Birgit Nilsson

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Birgit Nilsson (1948)
Birgit Nilsson as Lady Macbeth in Stockholm, 1947

Märta Birgit Nilsson (born May 17, 1918 in Västra Karup , Båstad municipality , † December 25, 2005 in Bjärlöv , Kristianstad municipality ) was a Swedish opera singer . With her highly dramatic soprano voice , she was undisputedly one of the leading interpreters of the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss from the end of the 1950s until her stage farewell in the mid-1980s .

Life

Birgit Nilsson was born as the daughter of farmer Nils Svensson and his wife Justina Pälson in the small Swedish town of Västra Karup. She first attended an agricultural school. She then completed musical training, from 1941 to 1944 at the Royal Music Academy in Stockholm and from 1944 to 1946 at the opera school there. She received singing lessons from C. Blennon. Nilsson made her debut in Stockholm in 1946 as Agathe in Weber's Freischütz . She attracted attention in 1947 as Lady Macbeth in a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth at the Royal Swedish National Opera (Kungliga Operan) in Stockholm under the direction of Fritz Busch (1890-1951). He recognized her great talent very quickly and hired her immediately. After touring Germany and Italy, she became a member of the ensemble at the Royal Swedish National Opera . Busch also gave her an engagement at the Glyndebourne opera festival in 1951 as Elektra in Mozart's Idomeneo . In 1953 she sang the solo part in Beethoven's 9th Symphony under Paul Hindemith in Bayreuth . In 1954 she was appointed Swedish court singer. In the same year she appeared for the first time at the Vienna State Opera and made her stage debut at the Bayreuth Festival , both as Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin . Here she worked closely with Wolfgang Wagner and Karl Böhm .

In North America she won the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1959 as Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde . Nilsson has appeared on many major stages, including Munich , Vienna , Berlin , Tokyo , Paris , Milan , Buenos Aires , Chicago , San Francisco and Hamburg . She performed at the Bayreuth Festival until 1970 and was particularly successful as Brünnhilde in the Ring of the Nibelung and as Isolde. Together with Wolfgang Windgassen , under the direction of Karl Böhm , their appearances in Bayreuth are still considered a myth and indisputable great moment of the festival. She made triumphant debuts in Hollywood, Chicago and San Francisco in 1956. Her performance of Turandot in 1969 in the Arena di Verona and her Isolde next to Jon Vickers ' Tristan in the ancient amphitheater of Orange in southern France in 1973 were a sensation. In the same year she gave three concerts at the opening of the Sydney Opera House. In 1984 she announced her retirement from the stage. Since then she has passed on her experience as a singing teacher. Her autobiography was published in Sweden in 1996 and was published in Germany under the title Mein Leben für die Oper . For her humorous book she received the Humor Prize '97 in her home country .

Birgit Nilsson became an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic in 1968 . Her numerous recordings include u. a. trend-setting is Isolde, Brünnhilde in the Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner and the title roles of Elektra and Salome as well as the dyer's wife in Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten . Her first Grammy awards took place in 1960 for Turandot with Erich Leinsdorf . Together with Georg Solti, she was honored in 1966 with the “Best opera Recording” award. In 2002 she received the Anton Seidl Award from the Wagner Society of New York for her expressive Wagner interpretations .

Nilsson married the veterinarian Bertil Niklasson in 1948. The couple had no children. The soprano was known for her humor. As an 80-year-old, she reported that a large part of her fan mail was directed to the sex star Brigitte Nielsen , and said that she and her almost namesake, who is 45 years younger than her, have “a lush chest”. When Herbert von Karajan once sent her a multi-page telegram with a detailed description of projects, dates and operas, she telegraphed back: “BUSY. Birgit. "

In the last few years of her life, she suffered from severe heart and kidney diseases. According to the Swedish daily newspapers Expressen and Svenska Dagbladet , she died on Christmas Day, December 25, 2005, in her house in Bjärlöv in southern Sweden; However, her death was only made public on January 11, 2006 after her burial in the village cemetery of her birthplace Västra Karup. The diva was buried there next to her parents, father Nils Svensson and mother Justina Pälson. The exact circumstances of death were not disclosed.

Birgit Nilsson's family bequeathed the court singer's archive to the Royal Library in Stockholm , Sweden's national library. The archive, which has been accessible to researchers since May 16, 2008, contains their official correspondence, manuscripts, diary entries, photographs, notes and newspaper clippings.

Birgit Nilsson Prize

A few years before her death, Birgit Nilsson founded the Birgit Nilsson Foundation . Its sole purpose is to award the Birgit Nilsson Prize, the world's most valuable music prize. The first winner, Plácido Domingo , was chosen by Nilsson himself.

Birgit Nilsson Museum

The Birgit Nilsson Museum , which is dedicated to the memory of the soprano, is located in Västra Karup, Nilsson's birthplace .

Sound documents (selection)

Fonts

  • My life for the opera. Translated from the Swedish by Susanne Dahmann. 3. Edition. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-596-14430-2 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Archives Vienna State Opera
  2. ↑ Archive of the Bayreuth Festival
  3. ^ The New York Times Biographical Service . Volume 2. 1971, p. 4301.
  4. ↑ Irene Bazinger: Where the Isolde of the century milked the cows . In: FAZ . No. 297 , December 22, 2015, p. 12 .
personal data
SURNAME Nilsson, Birgit
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nilsson, Märta Birgit (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish opera singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Västra Karup , Båstad Municipality
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 2005
Place of death Bjärlöv , Kristianstad municipality