I think the most remarkable thing with Nilsson, Callas, Ponselle and a few others is that they could command dynamics with GIGANTIC voices. And not just sustained pp tones with a big gulp of breath before the note like Caballe and Gencer, who had much smaller instruments. A single ppp from a pure dramatic voice is nothing short of a miracle. And Nilsson, as showcased here, was a f*cking GENETIC MIRACLE! Sutherland once remarked that she particularly found Nilsson's fil di voce amazing surely knowing how hard it is to sing a fil di voce with such a huge voice.
It's not a genetic miracle, it's staying true to traditional Italian technique, Nilsson, Callas, and Ponselle all did that (although Callas had health issues which impaired her singing, and later on Ponselle didn't sing in line with traditional technique as much, and her voice got noticeably smaller and more nasally). There's been a large general decline in technique, the channel This is Opera (and its archive channel) have some good example videos, but I wouldn't use that as your soul source of singing advise.
This woman gives me serious goosebumps. I don't know how she manages to explode a high C like that and then finish with this ultra pianissimo lighter than a feather. She sounds almost like a software. It's nuts. Lol. ❤ Thanks for another amazing post. Ps: I found out about your other channel recently and I'm addicted to it. ❤
So... My neighbours just came to complain about one of their walls falling down because of some kind of thunderous noise. I told them I knew nothing about it, but I'm pretty sure it happened when the video was around 5:15. Oh, well... In all seriousness, though, the sheer power of Nilsson's high notes is one of humanity's mysteries. And being able to control that power to gift us with all kinds of dynamics like that final pianissimo is no easy feat. Simply spectacular.
..... Uno splendore di voce è dire poco... Una delle grandi interpreti di Lirica in assoluto!! Birgit Nilsson fa parte di quella meravigliosa schiera dell' eccellenza non plus ultra di vere firme indimenticabili dell' Arte operistica. Grazie caro Lohengrin0 di aver diviso con i tuoi iscritti questa meraviglia... Una buona serata a te!!! 🙋🙋🙋🙋🙋Elsa.
Elsa Asta ......sono d'accordo! Sono indignato per le ultime notizie dall'Arena di Verona,per un po' di notorietà' si e' voluto "sporcare" quest'opera splendida del nostro grande Verdi,con sterili,inutili e al limite dell'insulto polemiche del trucco! Aida e' nera! Come Ciò Ciò San e' Giapponese dalla pelle candida! Ma apparteniamo tutti alla razza umana.La musica e' l'arte annullano gli sciocchi steccati, che noi umani creiamo.Quel soprano poteva davvero risparmiarci quella squallida polemica! Ciao.
@@cosimoepicoco7022..... Ciao caro Cosimo se mi permetti ti voglio dare un semplice consiglio fai come me evita di guardare certi insulsi spettacoli... cosi non ti fai il sangue amaro!! La modernità porta quasi sempre a demolire ciò che di bello e grandioso è stato fatto dai grandi talenti del passato.. con la differenza però che loro saranno sempre ricordati e quelli che oggi si chiamano artisti saranno solo meteore!! Ciao Cosimo ti auguro una buona giornata..... Elsa.
Elsa Asta ...no,non so se la danno in TV,leggevo le cronache.Comunque quel soprano nel frattempo si e' ammalata ed e' stata sostituita.Non faccio sangue amaro,faccio solo delle riflessioni.Ciao grazie della risposta.
I agree dear virtual friend Lohengrin O. It's a amazing, gorgeous and beatiful vocal hearthquake. Best wishes from Santiago de Chile. Dr. Fernando Rivas-Burattini. Ut Benedicat tibi Dominun.
I have rarely heard Nilsson sing so beautifully. Sometimes she has a harsh edge to her sound, which helps with its ability to cut through Wagner and conquer as Turandot, but here it's just gorgeous, wondrous singing.
I believe the record where she sounds the prettiest is her Salome under Solti. Perhaps not as nuanced as Stratas, but vocally unparalleled. Have listen, you won't regret it! (Solti is also in top form)
This is a real dramatic soprano voice! Pure dramatic soprano! Caballe next to this type of voice is a soubrette. Caballe had a huge voice but it was huge lyric not huge dramatic like this!
