Birgit Nilsson's shockingly easy high notes. In questa reggia [Turandot]

Birgit Nilsson's shockingly easy high notes. In questa reggia [Turandot] - 1962

Рет қаралды 62,929

4 жыл бұрын

The other upload of this on KZfaq only has sound in the right channel. I've corrected that for your listening enjoyment!
Concert at the Royal Opera Stockholm
Swiss Radio Symphony Orchestra
Sixten Erling, conductor
1962
.....................................
Yes, the singing is... extra.
Trrill™ is about florid passages, improvisatory underpinnings, staccato'd intuitions, and virtuosities even at their most ridiculous.
But it's also about the biggest, boldest form of vocal emission, with aural examples of basically correct singing, correct impostazione-chiaroscuro, vowel clarity, firm and centered pitch, correct vibrato action, absence of throatiness or thickness, sounds free from constriction and from the acoustic noise that accompanies it-with occasional video examples that demonstrate what the body, face, mouth, jaw, and tongue look like when used with correct impostazione-the vocal emission of the one and only Italian school.
Caveat: I'm biased in favor of #baritones and baritone literature, but if you want to learn about and listen to all the greatest singers in the old-school tradition, explore this spreadsheet (voice parts are separated by tabs):
bit.ly/2W4qmE3
#Sopranos #HighNotes #Opera

Пікірлер: 161

@mikaelb7735 Жыл бұрын

Something to study and learn for today´s Wobble Turandots.

@chocolatesouljah 2 ай бұрын

Well stated!

@RestlessTheRED 4 күн бұрын

I wonder if a certain Anna N. heard this recording… 😭

@mikaelb7735 4 күн бұрын

@@RestlessTheRED SUPERB comment!!!

@scataplaft Жыл бұрын

I always think her high notes sound absolutely miraculous. It sounds almost "percussive", if that makes sense... as if an organist hit a key on a keyboard. The sound starts from nowhere with absolute precision, power and constancy. It's jaw-dropping. I'm obsessed with her.

@williammorris584 Жыл бұрын

“Percussive” I wouldn’t have though of, but is quite descriptive; some of these notes are not issued, but struck.

@geekbaritone 8 ай бұрын

Percussive? to me sounds more like metallic resonance like a pipe organ.

@jamesryan6008 2 жыл бұрын

A quote from Birgit Nilsson: Isolde made me famous. Turandot made me rich.

@xiaogeju2011 5 ай бұрын

I am just reading her autobiography. 💫

@dubbelhenke854 3 ай бұрын

@@xiaogeju2011 It is very amusing and interesteing.

@mattias5157 2 ай бұрын

I´m a Swede. We remember her as a great singer of course. But her wit and humour... It´s easier to reproduce I guess, the way you just did. She´s a legend.

@eternalmariacallas2283 4 жыл бұрын

2:26 HUGE VOICE! That laser beam Squillo.

@jimbuxton2187 2 жыл бұрын

Wouldn't it be fun to put Birgit next to Dimitrova and compare them in the theater.....!

@judygarland7186 3 ай бұрын

@@jimbuxton2187 dimitrova had bigger voice than nilsson

@little-963 3 ай бұрын

I love Dimitrova but her hight C were not solid but screamy Nilsson had solid crystall clear voice @@judygarland7186

@Operafreak9 Жыл бұрын

I remember seeing this on black and white TV when I was a HS freshman. I thought it was ridiculous. Little did I know then the power this woman would soon hold over me that would endure throughout my life. Her performances were life changing experiences for me. No one can compare. No one.

@mikaelb7735 Жыл бұрын

So rightly said!!!!!

@raybercse1 4 жыл бұрын

Notice how easily she produces those laser high notes so effortlessly. She simply opens her mouth and the notes just pour out with such extreme volume.

@Sabininho 4 жыл бұрын

She simply thinks about her line and then her projection, then breathes, then keeps a cord closure that's just about right to have balanced flow and then decides when to sustain more. Yes ... simple

@cmg1111 3 жыл бұрын

Years of proper training and dedication make it look simple.

@raybercse1 3 жыл бұрын

@@cmg1111 I agree. In addition to watching her health and using her voice with intelligence.

@handreasantos3878 3 жыл бұрын

@@cmg1111 Plus Godzilla vocal chords

@Wotan123456789 3 жыл бұрын

I would say that the sound seems to be effortless, however there a lot of muscle work going on in her body to produce that. Simply amazing. I recall in an interview she said that when she would sing Turandot, she would use every single muscle in her body to produce that sound. A force of nature that comes only in a lifetime (or even maybe two lifetimes!)

