Comments on: Birgit Nilsson is dead

By: John Awman

John Awman — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 17:20:36 +0000

Her performance in Wagner’s Gotterdamerung was breathtaking.

By: sofia dooley

sofia dooley — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 03:03:01 +0000

I was told by a resident here in my Retirement home,that Ms.Nilsson once sang here in Schenectady,NY under the auspices of the Civic Music Assoc.Unfortunately I did not live here at the time.

Thank you for all the information.

Sofia

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 13:58:07 +0000

I thought she went downhill when she married Sylvester Stallone, personally.

By: Gene O'Grady

Gene O'Grady — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 05:54:30 +0000

Zeno,

As I recall Nilsson did not sing the “Frau” in San Francisco, she sang Barak’s wife. But still a remarkably memorable performance. As was the Isolde with Jess Thomas.

Perhaps a good word for the old San Francisco Opera of Kurt Herbert Adler, which was putting on unusual repertoire like Die Frau Ohne Schatten while New York was still on the thumb of the solipsistic Rudolf Bing.

By: Zeno

Zeno — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 03:32:49 +0000

I got to see Nilsson three times in San Francisco: as Isolde opposite Jess Thomas’s Tristan, as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre, and as Die Frau in Strauss’s Die Frau Ohne Schatten. Her voice made my nerve endings vibrate with delight. What a privilege it was to see her in person, if only those three times.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:43:31 +0000

I saw her sing Isolde at the Met in Nov, 1971 with Jess Thomas as Tristan, Thomas Stewart as Kurvenal and John Macurdy as King Mark. It was the greatest performance of my lifetime. I’ll miss her forever.

By: Kenny Easwaran

Kenny Easwaran — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 22:36:08 +0000

Actually, I think I was thinking of Flagstad as Isolde, which is why I thought Nilsson was so young at the time.

By: Jose

Jose — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 22:28:58 +0000

Man, you know you're younger (or dumber?) than the bloggers you read when your first reaction to the headline above is: Man, Flavor Flav is going to be so sad.

By: Kenny Easwaran

Kenny Easwaran — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 19:26:06 +0000

Wow, she must have been really young as Isolde! But she’ll probably always be Brunnhilde to me, because that’s the only recording I have of the full Ring. I guess that might change if I ever get a chance to see a complete cycle done live.