Jussi Björling sings "La Donna è Mobile" - Correct Pitch

[zlatantillifk]

@FabDN41 That was spot on man! I totally agree with You Sir! He had it in him. Should have let that out more often. He had the tools for sure....

[Tenorliebe]

Very fine and smooth singing! Thank you so much for this excellent posting!

[elyavet666]

buenisimoo !!! maestro

[MrFrenchaccent]

perfection !

[FRANKHODGES39]

Jussi wins again!

[curation123]

I can say that I received from God what I consider the greatest gift of my life: being in the Old Met on November 21, 1959 to hear Bjoerling in Tosca with MacNeil and Curtis Verna. I was 22 at the time.

[wiseroldfart]

@curation123 You were lucky to catch Bjorling shortly before his death. I was only 9 when he died. I'd have loved to have seen everyone from Caruso and Bjorling live. We are lucky to have reminders of all the great performers so easily accessible on YouTube..

[55werther]

¡¡¡Magnifica voz, Magnifica tecnica, y, un Magnifico cantante!!!

[premiereopera1]

Surprisingly, he does lower this a half tone here, so he final note is only a Bb and not the B natural.

[wiseroldfart]

@premiereopera1 That's a B-flat? In that case, Pavarotti did the same thing. I don't know who sang it with a B natural. Who can hold a B natural as long as these two? Good God!

[mojomanist]

WOW! absolute awesome!!!!! correct pitch, u can see that again!!!

[UU2]

Jussi is my favorite tenor of all time. I love seeing the videos on here. (He died before I was born.) One thing that he was the master of was being able to stick the high notes without swooping up into them.

[sopranosd]

OK, I just listened to him doing E Lucevan le Stelle" and it rocked, so yay, I can love Jussi even more.

[sopranosd]

I love Bjorling's voice, it's color and ease, and the incredible technique that enables him to do things like the diminuendo in this video, but I don't feel any emotion coming from. Is that a stylistic thing? I was just trying to listen to him sing "La Fleur Que Tu M'avais Jetee" and I had to stop - it just sounded so flat (not pitch) and the rhythm struck me as odd. Again is this a stylistic thing? Or is the repertoire not his best?

[hiyadroogs]

@sopranosd One of the qualities of Jussi's voice & technique, is that it is an extremely clean & bright sound. It's partials & overtones lie mostly in the upper parts of the fundamental note. It is a fantastic voice for arias where clarity & free emission are called for, but perhaps less warm & evocative in arias of romance & sentiment. If Gigli's or Di Stefano's tonal glow could be described as warm sunlight, then Jussi's is perhaps more like the cool stars & moonlight. Does that make sense?

[Cantormatis]

@hiyadroogs Interestinly enough, if you find Jussi's live performances here on YouTube- not TV ones like this, but opera house ones- Jussi could sing with incredible passion and ardor. Look for his Manon Lescaut under Mitropoulos. It's positively desperate!

[premiereopera1]

Yes,, this is the pitch Bjoerling sang it in in concert and here on TV. It is transposed down 1/2 tone, so the final note is a Bb and not a B natural. Still great!

[ellandelachapelle]

See his hands? When he was young he used to hide them behind his back. (found them big and clumsy.) But then our great actor Gösta Ekman told him "No! Don´t hide them! You have wonderful hands!" (he took Ekman´s advice at heart. His hands are the most expressive part of him!) (apart from his voice.)

[jimweebarra]

monogo dobre

[rafbilza]

Perfección. En líricos y spinto roles. The BEST

[mjaymayer]

I uploaded a better version of this video and was just notified that it infringed on copyright. How is this not also an infringement on copyright?

[roger6060]

Does anyone know what year?

[Repulsion100]

roger6060, not shore but think this was 1955. He had just lost 20 kg in weight and was in a superb chape. His voice was as "new" they said.

[XP11XP]

February 17, 1957.

[halcassell]

He makes it look so easy....wow

[GosuSan]

Varför inaktiverad ranking, vore väldigt trevligt att ge denna pärla 5 stjärnor??

[operasprite]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love Bjorling & rarely see him in video. His voice is divine! As many others have stated, it goes directly to the heart.

[logica10]

Impressive performance.

[operabeauty]

Bjoerling takes it down a half tone here, as he did in his Carnegie Hall and other concerts. Very strange, since he had a fine high B, but I suppose he felt more comfortable singing a Bb instead.

[Bengtsson62]

No, It is the correct pitch!

[AldoMeyer]

\m/

Bravo

Soberbio

Grandioso

Espectacular

Thank you very much.

