Birgit Nilsson "Isolde's Liebestod"

[SirenSongWoman]

@guirlandes3: I checked Joanna Porackova and she's better than all the other modern Wagnerian sopranos I've heard (and she has FLARE in recital, which is fun and lacking these days). Still, her sound is not quite as strong as the great Wagnerians. Honestly, though, I've never been a fan of the coldness and lack of malleability in Nilsson's Wagnerian interpretations. The most beautiful Liebstod I've ever heard is Christa Ludwig's mezzo interpretation right here on Youtube. Breathtaking!

[filmevoncosima]

eine deprimierende Aufnahme... man kann gerade noch erahnen, dass sie einmal eine große Isolde war, daran, wie sie ihre Interpretation anlegt; aber sie war inzwischen stimmlich völlig überfordert, die Intonation schlicht entsetzlich, das Vibrato langsam und ausgeleiert, die Stimme unflexibel. Warum musste sie sich das antun?

[mariusfelix]

@filmevoncosima Na, na...mach mal halblang...

[elgar34]

Sorry, people. I LOVE THIS!  Brava Nilsson indeed.

[houghtonga]

We cannot comparing singers of different eras. Apart from the Solti Ring Rheingold (at the end of her career) there are few stereo recordings of Flagstad singing. The dramatic saprano voice is are difficult for a sound engineers. When Nilsson did the Solti Ring she had to stand three paces away from the mic on the high notes, thus her famous overtones were not captured due to the loss of volume. It was sad that recording was in infancy with Flagstad and not yet fully developed for Nilsson.

[VivaRenata]

Sorry, all Nilsson fans. My only comment is that someone had to take over the great Wagnerian roles after Flagstad. And Nilsson's diction is more than awful - GAG - a comment from one of her compatriots. Let us not give her more credit than she deserves -

[stevtomato]

@VivaRenata I've heard Flagstadt's version, nice but I didn't really like it. It's all based on opinions and is subjective. "Better interpreters"? On this level of interpretation, there's no such thing of better, it just depends on tastes. This said, I don't really like her performance here...

[gwangjuboy1]

No one comparable alive today, irrespecive of what the 'experts' say; name one who is producing this standard.

[witness124]

There's that bit, close to the end, where everything suddenly swells, in this enormous, blazing trail of sound. On the word 'Welt', the orchestra crescendos, a high G is sung.....but that does nothing to convey the sheer majesty and power of it all. That's everything Wagner is for me, the awesome power and might of his works. Brilliant.

[VivaRenata]

@witness124 It's actually a G-sharp, but continue listenining to Wagner but find some better interpreters, such as Flagstad, Furtwängler, Svanholm, Lorenz and many others. Nilsson and Solti were just some modern interpreters who had great management but did not really understand this repertoire.

[VivaRenata]

Well, someone had to take the dramatic soprano roles in Wagner after Flagstad defined them. And it turned out to be this Swedish peasant Birgit Nilsson, who only cared about her high C-s and was too stupid to give us anything else. I am embarrassed to be Swedish by birth, I have heard Nilsson many times and even met her - she died in my home town a few years ago. If only we had given music what the Norwegians did - --- loved Nilsson in Strauss but in Wagner ????

[dxhtz]

orchestral piece, even in the context of the opera, and Wagner knew it....doenst matter much what soprano is on stage in fact, as long as the last note is clean, and the 6 notes before that are in tune. Not her best best performance.. but a titan in opera none the less. What a great Lady, and she looks to be seriously enjoying this!!

[houghtonga]

Comparing Flagstad and Nilsson is tricky. I have not heard a recording of anyone as brillant as Nilsson, but I do achnowledge that recording technology in the 1930s simply was not upto the standard to capture Flagstad's high register at her prime. Decca even struggled to capture Nilsson during the recording of the Solti ring in the 1960s. The documentary shows Nilsson having to step back 3 paces from the Microphone during high notes and rush forward for the lower parts.

[kimancuo]

War sie schon Kaput hier? Oder krank vieleicht? Wass ist denn passiert hier? Kann jemanden mir erklaren?

[astar2b2010]

well whatever i just love her everybody has bad days so what even if she was 80 to me she left a Mark in this planet and no other Nilsson Viva Madama Nilsson from South Africa ,Cape Town

Love you

[tedly10027]

it's not so bad at her age. she was one of the greatest even her declined voice STILL is a treasure for everyone to remember that TIME wins everytime and the more we should appreciate such treasures as Nilsson's. i recall a master class she did in a school long ago. she was SO FUNNY but very , very encouraging to young singers and had a way of making them get their nervousness go away by breaking the ice.

