Music Commons^™

Nicolai Gedda—The Versatile Tenor, Nils-Göran Olve

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

When Jussi Björling died in September 1960, recording dates for Swedish television a few weeks later were taken over by Nicolai Gedda. It was a sense of succession—Swedes still had a Metropolitan Opera tenor to be proud of, and one who would be a frequent guest at the Stockholm opera as well. For the next 30 years and beyond, I heard him there almost annually, and in concerts longer than that. His final Stockholm concert was well into this century, when he was 76 or 77.

A Wonderful Time In Washington D.C.!: Jbs-Usa 20th Anniversary Mini-Conference, November 17-18, 2017, Janel E. Lundgren, President And Editor

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

This celebratory, international conference opened with an optional event on Friday evening, November 17th, with members attending a dress rehearsal of Bellini’s opera La straniera, performed by the Washington Concert Opera in Lissner Auditorium. The company’s rehearsal/performance was impressive, and a welcome opportunity to hear this infrequently performed opera from the bel canto repertoire.

From The President, Janel E. Lundgren, President And Editor

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The 20th anniversary year of JBS-USA began with our recent celebratory conference in Washington D.C. Thanks to the planning and organizational skills of board member Sue Flaster, and the generous financial support of the membership, we enjoyed the musical excellence of Washington Concert Opera, a full day of distinguished speakers, a beautiful venue in the Swedish Embassy, and the warm fellowship of our fellow members in a reception hosted by Maija Bodow.

Front Matter

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

No abstract provided.

Jussi Björling Statue Sings “O Holy Night”, Göran Forsling

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Central Borlänge, Sweden, was swarming with people ... the afternoon of Advent Sunday. It was the premiere Christmas window display, but towards half past three many gathered at Jussi Björling Square to witness for the first time Jussi Björling as street singer. The statue was discretely coloured in red through spotlight illumination ...

Jussi Björling With Ivor Newton At The Piano

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Royal Albert Hall

Jussi Björling (by arrangement with Harold Holt Ltd.) with Ivor Newton at the Piano.

Programme and Words of Songs.

Happy Encounters With The Björlings, Ray Harsant

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

In 2001, my wife Elizabeth and I attended the JBS-USA Conference in Minnesota. For the benefit of the Jussi Björling Appreciation Society in the UK, Anders Björling put up for sale a lovely picture of Jussi and Ann-Charlotte Björling at the piano together, along with the actual tie that Jussi is wearing in the photo. These items are now framed and are a key part of our sitting room. They serve to remind me of several very special Jussi-memories.

Remembering Torbjörn Lindqvist, Harald Henrysson

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Filmmaker Torbjörn Lindqvist died on November 2nd at 75. For JBS members in Sweden and the US, he is surely best known for his film issued during the Björling centenary, Jussi i Våra Hjärtan, which was also his last. The film was distributed in the US by Kultur as He Sang with a Tear in His Voice, and was well-reviewed by Opera News, among others, which said it was “well written and directed,” and “an endearing portrait of one of the very great singers.”

Record Time: Walter Price Traces The Background Of Rca’S Legendary 1956 Recording Of La Bohème, Walter Price

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

In the spring of 1956, Andrew Schulhof, Thomas Beecham’s manager, had an idea for which record aficionados must continually give thanks. The British conductor was scheduled to be in New York while his then favorite soprano, Victoria De Los Angeles, and Jussi Bjoerling were available. Why not put a cast together and record La Bohème for RCA Victor? Those were the days when sales domination of the international music market gave America unprecedented power.

A Voice Lesson With Jussi, Arthur H. Patrick Darrow

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

In 1950 I was standing on the corner of 11th and Walnut in Kansas City, Missouri, waiting for a streetcar and whistling “Questa o quella” from Rigoletto. I was approached by a man asking for directions to the Plaza Theatre. He spoke to me in a Swedish accent. Curious, I asked if he were Jussi Björling, the tenor, and he was! I wondered if my whistling was why he asked me for directions, but I didn’t ask. I was astonished that he was there in person, so I don’t really recall all of the conversational exchanges we made. I …

Björling On Pristine Audio And Immortal Performances, Kristian Krogholm

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

There are a few record companies left that continue to restore and release old archive recordings in high quality sound. Richard Caniell`s Immortal Performances in Canada is one. I strongly recommend Roméo et Juliette (IPCD 1003-2) and Verdi Requiem (IPCD 1073-2)and a NEW release is due in April/May 2019 (IPCD 1110-2 Manon Lescaut 1959 + bonus concert recordings).

