynx is part of the whole larynx...MEANING, the LARYNGOPHARYNX! When I first stated, "the pharynx" I meant ALL THREE SECTIONS of the pharynx, otherwise known as the PHARYNGEAL CAVITY, which includes the oro, naso and laryngo PHARYNX'S. Therefore the laryngopharynx PORTION of the PHARYNGEAL CAVITY is where the LARYNX is. THAT is a FACT.
@leonardovittori1 And we are not talking about fat on your fingers when someone sings. Singing has nothing to do with ones fingers. The more fit a singer is the better. Singing is a very athletic action. It takes stamina and coordination.
@leonardovittori1 There is not. The biggest resonator is the pharyngeal cavity. 97%+ percent of total resonance is from there. And that does not get plugged up with fat. And if it did then there would be LESS resonance and therefore less SOUND!
@MrCafiero Source please . What study proved this? I know you consider yourself, to be a big expert.. tell me what students of yours are currently enjoying fabulous careers?
@leonardovittori1 You mean like a career like Dessay? Because if you have a career and sing like Dessay does that prove you are a great singer? ROFL! Get a clue. I have tremendous students who are singing very well. If you don't know your factual info that is your problem. In Hines' book they plugged up the nasal passages of a singer and there was NO CHANGE in resonance. UH...because...resonance is PHARYNGEAL!
@MrCafiero Who mentioned Dessay? Did I ? say even that I liked her, thought she was a good singer? Go attack someone else.. Proves my point, you are a fake.
@leonardovittori1 Did I write that you mentioned Dessay?? NO! The *POINT* is that someone having a "career" isn't proof they are a great singer. HELLO???
@MrCafiero You are the one irrelevant and dumb, and I am going to make sure that everyone who does not know it, does, as you CLAIM to a be a voice teacher that knows something when you dont even know basic anatomy and how fat and muscle, are intertwined.. have you ever looked at a beef carcass? Surgeons who operate on humans, stress that the same is true of humans with high body fat. So you go get a life, you sub human butthead, and leave the rest of us alone.. I am going to drive you off here.
@leonardovittori1 Right. Good luck with that one. The only problem is, many have had lessons with me and know how amazing the technique that I teach is. So....sorry....WRONG. Secondly, if you REALLY want to be technical, the larynx is *NOT* actually part of the pharynx. The laryngopharynx sits *BEHIND*, yes, *BEHIND* the actual *LARYNX*. My POINT was that the laryngoPHARNX is in the AREA of the LARYNX and therefore when speaking people GENERALLY include the *PHARYNX* con'td...
....(AND SPECIFICALLY THE LARYNGOPHARYNX) to be part of the larynx AREA. You are SO STUPID you cannot figure that out. But fat people can exhale better than fit people. What a twit. I don't think people need to read much else to figure out you are and idiot.
@belcunto Caballe was a huge and heavy woman. I doubt whether she could possibly be any heavier now than she was during her career. For a while, I found her weight to be a great barrier to my enjoyment of her stage performances. Eventually I got over it. With Birgit Nilsson, whom I saw many times, her weight was never an issue because she was large boned, but never fat. She looked wonderful in her costumes and was completely convincing. The voice was Amazonian and tremendously powered
@Zva26 I heard Birgit Nilsson sing this as a concert version in London also with Georg Solti is 1974,it was one of the greatest musical experiences of my life,
afterwards I went to the stage door to get a closer look,someone asked her where she was going next,she said she was going to Chicago tomorow.im glad you enjoyed it as much as me,once heard never forgotten.
@davebournemouth You and I are extremely fortunate in that we heard the grand empress of dramatic sopranos within days of each other. I can see see her on the stage, wearing a dark green gown, hurling out those notes as though they were lightning javelins. There were audible gasps from the audience because she was able to be heard OVER and ABOVE the entire Chicago Symphony Orchestra. When Birgit Nilsson sang, she took no prisoners! Will we ever see her like again???? Never!
I sent an email to the Deutsche Gramofon company because I thought that they were responsible for the recording this fabulous unique evening. I asked if they could make a DVD & CD with a history book of this incredible evening. I didn't expect any answer, but a most pleasant man answered to this. Unfortunately we don't have plans for this.
Well, we are a lot who want this, or? Send more emails to DG. Perhaps they can make something who knows? Bootleg video? Is this video official? Do it please
Yeah i met her several times, and i promise you, at her high age when giving masterclasses, she blown our heads of with a voice in perfect shape, still singing as if she was 50, unbelievable!
Just look at her, fit for battle, ready to tumble the building down with her glorious voice, and she did it..well almost...at every performance she did at the met. they adored her, and so do we. For ever missed!
I am a Joan Sutherland FREAK.........BUT I RESPECT BIRGIT NILLSSON MORE THAN ANY OTHER SINGER ( except Joan is number one for me) BUT I RESPECT AND CANT BELIEVE HOW GLORIOUS BIRGITS VOICE WAS SHE IS INCREDIBLE AND I ADMIRE HER VERY VERY MUCH SUCH AN INSTRUMENT AND SO WELL CONTROLLED AND ALSO HER ACTING THOUGH ALL IN HER EXPRESSIONS IS ABSOLUTELY ART AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL...SO MUCH VOICE AND ALSO THE FEELING IS AWESOME! SHE IS THE GREATEST (well almost) thanks for posting this Gem!
