Page 19 - Birgit Nilsson Book

Apotheosis achieved – La Nilsson by Raymond McGill
In an interview several years ago for Opera Monthly Birgit Nilsson was described by Sam H. Shirakawa as “one of the very few divas in opera history who has achieved apotheosis”. Few would argue with such a statement. Yes, there are others who have reached such heights and all opera lovers will have their own opinions as to who this select few should include. And it is a select few. What further evidence can be needed in Birgit Nilsson’s case than the Metropolitan Opera performance of Tristan und Isolde (with Jane Eaglen and Ben Heppner) at the end of the 1990s (broadcast on BBC Radio Three) when, upon entering the auditorium as a member of the audience, Birgit Nilsson was greeted with loud spontaneous applause!
Birgit Märta Nilsson was born in Västra Karup in southern Sweden to a farming family on 17 May 1918, a mere three weeks after her great Swedish contemporary Astrid Varnay (born 25 April 1918). Varnay and Nilsson would share much repertory and both singers built their reputations primarily on the works of two composers: Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. While Varnay achieved an overnight success when she replaced an ailing Lotte Lehmann as Sieglinde at the Metropolitan Opera at the age of just twenty-three, Nilsson was content to study and build her repertory gradually. She studied at the Stockholm Royal Academy of Music (1941-46) and made her debut at the Stockholm Opera on 9 October 1946 as Agathe in Der Freischütz when she replaced an indisposed singer at a few days’ notice. A small slip in her big aria caused conductor Leo Blech to describe her as “unmusical, untalented and above all rebellious”. Nevertheless, the public and press liked what they heard. (Two years later when Nilsson sang Senta in Der iegende Holländer in Stockholm and despite having a bad cold Blech, who was in the audience, was completely won over and sent her a card praising her performance.)
LA NILSSON 19