4:52 - I love that she stepped away from the microphone - crossed to downstage center and sang! No microphone for Ms. Nilsson. She would have blown it out anyway!
She was 78 here! Her voice was like Swedish Steel. Truly piercing without overusing her voice. She always took care of her instrument. One of the greatest ever!
Flagstad was still better, but she got entangled with the calumny about collaborating with the Nazis and became the most hated singer, while she deserved just the opposite. Anyway they are all wonderful.............
@@evelynkatz1301 Flagstad, who omitted whole phrases in Wagner operas just because they led to a somewhat high note? Please. When a coloratura omits a traditional but non-written trill the world goes ballistic; and when a Wagnerian singer doesn't sing whole phrases with WRITTEN C6's by Wagner? Nobody cares. And why would that be? Because barely anyone nowadays even listens to Wagner operas :D The most humiliating thing is, is that Flagstad had Schwarzkopf sing the Siegfried finale C6 for her IN STUDIO... Amusing.
@@NLidar I agree with everything you said 100%. Most people do not realize that Flagstad's last role was Fricka. That is a role for a Mezzo Soprano. I have to admit that Flagstad was glorious in that role. No one could top her. But once again, it was a mezzo role. In fact, I strongly believe that Flagstad was a Mezzo soprano who could sing a soprano role in a pinch. Honestly, I heard her sing the Narrative and Curse in Tristan and Isolde. She "nicked" the higher notes simply because they were not within her vocal range. NILSSON WAS A HIGH SOPRANO who also had the ability to reach the lower notes with ease, something Flagstad could not do. Two cheers for the greatest and most versatile Wagnerian soprano; BIRGIT NILSSON. P.S. I met Nilsson backstage when she sang Barack's wife in San Fransisco in 1980. She was only 5'2" or at the most 5'3". From that day on, I called her The Pocket Valkyrie, simply because of her short statute.
I almost forgot. The classical radio station in Philadelphia is WRTI. I listened to that station on May 17, 1918 all day long. They did not mention Nilsson's name nor did they play anything of her aria's or songs. They did not even mention that it was her Centennary !!! You're right. Barely no one cares about Wagnerian operas today, or those that sang them.
@@goodandplenty508 Nilsson also conquered Strauss roles in which Flagstad never ventured to my knowledge. If she did, she madde mo mark in them. What about Turandot, and Tosca, and also Aida? Lady Macbeth? Amelia?
What a voice - so "out there"! I heard her in Paris in Turandot; mind-blowing. Her voice soared over a very large orchestra and choir. I had queued from 4 30 in the snow to have student-priced tickets but what an experience!
Her Brünehilde cut through the mighty Met orchestra in Walküre like a knife through butter. On the other hand, Flagstad's voice seemed to soar over it.
what a wonderful lady,I notice when she sang she moved so far away from the microphone,or it would have blown up with the strength of her amazing voice. I will never forget her. one of the really greatest singers of all time.
I agree. In Gotterdamerung, she had to be a person in love, then a woman betrayed, then a heroine. Flagstad sounded beautiful as a woman in love but she did not sound convincing as a woman betrayed or even a woman who sounded heroic in the Immolation scene. Nilsson was an all rounder.
goodandplenty508 I agree with most of what you said, except when you state Flagstad didn’t sound “heroic” in the Immolation scene. She’s plenty heroic sounding! She also had more “tone” in her middle register than Nilsson, who had better laser beam top notes for sure. Neither lady, nor any other soprano, surpasses Traubel in this music with Toscanini conducting. Even though it’s in 1941 non-hifi sound, it’s my desert island Immolation scene (which is among the greatest pieces of music in western civilization). Post-war Flagstad/Furtwängler & Nilsson/Solti are superb. Nilsson’s is in the famous and great Decca “technicolor stereo” sound. It’s heartbreaking that Flagstad didn’t record it on the stereo Wagner recital with Kna. Farrell/Bernstein is also a top contender. The tragedy of all this is that there isn’t a single soprano alive in 2020 who can sing the Immolation scene like any of these great sopranos. Not. Even. Close. Most are strained, shrill, flat, swallowed wobbly messes.
