Birgit Nilsson - The Great Live Recordings (31 CDS)

Birgit Nilsson was a vocal phenomenon in “a league of her own“ (New York Times). Not even the loudest orchestra could drown her powerful voice.Unfortunately, there were seldom recording engineers around who had the expertise to do her voice justice, so it was mostly reduced to a “normal” size in the studio. As the celebrated German music critic Jürgen Kesting put it: “Birgit Nilsson in the recording studio is like driving a Porsche in the back yard”.Fortunately, there are many live recordings which show the “real thing” – a phenomenal, larger-than-life voice. “There’s nobody like her, no other singer I heard in my life”, said Plácido Domingo who partnered her in several performances of Turandot.This centenary edition showcases Nilsson in roles where she set a new vocal standard – Turandot, Isolde, Brünnhilde, Salome and Elektra – in exciting performances, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Stokowski, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Eugen Jochum, and alongside other great singers like Anna Moffo, Régine Crespin, Leonie Rysanek, Astrid Varnay, Regina Resnik, Franco Corelli, Wolfgang Windgassen, Ramón Vinay, Jon Vickers, Jess Thomas, Theo Adam and Martti Talvela.Taken in chronological order, these live recordings show the development of the voice of the century: from concert recordings in Stockholm (where her career started in the late 1940s) to great performances at the Met, the Bayreuth Festival and the Vienna State Opera, including the Met’s broadcast of Die Walküre conducted by Karajan, two versions of Tristan und Isolde (Bayreuth 1957 and Vienna 1967), two performances of Elektra(Montreal 1967/Expo and Met 1971) and the exciting Turandot with Franco Corelli and Anna Moffo, conducted by Leopold Stokowski.  Despite her legendary “battles” with star tenor Franco Corelli (“Anything you can do, I can do louder!”), Birgit Nilsson was one of a very few singers to be respected by all her colleagues, by conductors and directors and managers. After listening to her live recordings, you’ll know exactly why.

 TRACKLIST

DISC 1: BARTOK: HERZOG BLAUBARTS BURG

Recorded live at the Concert Hall, Stockholm, February 10, 1953

Nilsson, Sönnerstedt

Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay

DISC 2-4: WAGNER: LOHENGRIN

Recorded live at the Bayreuth Festival, August 14, 1954

Windgassen, Nilsson, Varnay, Uhde, Adam, Fischer-Dieskau

Conductor: Eugen Jochum

DISC 5-7: WAGNER: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

Recorded live at the Bayreuth Festival, August 19, 1957

Windgassen, Nilsson, Hoffman, Hotter, van Mill

Conductor: Wolfgang Sawallisch 

DISC 8: WAGNER: DIE WALKÜRE

Act 1, Scene 3: „Schläfst du, Gast“

Recorded live at the Bayreuth Festival, July, 1957

Nilsson, Vinay

Conductor: Hans Knappertsbusch

WAGNER: SIEGFRIED

Act 3, Scene 3: „Heil dir Sonne“Nilsson, Windgassen

Recorded live at the Bayreuth Festival, August, 1967

Conductor: Otmar Suitner

DISC 9-10: PUCCINI: TURANDOT

Recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera House, March 4, 1961 Matinée Broadcast

Nilsson, Moffo

Conductor: Leopold Stokowski

DISC 11-12: STRAUSS: SALOME

Recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera House, March 13, 1965 Matinée Broadcast

Nilsson, Liebl, Dalis, Cassel

Conductor: Karl Böhm

DISC 13-14: STRAUSS: ELEKTRA

Recorded live at the Opéra de Montréal, September 19, 1967

Nilsson, Rysanek, Resnik, Nienstedt, Uhl

Conductor: Karl Böhm

DISC 15-17: WAGNER: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

Recorded live at the Wiener Staatsoper, December 17, 1967Thomas, Nilsson, Hesse, Wiener, Talvela

Conductor: Karl Böhm

DISC 18-20: WAGNER: DIE WALKÜRE

Recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera House, March 1, 1969 Matinée Broadcast

Nilsson, Crespin, Vickers, Adam, Veasey, Talvela

Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

DISC 21-22: BEETHOVEN: FIDELIO

Recorded live at the RAI di Roma, March 17, 1970

Nilsson, Spiess, Adam, Crass, Donath, Unger

Conductor: Leonard Bernstein

DISC 23-24: STRAUSS: ELEKTRA

Recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera House, February 27, 1971 Matinée Broadcast

Nilsson, Rysanek, Madeira, Stewart, Nagy

Conductor: Karl Böhm

DISC 25-27: WAGNER: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

Recorded live at the Festival d'Orange, July 7, 1973

Thomas, Nilsson, Hesse, Wiener, Talvela

Conductor: Karl Böhm

DISC 28-30: STRAUSS: DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN

Recorded live at the Bayerische Staatsoper, September 29, 1976

Nilsson, Bjoner, Varnay, Fischer-Dieskau, KingConductor: Wolfgang Sawallisch 

DISC 31: CONCERTS (Excerpts)Recorded live at the Concert Hall, Stockholm 1953 (first release on CD)/1967/68

Recorded live at the Sydney opera house (Opening Concert), September 29, 1973