I totally agree, Caballe did REALLY compensate her lyric nature with big and gorgeous chest tones when singing dramatic repertoire, this developed part of her technique allowed her to sing heavier repertoire. Similar of what Zeani did too in Aida and other heavier roles. Where is that incredible musicality and manufacture of one's voice nowadays? nowhere, gone...
She is wonderful in this role. I think she must have listened to Callas because she appears similar in the way she expresses the music, especially that high note.
Damn cigarette smoking smokers. Cough, cough, cough, cough. During the entire aria nothing but coughing. I guess back in the day people must have coughed nonstop due to the fact that almost everyone was a cigarette smoking addict. Pitiful. Yet another live performance ruined by an audience full of cigarette smokers. It happens time after time here on UA-cam listening to these videos.
1. You know how Jon Vickers had responded to a spasmodic cougher during his death scene in Tristan? he was lying dead and the guy kept coughing so he comes up and said: SHUT UP WITH YOUR DAMN COUGHY!, 2. I personally never hear the coughs, my mind totally blocks them (I am that focused to the voice of the Legends)
@@LohengrinO Sounds like it would have fallen flat if he really said that (instead of "cough" or added a word like "self" or "demeanor" after the sentence) :D @John Reed: I remember when I was a kid and followed my grandparents to church. I didn't listen to what the priest said but I listened to all the coughing and wrote down with letters exactly how the coughing sounded. It was all over the place, constantly. Those people, in the circles of my grandparents, didn't smoke (publically at least). I attributed it to old age. And perhaps passive smoking.
@@Bravilor no it is the effort of the Nobody to make his presence noticeable :D The Jon Vickers incident is recorded, perhaps it is on youtube somewhere
The amount of coughing is quite startling. I did not notice anything like this on other old recordings available on UA-cam (e.g. Met Opera recordings from the 1930s or 40s). Perhaps it has something to do with the location of the microphone, the recording equipment, or the acoustics of the hall. Or maybe it was simply flu season...
Gorgeous, but you can tell she's just waiting to nail that note so much that the rest of the music falls by the wayside a little bit, and she doesn't emphasise the required emotion in some of the phrases. But maybe I'm just being an arsehole. The high c was a lightning bolt!
The audience is really dying of illnesses. How in the absolute hell can people cough as often as they do during operas. Was it because of bad airflow and smoking indoors in the past? Because it's not AS bad nowadays right?
Wonderful... and yet sterile.. i say it again: amazing and yet don’t know why it moves me not. When you listen to Callas in the 51 Mexico recording there is something MORE, something ELSE added. Even though i remember somebody saying she seems bored when singing O patria mia , though i never did get that comment 🤷♀️. As an ending- i did enjoy listening to Birgit, she always amazes me how steady her voice is up there ( unlike so many others) but i still don’t see her to be one of the Verdian voices
I love her technique 😍♥️ the full chest voice and true operatic head voice that modern opera singer don't do anymore. 🥰💋
Could you imagine Nilsson "singing on the interest and not on the capital"?
I think the most remarkable thing with Nilsson, Callas, Ponselle and a few others is that they could command dynamics with GIGANTIC voices. And not just sustained pp tones with a big gulp of breath before the note like Caballe and Gencer, who had much smaller instruments. A single ppp from a pure dramatic voice is nothing short of a miracle. And Nilsson, as showcased here, was a f*cking GENETIC MIRACLE! Sutherland once remarked that she particularly found Nilsson's fil di voce amazing surely knowing how hard it is to sing a fil di voce with such a huge voice.
I don't think it is more difficult to sing a fil di voce with a huge voice, just that huge voices can get away with some technical lacunes.
It's not a genetic miracle, it's staying true to traditional Italian technique, Nilsson, Callas, and Ponselle all did that (although Callas had health issues which impaired her singing, and later on Ponselle didn't sing in line with traditional technique as much, and her voice got noticeably smaller and more nasally). There's been a large general decline in technique, the channel This is Opera (and its archive channel) have some good example videos, but I wouldn't use that as your soul source of singing advise.