Nilsson was definitely in the top five greatest wagner singers ever, but she may not be the greatest. There was Kirsten Flagstad, Traubel, and Rysanek.
I heard this magnificent artist several times on stage and in recital during the 60's. My heart fills with gratitude for her gifts and warmth and humanity. Thank you supreme soul.
Tusen tack, Birgit! Your 100th birthday this week. 100 GLORIOUS years! A voice like yours does not come along once in a century. A voice like yours comes along only once.
Philip Condenzio I didn’t attend this concert, but I was at the Met when she made her Comeback Concert. It was probably the most electric atmosphere I’ve ever felt in the theater. She actually sang both the final scenes from Salome and Gotterdammerung. The roof almost blew off! I once waited in line to get an autograph on her picture book. She was very kind, but when I mentioned it was my birthday she almost burst out of her chair with excitement! And she signed a big birthday greeting. Unforgettable.
I saw her as Isolde in SF Opera with Vickers as Tristan , forget which year but I was 19 yrs old and will never forget the experience. Her sound live had a force of nature no other human had ever matched. I still recall her Liebestodn that night. The applause was endless.
I've seen this clip many times before, but somehow this time I found it so incredibly moving that I wept. For a star of Nilsson's magnitude to give such a heartfelt tribute to Levine, to imply that she never really knew the role of Elektra until she worked on it with him, and finally to honor him and the audience with one final Valkyrie war cry, was an astonishing display of gratitude and humility. I've no doubt she is enjoying herself immensely in Heaven, probably playing practical jokes on Herbert von Karajan at this very moment!
Birgitt Nilsson impériale soprano j ai eu la chance de l'entendre dans Isolde et Die Walkure a orange et bien d'autres fois c était la meilleur avec un aigu tranchant comme une lame de rasoir merci Birgitt pour votre immense talent
Solti what a fantastic conductor. Birgit Nilsson, what a fantstic singer! And the salute to Solti in the end brought out tears from my eyes, because it was so beautiful and the tones sent hearts to Solti and to the audience. Wonderful and funny story too.
How does she still sound like this at the age of 78! The tiniest unsteadiness on the penultimate note (not surprising given her age) but Jesus that top note... 😮 WOW. Apart from the half step down, and the aforementioned penultimate note, she hardly sounds different than she did 20 years earlier. Oh and also, how damn amazing does she look for being almost 80! She is truly amazing.
Mike Z I think the “unsteadiness” on that note is simply her 78 year old voice’s best attempt at the trill (written in the score on this note). She was never good at trilling, even in her prime, but she always did a “sort of” trill on this note. 19th century composers often write a trill on a fourth below the final note to give singers a catapult to the final high note. Think of the end of Ernani involami, or Di tale amor. Ho jo to ho ends exactly the same way. I think all the great Brünnhildes “sort of” trill there, but none could trill like Sutherland, Tetrazzini, or Kurz, three of the best trillers. Oddly, before you dismiss them as merely “coloraturas”, i have to say Tetrazzini’s walloped, full throated high notes often remind me of Nilsson’s! Go figure. I totally agree with you that Nilsson is spectacular here. I wasn’t there that night (if you believe everyone who says they were, the house would’ve had 10,000 people in it!), but people I do know WERE there said it was the most full-throated, STEADY, and beautiful singing on stage all night, and was the size of Rhode Island.
@@melbapatti Intetesting that you compared her to Tetrazinni. I believe it was Steane in his extensive study of recorded opera singers,who thought the same, but he was somewhat surprised at himself for thinking so.
operafreak9 I think it’s the “air puff” they both used to catapult their full throated high notes out of their bodies. They’re the only two singers I can think of who did it. Sutherland sometimes comes close, but not so full throated. N and T sounded like their high notes were coming up from the floor and were cannon like. I would vote for Nilsson’s high C and Bb at the end of Elektra’s “Was bluten muss?” (VPO/Solti/Decca) as two of the most thrilling, beautiful, TITANIC notes ever emitted from a human throat, especially that final Bb!!
great how she speaks mike infront, casually walks out so confident and sings like as if it was as easy as drinking a cup of tea. I wonder what it feel like standing near her as she would sing.
