Music Commons^™

Conrad L. Osborne:, Conrad L. Osborne

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

JBS-USA is once again privileged to present the American master of opera critics in a special Zoom presentation for the Society on Tuesday, February 20 at 7:30 pm ET., which will be repeated on Saturday, February 24 at 12 noon ET. Following the presentation will be a Q & A segment, to which attendees may submit questions.

About his presentation, Mr. Osborne observes: “In my lifetime, there have been two fundamental shifts, both negative in their impact, in how opera is performed. One is in theatrical presentation – the rise of laissez-faire re-interpretation of the canon by directors and designers. …

A Glistening Record – The Conferences Of Jbs-Usa, Walter B. Rudolph, Dan Shea, Sue Flaster

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

At the end of 1998, two years of preliminary organizational work finally had led to the existence of a USA chapter of the Jussi Björling Society. This new group of enthusiasts from North and South America, Europe – and the whole English-speaking world – felt ready to join forces with the British Appreciation Society and the Swedish Sällskap in studying and honoring the career of Jussi Björling.

We were connected by the newsletters that our first leaders published, and also very much by a new feature of those times: the newly popular internet with individuals forming all sorts of specialty …

From The President, Janel E. Lundgren

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

No abstract provided.

Einar Larson, Singer And Colleague, Harald Henrysson

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

As far as I can remember, I only met Einar Larson-- who has written so vividly about his friendship with Jussi----once, at Jussi Björlinggården in Borlänge, the exhibition that had been opened in May 1969. I remember him as a strikingly stately, friendly man, very engaged in what was being done in Jussi’s memory in his native city, but we had no closer contact. I think I can vouch for the fact that there were no objections when the chairman of the local heritage association, rector Gösta A. Karlsson, said about him in his speech at the opening of the …

New Release Of Maria Callas Live Copenhagen Concert Of June 9, 1963, John H. Haley

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Members of the Society will recall the 2016 CD release of Jussi Björling’s wonderful October 15, 1959 recital in Copenhagen at Falkoner Centret, the existence of which was previously unknown. The tape for that release was one of a number I acquired of live concerts recorded at that venue by the hall itself, all in fine sound. I have just released another important one, Maria Callas’ live concert there on June 9, 1963, with the Danish Radio Symphony conducted by Georges Prêtre. Callas became much less active on the opera stage starting in 1962, making her last performances in 1965. …

Three Important Books From Jbs-Usa

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Among the tasks taken up by JBS-USA has been the publication and distribution of books which amplify and explore the legacy of Jussi Björling, as well as the efforts in research and organization which make that exploration possible. In the last several years, three important books have been published by the Society which contribute significantly to understanding both the legacy of the great tenor, and the efforts made in supporting that legacy.

Greetings From Her Late Majesty, Janel E. Lundgren

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

In last year’s Journal (Number 30, Feb 2022), we carried an article, “Serenades for the Queen,” in which we recalled the two concerts performed by Jussi Björling as part of Her Majesty’s Coronation Festival Series of concerts in June of 1953, and included copies of his printed programs.

We also remembered Her Majesty’s State Visit to Sweden in June of 1956, where Jussi once again sang to her at the formal luncheon in Stockholm’s City Hall, and enjoyed a delightful conversation afterward.

Last March, we then joined in the spirit of the Platinum Jubilee by sending the Queen copies of …

The Art Of Jussi Björling, Conrad L. Osborne

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Hello, everybody. Thanks to all of you looking in, and special thanks to Janel Lundgren, who extended the invitation to speak, to Walter Rudolph for hosting our event, to Steve Fischman for handling the sound fragments we’ll be hearing, and to my wife, Molly Regan,for all her help getting the fragments out to Steve. I’ve been following the activities of the Society at one degree of separation for many years, and have met or corresponded with several of you along the way, so I know I’m on home ground, among people as devoted as I am to keeping alive an …

The Advantage Of Not Being A Tenor, Calle Friedner

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

“When I wake up in the morning on my sunny summer island and sometimes hear my two-year-old daughter Ann-Charlotte with her tiny childish voice, but in good sense of pitch, singing “Du lilla solsken som tittar in…” is it then strange to say that I sometimes think of my own childhood filled with singing…”

This is how Jussi Björling begins his memoirs Med bagaget i strupen (With the luggage in my throat). Yes, there should hardly be any doubt about the fact that his daughter was born to become a singer.

