Birgit Nilsson - The Great Live Recordings

This is an excellent boxed set of live Nilsson performances. She is an immense artist whose versatility, musicianship, tremendous vocal projection and longevity command respect. My favorites are her young Elsa in the 1954 Bayreuth Lohengrin, the legendary 1961 Met Turandot under Stokowski, her bone-shattering, decapitating 1967 Montréal Elektra with Leonie Rysanek and Regina Resnik under Karl Böhm, the famous 1969 Karajan Met Walküre with the splendid Siegmund of Jon Vickers, and the rare 1970 live RAI Roma recording of Fidelio under Leonard Bernstein though a lot of the spoken dialogue has been cut and the proximity of the microphone produces some harsh sounds during an otherwise admirable "Abscheulicher!".My one minor peeve is that with a little careful research and some inspired choices, the producers of this set should have included more of her Italian roles. Personally, I would have taken out the 1953 Duke Bluebeard's Castle (the Bartok piece may be historically important but not that interesting musically), the second Elektra (Met 1971) which is weakened by an ill Jean Madeira as Klytaemnestra, and at least one of the Tristan performances, probably the Bayreuth 1957. Instead, her 1966 Isolde at Bayreuth with Windgassen and Christa Ludwig under Böhm is miraculous and the work more elegantly conducted than the somewhat rushed, tempo-wise, 1973 Orange version. Also, I would have exchanged the clumsily edited 1976 Munich Frau ohne Schatten for the Vienna performances under Böhm one year later (also available on Deutsche Grammophon) . The 1977 Vienna version is minimally cut, perfectly balanced and very passionate.The Italian roles I would have added would include her 1959 Vienna Donna Anna, 1960 Scala Aïda, the Met's 1963 Ballo Amelia with Richard Tucker and 1969 Tosca with Domingo. I believe a live recording also exists of her Scala Lady Macbeth but it looks like it never reached the commercial circuit and I suppose a lot of the final choices were influenced by SONY copyright.In conclusion, by all means listen to this boxed set but also make an effort to research the great Birgit in some more of her famous Italian roles.

THE TOP'S, A REAL SOPRANO,

An excellent companion to the studio recordings set.

OPERAS IN THIS BOX:PHOTOS 1-2 Lohengrin with Wolfgang Windgassen (Jochum/Bayreuth) 1954PHOTOS 3-4 Die Walkürie with Jon Vickers (Karajan/Metropolitan Opera) 1967PHOTOS 5-6 Tristan und Isolde with Jon Vickers (Böhm/Théâtre antique d'Orange) 1973PHOTOS 7-8 Turandot with Franco Corelli (Stokowski/Metropolitan Opera) 1961PHOTOS 9-10 Salome (Böhm/Metropolitan Opera) 1965PHOTO 11: Stokowski at the old Metropolitan Opera House (closed 1966, demolished 1967)What a wonderful bargain from Sony: Authorized in-house recordings from the Bayreuth Festival, the Vienna State Opera, New York’s Metropolitan Opera and various European broadcasting authorities.Nine different operas in twelve complete performances (two are stereo) + five excerpts (three are stereo) from four Wagner operas.FIDELIO (1970) monowith Ludovic Spiess (Bernstein/Rome Radio)An exciting performance from Bernstein's middle period, recorded nine years before his DG recording with Gundula Janowitz & Rene Kollo.The only document we have of Nilsson with Bernstein.Previously, Sony issued Nilsson's 1960 Metropolitan Opera broadcast with Jon Vickers as Florestan, conducted by Karl Böhm:  Beethoven: Fidelio .LOHENGRIN (1954) monowith Wolfgang Windgassen (Jochum/Bayreuth Festival)Nilsson’s only recording of Elsa (photos 1-2)For a list of other Wagner roles that Birgit Nilsson seldom or never recorded, see Comment One (sort by Oldest)DIE WALKURE (1969) monowith Jon Vickers (Karajan/Metropolitan Opera)One of only two documents we have of