I admire your love for Sutherland, but here we must remember that she was a coloratura and Nilsson a high dramatic soprano so it is two completely different voices. And Nilsson was best in her league, with no doubt. Bumbry, Rysanek, Varnay was good at Salome but Nilsson owned this role, and this is totaly magic from this woman. a friend of my saw this gala, Nilsson performed as the last one with this number because Bing has wished so. And he said that no one got the ovations that she did. COOL !
I accidentally gave you a "thumbs down" for this great comment. Very sorry. Your friend is correct: Nilsson ALWAYS was the featured singer at a gala performance and she always stole the show with more applause than ANY other singer there, including Pavarotti. I was fortunate to see her seveal times. I never saw ovations for any other singer to compare with hers. There was unbelievable electricity with her in the building.
I wish you could have seen and heard her as well..
It as an experience unlike any othe. You could not believe the electricity in the audience.Ovations were endless, going on after the fire curtain came down.
I did not see the original TV Broadcast of this because incredibly, Mme Nilsson was giving a recital at Carnegie Hall that same night at the same time. I had to make a choice. I went to the concert. I bought the recording (DGG) of the Gala. I made the rigft decision and for nearly 40 years, I've lived with my decision. But today, I went ddown the "the road not taken." It is like ressurecting the dead. God
Bless you, Pkunzip501 and the people who filmed this even.
I'm from Sweden, and Birgit Nilsson visited the Stockholm Opera some few times when she was a Star (she was of course full booked in other countries). Then Opera lovers were waiting for days, 24 hours/each day. I thought: stupid people. Now I say forgive me a thousand times. Now that I also have discovered that Mrs Nilsoon was beyond comapare in some Operas. In Salome this evening she was improbable impregnable and yet human.
Those glorious days of our own past Golden Age of singing are defintely gone! Thank you Mme Nilsson! RIP. Today, singers are treated like robots and there's no respect whatsoever for tradition, let alone, for the artists themselves. Agents, stage directors and PR gurus rule the world of opera! Those legendary singers should become our best examples of what artistic supremacy and humility is all about. Mme Nilsson impersonates the best example. Blessings.
I suppose that she was, this evening, like an athlet in the Olympic Games. She was in the peak of what her voice could produce. She was just unlimited this evening. I'm convinced that she sang it for Sir Bing, the staff of the Met, but more that anything to her audience that she loved so much.
A singer is a human being, a living person. And an opera singer perform better sometimes and not so good other times. Here she beats, I persume, all other performances she has made here on youtube of Salome! Her voice reach the stars above in heaven, she reach eternity!
Her voice is absolutely delicious! My former teacher used to sing Tristan opposite her Isolde, and he said the funniest thing was that when you were standing right in front of Ms. Nilsson her voice didn't sound that big....but go out into the house and it was an ENTIRELY different story.
I had the privege of hearing Birgit Nilsson sing the closing scene from Salome in the Royal Festival Hall in London in the 1970s,with Georg Solti conducting,it was one the greatest musical experiences of my whole life.
I attended this performance. After 4 1/2 hours of other singers, Nilsson walks onstage brings the house down. I saw her do the complete opera at the Met and also a concert version at Carnegie with Solti and the Chicago Symphony (with the orchestra behind her!). She was vocally stunning every time.
OUTSTANDING performance!!!!! This was the final selection performed at the Bing Gala (quite fittingly). For those interested in the FULL performance, Deutsche Grammaphon has re-released the "Highlights from the Bing Gala" album on CD. This scene is among those highlights, along with offerings from Arroyo, Caballe and Domingo, Price, Resnik, Merrill and Tucker, and Corelli and Zylis-Gara. Well worth the purchase!!!!!!
thanks for sharing tjallew, at first I thoug this was a vid of me hohoho(my name is Salome that's why)...but man she has such a powerful and deep voice! great opera
hollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
masonschoeppl123 5 days ago
Always loved and admired the coldness of her voice.
calaftheeast 2 weeks ago
This stunning performance tears at the heart as it does, for two reasons; first, as a natural response to the magnificence of Nilsson's artistry, and secondly because one understands that the world never has, no, nor never will hear dramatic singing of this caliber ever again.
photo161 1 month ago
what is there to unlike about this video?
tedsler 2 months ago
Qui sera jamais capable d'égaler une voix pareille! musicalité, puissance, justesse des aigus???? fabuleux, tout simplement fabuleux!
bernardnice 3 months ago
As Muti said, we don't have this kind of singer anymore
optimal798 3 months ago 3
Titanic...
Thewisemonkey9 3 months ago
Too bad I can only "like" this video once - having listened to it for at least 20 times...
simonchungcsm 4 months ago in playlist simonchungcsm's Favorited Videos 2
One of the greatest performances in opera history!!!!!!!
haykulo 5 months ago 4
Noone will ever be able to sing like Nilsson. Because it is not only the voice, but her being that sings. She almost scares me. She is so incredibly sexy.
Adora773 5 months ago 6
Awesome.TY vilaph for posting and James for sharing.
paulostroff99 6 months ago
A truly wonderful performance by the the great Birgit Nilsson! Thank you vilaph for posting this incredible singing!
CanadaPisces 6 months ago 2
That is one of the most moving things I have witnessed. She is not of this world. Her singing is magnificent, superhuman, beautiful. Thank you for posting this.