@user-rn2sc5xn1n Жыл бұрын

Die schönste Stimme der Welt stark klar mit eine unglaubliche Schönheit

@Situnadei Жыл бұрын

In 1962 La Nilsson evidentely reached HEAVEN !

@sayersbrock Жыл бұрын

A masterclass of the highest order... young singers take several notes!

@filipszyga7394 Жыл бұрын

Wow the chiaroscuro she puts into it. Sound is full of light yet deep

@rogermaes6001 2 жыл бұрын

She kills me and in tthe same time I could cry of happiness ! We love you Birgit, wherever you are, your voice will never stop shining ! (By the way, with a Turandot like her, any Calaf drop dead at once... except Corelli, of course !) Thanks for this expert I never saw before.

@sarunda2003 Жыл бұрын

Nobody is like Birgit. Thank you, my beautiful inspiration, for all music. 💐💐💐

@uliwidmaier5192 Жыл бұрын

Some of the greatest high notes ever recorded. They sound downright otherworldly. As many have noted in the comments, they are not effortless, though they sure sound that way. Nilsson works extremely hard to produce them, both mentally and physically. The startling thing is that she succeeded to such an absurd extent. I never heard her live, but I'm told that she was much more impressive onstage than in any recording. A frightening thought! Joachim Kaiser, the great late German music critic, wrote that she makes other world class singers who share the stage with her sound undeservedly third-rate. Another thing I heard is that she didn't sound all that impressive when you stood next to her on stage. It was only in the auditorium that her unique voice truly unfolded. At any rate, a truly great recording.

@johnmaxwell1750 Жыл бұрын

I heard Nilsson sing Wagner at the Metropolitan Opera in New York During the performance I was at a standing room post behind the top row at the most distant point from the stage in that huge house. When she hit a high C something incredible and spectacular happened. I could feel reverberations from her voice physically coming through the bar of the post before me and radiating up my arms to my chest. I will never forget that moment as long as I live. I have heard other great singers but nobody I heard had her vocal power. They say Lauritz Melchior equalled her.

@uliwidmaier5192 Жыл бұрын

@@johnmaxwell1750 That is crazy! What an awesome experience! Thank you so much for sharing. Wow. Born in 1962, I missed her by just a few years.

@johnmaxwell1750 Жыл бұрын

@@uliwidmaier5192 - Your words brought my experience at the Met 45 years ago back to me. I thank you for spurring a recall of that tremendous memory. I sure would love to have heard Flagstad and Melchior together!

@uliwidmaier5192 Жыл бұрын

@@johnmaxwell1750You are most welcome! I guess there is no end to what we would have liked to have heard. You got to experience Nilsson, which is absolutely magnificent. But you missed out on Flagstad and Melchior. There are probably not too many people alive who have heard those two. And they, in turn, missed out on Ponselle and Caruso . . . I am mainly a piano aficionado, and I got to experience Horowitz, Rubinstein, Kempff, Arrau, Richter, Michelangeli, and Brendel. So I am pretty happy.

@johnmaxwell1750 Жыл бұрын

@@uliwidmaier5192 - I was lucky to hear Rubenstein play Chopin. Also heard von Karajan/BPO and Solti/CSO. The skill and the excellence of those fantastic performances reminds me how lucky I was to hear such great artists at the peak of their powers. Their skills were several orders of magnitude beyond what most popular musicians in the same period accomplished during live performances.

@lewashcliffe Жыл бұрын

Utter perfection! Her technique is flawless, with no constriction, no tongue flutter, and no wiggling around as most sopranos today do. Every note is dead center pitch with power to reach the farthest part of any opera house. No screaming, and no attempts to "place" her pitches with nasality. The greatest Turandot of the last many, many years. No one today comes close.

@uliwidmaier5192 Жыл бұрын

Spot on! Perfectly put! It's downright disconcerting how far singers have slipped from this standard. It's as though the best sprinters today were running the 100m in 11 seconds.

@er12144 Жыл бұрын

I completely agree with your assessment of Nilsson and your views on singers today! Although, I did a Turandot with Cristina Deutekom and she too, was close to perfection.

@uliwidmaier5192 Жыл бұрын

@@er12144 You heard Deutekom in Turandot? Awesome! What an experience! Did you ever hear Nilsson live?

@er12144 Жыл бұрын

@@uliwidmaier5192 Yes, I heard Deutekom sing every rehearsal and performance. San Diego Opera in the Spring of 1982. Deutekom was incredible although, everyone acknowledges that Nilsson reigns supreme as Turandot! Deutekom returned soon after to sing Abagaile in Nabucco... stellar singing!