I was so lucky to see her three times, even though it was at the end of her career: her Met comeback concert, Elektra, and Frau ohne Schatten. And she autographed her picture biography for me with a great big flourish (it was my birthday). She remains unforgettable.
+Dave Glo I saw Birgit Nilsson at the old Metropolitan Opera House as Tosca in January 1966 - that's fifty years ago! - and went backstage to say Wow! and to sign my program. Then I saw Birgit Nilsson as Brunnhilde in Die Walkuere in San Francisco in October 1972. Birgit Nilsson is the single greatest female singer I've heard live and consider myself blessed for the experience - with all due respect and admiration for Renata, Leontyne, Dame Joan, Montserrat, Anna, et al.
Of course they do and I believe I implied something to the effect in what I wrote. Still after a half a century plus of attending classical music concerts, operas, recitals, ballets, etc., certain performances stand out and are clear in my memory - or at least I think they are. There are only a handful which I didn't like. Surely it is thanks for the memory!
At rock concerts you can cheer anytime you want, but in opera you must hold everything until the final curtain. So all that adoration is let out at once. I’m new to opera and I will never give up my love of metal, but this is one fascinating thing I have noticed.
@@HarbingerOfBattle I Love Opera since many years, but only few years ago I started to know about metal (because of a singer that combined some parts of both worlds and made me discover all the diversity in heavy rock and metal), and when I started to go to heavy rock/metal concerts I felt that cheering freedom you just wrote about, and believe me or not, at first it was even strange for me to clap before the ending of a performance or after a higher note or something, ahahah! So I Loved your comment! Cheers from Portugal \m/ \m/
![[RARE] BIRGIT NILSSON - MASTERCLASS (FULL)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LQXYbfI9Kmo/mqdefault.jpg)
4:52 - I love that she stepped away from the microphone - crossed to downstage center and sang! No microphone for Ms. Nilsson. She would have blown it out anyway!
So much affection betrayed.
She was 78 here! Her voice was like Swedish Steel. Truly piercing without overusing her voice. She always took care of her instrument. One of the greatest ever!
She is the ultimate diva. No singer today is comparable to her talent and amazing voice.
THE most epic end for a speech. Amazing artist and beyond words human being
The most extraordinary and beloved soprano ever. No frills,
no diva turn. Just her vocal magic and speaking from the heart.
She still has no peer.
Flagstad was still better, but she got entangled with the calumny about collaborating with the Nazis and became the most hated singer, while she deserved just the opposite. Anyway they are all wonderful.............
@@evelynkatz1301 Flagstad, who omitted whole phrases in Wagner operas just because they led to a somewhat high note? Please. When a coloratura omits a traditional but non-written trill the world goes ballistic; and when a Wagnerian singer doesn't sing whole phrases with WRITTEN C6's by Wagner? Nobody cares. And why would that be? Because barely anyone nowadays even listens to Wagner operas :D The most humiliating thing is, is that Flagstad had Schwarzkopf sing the Siegfried finale C6 for her IN STUDIO... Amusing.
@@NLidar I agree with everything you said 100%. Most people do not realize that Flagstad's last role was Fricka. That is a role for a Mezzo Soprano. I have to admit that Flagstad was glorious in that role. No one could top her. But once again, it was a mezzo role. In fact, I strongly believe that Flagstad was a Mezzo soprano who could sing a soprano role in a pinch. Honestly, I heard her sing the Narrative and Curse in Tristan and Isolde. She "nicked" the higher notes simply because they were not within her vocal range. NILSSON WAS A HIGH SOPRANO who also had the ability to reach the lower notes with ease, something Flagstad could not do. Two cheers for the greatest and most versatile Wagnerian soprano; BIRGIT NILSSON. P.S. I met Nilsson backstage when she sang Barack's wife in San Fransisco in 1980. She was only 5'2" or at the most 5'3". From that day on, I called her The Pocket Valkyrie, simply because of her short statute.
I almost forgot. The classical radio station in Philadelphia is WRTI. I listened to that station on May 17, 1918 all day long. They did not mention Nilsson's name nor did they play anything of her aria's or songs. They did not even mention that it was her Centennary !!! You're right. Barely no one cares about Wagnerian operas today, or those that sang them.