AntW11 7 months ago 6
at 1:20 the A3 is sung the way it should be - poor June tries to sing this :// what else will we see in our days... Gruberova singing Norma and Bolena, Anderson singing Salome, next it will be Dessay singing Brunhilde :)))))
Great stuff for Drag Shows though
LohengrinT 7 months ago
.....as a soprano, her bombastic outcry was matchless perfection, especially in a role like this.....unbelievable
valdengo1 8 months ago 3
This is gut wrenchingly good. I have the CD of the same gala performance but seeing her is singing it even more impressive. The final phrase always makes me shiver with tears in my eyes. Un-be-lie-va-ble! And she is truly bringing down the house...
grimmrad 10 months ago 4
That sound in the background is not the prompter, it's an 'artifact' of the compression process involved in converting the orignal file to the .FLV stored on YouTube. (it's the sound equivalent of the 'auras' you can see around objects when you save an image as a .JPG with a high compression rate.
RayJorg 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
1966--18 years old--Salome--Birgit Nilsson--my first opera performance ever--the old Met just before they tore it down--box seats--guest of a rich, gay, Cuban refugee--he falls in love with me; I fall in love with opera.
muatlas 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
1966--18 years old--Salome. Birgit Nilsson--my first opera performance ever--the old Met just before they tore it down--box seats--guest of a rich, gay, Cuban refugee--he fell in love with me; I fell in love with opera.
muatlas 11 months ago
There are no words for this, only tears. And the young singers of today should really pay attention to this. It´s maximum supported, maximum open and maximum forward sounding. It´s both grounded and divinely excellent. It´s not this or that.. it´s the whole.
Piacevole 11 months ago 6
Didn't she date Flava Flave!
goldenlarry 11 months ago
Vilken Högtidsstund! Met publik vet verkligen att hylla sina superstjärnor!!!!! Brava!
callasforalltid 1 year ago 3
Vilken högtidsstund! Met. publiken visar verkligen när man upskattar sina superstjärnor!
callasforalltid 1 year ago
The crowd go wild!
celloguy 1 year ago 5
Cebotari, Nilsson, Welitsch did one of the best Salome performances ever! Simply great!
Geirrendour 1 year ago 2
Now again@£$€! She again cruched my computer's loudspeaker. Anyway, an awesome performance!
petereuropa 1 year ago 5
what a voice!!
1994majd 1 year ago 4
She was simply put one of the greatest.....of the greatest of them....
senilangakali 1 year ago 4
Of course Nilsson was great, that's what made her so famous and beloved. And I saw her in many of her great roles. But to dismiss her colleagues is silly. Jones, Behrens, Malfitano, Mattila, and Voigt bring other great aspects to Salome because they are all fantastic artists.
wotan10950 1 year ago
@wotan10950
ABSOLUT right La Nilsson never forgett her amasing colleagus
in her memoar's .
She never tought she was better then other's but she as a good
farmer's dougther know howe to sell a deal.
tjallew 1 year ago
She was really the REAL thing really able to SING this. All that I can say is wow!!
georgerannie 1 year ago 5
woow! Great
tobobba 1 year ago 3
Haha! Compare Voight with Nilsson?! What a joke.. Mrs Voight will NEVER bee able to go these extra miles, her voice is miles away from Nilssons tornado. I really like Voight but sopranos like Nilsson are simple no longer made this days. And Nilsson is considered to be the greates dramatic soprano ever. And there is a reason for that. She ruled Strauss and Wagner, we are still waiting for the next big thing here. They will never show up, because Nilsson RULES! ;)
Jakopsohn 1 year ago 9
@Jakopsohn Nilsson is much better than the singers of today,but Kirsten Flagstad was even better at Wagner than Nilsson.
montsyblackmadonna 1 year ago
Wow, you are right, at least she Voight makes a good Chrysothemis on elektra
operaleonie 1 year ago 3
She was sumpin, that's for sure. After the prima for "Frau Ohne Schatten", she went to Eva Marton's dressing room, the latter who cracked the ceiling with her incredible voice, and said, OK, kiddo, you take the 3 Brunhildes, I'm ready to quit!
sillyboydeux 1 year ago
think, it's great!
redasssilly 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
thinks, it's great!
redasssilly 1 year ago
Well I'm going to go see Deborah Voigt on October 10th singing this opera, as Salome.
I'm going to keep in mind to compare theese two voices.
operaleonie 1 year ago
@operaleonie - There IS no comparison. With all due respect, Miss Voight's voice doesn't come within miles and miles of the Mastedon voice that was Nilsson's! If you expect Voight to compare with Nilsson, you are going to be VERY disappointed!
Zva26 1 year ago 8
@Zva26 Well, we have to wait and see. It is true that Nilsson's voice is great, but people still say that Miss. Voight's voice still pours out like liquid gold even though she a lot of weight. It is true that Nilsson knows better german, but I bet Miss. Voight could go up those extra miles.
operaleonie 1 year ago
@operaleonie I've heard her sing the role, and, despite how much I like Voigt, she really shouldn't be singing Salome. The voice sounds like it struggles against the orchestra, especially in its low range. All I can say is that I hope Voigt finds a way to survive Walkure in April (I especially want this as I'm seeing it then).
llamasaresmelly 1 year ago 2
@Zva26 I agree. Voight is nothing compared with Nilssons force of nature, there haven't been, nore will there ever come a soprano that could come close to Nilsson. So just like the fact that it simply doesn't get better than this ;) lol
Jakopsohn 1 year ago 5
This video is permanent among my YT favourites. Wow!
