THE TEN GREATEST SOPRANOS Heard Live 3 Birgit Nilsson

[tented]

A truly great soprano, singing some of the greatest music ever written. Thank you for sharing this. You are extremely fortunate to have heard her live.

[bellini7verdi]

muy buena.......pero escuchen a.....HANNE LORE KUHSE.....MUCHO MAS DRAMATICA ROMANTICA Y CONTUNDENTE.UNA SOPRANO ALEMANA DE LOS 70....MUCHO MAS ENERGETICA Y WAGNERIANA QUE birgit nilsson........busquenla......­...y quedaran boquiabiertos.....es estremecedora........mucho mas que esto que escuchan como de aqui a LIMA

[lawdocdc89]

Cannot quibble with the choices. Flagstad had the timbre of a woodwind. Think about a performance of Walkure with Crespin as Brunhilde, Nilsson as last minute sub as Siglinde! Think of Tosca with Visi d'arte sung on her stomach!

Nilsson's lack of wobble throws a lot of people.

[Operanut9]

@lawdocdc89 Yes, you are so correct. The lack of "wobble' was one of her greatest strengths, but many find that unsettleing since they are accustomed to singers with pronounced wobble.

[lawdocdc89]

Cannot quibble with the choices. Flagstad had the timbre of a woodwind. Think about a performance of Walkure with Crespin as Brunhilde, Nilsson as last minute sub as Siglinde! Think of Tosca with Visi d'arte sung on her stomach!

[VivaRenata]

Nice project, but please don't place Nilsson in the same category as Flagstad. I heard Nilsson live many times, and only regret that I'm not older than I am today. I wish I were old enough to have heard Flagstad live. Nilsson only gives us a pale imitation of what this music might be. And for those out there who don't like my opinions, VivaRenata is Swedish but appreciates the greatest Wagnerian soprano of all times, born in our neighbouring country Norway.

[CharlotteinWeimar]

@VivaRenata I appreciate your comments. Each soprano is in this selection on their own merits because of the impression they made on me at the time & not in any way as a comparison. Fortunately I heard Kirsten Flagstad in her very last performance, singing Grieg songs in the Royal Albert Hall, & very wonderful she was. Hers was a huge, all enveloping, warm voice quite different from Nilsson's. However, in her own way, Nilsson was truly impressive & undeniably one of the finest I heard.

[lhrlyc]

you were so lucky - I have not had the chance to hear her live - I would giove [almost] anything to see my shortlist of "missed" singers, and Nilsson is right up there along with Callas

[halavey]

Amazing I heard her in 74 sing with Jose C. In Los Angeles as Tosca and she could sing softly with that big voice and then open up and blow you away but she blended with him-- a young Jose and it was beautiful.

[pellmeli]

I heard her in Chicago, San Francisco, and NYC. To see and hear her sing this piece of music in a sitzprobe leaning back in her chair with a sweater over her shoulders remains an unforgettable image.

[billyguns2]

I will never hear this better sung; this moved me to tears. Nilsson was a vocal miracle. Also, for once, the tempo is exactly correct, and the magnificent unidentified conductor correctly has the oboe note link the final two chords. Please identify the conductor here.

[Operanut9]

Ther simply is no way to describe the Nilsson experience from the antici[pation of the curtian rise to the final curtain call. I've never heard an audience roar as loudly for any other singer including Pavarotti, Domingo, etc. Her voice --truly--was never captured on any recording that I've ever heard.

[ketillflatnefur]

no great voice is captured in recording - doubly true for Nilsson. - we are graced to have heard her live - i did in several countries and halls - she was a force of nature

[Operanut9]

"Force of nature" is the term that comes to most minds when trying to describe her singing. It is elemental.

[ebony1911]

I first heard Nilsson's Isolde in 1972 at the Met with Jess Thomas. She was in spectacular voice Everything worked. I thanked God that I'd survived Viet-Nam in tact to hear that voice and participate in the Grandeur that was Nilsson's Isolde. No one who saw Nilsson in the Curse ever forgot it or saw it equalled by other Isoles. Her stamina in the second act..WOW!!. She sang the liebestod without the slightest effort. It was the greatest operatic performance of my life. It was broadcast.

[CharlotteinWeimar]

Thanks so much for all the "live" comments. It is so special to have genuine memories of wonderful performances in the opera house because recordings don't tell the whole story.

[art724]

I had the pleasure of hearing her at the Met in the mid '60s in Turandot and Tristan. No words can do her justice.

[kimcoreit]

I have had the chance to hear Birgit Nilsson many times at San Francisco Opera. To me she was the most thrilling singer I've heard. The voice has large, but to me it possessed a warmth not heard in recordings. To have witnessed her Electra is to have heard a legend at work. Her heart-wrenching singing in the recognition scene with Oreste was a moment when time and one's heart stood still.

[davebournemouth]

I had the honour of hearing Birgit Nilsson sing the Royal Festival Hall in London during the 70s,the concert was conducted by Sir Georg Solti,the programme concluded with the closeing scene from Richard Strauss Salome,it was one of the most wonderful musical experiencesof my whole life,I agree with your other writers on here,as amazing as her many records are,to really appreciate her phenominal artistry,you had to hear the real thing,if you were ever lucky enough,something you would never forget

[ketillflatnefur]

i heard Madame Nilsson many times i opera and recital. As with all the great singers, recordings CANNOT capture the full voice - its richness, dynamic range, yes, even the size is not quite there in recording. Her recordings are wonderful nonetheless. i knew her slightly and she was kind and wonderful to her fans as well. A true artist in life and on the stage.

[skellybootle]

Dear CW: deepest thanks for all your postings. Some familiar, some new to me. But everyone a gem to savour.

Stan Kelly-Bootle

[Greatfan]

Birgit Nilsson was a miracle of charisma and personality above anything else, including her magnificent voice. She projected herself more than her voice, which was cold and fresh, and sometimes steely yet with a special roundness that made the result more human. I saw her many times, most of them in Buenos Aires, and once in a glorious Turandot in Paris. Her high C in Siegfried was a bell, like a huge bell banging all over the opera house. It was not just big, it was a miracle.

[CharlotteinWeimar]

If you heard this great singer live, please post a description.