Birgit Nilsson & Gwyneth Jones Final Scene Elektra

[PrevitaliA]

Tne voice of Nilsson here reminds me of Natalia de Andrade...

[84812ful]

Nilsson was great and so is Jones. Great!!!!!voices with great techniques that took them to the top forever!!!!!!

[glenfagelfors]

Then on the other hand, the sound quality isn't really flattering either...

[SPTN58]

Listening to this, I'm staring at my Staatsoper poster of an Elektra performance from 11. June, 1977 with Nilsson, Jones, Hoffmann, Adam. The performance was epic. Four days later I heard Nilsson, Jess Thomas and Karl Ridderbusch in Tristan--also epic.

[mairwyn]

I know this piece is abstract, but what the hell is Jones singing

[mizzothify]

I heard similar noises like Jones when I was at the seaside and I heard storm warnings howling from the light towers … And they actually SOLD this in Vienna?

[XP11XP]

Jones is awful...

[matthiasfletzberger]

@nikodemus7777

ja, klar sind ein paar Noten nicht sauber ... aber

1. wars live

2. war Nilsson weit über 60

3. und ich hatte mehr Angst als in zahllosnen anderen AUfführiungen - und Elektra soll ja nicht unverbindlich bleiben

4. schon mal Jeritza gehört ... und die galt ja nun als "die" Strauss-Sängerin .....

ich kann mich gut an den Abend erinnern (war unter den am ende jubelnden) und habe diesen Abend nach wie vor in stärkster Erinnerung ....

[rumpwrestler]

I've seen Birgit do her major roles including Isoldes and Elektra in all of the world's major houses. You are right about Jones, but her intensity and sincerity always carried the role. Birgit RULES!

[nikodemus7777]

Grauenvoll!

Bin ich der einzige, der hört, wievieles hier nicht stimmt? Dass Frau Jones keinen Ton trifft ist nicht neu. Aber selbst Birgit Nilson ist hier nur noch ein Schatten ihrer selbst. Darstellerisch excellent - keine Frage. Aber stimmlich der Partie kaum mehr gewachsen. Ein weiteres Beispiel einer überstrapazierten Karriere.

Jede andere Sängerin wäre für sowas niedergebrüllt worden...

[johnnybouhaha]

This performance gives us the chance of hearing an Elektra from the past-Nilsson- and an Elektra from the future-Jones-.

[telephilia]

While admiring the singing here, don't forget Strauss's amazing and powerful orchestration right down to the final fortissimo whomps on the kettle drums.

[hgbrown20001]

Gave me goose bumps and took me back to the Old Met in NYC when I first saw Nilsson do this with Regina Resnik. The "victory dance" at the end was done under a single ray of red light falling on her! So awesome the audience didn't begin to applaud when the curtain came down! Thanks for posting!

[rumpwrestler]

@hgbrown20001 I remember those performances at the MET. I went to all of them.

[Jakopsohn]

So..this is not the best Elektra Nilsson did, but hey seriously, at this age, it's bloody AMAZING. And she always said that it's better to be a bit high than low, and i think that 's favours her here, during her days the wiener philharmonia always went up half a note at least, Elektra is a voicekiller al the way, and here a little bit higher than normal, it's even more difficult. As i sad, an amazing undertask to sing this at her age!!!

[rumpwrestler]

@Jakopsohn Even in 'poor' voice, Nilsson was better than any other soprano....

[Jakopsohn]

@rumpwrestler i know...there is a reason why Nilsson is considered to be the greatest dramatic soprano in the history...and many people regards the solti 65 recording of elektra to be the greatest record in history together with her 66 Isolde..:P

[TennysonShallott11]

Absolutely fantastic. From Elektra's final cry to the devastating concluding chords, a powerful, disturbing experience.

[RichardVonWien]

My wife and I must have seen exactly this performance and it is probably in one of the best 5 opera-performances I have ever attended in my life. Every once in a while we still talk about it.

One couldnt see to much of the stage, The whole performance was in the dark - but the voices blew off our ears.

I just dont believe someone managed to run a film-camera?!

[Jellyboby]

wow, this sounds like salome

which made my head go crazy for like 5 minutes

other than that, beatiful performances!

[lhrlyc]

there is a lot of singing going on here for sure .....

[nitrate6971]

At about 5:27 when Birgit was starting the dance it suddenly seemed to me that she was doing some of the same gestures to the music that Piaf did while singing La Foule. And there was a similar black dress. Just an odd idea I got while watching the video.

[Hilarion]

The raft of the Medusa - without the raft. Höchste Lust!

[urgrad03]

I love both ladies, but this does sound like a screaming contest. Just my opinion.

[qyzuf]

what a screaming contest! Next to Berlioz' requiem, and Salome, the most vulgar music ever written

[waltermontani]

keine Woerte!!!!

[Joeleole]

AMAZING!!!!

[Operanut9]

I am amazed by those,admittedly few, Nilsson detractors, and even admirers, who say they don't find her voice beautiful. I think the richness of the voice in all ranges, the coloration, the way the voice caresses a word or phrase make it the most beautiful of voices. Obviously, this is NOT the piece to judge her on beauty or anything else. She was so past her prime.