I believe that soetimes you are in an audience (it has never happened to me, unfortunately) - and then suddenly you realize that this performance is beyond compare. I believe that a lot of people understood this when she "opened" her arms in the end of this aria that gala evening.
petereuropa 1 year ago
Astonishing! The voice filling the highest notes as if the Met were a mere chapel, then fining down in half a minute to project the legendary deathnote as if from the grave. The close-up of "Allein, was tut's" is monumental in its force and discipline. Strauss's Salome is impossible, but Nilsson's sonic boom can make a 54-year-old fatlady into the most exquisite diva, not only for her voice but for the shimmering red thigh-slit gown that renders her dangerously vulvular as she takes her bows.
heautontimouromenos 1 year ago 5
Comment removed
heautontimouromenos 1 year ago
Heheheh, you can hear the prompter at 3:26. And then again at 3:49. I love stuff like that :)
mattyslipp 1 year ago 2
@mattyslipp: Is *that* what it was?? Very interesting! I just thought it was noise from the tape.
Yeah, BN didn't know the role well enough so she needed prompting! LOL!!
YouzTube99 11 months ago
She should have stopped singing in 1975. By going on after losing her middle register, she made the audiences uncomfortable. Here though, she is outstanding. Flagstad had a more beautiful voice, but no singer ever sung above the most thundering Wagner or Strauss orchestras, like Nilsson. When she sang in Verona, she was heard all over town.
mozzrt 1 year ago 2
Nilsson was not a singer. She was a force of nature.
kirkenes 1 year ago 16
This is AMAZING.... Dearest Birgit...
s99jonte 1 year ago 4
I agree with everybody...she was possibly greatest lyric dramatic soprano in operatic history. Though she was 54 at the time of this recording she sang an incredible Brunnhilde in San Francisco in 1981at 63! I won't waste time comparing thie magnificent voice with the horrible crop of Brunnhilde's we must suffer these days, but thank God for recordings. As good as she was with Wagner and Stauss, her Verdi and Puccini roles are easily as good. Her recordings with Corelli surpass most others.
michsturge 1 year ago 27
Nous ne vous oublierons jamais Birgit ! Votre voix était encore plus riche en direct !
RIRRATTO 1 year ago 3
Never saw her perform live (I was born in 1980) . Nilsson's voice was the greatest in the universe - always perfect technique, a grand, glorious voice that could sing Wagner, Strauss, Verdi & Puccini. Her Salome is out of this world. Today's spoiled, young sopranos don't know how to sing opera. We need another Nilsson but we shall never hear another
MastersoftheOpera 1 year ago 9
I agree! I heard her sing at that same performance. I was just a freshman in college and attended the CSO regularly - those were great days with Solti/Giulini. If I could only go back and relive some of those experiences with the current knowledge and appreciation that I have!
artdecolv 1 year ago 3
Bravvaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
BeniaminoGigli1985 1 year ago 3
There is no dramatic soprano voice ANYWHERE (if there ARE any, that is!) around today that fan even touch the hem of Nilsson's gown. Hers was a voice that could reduce a full symphony orchestra to a small string ensemble. I heard her do a concert version of Salome in Chicago in 1974 with Georg Solti, and Nilsson's voice filled that huge hall like a force and Amazonian power of Godzilla. We will never hear her like again ==== in ANY lifetime.
Zva26 1 year ago 66
@Zva26 At some point in the late 60's or very early 70's she just got sick to death of stupid critics (excuse the tautology) and their imbecilic, vicious remarks abt. her size and just stopped singing Salome on stage at the MET. I guess the critics really showed her (and us)! Then after a Salome famine in NY of 5 or 6 years, she came back to Carnegie with Sir Georg and...well, you heard it. A voice of the centgury.
assindiastignani 1 year ago
@assindiastignani - I had the great opportunity to interview her in Chicago when she was here for "Turandot" in 1970. She was NOT at all fat. She was, of course, tall and big boned, but she was wearing a black pants suit, and she looked very stylish and downright slim. She had a wonderful sense of humor and told me that she considered Turandot "my vacation role" because it was only about 40 minutes of actual singing time". She even served coffee and "Swedish Toast". How lucky I was!!!
Zva26 1 year ago 6
@Zva26 Of course she was never fat, never really even that big - she was a dramatic soprano and that's the way they come, with big frames and big bones. But don't forget, this was pre-Jessye Norman, Sharon Sweet, Alessandra Marc, et.al. The critics didn't yet know what hefty really was
assindiastignani 1 year ago
@assindiastignani - You're right. of course. Jane Eaglin and Christine Brewer are weighty Amazons also. Nilsson was probably the slimmest of all the great Wagnerian sopranos. Moreover, in a different repertoire, let us not forget that Montserrat Caballe' was probably the most physically hefty and overweight soprano that ever performed on the stage. A great spinto voice, certainly, but very far from the illusion one wants in those Italian roles. Joan Sutherland was not a small woman either.
Zva26 1 year ago 2
@Zva26 Monserrat Caballe ate a lot of cream, pastries etc just because of her obsession with the belief that it helped her voice becoming xtra smooth! Nilsson herself thought this was hilarious.
mozzrt 1 year ago
@mozzrt - I saw Caballe' do Violetta in Chicago in 1970, and when she made her entranfe in Act I *wearing a bustle under her white gown, the audience gasped and there were a few laughs as well. Of course, when she started to sing, the laughing stopped. Her Violetta had, of course, no "physique du role" at all. One critic said that this Violetta looked like she was dying from too much cholesterol. It WAS a bizarre sight to see a Violetta so fat that no costume could even modify anything.