[CatalinaDM56]

Modern singers need to learn you don't need to throw yourself all over to get the message of a song across...such subtleties, such accents on notes and phrases that emphasize the text...major love.

[ezayi]

Well... of course this was pretty bad for her standards but she was already 61 and everybody can have a one bad night. To those who can´t accept it, get over it. Completely normal to not been perfect all the time.

[tedly10027]

@ezayi Exactly. i was in an audience when she gave a master class long ago. a baritone asked her: "madame how LOW should I support the breathe?" because she emphasized support so much...she quietly..slowly...walked so close to the man..put her arms straight down between them, almost to his crotch..and whispered in a SEXY bedroom voice: "my handsome young man...so Loooww where I can not Touch you"

everyone cracked laughing!!!

[ezayi]

@tedly10027 That was super funny. I can imagine the audience cracking up. What a pity that everything in life comes and go. Voices like hers shold last forever. Thank God for the recordings. :-)

[tedly10027]

@ezayi I also recall in the master class i was in the audience with that she adviced singers to has good posture always..as if always ready to sing a high note at any time..and to hold themselves as if "an invisible string was holding you up from the top of your head"..she was good in making those descriptive analogies in her instructions, quick to point out flaws, but always generous in her praise at the slightest improvement..she had this particular recommendation...singers to "taste"

[tedly10027]

@tedly10027 ..singers to "taste" the vibration of the note before emitting the first note of a phrase...to feel the "hum" in their "mask" cavities and in the mouth just before emitting the sound..something like that..and repeatedly would demonstrate with a "mmm-nnn-mmm-nnn" humming..as an excercise..if you watch her closeups in vids -- you can see she is doing something like that before the first note of a phrase..

[belcunto]

@tedly10027 i am enjoying your memories! she appears so camp and good-natured in interviews... sometimes i wonder if the diva from Tin Tin was based on Madame Nilsson.

[tedly10027]

@ezayi I think there was a famous story about how her humor could ALSO be incisive and even "vengeful" to those that "deserve" it; rudolf bing, the powerful most famous manager of the NY Metropolitan (50's 60's) reportedly didn't think much of her in the early years and refused to engage her as one of the Stars there...years later , Nilsson was the "big star"..and HAD to be engaged by the MET...they met again..and Rudolf mentioned something about her "finally" being honored by being with theMET

[tedly10027]

...to which Nilsson...not forgetting the early "snub"..and to put Bing in his place for STILL being uppity towards her responded something like: "yes .. it is nice Mister Bing, isn't it?...IMAGINE....YEARS ago --- you could have had me for a BARGAIN"! another story, famous: she was performing with the great Franco Correli...the magnificent handsome huge voiced tenor for Turandot..in their duet with both singing the same high note climax to hold long...it was agreed that both would cut..

hehe

[tedly10027]

..their high note exactly together...so no one "outshines" the other...in the first performance...Nilsson did as "agreed" in the production...Corelli HELD ON his long note..and it made Nilsson look like she couldn't sing that long...she said nothing...in the next performance...Corelli did it again...held on...when he used up all his breathe and quit his tone....the house could hear Nilsson still holding her sound ....REVENGE! he never tried the trick again on her... 

[ezayi]

@tedly10027 Good for her... ah... tenors!

[tedly10027]

@ezayi speaking of the big singers: it was said that Kirsten Flagstad (who helped support her family as a young woman as a piano accompanist -- no wonder she was so musically exacting in her singing) in her travels used to practice in those ocean liners (when planes were not as common) by facing the porthole of her room...so as not to annoy the neighbors...imagine how lucky the dolphins and whales must have been listening to THAT "ocean like voice". and that in rehearsal she ALWAYS sangFullVoice

[VivaRenata]

@tedly10027 Great thanks to you who knows something about Flagstad's history! From someone who understands though I am Swedish by birth and have heard Nilsson quite often and even met her!

[tedly10027]

@VivaRenata Hi, VivaRenata. I just loved Flagstad's timbre so much. But we all understand that every person is unique and has his or her particular sound. What I loved about those great voices was that they were SO dedicated to the MUSIC and at their best seldom if ever "twisted" the MUSIC to suit their voices..they were EXACT in their rythms or note-values showing that they respected the composers and were not afraid to serve the music for "fear of losing expressiveness", unlike so many others.