@@goodandplenty508 Nilsson also conquered Strauss roles in which Flagstad never ventured to my knowledge. If she did, she madde mo mark in them. What about Turandot, and Tosca, and also Aida? Lady Macbeth? Amelia?
With 78 years she's sounding better than the usual screaming wobble-festival sopranos nowadays.
What a voice - so "out there"! I heard her in Paris in Turandot; mind-blowing. Her voice soared over a very large orchestra and choir. I had queued from 4 30 in the snow to have student-priced tickets but what an experience!
Her Brünehilde cut through the mighty Met orchestra in Walküre like a knife through butter. On the other hand, Flagstad's voice seemed to soar over it.
what a wonderful lady,I notice when she sang she moved so far away from the microphone,or it would have blown up with the strength of her amazing voice. I will never forget her. one of the really greatest singers of all time.
In my opinion, the greatest Wagnerian soprano who ever lived. And her Turandot is unsurpassed.
I agree. In Gotterdamerung, she had to be a person in love, then a woman betrayed, then a heroine. Flagstad sounded beautiful as a woman in love but she did not sound convincing as a woman betrayed or even a woman who sounded heroic in the Immolation scene. Nilsson was an all rounder.
goodandplenty508 I agree with most of what you said, except when you state Flagstad didn’t sound “heroic” in the Immolation scene. She’s plenty heroic sounding! She also had more “tone” in her middle register than Nilsson, who had better laser beam top notes for sure. Neither lady, nor any other soprano, surpasses Traubel in this music with Toscanini conducting. Even though it’s in 1941 non-hifi sound, it’s my desert island Immolation scene (which is among the greatest pieces of music in western civilization).
Post-war Flagstad/Furtwängler & Nilsson/Solti are superb. Nilsson’s is in the famous and great Decca “technicolor stereo” sound. It’s heartbreaking that Flagstad didn’t record it on the stereo Wagner recital with Kna. Farrell/Bernstein is also a top contender. The tragedy of all this is that there isn’t a single soprano alive in 2020 who can sing the Immolation scene like any of these great sopranos. Not. Even. Close. Most are strained, shrill, flat, swallowed wobbly messes.
Nilsson was definitely in the top five greatest wagner singers ever, but she may not be the greatest. There was Kirsten Flagstad, Traubel, and Rysanek.
Sutherland, Callas, Birgit Nilsson All others doesn't matter.
I heard this magnificent artist several times on stage and in recital during the 60's. My heart fills with gratitude for her gifts and warmth and humanity. Thank you supreme soul.
Tusen tack, Birgit! Your 100th birthday this week. 100 GLORIOUS years! A voice like yours does not come along once in a century. A voice like yours comes along only once.
Oh course. Naturligtvis! If we were Sweden, we give a FOUR TIMES hoo-ray!
I was there. I'll never forget the size and laser-sharp sound she produced. What a night!
Philip Condenzio I didn’t attend this concert, but I was at the Met when she made her Comeback Concert. It was probably the most electric atmosphere I’ve ever felt in the theater. She actually sang both the final scenes from Salome and Gotterdammerung. The roof almost blew off! I once waited in line to get an autograph on her picture book. She was very kind, but when I mentioned it was my birthday she almost burst out of her chair with excitement! And she signed a big birthday greeting. Unforgettable.
Oh my God!!! What a force of nature she was. I'm speechless. Humble, nice, funny and talented.
What volume!!! She could have used the mic but preferred it the traditional way hahaha...
What a beautiful and humble artist.
One of the greatest sopranos who ever lived. Her Brunnhilde reigns supreme. Brava Birgit! Brava!
I saw her as Isolde in SF Opera with Vickers as Tristan , forget which year but I was 19 yrs old and will never forget the experience. Her sound live had a force of nature no other human had ever matched. I still recall her Liebestodn that night. The applause was endless.
So you don't know in which year you were 19?
@@schneevongestern9898 Unless he was born on the 0th of January, he was 19 during the course of two calendar years.
Wonderful Birgit. With lovely sense of humour as well as great voice!
Smiles, tears, smiling tears. What a woman! We shall not see (or hear!) her like again. Brava!!!