@DiomedesDioscuro Жыл бұрын

Perfection? Her sound is just ugly and she's not able to pronounce all of the syllables. You can like, but it's definitely not perfect.

@stege9979 Жыл бұрын

She's's crazy easy hitting them notes. And then came Jussi Björling. What a country.

@danielintheantipodes6741 Жыл бұрын

One thing I do notice is that Birgit is not ashamed to open her mouth wide. Some of the young ones are fixated with looking lovely!

@zeynjenkins2073 Ай бұрын

I admire her posture. Surely that's a contributing factor to her beautiful voice.

@ER1CwC 2 жыл бұрын

The best thing about this video is that one is able to see just how poised yet relaxed her torso is. There is no tension anywhere, and there are no gimicks. She just stands and delivers, with the exception of the final high C where she hunkers down with that oomf from her core and below to get some extra support - just as she should!

@joejohnson945 2 жыл бұрын

I'm so glad that you approve of her technique Eric !

@ejvindfrantzen4194 Жыл бұрын

@@joejohnson945 right to the point!

@joejohnson945 Жыл бұрын

@@ejvindfrantzen4194 We are so lucky and blessed to have on you tube video clips of the worlds greatest singers of the modern era (on film). When I read comments, be it approval or criticism, by members of the you tube community, and I suspect that the one's that I am thinking of, believe themselves to be voice coaches or experts, I have to wonder at what point they become qualified to approve or disapprove the performances of the greats.

@ejvindfrantzen4194 Жыл бұрын

@@joejohnson945 I played for 40 years in the opera orchestra in Copenhagen and even accompanied Brigit Nilsson in "Tosca" many many years ago. I love her voice and personality! Yours Ejvind Frantzen

@joejohnson945 Жыл бұрын

@@ejvindfrantzen4194 Ejvind, how wonderful it must be to work with one of the opera world's greatest. You must have some wonderful memories. Best wishes, Joe

@josephcollins6033 Жыл бұрын

Such a miracle!!!!

@djan959 Жыл бұрын

Thrilling

@pascalecoulombe7299 3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely amazing!

@LorisIpanov 3 жыл бұрын

Spettacolare😍

@suffes1 Жыл бұрын

Fantastic! Excellent! Bravo!

@hayerwhophtow6700 Жыл бұрын

A Deusa da minha rua 💖💖💖💖💖

@cimbassovr 3 жыл бұрын

Signore e Signori ho il piacere di presentarvi Sua Alltezza reale TURANDOT

@soniayi5184 6 ай бұрын

Thank you Thank you for uploading the legendary master!!!

@rosebud3971 3 жыл бұрын

BRAVO!

@karinaazatyan4231 4 ай бұрын

!!!!!!what a voice!!!! What a performer!!!! What a power!!!!!

@andrewculwell707 7 ай бұрын

A voice of her century and perhaps the millennium!

@jung123456 Жыл бұрын

I remember the sound of her voice made you feel you were being pushed back in your seat! Turandot, Elektra, Brunhilde....

@demadesgomes76 4 жыл бұрын

Great,Thank you for sharing. 👏💐

@driveopera2541 2 жыл бұрын

Your channel is awesome!

@user-jt4js7ed3e 3 жыл бұрын

Классная Биргит!

@golden-63 8 ай бұрын

Many years ago, a friend of mine told me that in Germany, they called Nilsson ",Laserzunge" which translates roughly to Laser Tongue.

@rubenbenitez8342 2 жыл бұрын

He quedado perplejo!! Que hermoso ❣️ con que naturalidad canta y cuánta entrega y pasión, genial!!!

@stellarsjay1773 Жыл бұрын

This simply explains why Turandot was brought out of the vault especially for Nilsson.

@lanfrancogiannini9887 Жыл бұрын

Meravigliosa Nilson una delle piu' grandi interpreti di Tutradt❤️

@italnsd Жыл бұрын

L'unica, direi

@operaforlife6551 4 жыл бұрын

Wow this is great, thanks! I didn't know there was footage of her singing Turandot, other than in the filmed production from 1969, what a powerhouse!

@trrill 4 жыл бұрын

There's also this one, where she's singing live: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/guB3bNOf3NG3ZGw.html

@operaforlife6551 4 жыл бұрын

@@trrill thanks :)

@erlandhagegard5879 Жыл бұрын

Unglaublich perfekt😍

@tarekmohamed3263 3 ай бұрын

Goddess.

@novagerio Жыл бұрын

There's only one word for Birgit: SPECTACULAR !!

@omarsomehow69 2 жыл бұрын

Birgit Nilsson - the sweetest songbird that Sweden was ever produced.