[tedly10027]

@tedly10027 and to continue -- what I mean is: as a pianist myself that worked a lot with opera singers..some of them in studios of former Metropolitan opera soloists from the "old days" ...I noticed that many singers AFTER the generations of Tebaldi, Nilsson, Flagstand (the "current" since the 1980's-90's) -- seemed to have so MANY "Excuses" as to why the EXACTITUDE of composer's notations did "not" have to be obeyed so strictly...like because "we have to take time to breathe"...."expression"..

[tedly10027]

@tedly10027 ...or some would talk about "the TEXT is SO important in its meaning" and THEN use THAT as an excuse to rob the Music of its Exactness...THIS bad habit, in my opinion, was ABSENT among the TRULY great voices, technicians and musicians among singers LIKE flagstad, Nilsson, Melchior, Schwarzkopf, ....they were not only GREAT voices but MUSICIANS. but in both VOICE and MUSICALITY - I always will love Flagstad in her special place above any others...

[tedly10027]

and that in rehearsals such as in the Wagner dramas - as the rehearsals wore on and other singers, even including Melchior , would have to conserve themselves, or get a bit hoarse , by the END of rehearsals -- or performances -- Flagstad always sounded as if she was ready to start ALL OVER AGAIN. what technic she must have had...like nilsson .. who they said would warm up before performances singing the "Queen of the Night" of Die Zauberflote...can you imagine?and fterwards sing more 

[belcunto]

@tedly10027 hahaha, thanks that made my night!

[tedly10027]

@belcunto Let's thank Miss Nilsson for her voice, artistry and Humor! hehe. I was there in the audience...she really was funny in making the students and everyone feel at ease..always saying: "are you nervous? I am TOO"! when she walked by in the aisle to the stage - you could see she was SHORT. imagine the huge voice coming out of THAT! and she always reminded the students: "Good posture..all the time..walk and hold yourself as if your ready to sing a high note instantly , anytime".

[ezayi]

@tedly10027 I can imagine the laughter. I was present once when she gave a Master Class and she was super funny. What a humorous lady. Love her! ;))

[MastersoftheOpera]

Wow this was beautiful. Sung in a more romantic, subdued, soft and spiritual manner. I really loved it. Brava Nilsson. She always brought down the house.

[tenor220]

Birgit Nilsson is the reason I decided to study classical voice, and opera. She is now also the reason that I will have the good sense to retire while I still have some voice left.

[Chasson0318]

Okay, so it was a gala!...I'm not sure what the other commenters that were deleted said, but I think even Birgit, "Queen of the Sopranos" would have also thought this was pretty bad. One of the things I loved about "Big B" was her sense of humor. She probably would have thought this was awful. None the less, it's good to see as a lesson when probably to call it quits.

[phil2u]

The audience was very generous with applause, from respect no doubt. Preserving this performance was however a mistake. I had the supreme pleasure of hearing her about 6 years before this and her singing left one absolutely weak.

[garyrobert13]

Be nice. She's past her prime here- that's not hard to hear....she's fabulous on several videos from earlier performances. I wish this wasn't on the tube! It is not nice what age does to singers, and the amazing and brilliant Birgit deserves to be remembered in the many other videos of far better performances of this same piece.

[VivaRenata]

This has to be one of the most horrendous performances of the Liebestod (Verklärung) from Wagner's Tristan ever heard. You hear the wobble in the voice, the faulty vocal technique, the incorrect use of consonants, the "catch breaths". This recording demonstrates that "Biggan" grasped little of the amazing cultural/musical heritage that Wagner represents. If you want to hear the conclusion of Tristan performed as Wagner (probably) intended, listen to Flagstad.

[Operanut9]

You are the ONLY person I am aware of that associates "horrific" with Nilsson. During the sixties, there were mixed reviews of Tebaldi and Sutherland and some horrific reviews of Callas (She was booed at La Scala; Nilsson was NEVER booed.) But critics were unanimous in their praise of Nilsson. I NEVER read a single review of a Nilsson performance that was negative. Most reverted to a description of her as the last singer of the GOLDEN AGE,the only one of our time to join that exalted company.

[tenor220]

@VivaRenata Birgit was not exactly young in this recording. At the height of her career her technique was impeccable and her voice was a true treasure. You shoud refrain from making such harsh judgments, no one sounds as good in old age as they did while they were young. Especially after a career like Birgit's.