Merry Christmas for you too.

[halavey]

I agree with primo here and i heard JB in 1958 not big but as the duke in the huge Chicago house it carried, besides he was more a lyric voice, Corelli was a heavy spinto but did not do well in lyric roles and avoided them (like this one) so you cannot compare to Corelli , apples and oranges. Tucker had beauty and power I heard him often and his best roles where Forza/ Chenier and Lescaut besides early French roles like Hoffman and Jose. Roles Jussi did not sing--apples and oranges again.

[primobaritono77]

First of all, I am a die hard JB fan. Was he voice as powerful as Caruso or Corelli? No, but what he lacked in" loudness" or "big" was a phenomenal instrument that cut right to your heart with emotional pathos. JB knew the B's and C's were his money notes, so he aired them out with full chest voice for the audience and they went wild. One more thing...I'd rather have a beautiful ringing voice that doesn't quite deafen the ears than a booming bad voice that grates on one's senses.

[vstasov]

FANTASTIC! How rare is this footage??

Wonderful YouTube Classical Museum of the People!

Thank you primobaritino. Precious, precious. How much actual footage is there of Björling available? Very little, I think.............. You can see the miracle here.

[jmccracken1963]

Thanks for fixing this: the paired eighth notes that should have been dotted eighth-sixteenths aside, this is an OUTSTANDING performance. What show is it from: is it "The Ed Sullivan Show"?

[Mooorhe]

Yes, I believe so, I think in 1957.

[elzuzo267]

For all the texting about JB's pitch, what we are seeing is a TV kinoscope with tincan audio. And the Duke does not have to sing beautiful--he has to sing evil and oily to a slutty girl whose brother is a killer. He's already had his hands on Gilda, La Ceprano, Montorone's daughter, and there is one mention of his wife in the palace.

[flaze3]

Not the best of actors, lol. But a fantastic singer without question.

[johnhoie]

That was his reputation, but honestly, he didn't seem too bad here to me. Remember, even while acting, the singer needs to face forward to be heard.

I've seen a lot of opera performances over the years, and this ranks in the top half. Admittedly, thyat's not saying much.

[YesHellFrozeOver]

In all fairness you're right. He couldn't act his way into a kiddies nativity play.

But yes, without a doubt the best singer there ever was

[flaze3]

I don't think Bjorling would really fit in with a nativity play... all the children would be terrified of being near him in case he started singing (very loudly) :-p

[pearlmuth3]

Yeah! anytime Madison, my pleasure.

[madisonelectronic]

I think if Anna -Lisa had seen this video back then Jussi would have been in a great deal of trouble. Very dead Swedish meat. Just look at their eyes. And thanks for the audio stuff pearlmuth3.

[mozzrt]

AnnaLisa knew very well, but she preferred him not telling her about any women. He had 2 illeg children, one born while she was expecting her first. SHE KNEW HE LOVED HER THOUGH, when she had arranged for the divorce, on account of his drinking, he was in agony...

[pearlmuth3]

The girl is Nancy King who was a dancer for the Met. AND OTHERS NOT A SINGER. Bjorling does his best la donna here with a great cadenza, also Josef Schmidt live in the 30's at Carneige hall is fantastic live and really in this aria has the best Cadenza and diminuendo It's on you tube also. 1937 I think live concert but the aria here is very well sung

[j67123]

I never heard of this man before today. He's in a league of his own. I especially cannot believe his "O Holy Night". Amazing!

[johnhoie]

Then you're in for a treat, because he recorded a lot of stuff. My favorite rendition of Nessun Dorma is by Bjorling in a 1959 RCA recording. A 1951 recording of Il Trovatore shows him at his peak.

[bradybraidz]

Oh definitely check otu his 'Ah, Si Ben Mio' which is just amazing and beautiful! It really made me just love Jussi and it clinched it for him being top of my Tenors list! :D

[wiseroldfart]

@j67123 I know. I keep pointing people to his 'O holy night.' It's nice to see people who recognize true talent.

Bjorling amazes me on so many recordings as does Caruso, whose 1904 'Una furtiva lagrima' is what I consider to be the greatest display of talent ever recorded by a tenor. To me, it's the very definition of 'bel canto' singing - a lost art.

[paulostroff99]

@j67123 -Jussi was one of the finest 20th.century tenors of them all. Right up there with Gigli and di Stefano,and next to only Caruso.His best songs are the ones like o holy night. His operas were legendary

[princepavarotti]

Jussi is the grand master of this very fine art. Absolutely amazingly beautiful!