This woman gives me serious goosebumps. I don't know how she manages to explode a high C like that and then finish with this ultra pianissimo lighter than a feather. She sounds almost like a software. It's nuts. Lol. ❤
Thanks for another amazing post.
Ps: I found out about your other channel recently and I'm addicted to it. ❤
you mean the Non-operatic ladies or the movies?
@@LohengrinO the non-operatic ladies. Amazing. ❤
ua-cam.com/video/7ikYS-eqXns/v-deo.html and the ONLY man... probably the greatest male non operatic singer
@@LohengrinO stunning!!! ❤❤❤
So... My neighbours just came to complain about one of their walls falling down because of some kind of thunderous noise. I told them I knew nothing about it, but I'm pretty sure it happened when the video was around 5:15. Oh, well...
In all seriousness, though, the sheer power of Nilsson's high notes is one of humanity's mysteries. And being able to control that power to gift us with all kinds of dynamics like that final pianissimo is no easy feat. Simply spectacular.
Or at 3:37....she must be heard all the way to Ethiopia…..
@@dubbelhenke854 😂
"Non ti vedro mai piu" indeed!
.....how incredibly accurate.
I've heard nothing like her since
Simply amazing!
Can we please acknowledge the angelic pianissimo at the end too?
Yeeeeeeeees
Absofreakinglutely!
😁
Nillson, a magnificent dramatic soprano 💟😍☀️🤩. Aria: O Patria Mia. 🌹.
..... Uno splendore di voce è dire poco... Una delle grandi interpreti di Lirica in assoluto!! Birgit Nilsson fa parte di quella meravigliosa schiera dell' eccellenza non plus ultra di vere firme indimenticabili dell' Arte operistica. Grazie caro Lohengrin0 di aver diviso con i tuoi iscritti questa meraviglia... Una buona serata a te!!! 🙋🙋🙋🙋🙋Elsa.
Elsa Asta ......sono d'accordo! Sono indignato per le ultime notizie dall'Arena di Verona,per un po' di notorietà' si e' voluto "sporcare" quest'opera splendida del nostro grande Verdi,con sterili,inutili e al limite dell'insulto polemiche del trucco! Aida e' nera! Come Ciò Ciò San e' Giapponese dalla pelle candida! Ma apparteniamo tutti alla razza umana.La musica e' l'arte annullano gli sciocchi steccati, che noi umani creiamo.Quel soprano poteva davvero risparmiarci quella squallida polemica! Ciao.
@@cosimoepicoco7022..... Ciao caro Cosimo se mi permetti ti voglio dare un semplice consiglio fai come me evita di guardare certi insulsi spettacoli... cosi non ti fai il sangue amaro!! La modernità porta quasi sempre a demolire ciò che di bello e grandioso è stato fatto dai grandi talenti del passato.. con la differenza però che loro saranno sempre ricordati e quelli che oggi si chiamano artisti saranno solo meteore!! Ciao Cosimo ti auguro una buona giornata..... Elsa.
Elsa Asta ...no,non so se la danno in TV,leggevo le cronache.Comunque quel soprano nel frattempo si e' ammalata ed e' stata sostituita.Non faccio sangue amaro,faccio solo delle riflessioni.Ciao grazie della risposta.
BRAVA! BRAVISSIMA BIRGIT NILSSON! Ejemplo de calidad vocal y perfecta técnica. GRANDIOSA!
Sublime💜💖💜💕
I agree dear virtual friend Lohengrin O.
It's a amazing, gorgeous and beatiful vocal hearthquake.
Best wishes from Santiago de Chile.
Dr. Fernando Rivas-Burattini.
Ut Benedicat tibi Dominun.
I have rarely heard Nilsson sing so beautifully. Sometimes she has a harsh edge to her sound, which helps with its ability to cut through Wagner and conquer as Turandot, but here it's just gorgeous, wondrous singing.