Zva26 1 year ago
@Zva26 Hahaha...my goodness, how funny! The poor coughing creature...
mozzrt 1 year ago
@Zva26 Weight changes the sound. A Heavy person, does have more support. for the sound, and since they have fat evenly distributed over their body, some of their resonating chambers also have a thin layer of fat, where there might not have been one before.. There is a difference in the sound. NIlsson was wonderful. She was never fat.. just a big woman.. who looked comfortable on stage. Loved her! Caballe on the other hand, never was my cup of tea.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 That is false.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero Ok, Mr. Expert.. What I say is verifiable through biology.It is an entirely resonable explanation for the phenomenon. Offer a different one, that is reasonable. Also.. Fat people who play stringed instruments have a different sound, as to females. For instance harpists, with softer, fatter fingers have a "softer" more elegant sound, than folks who are skinny, whose sound has more ping. ( a male harpist for instance).
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 It is *NOT* verifiable through biology. A heavy person does not have "more support". Support comes from the inspiratory tension holding against expiratory tension. That has nothing to do with weight. You can be heavy or thin and not have proper support.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero Oh yes it is, Fat folks have greater natural ability from weight, to exhale, competely clearing the lungs of old air.. So that stacking is not as much a problem for them.. Why don't you ask Deborah Voigt? She herself, explained it well. Again.. the resonating chambers would have to be affected by fat.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 That is ridiculous. So a fat person can "exhale" better than Michael Phelps? I don't think so. And singing is NOT JUST ABOUT EXHALING!!!!! It is about holding inspiratory tension against expiratory tension. And Deborah Voigt does not impress me. The change that happens when someone loses a lot of weight quickly is that the fatty tissue around the muscles in the larynx changes and it takes time to readjust. It is better to lose weight slowly. That is the only difference.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero The larynx btw is part of the pharynx.. ( it is divided into three sections..Tthere is fat of course around the muscles in the larynx.. My point exactly. and the whole business of inpiratory and expiratory tension( holding your breath). is only part of the picture.. You use the diaphraghm to expell the air, with greater or less force. Also you control the collapse of the ribs on the lungs.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 The pharynx is A part of the whole larynx, but is where the sound RESONATES! The vocal folds are in the larynx. The fat does not make you sing better. The diaphragm is directly effected by the insp/expir tension. You do not control the lungs. The only thing you can directly control are the insp.and exp. muscles which control the diaphragm and what happens to the air.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero WRONG AGAIN: Here .. read it and weep. The human pharynx is conventionally divided into three sections:the nasopharynx, the oropharynx, and the laryngopharynx( this is from the Mayo Clinic Web site... BTW..
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 Are you for real? No shit Sherlock. Who doesn't know that? The PHARYNGEAL CAVITY....LOOK IT UP IN THE DICTIONARY. And, as I said, it accounts for 97%+ of total vocal resonance. And...guess what? It is made up of all those things you listed. UH...english 101?
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero Read your previous comment.. " The Pharynx is a part of the whole larynx.." did you write this or did someone else? The larynx is a part of the pharynx.. .. AND there are muscles and ligaments.. all which are covered in fat..or mixed with fat, and.. this will change the nature and the size of the resonating cavity. Leading to a different sound. That was my point.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 Right, the laryngoPHARYNX....right, the pharnx is PART of the WHOLE LARYNX which includes the * larygopharynx*. That is what I wrote. And the pharyngeal CAVITY accounts for most all the resonance in the voice. You, however, wrote that "fat people exhale better" and that "fat" is better because it is in the resonators which is complete crap. I teach...I know my anatomy VERY well.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero NO, you have mispoken, and you are not scientifically accurate so admit you made a goof and.. then forget it , everyone including your pefect ass does.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 First of all, I didn't speak, I wrote something. Secondly, you cannot comprehend English apparently. Nothing I wrote was in error. The laryngopharynx is part of the larynx. DER! Get a clue and stop polluting the world with your idiotic statements about fat people exhaling better and all the other NONSENSE you wrote.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero You are impossible. I was trying to be nice, but now I am not going to be. You have the intelligence of a salamander.. an IQ of less than of a moron. The pharynx is not a part of the larynx.. it is vice versa.. so go get educated, read an anatomy book,because i have had it with you and I am going to take you apart, one limb at a time, on this you tube, because, I have seen you insulting the rest of the world, like they are dumb, when it is you who are an imbecile.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 People like you are what is wrong with the world. They are so stupid they cannot even see it. LARYNGOPHARYNX. Notice there are both LARYNGO and PHARYNX in the word! Get a clue. People like you don't pay attention to what someone actually writes, but rather INTERPRETS what they write based on your own lack of knowledge. PHARYNGEAL CAVITY. Look it up. No wonder the voice world is in such a MESS!