@draganvidic2039 2 жыл бұрын

@@jimbuxton2187 But norweigan

@otgiggs Жыл бұрын

Jenny Lind says hi.

@footingball5566 Жыл бұрын

@@otgiggs yes lol

@user-jt4js7ed3e 3 жыл бұрын

Люблю. ....... Куда там....кому там.....Нільсон - золото!

@michaelamadivocalreality.2052 4 жыл бұрын

Great Vocal Emission. Beautiful. So much bloom and freedom in her voice and the release of the air. She has a deep understanding of the OLD REAL ITALIAN APPOGGIO BREATHING TECHNIQUE. 👌👌👌👌👌

@user-jt4js7ed3e Жыл бұрын

Люблю.

@fredobatista4367 Жыл бұрын

💚

@petertenten8626 Ай бұрын

Es treibt mir die Tränen in die Augen. Diese Hochdramatische ist bis heute unerreicht. Wer sie auf der Bühne erleben konnte, darf sic h glücklich schätzen, weil nach Nilsson keine Sängerin in ihrer Klasse zu erleben war.

@radames5855 10 ай бұрын

Grandissima soprano !!!

@raynardi2326 11 ай бұрын

Che sogno....

@crazyorganist1609 Жыл бұрын

Sutherland and Nilsson both used the Bel Canto technique and it showed. They both stayed within their repertoire and it protected their voices. Singers today can't touch the likes of Nilsson and Sutherland

@YogiCecily Жыл бұрын

I think it’s very hard these days for any classical musician to not add some sort of gimmick because perfection like this can be easily found and fewer and fewer people want to sit and listen to fantastic singers much less have a appreciation for the composition.

@crazyorganist1609 Жыл бұрын

@@YogiCecily exactly my thoughts

@omarsomehow69 Жыл бұрын

With expectation that Nilsson is actually better than Sutherland

@YogiCecily Жыл бұрын

@@omarsomehow69 As a singer from many years ago I tried not to get into “better than” ideas. The human voice is an instrument unique to the singer. The physiology and shape of the voice box is really, really different for everyone. I think managing one’s instrument took precedent in the past. Being creative, dramatic, looking the part, etc. is more important, now. Connoisseurs will listen to recordings and folks who like live theater will prefer those more dramatic, albeit less than perfect singer/actor performers. I myself sit back in awe that composers like Puccini even thought that singing those lines was possible. The music they wrote is the greatest value (for me) no matter who’s singing it.

@DiomedesDioscuro Жыл бұрын

Sutherland was not that last longing when you get to think about it, was she?

@vivianbelissima Жыл бұрын

👏👏👏👏👏👏

@notnek202 4 ай бұрын

What happened why are there No singers like this today?

@mislavhilc 3 жыл бұрын

Puccini realy wanted to torture dramatic sopranos? The texture of this aria is so weirdly high for dramatic soprano.

@jmiller05 3 жыл бұрын

Art demands sacrifice 😉

@jimbuxton2187 2 жыл бұрын

I wonder how many people were bleeding in the audience... lol

@jasonhurd4379 2 жыл бұрын

What people tend to forget is: as we learn later in the opera, Turandot is already in love with Calaf when she sings this aria. This has thrown her off-kilter, and she is nervous and hysterical. That is the reason for the extremely high, almost screamy tessitura. Puccini was a master at creating character through musical means.

@pedrosergio2002 Жыл бұрын

@@jasonhurd4379 I agree with you.

@SymphonyBrahms Жыл бұрын

Singers like Nilsson, Traubel, Flagstad, Callas, Ponselle, Melchior, and Bjorling are not to be found in opera today. The gods and goddesses have perished in Valhalla.

@notnek202 4 ай бұрын

Why?

@tommylundholm9146 3 ай бұрын

So these are icons ftom the past but ofcourse there are singers on this level today, but today you compete with more singer so you dont get the same treatment and hype.

@chocolatesouljah 3 ай бұрын

@@tommylundholm9146 I have a hard time imagining singers now that can sing like this video. Would you be willing to name a few singers that you’re thinking of that you would recommend?

@LloydRMaes 2 ай бұрын

I agree!