I believe the record where she sounds the prettiest is her Salome under Solti. Perhaps not as nuanced as Stratas, but vocally unparalleled. Have listen, you won't regret it! (Solti is also in top form)
you have to listen carefully to appreciate the beauty of Nilsson’s voice i think
Her Mozart and MacBeth are surprising too. She is a full package.
This is a real dramatic soprano voice! Pure dramatic soprano! Caballe next to this type of voice is a soubrette. Caballe had a huge voice but it was huge lyric not huge dramatic like this!
I totally agree, Caballe did REALLY compensate her lyric nature with big and gorgeous chest tones when singing dramatic repertoire, this developed part of her technique allowed her to sing heavier repertoire. Similar of what Zeani did too in Aida and other heavier roles. Where is that incredible musicality and manufacture of one's voice nowadays? nowhere, gone...
Bitgit Nilsson was a true dramatic soprano, but with magnificent lyric softness in her voice. She had the vocal power without the dark hue color.
I see Birgit, I click. *edit* Holy crap she tore this aria a new and exciting one! I'm gagging. 😍
More than wonderful,thank you so much dear lohngerin.
She is wonderful in this role. I think she must have listened to Callas because she appears similar in the way she expresses the music, especially that high note.
That is why I chose this photo...
3:32 is immense. 🤍
And so the chandeliers broke….lol…..it almost spooky! That VOICE!
Qui Radames verra. / O Patria Mia.💙🌹
💚Aida; 💚 Verdi; 💚Ghislanzoni; ♥️Nillson.
💕 💕 💕💕💕
Damn cigarette smoking smokers. Cough, cough, cough, cough. During the entire aria nothing but coughing. I guess back in the day people must have coughed nonstop due to the fact that almost everyone was a cigarette smoking addict. Pitiful. Yet another live performance ruined by an audience full of cigarette smokers. It happens time after time here on UA-cam listening to these videos.
1. You know how Jon Vickers had responded to a spasmodic cougher during his death scene in Tristan? he was lying dead and the guy kept coughing so he comes up and said: SHUT UP WITH YOUR DAMN COUGHY!, 2. I personally never hear the coughs, my mind totally blocks them (I am that focused to the voice of the Legends)
@@LohengrinO Sounds like it would have fallen flat if he really said that (instead of "cough" or added a word like "self" or "demeanor" after the sentence) :D
@John Reed: I remember when I was a kid and followed my grandparents to church. I didn't listen to what the priest said but I listened to all the coughing and wrote down with letters exactly how the coughing sounded. It was all over the place, constantly. Those people, in the circles of my grandparents, didn't smoke (publically at least). I attributed it to old age. And perhaps passive smoking.
@@Bravilor no it is the effort of the Nobody to make his presence noticeable :D The Jon Vickers incident is recorded, perhaps it is on youtube somewhere
The amount of coughing is quite startling. I did not notice anything like this on other old recordings available on UA-cam (e.g. Met Opera recordings from the 1930s or 40s). Perhaps it has something to do with the location of the microphone, the recording equipment, or the acoustics of the hall. Or maybe it was simply flu season...
I haven't listened yet. Is it safe to assume the C6 is not dolce, as written?
😂
where was this recording made?
Gorgeous, but you can tell she's just waiting to nail that note so much that the rest of the music falls by the wayside a little bit, and she doesn't emphasise the required emotion in some of the phrases.
But maybe I'm just being an arsehole. The high c was a lightning bolt!
It is written pianissimo...
For Nilsson, this is pianissimo, lol
It is written dolce... Not pianissimo :)
Which recording is this?
The audience is really dying of illnesses. How in the absolute hell can people cough as often as they do during operas. Was it because of bad airflow and smoking indoors in the past? Because it's not AS bad nowadays right?
Wonderful... and yet sterile.. i say it again: amazing and yet don’t know why it moves me not. When you listen to Callas in the 51 Mexico recording there is something MORE, something ELSE added. Even though i remember somebody saying she seems bored when singing O patria mia , though i never did get that comment 🤷♀️.
As an ending- i did enjoy listening to Birgit, she always amazes me how steady her voice is up there ( unlike so many others) but i still don’t see her to be one of the Verdian voices
I agree.