New Björling Cd Available Soon!, Henry Fogel

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

This spring, Immortal Performances will be issuing an exciting new 2-CD set “Jussi Björling: A Treasury of Little Known Broadcasts”. This beautifully re-mastered offering will feature the complete November 1959 Stockholm performance of Manon Lescaut, excerpts from concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and London Palladium, among others, and a Stockholm December benefit concert, (including “O Helga Natt” and a Christmas greeting to the audience from Jussi.) This highly anticipated CD is already receiving rave reviews, such as the following:

New Orleans’ Longtime Promotion Of The Vocal Arts, A Prime Case: The Career Of Soprano Audrey Schuh, Dan Shea

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

“New Orleans is America’s most exotic city ... both mother and muse to countless artistic talents.” These statements are made at the start of Brian Morgan’s 2006 biography of bass-baritone Norman Treigle. Examples of musical talents nurtured in New Orleans are named throughout Morgan’s book, but one of those is very special for Björling fans: Audrey Schuh, the soprano whose lively, lovely singing of young Oscar’s music shines throughout her 1950 recording from New Orleans of Un ballo in maschera.

Thrilling Centenary Book To Be Published, Sue Flaster

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

2019 marks the centenary of the singing tour in the United States of David Björling and his three oldest sons. Of course, for David, this tour was his second American adventure— a subject on which Harald Henrysson has been doing research and publishing informative pieces for many years.

Breathtaking Vocalism In Jussi’S Finest Wartime Concert, 75 Years Ago, Stephen Hastings, Milan Correspondent

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

November 10, 1944 (the first half, consisting of three Swedish songs, has not survived) demonstrates Björling’s increasingly idiomatic command of that language in arias by Donizetti, Mascagni and Puccini and displays the thirty-three-year-old singer at his mid-career best: the voice still enchanting in its youthful overtones, but sufficiently full-bodied to project the music of Calaf and Turiddu (and of course Nemorino) with total authority. Moreover the presence of an enthusiastic audience (the concert was programmed as part of the Stockholm Musicians Festival) and the singularly spacious leadership of the fifty-year-old Tor Mann (then chief conductor of the Swedish Radio Orchestra) …

Birgit Nilsson Centenary 2018: Nilsson Autobiography Re-Issued In 2018: Excerpted From The Original 2008 Review, Andrew Farkas

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Whatever the actual circumstances under which the text was born—writing, dictating, or taping—the narrative voice of Nilsson is consistent throughout and her well-chosen words read as if captured while relaxing in her armchair. Why did she decide to commit her life story to paper? Among the four reasons she enumerates in the Preface, the most convincing is her third: “I want to forestall the coming of the day when some nasty little writer will cook up a brew of lies about la Nilsson.”

Birgit Nilsson Centenary 2018: A Year Of Memories And Tributes, Janel E. Lundgren, Editor

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

“Birgit Nilsson as Isolde Flashes Like New Star in ‘Met’ Heavens.” proclaimed The New York Times on Dec 19, 1959, placing an exultant review of her first performance at the Metropolitan Opera on its front page.

Birgit Nilsson Centenary 2018: Meeting With Isolde, Stefan Johansson, Director

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The first time I saw and heard Birgit Nilsson on the stage of the Royal Swedish Opera is now more than 60 years ago, the 16th of March 1958. I had started my career as a member of the opera audience in the autumn of 1957 with a holiday afternoon performance of Wagner’s Parsifal, in the first Swedish staging from 1917… Really I had wished to see a fairly recent production of Carmen, much talked about and broadcast in the then single channel of the Swedish Radio. But Parsifal neither made me fall asleep nor scared me off from further …

From The President, Janel E. Lundgren, President And Editor

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Happy New Year to our members, and welcome to the 2019 edition of our Journal. We are privileged to feature articles by multiple eminent authors, friends, and supporters of JBSUSA. We also reprint an article by our dear former member the late Pat Darrow, take a delightful stroll down memory lane with our friend Ray Harsant, and say farewell to JB documentary creator Torbjörn Lindqvist with a memorial by Harald Henrysson.

Front Matter

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

No abstract provided.