@LloydRMaes 2 ай бұрын

👍

@yaelpalombo4093 4 ай бұрын

Also Eva Turner💖💖💖💖

@virgilionescu5274 2 күн бұрын

Callas forever! Nobody can sing this aria like Maria - Is obvious that Nilsson do not understand Italian. Oderwise she can not be so soft on the word orrore.. Every word is so meaningful with Maria, she really understand like nobodyelse Puccini. Is incredible how Maria modulate the intrinsic ritm of this aria crating visual effect - listen to he 1957 rendition of the aria - how she sing/say "o Principi che a lunghi caravane... dove parte del mondo qui venite..." lunghi caravane suggest in Maria rendition something ondulating like kamels on the sand dunes the quaitnes if is firs disrupted by the accent on QUI venite - here, here is my reign - to do a real very good crescendo for Io vendico SU VOI, quella purezza - very delicate, ascending on quel grido for the pike on quella MORTE. Maria is a real genius, I was incapable to listen to Pucini before I discovered Maria in1994 - til that moment I listen to her recordings again and again, and they are so alive, every time I discover a nuance, an accent a way how she can create with sound ONLY visual images. An other example is from La Sonambula - "amo il rio perche londa ti da..."when si sing first this at Edinburg is very much evident - is like you hear water going from a bottle to a glass for Elvino to drink - Callas a real genius, nobody sing like her.

@IchiganCS 3 жыл бұрын

May I ask why you didn't include Greindl and Hotter in your google-spreadsheet? They were nasal later in their career, but their technique in the 1930s/1940s was great. Greindl (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g7dje81_vdKbnok.html), Hotter (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jN1knbuKl62bcn0.html). Do you think they were overall bad or do you only include singers who were consistently good throughout their career?

@indeserto Жыл бұрын

The lady was properly taught by someone who insisted on taking high notes cleanly, and without facial or bodily contortion.

@omarsomehow69 10 ай бұрын

She was a self - taught

@indeserto 10 ай бұрын

@@omarsomehow69 tell me more, please.

@omarsomehow69 8 ай бұрын

first teacher was about to ruin her voice. She dropped the whole thing and found her way how to re - build her voice. Especially her top.@@indeserto

@magnusjakopsohn7824 6 ай бұрын

Yeah she hated her teachers. The first one thought she was a mezzo and physically tried to push her voice down. It almost ruined her voice. Her second was almost as bad, the father of soprano Erika Sunnergård. Both of them try to take credit for Nilssons voice with Erika stating that her home was filled with that technique and that she definitely wasn't self-taught. Obviously not true since Erika doesn't sound a f*****ng bit like Birgit at all, and non of Arne Sunnergårdhs students has anything in common with Birgit.. Nilsson was mainly self-taught and her inspiration for the high notes, was her mother who easily took the high C:s in the most brilliant and easy way

@jean-paulbjorlin4070 4 жыл бұрын

Swedish radio symphony or Swiss??

@trrill 4 жыл бұрын

Swedish. It says it-in Swedish-around 0:17.

@jean-paulbjorlin4070 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for yet another excellent upload! Great collection

@christerguldeman9952 9 ай бұрын

This is a concert in the Opera House Stockholm, Sweden.

@GeorgiNM 8 ай бұрын

Another example of why it's just asking too much, wanting to hear a trilled R sung on high B.

@forzadeldestino7249 2 жыл бұрын

Must have made it possible for broke enthusiasts to save money listening from across the street.

@jimbuxton2187 2 ай бұрын

A Soprano should have easy high notes! Brigit is a high soprano.

@TheFrankozzi 2 ай бұрын

Can i say i love Birgit and am a huge fan but i dont like her Turandot ?

@ransomcoates546 2 жыл бұрын

She would have been 44. The voice took time to reach peak performance.

@omarsomehow69 2 жыл бұрын

To reach peak? She was perfect here.

@ransomcoates546 Жыл бұрын

@@omarsomehow69 Precisely my point. She debuted in the 1940’s.

@omarsomehow69 Жыл бұрын

@@ransomcoates546 ah, this. I get it. The voice always had dramatic temperament when it comes to top notes, but mostly covered by lyric personality.

@brunopicaude3092 10 ай бұрын

La Nilsson aligne les contre-ut aussi facilement que si elle enfilait des perles. En revanche, le chef dirige tout ça à la truelle. Aucun sens du phrasé puccinien.

@clarequilty4962 Жыл бұрын

Callas fans only sound stupid when they insist her renditions of "Turandot" are superior to Nilsson's.

@vivianbelissima Жыл бұрын

BRAVA CALLAS

@clarequilty4962 Жыл бұрын

@@vivianbelissima CROAK, HOOT!

@magnusjakopsohn7824 6 ай бұрын

Oh come on! Callas and Sutherland's renditions of Turandot is extremely bad! The only one who can play in the Turandot league was Gwyneth Jones and she still was far behind

@clarequilty4962 6 ай бұрын

@@magnusjakopsohn7824 Birgit Nillson's is superior to all of them.