Page 190 - Birgit Nilsson Book

Before his retirement Bing rewarded Birgit Nilsson with two more new productions: Tosca (with Franco Corelli, in 1968-69) and a second new production of Tristan (with Jess Thomas, in 1971-72). Bing’s successor, Swedish director Göran Gentele, was not as generous to his compatriot. Having decided New York needed a new Isolde by 1973-74, he grossly underestimated the loyalty of its audiences. As fate would have it, by the time this Tristan revival came to pass, Gentele had died prematurely in a car accident and his “new” Isolde had cancelled. Nilsson was already booked elsewhere but agreed to sing the last performance of the run with her close colleague Jon Vickers. They performed Tristan together only once at the Met on 30 January 1974, which became a red-letter date in the annals of the Metropolitan Opera.
Thereafter, Nilsson rejoined the Met for Wagner’s Ring cycle before becoming a target of the U.S. tax authorities – along with other such noted international artists as Corelli, Tebaldi, Freni and Fonteyn, who used the same tax consultant. After a final Sieglinde on 2 April 1975, Birgit Nilsson, aged 56, slipped out of the country and returned to Europe, seemingly for good. After several years, a New York tax lawyer and admirer of the Swedish soprano offered his services and reached the agreement allowing the legendary singer, by then 61, to return to New York for a gala concert conducted by James Levine in November 1979. Many wondered whether she would come back vocally diminished. But Nilsson “served notice,” wrote the New York Times, “that she was not ready to give up her title ... When she was finished with Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene ... the audience let loose one of those roars of approval that only great performances elicit.”
Following this gala, the Met took the unprecedented action of replacing four scheduled Lohengrin performances with Elektra to showcase Nilsson’s return in an opera. The public queued up for days, even sleeping in the Lincoln Center tunnels in order to secure a ticket. Despite the occasional pitch concern, Nilsson was judged “a vocal miracle” by the New York Times. “At an age when most sopranos, much less dramatic sopranos, have long since called it quits, she remains able to pour out an immense volume of controlled tone. Her high notes still soar over the loudest orchestral climax. She is also able to throttle down to beautiful mezzoforte and piano singing ... The irreplaceable, indestructible Birgit Nilsson is back, as good as she ever was.”
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