The Jussi Björling Page
Jussi Björling was the greatest tenor of all time. This is a page dedicated to his voice.
In the coming weeks (or months as the case may be...) I'll be adding some pictures and sound clips
plus a more complete biography.
Make sure you visit the Jussi Björling Society web page
Some MP3's (Shhh)
Listen to them here.
A Great New Björling Book
Andrew Farkas has written this great new biography of JB. You can buy it at
Amazon.com. It goes along very well with "A Jussi Björling Phonography"
by Harald Henrysson.
Biography
Born February 5, 1911 in Stora Tuna Sweden. His musical career started singing with his father and two
brothers as the Björling male quartet. He made his operatic debut as the lamp lighter in Manon
Lescaut in Stockholm. His American debut was in 1937 in Chicago as the Duke in Rigoletto . Björling's
MET debut was November 24 1938 as Rodolfo in La Boheme. Rudolph Bing chose Björling to open his first
season in 1950 in a new production of Don Carlo, there is a pirate recording of that performance available.
Using words to describe his voice just cannot do it justice. To remedy this shortcoming I have a brief
audio clip from "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot
(clip is courtesy of Nimbus Records). Jussi Björling died September 9, 1960.
Björling Beginners
If you've never heard Jussi Björling your life is really not complete. To get started I would recommend
an album on RCA. When it was an LP it was called Opera Duets (or something like that). Now on CD it is somewhat
deceptively named:
The Pearl Fishers
RCA 7799-2-RG
It in actuality contains one duet from the Pearl Fishers. It also contains a collection of duets and scenes
with Björling, Robert Merrill, Licia Albanese, Zinka Milanov and Renata Tebaldi. This album is a wonderful
introduction to the voice of Jussi Björling and for that matter the art of Opera.
Buy it!
Discography
Björling was prolific in the recording studio. He recorded ten complete operas plus the Verdi Requiem.
In addition to his studio recordings there are a wide variety of "private label" recordings around. These
were recordings either made illicitly live in the opera house, for archival purposes by the opera house and
distributed "unofficially" or from radio broadcasts
(thank you Texaco). It can be very difficult to find
some of the pirate recordings mentioned below in the US. I recommend a leisurely trip to Italy where
copyright enforcement is somewhat lax, drink some red wine go to some opera and buy some pirate CD's.
There are a wide variety recital and collection albums available. I'll get around to them later.
I've got some stuff wrong in here. I'm trying to find time to revamp some of it.
Key
Title
Label and number
Other singers
Conductor
Year and sometimes location
Commercial
La Boheme
EMI CDCB 47235
De Los Angeles, Merrill
Beecham
1956
Buy It!
Aida
RCA 6652-2-RG
Milanov, Barbieri, Warren, Christoff
Perlea
July 1955
Buy it!
Manon Lescaut
RCA
Merrill, Albanese
Perlea
Buy it!
Cavalleria Rusticana
London OSA 12101 (LP)
Tebaldi, Bastianni
Erede
1959?
Buy it!
Cavalleria Rusticana
RCA 6510-2-RG
Milanov, Merrill
Cellini
January 1953
Buy it!
Pagliacci
EMI CDC 7 49503 2
De Los Angeles, Warren , Merrill
Cellini
1953
Buy it!
Il Trovatore
RCA 6643-2-RG
Milanov, Warren, Barbieri
Cellini
March 1952
Buy it!
Turandot
RCA 5932-2-RC
Nilsson, Tebaldi, Tozzi
Leinsdorf
1960?
Buy it!
Tosca
RCA 4514-2-RG
Milanov, Warren
Leinsdorf
July 1957
Buy it!
Madama Butterfly
EMI CMS 7 63634 2
De Los Angeles, Pirazzini
Santini
September 1959
Buy it!
Rigoletto
RCA 60172-2-RG
Merrill, Peters, Tozzi
Perlea
June 1956
Buy it!
Verdi Requiem
London 421 608-2
Price, Elias, Tozzi
Reiner
1959
Buy it!
Pirates
Un Ballo in Maschera
Robin Hood Records RHR 516-C (LP)
Milanov, Castagna
Panizza
1940
Un Ballo in Maschera (abridged)
Legato LCD 154-1
Morris, Rothmuller
Hebert
New Orleans 4/22/1950
Verdi Requiem
Toscanini Recordings Association
Milanov, Castagna and Moscona
Toscanini
Carnegie Hall 11/23/1940
La Traviata (in swedish)
SR records SRLP 1272 (LP)
Hjordis Schymberg
Sandberg
1939
Romeo et Juliet
MYTO 2MCD 890.04
Sayou, Moscona
Cooper
(MET) 1947
Don Carlo
Unique Opera Records UORC 121 (LP) or MYTO 2 MCD 911.35
Merrill, Siepi (debut), Barbieri, Regal
Steidry
(MET Opening night)1950
La Boheme
MYTO 2 MCD 916.47
Sayou, Valentino
Antonicelli
(MET) 12/25/1948
Rigoletto
I have it on tape, never seen it elsewhere
Warren, Sayou
(MET)1946
Faust
MYTO 2 MCD 906.33
Siepi, Merrill, Soderstrom
Morel
(MET) 1959
Comments?
I'm Erik, I authored and maintain the Björling Page. Send comments, corrections or additional
recording information to...
erik@laurence.com
Or visit my Home Page
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