Birgit Nilsson Prize

The Birgit Nilsson Prize is an international music prize donated by the Swedish opera singer Birgit Nilsson . The award is given to active singers or conductors for "extraordinary successes" in the entire field of song art (opera, concert, oratorio, lied). The music prize is awarded every two to three years and is worth one million US dollars (approx. 775,000 euros).

background

Birgit Nilsson (1918–2005) founded the Birgit Nilsson Foundation a few years before her death , the sole purpose of which is to award the Birgit Nilsson Prize. The award is intended to help preserve Birgit Nilsson's legacy within the Swedish operatic tradition.

She herself chose the first winner, Plácido Domingo, who could not be announced until three years after her death. The other winners are determined by a jury, each appointed by the foundation for three years. The foundation's president has been the manager Rutbert Reisch since 2008, responsible for the group treasury of Volkswagen AG until 2004 and former CFO of the Volkswagen foundation . It is possible to award the prize to two winners, in which case the prize amount will be divided; repeated allocation to the same person is not possible.

The award ceremony takes place in October at the Royal Stockholm Opera . The awards are given by King Carl XVI. Presented to Gustaf from Sweden . The ceremony is deliberately intended to tie in with the Nobel Prize ceremony, which has no Nobel Prize for Music. The Birgit Nilsson Prize is the most valuable music award in the world.

The next award ceremony will take place on October 11, 2018 and is part of the celebrations for the singer's 100th birthday. From January 2019 "the Birgit Nilsson Foundation and the Birgit Nilsson Prize" will be incorporated into the Royal Swedish Academy of Music .

Members of the jury

Members of the jury 2011–2018:

• the English writer and opera critic of the Daily Telegraph Rupert Christiansen,
• the former director of Malmö Opera Bengt Hall,
• the former director of the Vienna Philharmonic Clemens Hellsberg ,
• the former general manager of the Seattle Opera Speight Jenkins as well
• Eva Wagner-Pasquier , the former co-managing director of the Bayreuth Festival .

Award winners

• 2009 Plácido Domingo
• 2011 Riccardo Muti
• 2014 Vienna Philharmonic
• 2018 Nina Stemme

literature

• Birgit Nilsson: La Nilsson. My life for the opera , Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2006; New edition English: Verlag für modern art , Vienna, ISBN 978-3-903228-25-2
• Rutbert Reisch (Ed.): Birgit Nilsson 100. An Homage , Engl .: Verlag für Moderne Kunst, Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-903153-92-9

Web links

• Pages of the Birgit Nilsson Foundation on the award

Individual evidence

1. ↑ What you get the highest music award in the world for in FAZ on October 10, 2014, page 13
2. ↑ Press release of the Foundation from May 15, 2018 (PDF)