J. Bjorling & E. Rethberg in Un ballo in Maschera SFO 1940

[pgiuser]

Who can do this better today? Give me a link

[a9z8a743]

Bjorling is golden here. A sweet tenor and a hard soprano can work very well, as Callas and DeStefano did.

[jhb134]

@lamusicahera - Don't agree, about Rethberg. The orchestral part is VERY, fast-paced, and Ms. Rethberg does really well, to keep-pace ... and even better! I think that the excerpt is wonderful, and maybe others could suggest ... BETTER ... in how Jussi B & Elizabeth approach this aria, and demands. I, also, enjoy the "marriage", so to speak, of Jus B and Ms. Rethberg, despite their differing approaches to vocal demands. ... Opinions only, of course.

[paulostroff99]

Awesome! TY Onegin65 for posting.

[MrSkylark1]

@lamusicahera

Elizabeth Rethberg was voted the "Most Beautiful Voice" by the Music Clubs of America. Toscanini said the same thing. Suggest listening to her - Morro Ma Prima in Grazia, also Othello arias. Her singing was noted for its brilliance and splendid musicianship, superior to ALL sopranos today.

[fandetenor]

@lamusicahera i think you exagerate too much; listen to her desdemona with martelli !!!

[fandetenor]

@fandetenor moreover she was very appreciated by toscanini; yet i agree sometimes the legato and style are not perfect always

[orcascan19]

Thanks fo rthis treasure

[halavey]

Bjorling was young here--- 29 and Rethberg was past her peak years and much older-- he held that high C even when she stopped singing he was so into it but she was a great singer, her Aida recording is very fine.

[ernanisonio]

Thanks so much for sharing this gem with us. Just glorious singing by two wonderful artists, And in sound which makes the 1939 Met performance pale.

Tony Coppola

[halavey]

Jussi had an erratic heart beat and they did not do by pass operations then either, 1958 and his heart became enlarged. I don't know if they had pacemakers then, doubt it so that plus stress and drinking and his genetics mostly, his brother died younger still, all caused his death at 49. Great tenor, great technique and voice among the best of all time surely.

[jhb134]

@halavey - Thanks for the info, about the physical heart of JussiB! Of course, the drinking contributed-to his early death, as abuses led-to deaths of others, in other musical fields.

[billyguns2]

Please tell us the identity of the conductor.

[jacquesurlus]

Gennaro Papi

[billyguns2]

This is a fascinating document; because it is live, one can hear how big Rethberg's voice was compared to Bjoerling's small but nevertheless gorgeous instrument. I love how Rethberg's voice arrives on time; Milanov's almost never did. Too bad we didn't get Bjoerling with Toscanini or Solti, but we have it here and later at the MET; I think this is preferable to the much better-known MET broadcast.

[dantitustimshu]

@billyguns2 I agree that Bjoerling's performance with the SFO is preferable to the more renowned Met broadcast of the same year. He sang with more involvement and his high notes rang out with greater freedom and abandon. As for Rethberg, she was nearing the end of her career and way past her prime, but she brought to her singing and characterisation both passion and commitment that were largely absent in her commercial recordings.

[Federicopera]

My gosh, these are souls, this is poetry!!!!

[796824]

NO soprano or tenor on the operatic stage today can match the brilliance of this singing as was representative of the Singers

of the Golden Age.

[796824]

This type of singing has NEVER been HEARD on the METROPOLITAN AND LA SCALA STAGE SINCE THEN. It is a LOST ART

[muschnik1961]

Jussi is here in better voice than one month later in the MET-performance with Milanov. It´s such a great shame that overestimated Solti threw him out from the recording! Jussi was the best Riccardo ever! And Solti a fool who didn´t notice that!

[walkure48]

In Anna-Lisa Björling's bio of her husband, she redeems Solti nicely. Culshaw, like Solti was unaware of Björling's heart problems and wasn't hesitant to whisper in Solti's ear that Björling was "at it again", that is, on the bottle. Solti said much later that he felt badly because he had no idea of Björling's state of health. Apart from that, Solti fought with the orchestra every inch of the way and ran out of patience with the whole deal.

[madisonelectronic]

In the bio his heart problem was described in latin. Can you remember what the three words were so I can ask my doctor friends? I will email their answer back to you. Thanks!

[billyguns2]

I generally am not a fan of Solti's opera conducting, often finding it insensitive to the singers and to the music. His RHEINGOLD and some of the other German operas suffer the least, but I can't stomach his Italian opera recordings.

[neronnenn]

Grandi cantanti: Per ascoltare cantanti veri bisogna limitarsi al periodo in cui non esistevano trucchi discografici (Domingo= banca degli acuti, Panzarotti= correzioni acustiche, etc). Viva Bjorling e la grande Rethberg!

[j72050]

.....1940 and a few minutes of time is cut from the ages, and lives forever with these matchless singers....

[neshamah08]

thanks i like jussi björling very much :)

[pearlmuth3]

I guess he was caught up in the moment of the high C she stopped and he kept going, nice note so he held it. She still had it, sounded good.

[Esceha57]

Bravo - Brava !!

Cor

Netherlands

[MusicaParola]

Magnificent. Rethberg was only two years away from retirement, and some say her voice had lost its lyrical beauty due to heavy roles (Aida, for example) she took on. She sounds wonderful here at age 46.

[paulostroff99]

Stunning! Bravo! TY

[rawdonqueen]

What wonderful, vital duet singing.