[harrymooseknuckle]

Who is that hot babe he's singing to?

[pearlmuth3]

Very fine and also the live version of schmidt was another favorite in this aria for me from carneige hall in the 30's. This is really fine singing.

[sefferpot]

I´m a big "mobile" fan. Have listen to most versions during the years. This is the best version ever. Björling owns La donna e mobile!

Even Caruso is second here. You should here the original recording of this at the Björling museum on big screen (the recording is private). Guess that this is taped by someone in front of this and therefor the sound is not so good. In the original recording his voice is much much "heavier".

[sugarbist]

@sefferpot JB had a beautiful voice.I will agree with you, He owns it a( HALF TONE DOWN.) ITS fine to enjoy it as I did,But how can you say its the best version ever without comparing other tenors that sang it a half tone down?I think it makes a big difference when an aria is transposed.It'S NOT just the B-NATURAL to the B-FLAT.It's the easier tessitura of the entire aria that makes it a lot easier to sing and broadens out the voice. Ask Domingo,he has been transposing for years

[kittycrunch456]

Mr. Bjorling is second to a w*&J! Crazy talk. Like i said earlier, Jussi is an exquiste anomaly; absolutely incomparable. One of the things i find so extraordinary & irresistable about him is that he can sound so manly, heroic... and still had intact a boyish/innocent quality. Hard to explain but i hear it in his clear, pristine voice and see it in his eyes and mannerisms ).

[Iareto]

What perfect focus. Good heavens. The focus is only second to Wunderlich and the tone is only second to Pav. Gorgeous.

[gangerollo]

I love this one so much. Thank you for the video.

[Honken]

Damn he sounds swedish! My grandpa used to talk like this (not saying he was Jussi but).

[vicdomi]

Mr. Björling amazing as a usual, his adolescent tone is ideal for this one role Thanks so much for this. Five Stars

[ideale123]

The incomparable Mr. Bjorling: my hero and love always! ).

[kittycrunch456]

Geez what are you gaylords yapping about, just enjoy the music video.

[cityboating]

As I understand it, no human being is availed to what is commonly refered to as Perfect Pitch. If you believe that you have absolute perfect pitch you are only fooling yourself.

Maybe you have very good relative pitching which is, pretty damn good for a humanbeing.

If you enjoy Mr Bjorling's singing so much, why not say how wonderful it was instead of saying that it was only out by a quarter of a tone in the first place. Because, by saying so you left yourself open to ridicule. . .

[peduzzi89]

I really mean no ill will, but I'm afraid you don't understand correctly. Pitches for me (and a few people I know) are as distinct as different colors - it very much does exist. As for the video, as I said, I expected no less than perfection from Bjorling, so it was the pitch that immediately stood out to me - as soon as the music started I was like whoooa that's off.

[cbrown6660]

cityboating:You would happen to be wrong. It is rare but quite a few people are blessed with perfect pitch. Some have a memory for the pitch, some see colors, they are all unique ways. I knew a person that could hear up to 6 degrees of each semitone. I also taught a young man who memorized the vibrations of each pitch and could match the vibrations of any pitch. So, you are wrong my friend... it does exist.

[rootbeer281]

I agree, I happen to be able to memorize pitches, and when I last watched Faust this summer in Krakow, I noticed an off pitch that both my veeerrry musical friends swore was correct.

[phantom4087]

The Swedish Caruso.

[pearlmuth3]

Good job with pitch.

[peduzzi89]

pitching is almost correct - about a quarter step flat.

[cityboating]

What are you a dog? or have you got shit in your ears?

[peduzzi89]

Excuse me...that was uncalled for. I have perfect pitch and this is about a quarter step flatter than usual...according to european tuning in which I usually hear this, but even in the US it's slightly flat. What the hell is your problem?? The video is fantastic, Bjorling is the best tenor I've ever heard.

[kittycrunch456]

Unimaginably and incomparably beautiful, for lack of a better word, Bjorling. This is not even a sad song yet when i hear Bjorling sing it, this ice queen cries...

[aguacun]

Great job of re-pitching (is correct?)

...thank you

[listeningtoit]

This faggot is screwing things up. Jussi Bjoerling is the greatest tenor voice of the 20th century. I do not want him to play with my hair. I just want to learn how to sing with his example!

[Yoni89]

That's a VERY un-biased opinion.

He's your favorite tenor, let's not go over-board.

[rootbeer281]

ummmm...do you mean is a BIASED opinion?  Unbiased would mean that he was looking from a totally objective standpoint, from which, according to your second comment, you don't think he is standing.