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero Your statement is like saying that the digestive system is part of the stomach! Thats how stupid your statement is. What a dummy.. I rest my case.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 That makes no sense. The laryngopharynx is right behind the larynx. It is one of the THREE different pharynx areas. It is therefore NAMED the LARYNGOPHARYNX as it is in the larynx area. This is not difficult. A child could understand this.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero Google Pharynx.. and see what definitions you come up with.. Get educated, stop being stupid.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 Are you this stupid really? There are three parts to the pharyngeal cavity. I should have said, "larnx AREA" in my first statement since you couldn't figure it out on your own. As in the STOMACH is in the abdomen area. What a doofus.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero I am not the one who said that the pharynx was a part of the larynx.. You were.. So you are the moron.. Now go back to your idiocy an enjoy
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 People like you amaze me. You do NOTHING, contribute NOTHING to opera and yet bark all the time about things you are ignorant of. The laryngopharynx is part of the laryngeal area you twit. And being fat doesn't help any of it. Go away, get a life, and stop posting nonsense.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 And the PHARNGEAL CAVITY is comprised of all three pharynx regions: laryngopharynx, oropharynx, and nasopharynx. Which was my point. That is the biggest resonator in the voice. FACT. And it is not better to be fat as you claim. More fat in cavities would make them less resonant. Basic common sense.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero No.. I did not claim it was made up of fat.. I said, that fat, was an integral part of muscles.. and it is! .. and if so, then it will change the composition of the resonating chamber, thus the sound.. Lose the weight, change the sound. Simple.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 Uh, yes you did. You claimed it changed the resonators which actually would make less sound. Secondly, Losing fat quickly changes spacing and the body eventually adjusts. So being fat is not better.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 "The larynx btw is part of the pharynx.. " is what you wrote. And I said that the pharynx is part of the whole larynx...MEANING, the LARYNGOPHARYNX! When I first stated, "the pharynx" I meant ALL THREE SECTIONS of the pharynx, otherwise known as the PHARYNGEAL CAVITY, which includes the oro, naso and laryngo PHARYNX'S. Therefore the laryngopharynx PORTION of the PHARYNGEAL CAVITY is where the LARYNX is. THAT is a FACT.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 And we are not talking about fat on your fingers when someone sings. Singing has nothing to do with ones fingers. The more fit a singer is the better. Singing is a very athletic action. It takes stamina and coordination.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero No but there is fat in and on resonating chambers ... proven fact.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 There is not. The biggest resonator is the pharyngeal cavity. 97%+ percent of total resonance is from there. And that does not get plugged up with fat. And if it did then there would be LESS resonance and therefore less SOUND!
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero Source please . What study proved this? I know you consider yourself, to be a big expert.. tell me what students of yours are currently enjoying fabulous careers?
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 You mean like a career like Dessay? Because if you have a career and sing like Dessay does that prove you are a great singer? ROFL! Get a clue. I have tremendous students who are singing very well. If you don't know your factual info that is your problem. In Hines' book they plugged up the nasal passages of a singer and there was NO CHANGE in resonance. UH...because...resonance is PHARYNGEAL!
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero Who mentioned Dessay? Did I ? say even that I liked her, thought she was a good singer? Go attack someone else.. Proves my point, you are a fake.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 Did I write that you mentioned Dessay?? NO! The *POINT* is that someone having a "career" isn't proof they are a great singer. HELLO???
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 You are so irrelevant and dumb. You just don't realize it. You have nothing to contribute. So shut up.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@MrCafiero You are the one irrelevant and dumb, and I am going to make sure that everyone who does not know it, does, as you CLAIM to a be a voice teacher that knows something when you dont even know basic anatomy and how fat and muscle, are intertwined.. have you ever looked at a beef carcass? Surgeons who operate on humans, stress that the same is true of humans with high body fat. So you go get a life, you sub human butthead, and leave the rest of us alone.. I am going to drive you off here.
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@leonardovittori1 Right. Good luck with that one. The only problem is, many have had lessons with me and know how amazing the technique that I teach is. So....sorry....WRONG. Secondly, if you REALLY want to be technical, the larynx is *NOT* actually part of the pharynx. The laryngopharynx sits *BEHIND*, yes, *BEHIND* the actual *LARYNX*. My POINT was that the laryngoPHARNX is in the AREA of the LARYNX and therefore when speaking people GENERALLY include the *PHARYNX* con'td...
MrCafiero 1 year ago
....(AND SPECIFICALLY THE LARYNGOPHARYNX) to be part of the larynx AREA. You are SO STUPID you cannot figure that out. But fat people can exhale better than fit people. What a twit. I don't think people need to read much else to figure out you are and idiot.
MrCafiero 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@MrCafiero blah blah blah blah.. Thats all you are is BS
leonardovittori1 1 year ago
@Zva26 Montserrat has retired now so she can eat paella five times a day. She once said she had sung 100 normas. Now she is the size of 100 normas.
belcunto 1 year ago
@belcunto Caballe was a huge and heavy woman. I doubt whether she could possibly be any heavier now than she was during her career. For a while, I found her weight to be a great barrier to my enjoyment of her stage performances. Eventually I got over it. With Birgit Nilsson, whom I saw many times, her weight was never an issue because she was large boned, but never fat. She looked wonderful in her costumes and was completely convincing. The voice was Amazonian and tremendously powered
Zva26 1 year ago
@Zva26
And, I need not remind anyone, Nilsson had GREAT legs!!
Look at her recording "Gotterdammerung" if you've never noticed. She thought so, too.
