Nessun dorma! (Jussi Björling, 1944)

[Bonefishred]

Just checking passwords. This is the greatest live performance ever. I heard nearly all the greats and nothing comes close. Bravo!!!!!!!

[Bonefishred]

Good

[many5662]

Da kommt höchstens noch Fritz Wunderlich ran eine hervorragende, eine sensationelle perfomance ....thanks for posting

[brahmamurti]

left me trembling

[vivadomingo1]

Hands down the best performance of this ever....There were other opera singers in the audience that night, so I think he was showing off!!! What a performance!

[federricoilgrande]

Ricominciamo con le etichette. Bjorling non era un tenore spinto? E la sua Manon? Ed il suo Manrico? Ed il Calaf miracoloso che incide poco prima di morire???

[VivaRenata]

Now listen to the magnificent MDM to get an idea of this tenor block-buster! Does anyone on this site seriously believe that Björling, with his fairly small but well modulated and often recorded voice, could have carried this off on the Palcoscenico in real life?

[suffes]

@VivaRenata Don´t get your point here! These guys are ded and baried a long time ago. Today we can only listen to recordings. As such, this particular recording - live recording - is THE SUPERIOR version above all others! It´s the most powerful you can here as a RECORDING. But not only that! The way he sings with outdrawn notes and wiht full cadenza is an historical benchmark. This is one of the gretaest operaperformances ever. MDM, Corelli, Pavarotti? Very good! But they are second to this

[AfroPoli]

@VivaRenata Darling, this is actually a live recording. There is no live recording of Del Monaco that even remotely comes close to this. Whenever your personal God (MDM) attempted this aria, he sang flat. It's too high for him. And MDM has no finesse. He was a bawler, and he shouts like a peasant. Is Calaf a peasant? No. He is a prince, actually. Are you familiar with the story at all? Mamma mia...

[lafca88]

un' emozione unica per l'aria trasognata che questo tenore riesce a dare a questo difficilissimo brano.Fantasticoi!

[boswell211]

I cried at the wonder of this. OMG, so stunning! I have a collection of JB but hadn't heard this, and I'm now reeling in shock. Thanks so much for posting. 

[yb3000]

Hesus Christos !! He has it all ... the beautiful color of his voice, exact emotions highlighting the words, and the lungs of elephant. I was KO by last 3 words. Sublime !!

[The99Gambo]

I think that this is the so-called 'slow version'. It is truly magnificient.

[suffes]

@The99Gambo Yes, this is the "slow version". IMO the greatest of all ND! JB is not Callaf - not a spinto but he certainly " is" Nessun dorma. He was the one who made this area famous in the 30th and 40th and this "slow version" vill never be surpassed!

[Nino2423]

3:22 - 3:31 just perfection.

[cr0c0d0p0lis1]

bravo!

[kuren444]

Incredible! How could he do that? 

[AmhranaiAlainn]

@kuren444 By obeying the laws of nature. Singing is not about the voice but how you use it. All tenors after Bjorling have to some degree went against nature and paid for it. One voice.

[OriginalMindTrick]

I started crying.

It was that fucking beautiful!

[SuperMoshe77]

Extraordinaire ! Jamais je n'ai entendu une telle splendeur .

SuperMoshe77

[mtdoc43]

Sublime.

I think it was Toscanini who claimed that Mario Lanza had the finest voice of the twentieth century! What was the man thinking? Better than Caruso? Better than Bjorling? It is sad to reflect that Caruso did not live to record 'Nessun Dorma'. Yet even the great Enrico would have been hard-pushed to better Jussi's heart-breakingly beautiful rendition.

[abracadabranque]

Pesé et envoyé!

[RoyKa2010]

Giusto Ciel!

When I clicked on the thumbnail, I certainly did not expect to hear anything near that! By the end of the aria I was convinced I could just fly off the window :-)

Jussi Björling = *****

[engy334]

Outstanding.

Sorry Corelli, sorry Pavarotti: I'm Italian, but this is the Ultimate Nessun Dorma...

[davidsasik]

It seems like the orchestra is waiting for him to finish his glorious B before he drills the final A like a laser beam. Such strength, such control! Thank you for this record. This is the ultimate Nessun Dorma, and it wasn't even written for a lyric tenor...

[koogala]

@davidsasik I have nothing to add you have split the arrow right down the middle. I thought that the re mastered version was the finest. This version is breath taking in it's beauty it just defies description. To use a phrase made popular by J. Gleason HOW SWEET IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MRPRO03]

You type in Jussi Björling nessun dorma, the most views is 300,000, should be 300 million !!! and Pavarotti has 15 million views, just funny.