[elgar34]

I love you, Birgit.

[belcunto]

i love Birgit, even after what happened between 4.00 and 4.10

[Greatfan]

I am Birgit's greatest fan, that is why I would like her Elektra 1965 from Stockholm rather than this video which shows her in colourless vocal shape and unsteady tones.

[SPTN58]

One of the great voices of the 20th Century! I regret not seeing her in the zenith of her career. I heard her often in Vienna in the 70s, in performances that were both superb and less so. But isn't that to be expected of a human? We're talking about a person, not a machine/robot. In addition to being a superlative artist, she was also a fine human being. I cherish all those performances, and often gaze at some of my framed Staatsoper posters hanging in my home. Brava, Nilsson!

[JSJ1121]

@SPTN58

I agree with you! She is the one of the great artist. But not a singing machine! Brava! Miss Nilsson.

[tanttukiko]

No, this is just a few years before she retired from the stage so this doesn´t make her voice justice at all. She sounded tired and "sharp" and sometimes a little "under the tone" in the end. I also sing opera and I´ve listened a lot to her, some is good some is not pleasant for the ears. But anyway, she was amazing, a voice made of steel...wonderful technique when she was at her best, and it´s so difficult to be heard through Wagner´s orchestra it´s so big!

[Andante735]

There's an asshole born every minute, and you just proved that to be true.

[Andante735]

and don't bother replying, that was a stand alone comment, and I've nothing more to say.

[htshoward]

how lovely

[yodavidnavarro]

Are you sure you know about voice technique and fach?

Cause you're not talking about Florence Foster Jenkins. You're talking about who propaply is the best soprano for wagnerian roles ever!

[Webarton]

"Kirsten Flagstad - not probably the best soprano for Wagnerian roles ever." Minus the "probably."=

Kirsten Flagstad - not the best soprano for Wagnerian roles ever.

lol.

[iriisblue]

I suspect what you dislike about Nilsson's voice is what made her so effective in this repertory. She supported the tone with minimum pressure (not the small puff of air in larger intervals), producing a very amplified but lyric tone. It's the lyric tone that cut through the romantic orchestration. Not a beautiful voice in terms of overtones, like Flagstad and Lieder, and yes, an uneven vibrato, and off pitch in parts of this performance. Also important to note that here she is 61.

[lingustica]

Is this considered one of Nilsson's better performances of LIEBESTOD?

[erar01]

No.

[htshoward]

Thank you for one of the more intelligent replies I have ever received on her singing.

[TreblesBasses]

Miss Nilsson was certainly one of our best Wagnerian Sopranos!

[JessyeNormanFan]

Frankly, I don't see what you people are complaining about. By any standard, this is an amazing rendition of the Liebestod. Tell me, who is singing Wagner like this today?

[Pujardoff1]

@JessyeNormanFan Waltraud Meier 

[guirlandes3]

@JessyeNormanFan Your question: " Tell me, who is singing Wagner like this today?" Answer: Joanna Porackova

[clymnestre]

Every one have not to exprim such bad critics about the best wagnerian singer even at the end of her brillant career. Don't get old everybody!!! and without having done nothing!!! and sung that "Milde und Lieise" even like that way... Remember only the best we have a lot of matter!

[Greatfan]

I love Birgit and don't particularly like her ' aged' videos. I thank those who posted them but there are many which does notdo her justice.

[atlblkprync1981]

:-(

[AMABLESRA]

Correctio I MEANT " BY 1979 NILSSON HAD NO NEW ROLES LEFT. I skipped the ' no '. Nilsson's last roles were Elektra in 1965 and Dyer's wife in 1975. This Liebestod dates from 1979.-

[mxl2003]

Not at her prime, but few singers are at the age of 62. She would even learn a new role the next year (Elektra, at the Met, I believe). A great clip, though it doesn't compare to her clip from '64 that I've uploaded. Thank you for uploading.

[AMABLESRA]

By 1979 Nilsson had new roles left. The ' newest ' had been the Dyers Wife in Stockholm 1975. Elektra she had started 10 years earlier ( 1965 ) I do not like this Liebestod, her voice sounds old. Love her but not this kind of singing in her old age.

[OsvaCola]

Horst Stein conducted the incredible Tristan with Nilsson and Vickers in Buenos Aires at the beging of the seventies.....I Love Nilsson, even at her decadence.