The only other voice as beautiful is the gossamer perfection of Victoria de los Angeles.

[Chrysothemis]

To me, her voice always (after 1960, anyway) veered wildly between superlative and excruciating. Which also incidentally goes for Dame Gwyneth, but in a different way.

When you go for such a crystal clear spot-on approach, god help you - you'd better REALLY be spot on, or else. In many of her performances after 1960 I can't even tell if her tone is beautiful or not, because she's so wildly out of tune.

[Operanut9]

Chrysothemis,

I am not sure what you are listening to. When, I as a youngster ,was discovering opera, and quickly realized the uniqueness of Nilsson, the things critics agreed upon were her perfect intonation and absolute infallibility in her attacks. They marvelled that night after night she hurled those lasers right on key and with incredible support, full-voiced. Her sound is incredibly beautiful. Else, I wouldn't be still listening to her after 40 + years.

[Chrysothemis]

Come on now... don't defer to critics. As I'm sure you know, they'll go with the current consensus like the wheat goes with the wind. A few notable exceptions aside.

Use your ears. Listen for example to "Lang war mein schlaf, Ich bin erwached" from the Bohm Siegfried, and tell me with a straight face that she's in tune.

All that aside, she was indeed a phenomenon that's unlikely to be repeated in our lifetime. Let's just keep our facts straight.

[Greatfan]

Nilsson retired a few weeks after this performance. In her adorable book ( so honest ) she says. " The nights are becoming more wakeful and the day before a performance becomes an inferno of self - doubt and pressure " She retired June16 1982 after a glorious career. She was the first to notice she was not in top form. Nilsson is an irreplaceable personality and we miss her

[mozzrt]

Nilsson was 64 years old here...She should've stopped singing 1977 at the latest.

[Hilarion]

Better than Goya.

[wotan10950]

I love both Nilsson and Jones, two of my absolute favorite singers, but this performance caught them in poor form. Jones was singing a bit sharp, and Nilsson was a bit flat, so it made the duet quite intersting! In their best performances, each one was unbeatable.

[PakoChile]

Jones was ALWAYS a "bit" Sharp and ALWAYS a "bit" screamy and Nilsson has a very good excuse for this performance: she was 64 and at the end of a great carrer full of Brunhildes, Isoldes, Turandots and Elektras.

[Chrysothemis]

PakoChile - "Jones was ALWAYS a "bit" Sharp and ALWAYS a "bit" screamy and Nilsson has a very good excuse for this performance"

Not to bash dear Birgit, but if anyone was ALWAYS sharp, surely it was she.

Partly, the problem is that her voice was so focused - any imperfection in tuning becomes very obvious.

BTW, the grating thing about this clip is that while her mid is still way sharp, her once immaculate top is now way flat. The effect is very odd indeed.

[Turand0t]

She had perfect pitch in case you didn't know.....

[Chrysothemis]

Having perfect pitch and singing in tune with an orchestra are two completely different things.

But come to think of it, Birgit was well known to bitch about the high tuning in Vienna - that the high Cs "felt like C#s". Maybe her top notes are actually at "normal" pitch, and it's the orchestra, technically, that's sharp?

Either way, it's not very pretty.

[Turand0t]

I do suppose you right about that. This is not Birgit in her prime, nor in good shape it seems. It's not very pretty, but the recording from her early days is unsurpassed, at least for me. I love dear Birgit. Her extremely focused voice is ideal for me to listen to as a young dramatic soprano. She certainly was not bottomheavy as many dramatic sopranos of today, trying to sound darker and more dramatic and through that sabotaging themselves. A free voice is always bigger and more beautiful! :-)

[Dymension]

@PakoChile Yes, but don't forget that aside from Elektra, by this point Jones had sung all of the same rep as Nilsson, including all the Brunhildes...she was a great artist in her own right..

[waltermontani]

sono emozionato!!!

[SPTN58]

A great opera and two marvelous singers, both of whom I heard numerous times in person. Be dismissive if you will, but you'll rarely, if ever, hear Elektra performed nowadays any better.

[DivaDeb1234]

I think it sounds great! And whoever said Nilsson was visually uninteresting? No way!

[Chrysothemis]

Way. But in private she was a powerhouse of charm and wit. I used to live not too far from her, and I'll always regret nor making a serious effort to stalk her.

[Bobbo22]

Bear in mind that not all operas are meant to focus on beautiful singing. Verdi's Macbeth and Strauss' Electra are obvious examples. This clip displays artists who have performed these roles for years if not decades. The interpretations are exemplary despite the vocal imperfections. It is designed to be more dramatic than bel canto. This is not a display of weakness, but of artistic strength.

[rrgallo]

who was Clitemnestra? Aegist and Orest? Nilsson may have a little tired but the ovation is simply overwhelming!!!!! But a great scene.

[9sibra]

Is Nilsson tone deaf? or just tired?

[Chrysothemis]

She was old. She had the good sense to retire shortly after this performance. A few decades earlier she OWNED this part.

