Page 33 - Birgit Nilsson Book

She did have some reservations about the way her voice was recorded in the studio, but there is nevertheless a truly great legacy of recordings both from the studio and “live” which go a very long way in demonstrating her unique vocal and dramatic qualities. Nilsson herself said that in performance she preferred singing in large, deep theatres, saying that she found it more tiring to sing in small ones. This was a voice which, with its laser-like precision and focus and ability to hit high notes pianissimo, as well as demonstrating moments of searing tenderness, remains utterly unique in the history of singing. Has any other singer embraced so many Wagner, Strauss, Verdi and Puccini roles so convincingly? In the thirty-plus years since Nilsson retired from the stage nobody has conquered the Wagnerian repertory as consistently as Nilsson.
Throughout her life, Nilsson the farmer’s daughter from southern Sweden, never forgot her roots and remained level-headed and down to earth — and supported by her veterinarian husband, Bertil Niklasson (they married on 10 September 1948), and whom she described as “my number one admirer”. Among the numerous awards and honours accorded Nilsson throughout her life two Viennese awards should be mentioned: Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera in 1968 and in 1999 Honorary Member of the Vienna Philharmonic —so tting for an artist who performed and recorded so much in that city (more than 200 appearances at the Vienna State Opera alone). Birgit Nilsson died 25 December 2005.
© Raymond McGill 2018
* La Nilsson: My Life in Opera; translated from the German by Doris Jung Popper ©2007 by the Estate of Birgit Nilsson
LA NILSSON 33