Herbert von Karajan at the Metropolitan Opera (the other is ‘Das Rheingold’, available as a download on the Met’s website).Karajan recorded Wagner’s Ring Cycle for Deutsche Grammophon in 1966-69.He then planned to both conduct and direct the Ring in Salzburg, and at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.1967: ‘Die Walküre’ conducted by Karajan (photos 3-4).1968: 'Die Walküre’ (revival of Karajan's production) conducted by Berislav Klobucar ( Wagner: Die Walkure ),1969: ‘Die Walküre’ conducted by Karajan (in this box).Then everything fell apart, and Karajan never again conducted at the Metropolitan Opera, leaving the Ring unfinished.-- Brünnhilde: Regine Crespin on DG -- Birgit Nilsson at the Met (’67, ’68, ’69)-- Siegmund: John Vickers on DG and at the Met (’67, ’68, ’69)-- Sieglinde: Gundula Janowitz on DG -- Regine Crespin at the Met (’67, ‘69) [Leonie Rysanek in ‘68]-- Hunding: Gottlob Frick on DG -- Martti Talvela at the Met (’69) [Karl Ridderbusch in ‘67, ‘68]-- Wotan: Thomas Stewart on DG -- Theo Adam at the Met (’69) [Thomas Stewart in ‘67, ‘68]-- Fricka: Josephine Veasey on DG and at the Met (’69) [Christa Ludwig in ‘67, ‘68]I’m old enough to have listened to this on a Saturday afternoon “Live from the Met” broadcast, sponsored by Texaco.Nothing special mono sound, but this was deliberate:Stereo FM had been commonplace in America since the late 1950s, but Met management worried that if the sound was too good, it would cut into ticket and record sales.Stereo broadcasting from the Met didn’t begin until December 1973.TRISTAN UND ISOLDEThe Sony box has an orgy of Tristans:-- 1957 with Wolfgang Windgassen (Sawallisch/Bayreuth) mono-- 1967 with Jess Thomas (Böhm/Vienna State Opera) mono-- 1973 with Jon Vickers (Böhm/Théâtre antique d'Orange) stereo (photo 5)The 1973 performance was videotaped by O.R.T.F. (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) at the 2000 year-old Roman Amphitheatre in Orange, France (photo 6).It looks and sounds terrible on DVD:  Wagner - Tristan Und Isolde (Bohm, Nilsson, Vickers, Hesse) [DVD ]The DVDs are mono, but the Sony CDs are stereo, clearly derived from a different source.Despite the fact the fact that it was recorded outdoors in front of 8,000 Frenchmen, the sound on CD is astonishingly good, infinitely better than the DVD.(don't be put off by audience noise at the start; they quiet down two minutes into the prelude)Apparently the 1973 FM radio broadcast was stereo, but the TV signal was mono.What we really need is a new video transfer on DVD or Blu-Ray, with stereo sound synchronized from the radio tape.TURANDOT (1961) monowith Franco Corelli and Anna Moffo (Stokowski/Metropolitan Opera)The only complete opera that Leopold Stokowski conducted at the Met (photos 7-8).[Stokowski conducted the U.S. premiere of ‘Wozzek’ at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1931, but it was a concert performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra on tour.]SALOME (1965) monoMetropolitan Opera conducted by Karl Böhm (photos 9-10).Birgit Nilsson (born 1918) pretty much dropped Salome from her stage repertoire after this performance.It became increasingly difficult to imagine her as a teenage girl (though she sang the closing scene in a 1972 gala honoring Rudolf Bing).ELEKTRA-- 1967 with Leonie Rysanek and Regina Resnik (Böhm, Vienna State Opera) mono-- 1971 with Leonie Rysanek and Jean Madeira (Böhm, Metropolitan Opera) monoIn the 1960s and ‘70s, the roles of Elektra, Chrysothemis and Klytämnestra were dominated by Nilsson, Rysanek and Resnik.As a team, they left two Vienna recordings, both conducted by Karl Böhm: 1965 on Orfeo, and 1967 in the Sony box.DIR FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN (1976) stereoNilsson left two recordings as the Dyer’s Wife, a role learned late in her career:1976 Sawallisch/Bavarian Opera, with Fischer-Dieskau as her husband (in the Sony box) and1977 Böhm/Vienna State Opera, with Walter Berry as her husband (on Deutsche Grammophon).Both recordings are stereo. Unfortunately both recordings are heavily cut.BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE (1953) monoNilsson’s only recording of Judith, conducted by Ferenc Fricsay, recorded by Swedish Radio and sung in German translation.