Watch: Jussi Björling comemmorates Jean Sibelius
OrchestrasThe newly remastered Carnegie Hall concert of December 8, 1957.
Unbelievably intense.
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‘Comemmorates’? No. Commemorates.
Where have all those marvellous voices gone? I heard a New York Opera commentator say that for the last 20 years they have not been available, why should this be? Long term loss of interest I suppose, their replacement starting with Elvis and the the Beatles, their performances being the new opera.
I would say that if the beauty of a human voice as an instrument, or the beauty in singing, is taking for granted, you are unlikely to hear it very often. Welcome to our mundane time.
Oh, how beautifully Björling sings Sibelius.
This is beautiful and the sound is remarkably good. Checking the Philharmonic’s archives, this was a one-off benefit concert, under the patronage of the legendary president of Finland Urho Kekkonen, who did much to insure the autonomy of Finland during the cold war. The conductor is listed as Martti Simla – the unhelpful capsule biography in the archived program says that he devoted his career to the music of Sibelius, and little more.
The concert was held on the first anniversary of Sibelius’s birth which occurred after his death, which was on September 20th of that year.
I would be happy if the Philharmonic sounded like this today. In some fictitious paradise, they would perform all of their concerts in Carnegie Hall.
“The concert was held on the first anniversary of Sibelius’s birth which occurred after his death, which was on September 20th of that year.”
May I trust that English is not your first language?
His tone blending brilliance and sorrow. Was there ever a finer tenor voice ?
We tend to think of Jussi Björling as being of an older era than he was, perhaps because he made so many wonderful 78 rpm recordings, but he was just 46 when he sang this, and the audible evidence from this concert suggests that had he lived (in good health) he probably had another 20 years in him, perhaps more. He was after all just two years older than Richard Tucker.
The one and only !
For me, he was the greatest tenor ever to live.
Well…. There were Caruso, Gigli, Tauber, Thill, Völker, Gedda, und so weiter. (But not so much so weiter in that weight class…)
People are entitled to their opinion, note he said, “for me”. You don’t have to drag your personal litany of the saints out.
We did concerts with his son, Rolf. WOW! Fantastic tenor
voice…!
For a proper assessment of this Sibelius Memorial Concert and especially Björling’s unique contribution, see the overview at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=jussibjorlingsociety
The Jussi Bjorling Society–USA has been an international group for English speakers since 1997, making available all his live and studio-produced recordings and related commentary such as Stephen Hastings’ “The Björling Sound.”
I think I posted this awhile back but the first 2x I went to the Met (Nov.1959) I heard Jussi as Turiddu on a Wed. and Cavaradossi that Saturday aft.Still my favorite tenor. That timbre!
Those songs are indescribably beautiful. First heard them sung by Ben Heppner when LA Phil came to do a Sibelius cycle in London and Paris years back. Never forgotten them. Somehow more intense sung by a tenor voice than the more usual soprano.
Pristine Classical reissued this concert on CD some years back.