Birgit Nilsson with Verdi & Puccini

[Tsaraslondon]

I have just seen this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHdaUASO9Pc
IT'S VERY WONDERFUL !!!! In my opinion, Nilsson sang this role better the both of Callas and Verrett.And according to you,who is the best Macbeth Lady?

Well it's not bad, brilliant top notes and all that. But it doesn't have any of Callas's animalistic, feline power. Callas's attack on the very first note of Ambizioso spirto, and in the whole of the recitative, is frightening in its ferocity . Also it has to be said that Nilsson's coloratura is pretty clumsy, all the trills smudged, whereas with Callas the accuracy of her singing is phenomenal. You feel, as Grace Bumbry once said of her, that you could write down what she was singing, and you would reproduce exactly what was written in the score. Admittedly, by the time Callas recorded it in 1958, the top of the voice had lost some of its steely power, but it is still a remakably responsive instrument, and, if you to listen to her either in the live La Scala performance, with Victor De Sabata conducting, or in an earlier radio concert  conducted by Oliveiro De Fabritiis, her top notes are as firm and clarion like as Nilsson's. Note that Nilsson omits the cabaletta, which would no doubt have been something of a trial for her.

[wagnernn]

How about ''Pace,pace mio dio''? Like in other Verdi operas,Nilsson sang this aria in her "strange" way, which usually makes fans of traditional Italian opera disappointed.After finding this video on Youtube with the one by Tebaldi ,whom I always consider to be the greatest Leonora,I listened to it and I think that these two performances are too different to be compared.Tebaldi showed me the perfect Leonora when Nilsson sang her role with a flawless and vulnerable voice.Tell me your opinions.
And I've listened to Ave maria by Gounod and Panis Angelicus by Franck with Nilsson ,and I think that Nilsson's voice is very suitable with some religious vocal works because of its strength and gracefulness.
Just a question about Tebaldi (I want to create a new topic about Tebaldi but now it isn't necessary).I've heard that Tebaldi sang Elsa from Lohengrin.Please show me some records of her.

[wagnernn]

I had found a video on youtube about many sopranos' octaves (Include Robin and Dessay).That video begins with Nilsson singing C3 (I don't remember exactly),but now I can't find it.Please tell me the aria which Nilsson sang!

[bricon]

[wagnernn]

So what is this opera?She looks like ... Sharon Stone in the Quick and the Death,doesn't she?
And please help me answer the question of this video above!

[Anne]

So what is this opera?She looks like ... Sharon Stone in the Quick and the Death,doesn't she?
And please help me answer the question of this video above!

It's a Puccini opera, The Girl of the Golden West.  I forgot the Italian title for it.  Nilsson was singing the part of Mimi.

[Sarastro]

Tosca was really impressing  with a wild scream at the end. (the recording with Corelli and Fischer-Dieskau)
But Amelia wasn't a success, though Nilsson is always good...even singing Donna Anna extremely slow. 

[knight66]

I have that Tosca and quite enjoy it. For me, Nilsson is not really at her best in most Italian roles, Turandot apart. I also have the Mehta Aida, there is good singing, but Mehta does not do much with the piece and it is not really either exciting or dramatic, unlike his Turandot.

Mike

[wagnernn]

Can you tell me more about the "war" between Nilsson and Milanov around Aida at Metropolitan?
What do you think about Aida of each soprano?