Operanut9 1 year ago
@Zva26 She was not tall
MrCafiero 1 year ago
@Zva26 I heard Birgit Nilsson sing this as a concert version in London also with Georg Solti is 1974,it was one of the greatest musical experiences of my life,
afterwards I went to the stage door to get a closer look,someone asked her where she was going next,she said she was going to Chicago tomorow.im glad you enjoyed it as much as me,once heard never forgotten.
davebournemouth 1 year ago 5
@davebournemouth You and I are extremely fortunate in that we heard the grand empress of dramatic sopranos within days of each other. I can see see her on the stage, wearing a dark green gown, hurling out those notes as though they were lightning javelins. There were audible gasps from the audience because she was able to be heard OVER and ABOVE the entire Chicago Symphony Orchestra. When Birgit Nilsson sang, she took no prisoners! Will we ever see her like again???? Never!
Zva26 1 year ago 6
It will be hard to equal a vooice of that grandeur....
senilangakali 1 year ago 4
Birgit was phenomenal in this role - none better to date!
KlausT 2 years ago 11
Hon är fantastisk!
She is GREAT here! What a voice! ! ! Birgit Nilsson was best as Salome!
ManricoV 2 years ago 7
I sent an email to the Deutsche Gramofon company because I thought that they were responsible for the recording this fabulous unique evening. I asked if they could make a DVD & CD with a history book of this incredible evening. I didn't expect any answer, but a most pleasant man answered to this. Unfortunately we don't have plans for this.
Well, we are a lot who want this, or? Send more emails to DG. Perhaps they can make something who knows? Bootleg video? Is this video official? Do it please
petereuropa 2 years ago 3
OMG I love nilsson , but here is Benny Hills..!!!
aircat29 2 years ago
Yeah i met her several times, and i promise you, at her high age when giving masterclasses, she blown our heads of with a voice in perfect shape, still singing as if she was 50, unbelievable!
Just look at her, fit for battle, ready to tumble the building down with her glorious voice, and she did it..well almost...at every performance she did at the met. they adored her, and so do we. For ever missed!
TheLanilsson 2 years ago
In the more than 25 years since Birgit's retirement, we have yet to see her heir. BRAVA BIRGIT!
goldenthroat86 2 years ago 7
No words...PERFECTION........Sweet Birgit :-)
hotswede69 2 years ago 4
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I am Swedish and I know Birgit is famous but I can't listen to this...
TheMavenFrankeus 2 years ago
yeah well that's your loss, we can only feel sorry for you for about 2 seconds and then go back to enjoying this glorious voice
SiEtIn1 2 years ago
HAHAHA, thanks for the support :)
TheMavenFrankeus 2 years ago
You clearly have no understanding of singing.
tenor220 2 years ago
I am a Joan Sutherland FREAK.........BUT I RESPECT BIRGIT NILLSSON MORE THAN ANY OTHER SINGER ( except Joan is number one for me) BUT I RESPECT AND CANT BELIEVE HOW GLORIOUS BIRGITS VOICE WAS SHE IS INCREDIBLE AND I ADMIRE HER VERY VERY MUCH SUCH AN INSTRUMENT AND SO WELL CONTROLLED AND ALSO HER ACTING THOUGH ALL IN HER EXPRESSIONS IS ABSOLUTELY ART AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL...SO MUCH VOICE AND ALSO THE FEELING IS AWESOME! SHE IS THE GREATEST (well almost) thanks for posting this Gem!
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago 5
I admire your love for Sutherland, but here we must remember that she was a coloratura and Nilsson a high dramatic soprano so it is two completely different voices. And Nilsson was best in her league, with no doubt. Bumbry, Rysanek, Varnay was good at Salome but Nilsson owned this role, and this is totaly magic from this woman. a friend of my saw this gala, Nilsson performed as the last one with this number because Bing has wished so. And he said that no one got the ovations that she did. COOL !
TheLanilsson 2 years ago 9
@TheLanilsson
I accidentally gave you a "thumbs down" for this great comment. Very sorry. Your friend is correct: Nilsson ALWAYS was the featured singer at a gala performance and she always stole the show with more applause than ANY other singer there, including Pavarotti. I was fortunate to see her seveal times. I never saw ovations for any other singer to compare with hers. There was unbelievable electricity with her in the building.
Operanut9 2 years ago 5
@Operanut9 How I envy you. I absolutely adore Nilsson. She is incomparable.
yes4albert 1 year ago 8
Albert,
I wish you could have seen and heard her as well..
It as an experience unlike any othe. You could not believe the electricity in the audience.Ovations were endless, going on after the fire curtain came down.
Operanut9 1 year ago 4
Those were the days!!!
mose3 2 years ago 3
1:12 - 1:29 Outstanding!
yodavidnavarro 2 years ago 2
Ha! You can hear the prompter giving her lines! Awesome!
mahlerfanatic 2 years ago
...5 minutes of pure eargasm. ;-)
MusicMyInspiration 2 years ago 6
Oh? Which minute didn't you like? ;-)
Bobbo22 2 years ago 2
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tedsler 2 years ago
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tedsler 2 years ago
I did not see the original TV Broadcast of this because incredibly, Mme Nilsson was giving a recital at Carnegie Hall that same night at the same time. I had to make a choice. I went to the concert. I bought the recording (DGG) of the Gala. I made the rigft decision and for nearly 40 years, I've lived with my decision. But today, I went ddown the "the road not taken." It is like ressurecting the dead. God
Bless you, Pkunzip501 and the people who filmed this even.
ebony1911 2 years ago 4
bravaaaaa.....brava....
froilaiteona 2 years ago 3
Fantastic! What a voice! Sorry she is dead.
grefve43 2 years ago 2
What a glorious voice! TY!