Birgit Nilsson is one of my few favorite sopranos. she's so damn perfect. Her voice and technique is a benchmark for singers.
I saw her last Electra at the Met and some 40 years later, I can still hear her magnificent tones ringing in my ears.
Godsend opera singer!! Humble, nice, sense of humor.
She wins at life, the universe and everything.
Talkingbpwl,You nailed it--brilliantly.
I've seen this clip many times before, but somehow this time I found it so incredibly moving that I wept. For a star of Nilsson's magnitude to give such a heartfelt tribute to Levine, to imply that she never really knew the role of Elektra until she worked on it with him, and finally to honor him and the audience with one final Valkyrie war cry, was an astonishing display of gratitude and humility. I've no doubt she is enjoying herself immensely in Heaven, probably playing practical jokes on Herbert von Karajan at this very moment!
I don’t think Karajan made it! In any case, she would probably stay clear of him. She was very love-hate (or rather hate-love) with him.
one of the most beautiful voice of the time......i saw her in France in the Valchiria in the antique theatre of Orange.....
How can one not love her?
Nilsson's speaking voice shows so much heart. Just like her singing voice. An Artist w a capital A. And so funny. She came, saw & conquered.
Love the bath towel anecdote. She sounds fabulous at 78!
You could hear it in the hall. Amazing!!!!
Happy Birthday, Birgit! We love you.
A magical moment to be sure!
Fantastic lady! Such a trade mark for Sweden! She was SUPER!
She Was!
I love this lady!
Unsurpassed glorious Nilsson.
Some of the best performances I've ever seen at the Met were with Birgit Nilsson! She was so amazing! Have never seen this and thank you for it!
Glorious!Splendid!
What a voice! What a Diva! What performance!!!!
I was there ! - and now that makes me cry ...
What fantastic charisma and sense of humor. A complete human
I absolutely LOVE her!
Birgitt Nilsson impériale soprano j ai eu la chance de l'entendre dans Isolde et Die Walkure a orange et bien d'autres fois c était la meilleur avec un aigu tranchant comme une lame de rasoir merci Birgitt pour votre immense talent
Solti what a fantastic conductor. Birgit Nilsson, what a fantstic singer! And the salute to Solti in the end brought out tears from my eyes, because it was so beautiful and the tones sent hearts to Solti and to the audience. Wonderful and funny story too.
Levine. So sorry. (Excuse. i’m ill.)
The songbird in violet!!!! What an incredibly charming woman, behind that voice!!!!
The one and only La Nilsson!!!
What an artist, what a personality, what a human!
Thanks Aloha from Hawaii
How does she still sound like this at the age of 78! The tiniest unsteadiness on the penultimate note (not surprising given her age) but Jesus that top note... 😮 WOW. Apart from the half step down, and the aforementioned penultimate note, she hardly sounds different than she did 20 years earlier.
Oh and also, how damn amazing does she look for being almost 80!
She is truly amazing.
Mike Z I think the “unsteadiness” on that note is simply her 78 year old voice’s best attempt at the trill (written in the score on this note).
She was never good at trilling, even in her prime, but she always did a “sort of” trill on this note. 19th century composers often write a trill on a fourth below the final note to give singers a catapult to the final high note. Think of the end of Ernani involami, or Di tale amor. Ho jo to ho ends exactly the same way.
I think all the great Brünnhildes “sort of” trill there, but none could trill like Sutherland, Tetrazzini, or Kurz, three of the best trillers. Oddly, before you dismiss them as merely “coloraturas”, i have to say Tetrazzini’s walloped, full throated high notes often remind me of Nilsson’s! Go figure.
I totally agree with you that Nilsson is spectacular here. I wasn’t there that night (if you believe everyone who says they were, the house would’ve had 10,000 people in it!), but people I do know WERE there said it was the most full-throated, STEADY, and beautiful singing on stage all night, and was the size of Rhode Island.