Don't be confused by Fox News telling you they are unbiased when they are clearly biased.

[Nater389]

Fox News? Biased? If thats the case then every station is biased. I see that you must be a liberal. How about CNN, or just about every other major news station BESIDES Fox...they are all liberally biased. It just depends on what side of the fence you choose to be on really. Honestly, I would rather listen to Fox knowing it doesn't have a liberal spin on what it reports. What a stupid thing to say. Put a little thought into your comments before posting. All media tends to be liberally BIASED.

[primobaritono]

Let's keep this about the music please. Modern day American politics has no place in this video.

[Nater389]

Hey, I agree with you absolutely. But there are some others who have posted here who don't think before they comment. I'm done speaking of "American" politics, just couldn't let such a terrible, brainless comment go un-noticed. Sorry for any trouble. I'm confident your rule goes for all politics, not just "American politics."

[rootbeer281]

Lol, All media is biased, I never said any differently. I just have to laugh when every time I watch Fox News they have "A Fair and Balanced Account" running across the bottom.

I'll have you know I'm a liberatarian, and probably know more about politics and the economy then you will ever know. Just because I don't like Fox News (or really any news besides the internet) doesn't mean I'm a liberal.

I was making a point, chill out.

[freespiritQC]

The faggot is a woman you morron...

[kittycrunch456]

Who the hell are you callin' faggot! A female admiring a man (ie. Jussi Bjorling) is considered a fag now? Don't assume it's all guys who are commenting here.

[freespiritQC]

Lucky girl....

Imagine having him singing in your ears while playing in your hair.

What a feeling it must be!!!

[flaze3]

More like 'imagine going deaf from the force of his voice inches from your face...'

[hamster13]

his voice didnt make people deaf. it isnt that "big"

[flaze3]

If you were standing right next to him, I fancy it would be quite deafening.

[hamster13]

yes, with your ear one inch from his mouth. but one meter, no.  (or maybe i can give you right if he sang a high b or c.)

[flaze3]

I was talking about the girl sitting next to him.

[hiyadroogs]

hamster, just because Jussi's was not a big voice as operatic tenors go, don't underestimate its penetrative edge. There is a live recording of him singing Di Quella pira on stage, & the high C's rang out with tremendous clarity & power. The audience went crazy. You don't get a reaction like that if your voice barely reaches over the footlights!

[hamster13]

the di quella pira recording is fun to listen to,and as I already said: i believe his topnotes were loud (the b and the high c)

i have never stood right next to him on stage. but i have done so with many other tenors.

ps: once i heard jussi singing on the electrosat-soundspeakers Martin Logan Summit (loud) ,and on the last topnotes of "jag längtar dig" i could really experience his high notes almost explode out above the speakers. TRY IT !!!

[listeningtoit]

Incomparable Bjoerling. Vocal focus, sonic energy, phrasing good taste. Best tenor of 20th century. Corelli, Del Monaco, Pavarotti, Great voices, great artists. But no one is Jussi. Voice, technique, artistry.Each recording is a true vocal lesson.

[paulostroff99]

Amen!

[contessabrilliante]

This is sooooooo gooooood! He has a very organic sound, if I may call it that (so natural and so EXACT). I see that the ratings has been disabled But _ .... 5 stars from me, ladies and gents, (and I'd give it more, if it existed). Beautiful job!

[johnhoie]

I hate rating artists in comparison to each other. So much is a matter of personal preference. But Bjorling is my favorite operatic tenor. Wish I could have heard him live.

[GermanOperaSinger]

Greatness cannot be measured. But all the factors you mentioned can be...in accordance with those points you wrote...Bjorling is indeed the best.

He is not my favorite, but I recognize he truly deserves the admiration he recieves.

[citrussorbet]

well put,thanks

[RudySunseeker]

Well put! Jussi had such a solid musical and technical base to work from, allowing him to create "easy" perfecton every time. Thanks!

[RudySunseeker]

@listeningtoit

Listening to Jussi Björling we can totally relax and enjoy. His unfailing ability to deliver perfectly beautiful notes, in harmony with the composer´s intentions, grabs you every time.

[rantanen1]

@listeningtoit

indeed. hes just.. perfect... just the pure strength he has is amazing

[duduvainer]

Thank you!!!!!!!

[strangkille]

Thanks a lot!!!

[paulostroff99]

Jussi rules! Bravo!

[Pawelp]

WOW! Thanks for uploading this with correct pitch!