[NYYFanSince1968]

A sample of what heaven must sound like.

[AmhranaiAlainn]

As quoted by Caruso's widow 'the only one who could wear Rico's crown. Bjorling is the greatest tenor to have lived. I agree with gierk1, his recordings are a testament to his greatness and many of them serve as the definitive versions. IMO Bjorling is the greatest teacher of song. At the heart of his artistry is Bel Canto teaching, the art of singing through the natural and effortless use of the voice. His father imparted this knowledge to him as he did with his other sons. Thank you for this.

[gierck1]

Argueably the greatest tenor of the 20th Century. He possessed the purest of tenor techniques, and.... he compelled with the deepest feeling. Thank you for this performance. It speaks for him and his uncanny artistry. He was acclaimed the greatest ever in his time, and we have seen greats since, but Bjorling's discography is undeniable. Just listen again.

[seektheforce]

This is the THE BEST rendition of Nessun Dorma EVER.

[Pugophile]

The Style King. Makes Pavarotti sound like a vulgar pub singer.

[Bjoerrelli]

Why use one great singer to smash on another both Luciano and Jussi sang this aria fantastic but my favourite "Nessun dorma singer" is Franco Corelli because he sang the hole Calaf role so great

[rupepill]

@Bjoerrelli

Very well said.

Your comment seems to me to be a commendably reasonable one. It can surely be no great compliment to any singer to rant as some might that this or that other singer was inferior, in unnecessarily offensive comparison.

Certainly, Bjoerling sang this aria very well indeed, and we are all very fortunate that so many posters most generously make available such enjoyable material as this.

[hammpo]

Jesus, what a voice.

[snaucke]

The best live performance ever!

[sailorsteve53]

I wonder if, because music was performed slower in past generations (we've come to expect heightened stimulus in our fast-paced, technological age), this gorgeous, but slow paced, performance doesn't seem all the more therefore striking.

No matter, this is the first Nessun Dorma I've heard that compares favourably to Pavorotti's.

And is it just me, or do others also find Bjorling's voice just about as exciting, unique and dramatic as Pavorotti's?

[seektheforce]

You might try Fransisco Araiza

[aymthebest]

To me, he's MUCH, MUCH better.

[Partnerfrance]

This must be what it is like when God listens to Nessun Dorma.

[YesHellFrozeOver]

If God and Jussi Bjorling performed on stage together, God would get booed off.

Few have come close. No-one can equal this. I don't care who he is

Enough said...

[Liberty1Cabbage]

There is literally no compare to this. Anywhere. Ever. Every note is sung to divine perfection, every phrase sung with the perfect amount of emotion. It escalates beautifully to the final "Vincero", the most stunning thing I've ever heard. Incredible.

[Repulsion100]

YES, YES, this is the best Nessun dorma ever. And maybe the best singers performance ever!

Cesarsalgado! please rename it to "Jussis best Nessun dorma" beacuse this was on YouTube before and was VERY popular, played appr 200 000 times but was removed 2 month ago. Many askes about this version and do not find it here! So please rename it and people will find it again!!!

[BroOliveira]

I almost stood up to shout BRAVISSIMO! This is the best nessun dorma version I've ever heard. He sang with so much feeling and technique. It cant be compared not even to other Bjorling versions.

[cmuntingh]

What can we say.......EXCEPT BRAVO , AMAZING, WONDERFULL, THE BEST EVER, HEAVENLY, UNEQUALLED, INCREDIBLE, A GIFT FROM ABOVE AND ENCORE A MILLION TIMES.....

[halavey]

This was from a Swedish radio show. he did not sing the role on stage but his recording of the role complete with Nilsson and Tebaldi is a favorite of mine, recorded in the late 1950's. He died in 1960 at age 49.

[halavey]

Looks like the famous pose Caruso took also with hat and umbrella, another great tenor of long ago. Great Breath control even if held longer then written, amazing voice at age 33.

[76josh420]

That is not an umbrella, it's a pimp cane, because he is the man!!! What an unbelievably talented tenor!

[713davidh42]

Best version of a great aria by the great Jussi Bjorling. Thanks for posting

[acortot]

WOW!

AND you can hear the words too!!

what a novel idea!

[sarado88]

Wonderful.. Incredible.. Fantastic Bjoerling!!

[NeBody57]

Stupendous. . . .Love the vibrato

[mikiring3]

this is the best version i've ever come across with. 

I wish this can be re-recorded digitally too.

[Shifty1954]

The Best !

[operataste]

The best version of "Nessun dorma" I know, beyond all others.

[katarinaforss]

WONDERFUL AND HE FROM SWEDEN TO HIHI