[9sibra]

pity, they haven't registered her THEN :(

[Chrysothemis]

There are plenty of good sound recordings of Elektra with Nilsson in her prime, the Solti set comes first to mind. No video though, unless you count the pathetic Met DVD from the same period as this clip. Nilsson was never visually interesting anyway.

[9sibra]

thanks, after some time i realized, she must have been tired, or sick here:D her earlier turandot is much better:)

[metropolitan1966]

I love these two ladies, but they are awful here! They sound like to dying calves in a hail storm. What happened to the pitch? This is a really disappointing howl fest, and sadly out of tune. Both have been so much better.

[Greatfan]

Well, Nilsson retired a few DAYS after this performance. She was 64 here and with a glorious career behind. The audience loved her no matter the wear and tear, and she was so intense, she had something very special !

[ssballs]

I never heard cows in a hailstorm sound like this before.maybe it's my slow pc-upload today.

[52dalibor]

sister unity says all note spotters are to assemble at the poricany train junction for re education.

[waltermontani]

che emozione!

[AmatureComposer]

Nilsson is over 60 here. It's amazing!

[fideliosmum]

I'd like to play this to all the people who think that an Il Divo CD is opera.

(isn't Nilsson the greatest!)

[dramaticsopranodiva]

yes nilsson is the greatest, i am so grateful for her...i LOVE it so much. strauss is just the most incredible ...thank god for someone who undrestands...thnak you god for strauss and to his mother for giving birth to him...so i can hear this and feel this...

[Lohengrin]

fantastic scream contest... the winner is: Nilsson! I agree with No1ZmeskalFan Strauss was a Unique Genious

[dramaticsopranodiva]

haha...two of my all time facourite singers (well one) and to me, i am a huge strauss fan, this sounds like the video clip equivalent of a bad period pain when you are rolling around the floor screaming.but i love it!!!its totally why people take the mick out of opera, scenes like this are responsible for that, i just adore it, it makes me laugh --- strauss is my favourite composer...he knew about suffering , he knew...his music,like one big clash of unbearable emotions...please post more xx

[No1ZmeskalFan]

I have never thought Nilssons voice to be beautiful but something about her just simply captivates me. When I hear her or see her, I just cant stop listening or watching. Shes just magnetic. I will never forget the first time I saw her Elektra. I was hooked! Salome and Elektra are 2 of the coolest Operas Ive witnessed and Ive seen ALOT. Strauss was a genius!

[Greatfan]

Nilsson's voice was not the most beautiful but was limpid and sometimes crystal clear. She had stamina, promptness of attack and, yes , a HUGE charisma Whenever I see or read something about her, or watch an interview, I am absolutely ' caught ' by her warm magnetism. It doesn't matter if she yelled here, the audience goes mad because they thanked her for being on stage again.

[rcdnphy]

Thrilling. Elektra blows her final fuse.

[Leubald]

Incredible!

Does anybody know who the conductor was?

[gslazar]

I think the conductor was Berislav Klobucar.

[Agorante]

I heard both live. Jones at the start had an absolutely gorgeous voice - something Nillson never really had. Alas Jones went downhill fast and early. She developed a huge wobble. She literally drove me out of the theater in one of her later performances. She ruined many commercial recordings. But boy she was loud! The biggest voice I've ever heard. Nillson marshalled her resources and would deliver those laser like high Cs. But Jones could paste you against the rear wall. No other voice like it.

[Kendrick2021]

WOW!! Jones may certainly be louder than Nilsson, but her tone is so driven, wobbly, piercing and at top very forced; she seems to want to be loud, whereas Nilsson has a warmer fuller lower register here, vibrating like an organ. I always say any coloratura can be loud, but to have an organ like vocality, yes, the truly big voices are quite rare.

And, indeed -- Jones' Desdemona is heavenly voiced in her earlier days.

[Laeliapurpurata]

My one and only Elektra!

[leontyne2]

2 of the 3 greatest dramatic sopranos of the latter half of the 20th Century. The other being Leonie Rysenek.

[amfortas83]

Perfectly agree with the tryad, but it should become a tetrad with great mrs. Varnay.

[altodivo]

She was a mezzo no? And where is Martha Moedl (also Mezzo dispute I suspect), and Inge Borkh (who was MASSIVE, but under appreciated), and Behrens, who made it all sound so easy...

[amfortas83]

She was a soprano, but turned to mezzo in her late age, giving voice to superb Strauss' Klythemnestra and Herodiades. The same for Martha Moedl. Agree on the first two, but never forget that Behrens -also being a great singer- was not enough for Elektra and Bruennhilde, THE two REAL dramatic roles of all...

[cek1111]

Two bigs ! amazing

[lucpebo]

I never hearded him before!

[Ludwig5554]

Böhm died a jear before

[Pathetikos]

does anybody know who's the conductor of this performance? Karl Boehm perhaps?

[Greatfan]

A proof of her mastery is that at 64 here at the finale scene she sounds fresher than at the beginning. James King told me that she was an absolute master in giving 20%, 30% sometimes 60% and then back to 20% She knew voice administration like nobody else in the business.

[bugsbunny66]

Amazing