------------------------------------------------------------------------EXCERPTS FROM WAGNER OPERAS:DIE WALKURE: Act One, Scene Three (1957) monoNilsson as Sieglindewith Ramón Vinay (Knappertsbusch/Bayreuth Festival)Nilsson started out singing Sieglinde in Sweden, before graduating to Brünnhilde.Like many Wagnerian sopranos, she was able to alternate between the two roles.Nilsson left just one recording of Sieglinde, from the 1957 Bayreuth Festival (Astrid Varnay was Brünnhilde).My only real complaint with the Sony box is their decision to include just one of the six scenes Sieglinde appears in.The complete ‘Walküre’ is on Walhall:  Wagner: Die Walküre For a list of other Wagner roles that Birgit Nilsson seldom or never recorded, see the end of this review.SIEGFRIED: “Heil dir, Sonne!” (1967) stereowith Wolfgang Windgassen (Suitner/Bayreuth Festival)GOTTERDAMMERUNG: Brünnhilde's Immolation--- Stig Rybrant, Stockholm Philharmonic, sung in Swedish (1953) mono--- Charles Mackerras, Sydney Symphony (1973) stereothese are Nilsson’s earliest and last recordings of Brünnhilde's Immolation(there may have been later performances, but I haven’t found any recordings after 1973).TRISTAN UND ISOLDE: Prelude and LiebestodSergiu Celibidache, Swedish Radio Orchestra (1967) stereo------------------------------------------------------------------------WAGNER ROLES THAT NILSSON SELDOM OR NEVER RECORDED:DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER: SentaPARSIFAL: Kundrythese two roles were never recorded by Birgit Nilsson, “live” or in the studio, aside from two studio recordings of Senta’s Act Two ballade: "Johohoe! Johohohoe!"(not in the Sony box)LOHENGRIN: Elsarecorded once, at Bayreuth in 1954(in the Sony box)TANNHAUSER: Venus and Elisabethtwo recordings of Venus, one of Elisabeth:--- 1956 “live” at Teatro San Carlo in Naples conducted by Böhm, with Nilsson as Venus, and Leonie Rysanek as Elisabeth:  Tannhauser (Naples 17/03/1956) --- 1969 DG studio recording conducted by Otto Gerdes with Nilsson as both Venus and Elisabeth:  Tannhäuser (neither are in the Sony box)DIE WALKURIE: Sieglinde and Ortlinde--- Sieglinde:Nilsson started out singing Sieglinde in Sweden, before graduating to Brünnhilde.Like many Wagnerian sopranos, she was able to alternate between the two roles, but Nilsson left just one recording of Sieglinde, from the 1957 Bayreuth Festival, conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch (Astrid Varnay was Brünnhilde).My only real complaint with the Sony box is their decision to include just one of the six scenes Sieglinde appears in.The complete 1957 ‘Walküre’ is on Walhall:  Wagner: Die Walküre --- Ortlinde:A real oddity - Nilsson sang this minor role at the 1954 Bayreuth Festival, conducted by Joseph Keilberth(Martha Mödl was Sieglinde, Astrid Varnay was Brünnhilde, Birgit Nilsson was Ortlinde - quite an evening).Apparently Nilsson was a last-minute replacement for an indisposed singer.Nilsson was already a headliner at Bayreuth: this was the year she sang Elsa in ‘Lohengrin’.The complete 1954 ‘Walküre’ is on  Die Walkure  or  Die Walkure (3CD) (not in the Sony box)For a complete list of the contents of ‘Birgit Nilsson: The Great Live Recordings’ arranged alphabetically by composer, see Comment One (sort by Oldest).