CanadaPisces 2 years ago 2
I'm from Sweden, and Birgit Nilsson visited the Stockholm Opera some few times when she was a Star (she was of course full booked in other countries). Then Opera lovers were waiting for days, 24 hours/each day. I thought: stupid people. Now I say forgive me a thousand times. Now that I also have discovered that Mrs Nilsoon was beyond comapare in some Operas. In Salome this evening she was improbable impregnable and yet human.
petereuropa 2 years ago 4
the Nilsson vocal onslaught...how those walls must miss that vocal tsunami....and when will it ever be equalled again....?
senilangakali 2 years ago 12
it will not
omarihardy 2 years ago 10
Wow, brilliant. Amazing. Will any of us live up to this in the next generation?
vocalpianist 2 years ago 3
Those glorious days of our own past Golden Age of singing are defintely gone! Thank you Mme Nilsson! RIP. Today, singers are treated like robots and there's no respect whatsoever for tradition, let alone, for the artists themselves. Agents, stage directors and PR gurus rule the world of opera! Those legendary singers should become our best examples of what artistic supremacy and humility is all about. Mme Nilsson impersonates the best example. Blessings.
GoldenAgeSunshine 2 years ago 7
This is tremendous! And one of my all time favorite LP tributes!
Chasson0318 2 years ago 2
I suppose that she was, this evening, like an athlet in the Olympic Games. She was in the peak of what her voice could produce. She was just unlimited this evening. I'm convinced that she sang it for Sir Bing, the staff of the Met, but more that anything to her audience that she loved so much.
petereuropa 2 years ago 3
You know she came to kill, she wore all her military decorations...
exackerly 2 years ago 29
A singer is a human being, a living person. And an opera singer perform better sometimes and not so good other times. Here she beats, I persume, all other performances she has made here on youtube of Salome! Her voice reach the stars above in heaven, she reach eternity!
petereuropa 2 years ago 4
OMG....she is Divine...what a voice ...you wont find anyone around today that can sing like that......Kiss!
lefemmerachael 2 years ago 11
What this is showing: How a house - Met - is BROUGHT DOWN!
mozzrt 2 years ago 11
Her voice is absolutely delicious! My former teacher used to sing Tristan opposite her Isolde, and he said the funniest thing was that when you were standing right in front of Ms. Nilsson her voice didn't sound that big....but go out into the house and it was an ENTIRELY different story.
OperaVince 2 years ago 3
Birgit Nillsson is fabulous!
vicmature 2 years ago 3
The Arms, and Hands at the end, after she was done singing....Like a Goddess accepting the adulation of the Universe.
jerrya1979 2 years ago 4
her low register at 1:22 is FANTASTIC
Lohengrin 2 years ago 2
I had the privege of hearing Birgit Nilsson sing the closing scene from Salome in the Royal Festival Hall in London in the 1970s,with Georg Solti conducting,it was one the greatest musical experiences of my whole life.
davebournemouth 2 years ago 2
Laser voice...you can hardly believe your ears. The audience!
mozzrt 2 years ago 5
Incredible!!
g420730a 2 years ago
I want this gala on dvd! Anybody know who I should write? We should all write the owner of these tapes!
winegum123456789 2 years ago
I saw her in Tristan and Isolde 1978 at the Operahouse in Stockholm.
Amazing! What a voice...
tobobba 3 years ago
I attended this performance. After 4 1/2 hours of other singers, Nilsson walks onstage brings the house down. I saw her do the complete opera at the Met and also a concert version at Carnegie with Solti and the Chicago Symphony (with the orchestra behind her!). She was vocally stunning every time.
jtmcg 3 years ago 5
OUTSTANDING performance!!!!! This was the final selection performed at the Bing Gala (quite fittingly). For those interested in the FULL performance, Deutsche Grammaphon has re-released the "Highlights from the Bing Gala" album on CD. This scene is among those highlights, along with offerings from Arroyo, Caballe and Domingo, Price, Resnik, Merrill and Tucker, and Corelli and Zylis-Gara. Well worth the purchase!!!!!!
jmccracken1963 3 years ago 6
Thank you for this thrilling news. It's about time they did. What a night!!!
yes4albert 2 years ago
thanks for sharing tjallew, at first I thoug this was a vid of me hohoho(my name is Salome that's why)...but man she has such a powerful and deep voice! great opera
saloabad 3 years ago 3
Her diaphragm is made if steel!
yodavidnavarro 3 years ago
It's amazing what she does hardly moving a muscle! No one else has commented that you can hear the prompter in a few places too!!!! :-)
LSA223 3 years ago
This is the wawa effect of old recordings (check 3:46 and then at about 4:00 where you can clearly hear it)
Jabe88 3 years ago
her intensity here dwarfs her own studio recording - the roar of the audience at the end says it all
bramoditrionfar 3 years ago 6
her gown is amazing
peacocktravels 3 years ago
gwenth jones found the cloth in italy and called her. Nilsson had it made for this gala - ah, the lives of divas!!!!
ketillflatnefur 3 years ago 2
Is it true? haha, that's such a great story :-) i love her gown too, and especially the bouffant coiffure! It's the diva way I guess :-)
SinoSene 2 years ago
Gwyneth Jones told me herself at an opera fan's gathering
ketillflatnefur 2 years ago
Not very relevant dramatically, but what a technique!
Chrysothemis 3 years ago
Never before and never again will there be a voice as powerful as hers.
guitarwizard6 3 years ago 10