@@melbapatti Intetesting that you compared her to Tetrazinni. I believe it was Steane in his extensive study of recorded opera singers,who thought the same, but he was somewhat surprised at himself for thinking so.
operafreak9 I think it’s the “air puff” they both used to catapult their full throated high notes out of their bodies. They’re the only two singers I can think of who did it. Sutherland sometimes comes close, but not so full throated. N and T sounded like their high notes were coming up from the floor and were cannon like. I would vote for Nilsson’s high C and Bb at the end of Elektra’s “Was bluten muss?” (VPO/Solti/Decca) as two of the most thrilling, beautiful, TITANIC notes ever emitted from a human throat, especially that final Bb!!
@@jeffreymiller4814 Its amusing when non singers try to talk about singing.
@@baritonebynight ^ jesus, sometimes nerds get bullied in school for good reasons
What a great lady!
How could we even start to praise Nilsson???? As many here, I'm speechless...
That was delightful. She was a great lady and incomparable artist.
She was 78! Fantastic, incredible!!!
great how she speaks mike infront, casually walks out so confident and sings like as if it was as easy as drinking a cup of tea. I wonder what it feel like standing near her as she would sing.
Singing as if it were as easy as drinking a cup of tea. I agree w you! What a tribute!
The best Soprano for Wagner and Strauss and the best TURANDOT of ever !!!
THE GREAT BIRGIT 👏👏👏🌹🌹🌹❤❤❤
Im even prouder to being Swedish today, then yesterady, she is so faboulous.
God I love her!!
I was so lucky to see her three times, even though it was at the end of her career: her Met comeback concert, Elektra, and Frau ohne Schatten. And she autographed her picture biography for me with a great big flourish (it was my birthday). She remains unforgettable.
+Dave Glo I saw Birgit Nilsson at the old Metropolitan Opera House as Tosca in January 1966 - that's fifty years ago! -
and went backstage to say Wow! and to sign my program. Then I saw Birgit Nilsson as Brunnhilde in Die Walkuere in
San Francisco in October 1972. Birgit Nilsson is the single greatest female singer I've heard live and consider myself blessed for the experience - with all due respect and admiration for Renata, Leontyne, Dame Joan, Montserrat, Anna, et al.
Murray Aronson
How lucky you are! But I never say anyone is the greatest. All the memorable artists bring something worthwhile to the performance.
Of course they do and I believe I implied something to the effect in what I wrote. Still after a half a century plus of attending classical music concerts, operas, recitals, ballets, etc., certain performances stand out and are clear in my memory - or at least I think they are. There are only a handful which I didn't like. Surely it is thanks for the memory!
the one the best ever
She sounds like Europe. Glorious and true.
I cried a lot... history reference voice
she is so marvelous
wonderful
Awesome!
FANTASTICA
MERCI ME LEVINE FOR ALL THE MUSIC
We need some Vikings again today.....
I have watched this quite a few times, variously over time, with the greatest pleasure.
(Does that make me odd?)
No, we are all odd in one way or another. Take me for instance. I listen to heavy metal but also enjoy Wagner’s operas.
EXTRAORDINARY!!!!!!!
The best best best!!!!
God! I just love her!! 🥰
No need for microphone! Birgit was amazing!
A Swedish farmers dauhgter is still a viking. I regret Im to young to let my daughters se you singing.
Это какое-то чудо.
No me canso de mirarlo.
She's a lot of fun, isn't she? :)
Adorable Birgit
Divina.
That audience makes better noise than any rock concert audience it seems?
At rock concerts you can cheer anytime you want, but in opera you must hold everything until the final curtain. So all that adoration is let out at once. I’m new to opera and I will never give up my love of metal, but this is one fascinating thing I have noticed.
@@HarbingerOfBattle I Love Opera since many years, but only few years ago I started to know about metal (because of a singer that combined some parts of both worlds and made me discover all the diversity in heavy rock and metal), and when I started to go to heavy rock/metal concerts I felt that cheering freedom you just wrote about, and believe me or not, at first it was even strange for me to clap before the ending of a performance or after a higher note or something, ahahah! So I Loved your comment!
Cheers from Portugal \m/ \m/
Birds from Sweden can sing!
What. A. Treasure.
78 and she still had it in her, albeit half a step down.
Großartig !!!
ANY VIDEO OF ELECTRA IN 1980 ? A SITE ?
WOW!
Apparently she would call her cats on her farm to dinner by singing a high C.
Sowas gefällt den Amis. :D
老娘儿们还在世吗