However, Ann-Charlotte was not very interested in playing the …

The Björlings And The Swedes In Chicago, Kendall Svengalis

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The Swedish-American poet, historian, biographer, journalist and folklorist, Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), called it the

Hog Butcher for the World, Tool maker, Stacker of Wheat,

Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;

Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders…

While the stockyards closed in 1971, Chicago remains a big, brawling, working class city, with a generous overlay of culture and noteworthy architecture financed by its leading citizens. Symphony Hall, home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the nearby Auditorium Theater, the Lyric Opera, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Goodman Theater, the Field Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium, Adler …

Featuring Chicago’S Frederick Schauwecker, Pianist With Tenor Jussi Björling, Dan Shea

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The Met’s Opera News magazine featured many articles about Jussi Björling during his career in the USA, mostly highlighting his operatic exploits but occasionally acknowledging his concert career in North America. From September 1945 until Jussi’s last North American concert (Santa Monica in April 1960), his main accompanist was Frederick Schauwecker. Luckily someone at Opera News had the good idea, a decade after Jussi’s death, to arrange an interview with him.

The result was a 2-page article “On the Road with Jussi,” with interesting information on how this tenor and accompanist decided to join forces, how they worked together and …

Jbs – Usa Silver Anniversary Conference Chicago, March 23-26, 2023 Thomas Club At Symphony Center

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The Board of Directors is delighted to announce registrations are now available for our 25th Anniversary Conference in Chicago. In addition to celebrating Jussi’s career, we will be adding extra activities and remembrances of 25 years of JBS-USA.

From The President

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

No abstract provided.

Tim Augustin Is 2021 Jussi Björling Society Prize Winner, Bengt Krantz

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

American tenor Tim Augustin has one strong source of inspiration. That source is Jussi Björling. This strong model has brought him to Sweden. He shares this fascination with many other tenors, but Tim seems to have absorbed an enormous amount of knowledge through analytical studies of Jussi’s art of singing. The result is not imitation but a very sophisticated closeness to the tools that are the singer’s: breath control, articulation, textual understanding, expansion and warmth. He has found these constituents in his own voice and applies his insight in a very healthy voice production, which easily brings him through the …

Singer’S Choices:, Allan Buchalter

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

On occasion, a composer will place an additional musical staff above a solo singer’s staff so that the singer can choose which version he/she wishes to sing. Sometimes it is a difference of just a few notes, but can also completely change the melodic line, as I’ll illustrate towards the end of this article, with a Björling and Corelli example, after first mentioning a few “oppure” choices (generally abbreviated in scores as “Opp.”).

What oppure is not, is when due to tradition, or for some other reason, a singer takes it upon himself/herself to add something to an aria, duet, …

Voice Types:, Nils-Göran Olve, Sue Flaster ,Translator, Harald Henrysson ,Translator

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Just as for sopranos, there are, of course, various kinds of tenors. Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro, Rodolfo in La bohème, and Siegmund in Die Walküre, are probably never candidates for each other’s roles. For audiences, Rodolfo in particular defines what it means to be a tenor. That role fach (voice type) is called lyric tenor, and from the 1840s and up to our day, there is one such in every stereotypical opera libretto: the more or less tragic male figure in a love story. At the beginning of the 1800s, similar tenor roles were often written for …

Thoughts On “O Helga Natt”, Kristian Krogholm

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

“No singer was ever more loved than Jussi Björling,” said Elisabeth Söderström at the big concert in Stockholm 1985 to celebrate his memory. Jussi had a quality that set him apart from everyone else. A voice sent from Heaven. So beautiful, so brilliant, so perfect yet so intensely emotional. Every note he sang went straight into the depths of the heart. That kind of attraction cannot be explained, because it is, and will always remain, a mystery.

What is deepest in the heart of every human being is that which we cannot put into words. And what do we all …