The Jussi Björling centennial this year (2011) has resulted
in a great number of memorial programmes, concerts and seminars
all over Europe and the US. There has also been a steady stream
of CDs. Besides single issues there have been important boxed
sets. My colleague Jonathan Woolf has already reviewed the WHRA
set with four discs crammed with the American radio recordings
(see review). Several of these have never before been issued
and many others were known to specialist collectors only in
pirated issues in often execrable sound. Now they can be heard
in amazingly good sonics, often fully on a par with studio recordings
from the same period. Sony has issued a 14-CD box, covering
all Jussi Björling’s LP-albums; not only his solo recitals but
also highlight discs from all his complete RCA operas. This
set will be reviewed in due time. On Naxos there will be another
box, comprising the CDs that have been issued individually during
the last few years with some additional material culled from
his complete operas. Most of his HMV recordings were also issued
in an EMI box in the Icon series a couple of years ago (see
review). It should still be available. In other words: there
is a plethora to choose from, involving a great deal of duplication.
The true enthusiasts – and we are many! – will certainly want
all of it while others will be satisfied with smaller quantities.
The present issue presents material that to some extent has
been available before but these are new transfers. Now for the
first time every surviving item from the Gröna Lund concerts
has been released. These include three numbers from Björling’s
concert repertoire that have never before been available on
record. More about that in a moment.
Gröna Lund is an amusement park on the peninsula of DjurgÅrden,
just across the water from the Old Town. On the outdoor concert
stage there Björling appeared regularly all through his career,
close to fifty times. Just across the street is Skansen, the
large outdoor museum with old buildings and lots of wild animals
– and also an outdoor stage. It was there that he sang more
than fifty times and thus established his status as a singer
of the people, a status that no opera singer in Sweden has achieved
before of since. There are few surviving recordings from Skansen
but the Gröna Lund sessions are valuable documents of his art
during his last ten years. The sound, though better than ever,
is variable, the earliest from a private recording, the rest
recorded by Gröna Lund’s technical staff. Christer Eklund has
very successfully restored this material, in spite of having
to work with copies of the original tapes. The originals were
destroyed in a fire at Gröna Lund some years ago.
Recorded live before an audience of 10,000 to 15,000 people
there are crowd noises, the wind can sometimes play an active
part in the proceedings. These factors are futile compared to
the fascination of listening to the great tenor live, communicating
with his audience. Those evenings often resulted in performances
that feel more alive than the studio efforts. This also means
that there can be technical imperfections, the odd slip of memory
or that his voice was in better condition at some concerts than
others. However Björling on less than top form is still better
than almost any other tenor in 100% top shape. The pleasure
of hearing his golden tone pouring out in the summer evening
is something to treasure.
As can be seen in the header many songs and arias are duplicated
and this invites comparisons. It is often difficult to decide
- if this is necessary – which one is best. His recipe for success
was simple: a few popular opera arias, a couple of Lieder –
Richard Strauss often figured on his recital programmes – occasionally
Tosti’s Ideale or something else from that repertoire
and some favourite Swedish songs, where especially the always
requested Till havs drew ovations from the listeners.
I am not going to give a comprehensive analysis of the individual
numbers. I leave that to the listener, but those who need some
kind of guidance are advised to read Björling connoisseur Kristian
Krogholm’s in-depth comment to all the numbers, 65 in all. Here
are also three never before issued numbers that Björling only
occasionally sang. Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön
from Die Zauberflöte (sung in Swedish) is a reminder
of his early years at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, where he
sang Mozart – his debut at the age of nineteen was as Don Ottavio
in Don Giovanni. He always stated that singing Mozart
was good for the voice. Stylistically his Tamino is more 19th
century dramatic than 18th century elegant. One misses
the honeyed tone of say Fritz Wunderlich or Nicolai Gedda but
Björling’s approach is not completely off the mark. Tamino is
a prince and thus a hero and this prince is not one to tamper
with. Hearing this powerful rendition one can imagine Tamino
successfully fighting and defeating the dragon in the first
act without the help of the three ladies. He sang this aria
both in 1958 and 1959.
The aria from Mignon, also sung in Swedish, is gloriously
sung, even though it is obvious that his voice wasn’t in the
best of shape. He has to clear his throat several times. But
it is obvious that he would have been a splendid Wilhelm Meister
had he ever got the chance to sing the complete opera. In some
respects Björling was at his very best in French repertoire.
An even more sensational choice of aria is Arlecchino’s serenade
from Pagliacci. Björling was a great Canio but here he
sings this comprimario role with glow and elegance. This was
the encore at the earliest of the preserved Gröna Lund concerts
in 1950 and consequently is the last item on disc 3. For some
reason, the material is presented in reversed order, beginning
with the very last concert, recorded on 28 July 1960, only six
weeks before he died. Together with the concert recorded in
Gothenburg a week later, these are the last recordings of his
voice and art.
No true admirer of Jussi Björling can afford to be without these
recordings.
Göran Forsling
Full track list
CD 1 [78:52]
28 July 1960
August SÖDERMAN (1832 – 1876)
1. Trollsjön [6:12]
Aleksandr BORODIN (1833 – 1887)
2. Vladimir’s Cavatina from Prince Igor [6:07]
Paolo TOSTI (1846 – 1916)
3. Ideale [4:15]
Gustaf NORDQVIST (1886 – 1949)
4. Till havs [3:40]
Ragnar ALTHÉN (1883 – 1961)
5. Land du välsignade [4:29]
Guy d’HARDELOT (pseudonym for Helen RHODES)
(1858 – 1936)
6. Because [3:21]
20 August 1959
Hugo WOLF (1860 – 1903)
7. Verborgenheit [3:50]
Franz LISZT (1811 – 1886)
8. Es muss ein Wunderbares sein [2:57]
Richard STRAUSS (1864 – 1949)
9. Ständchen [3:39]
Wilhelm PETERSON-BERGER (1867 – 1942)
10. Som stjärnorna pÅ himmelen [3:17]
Gustaf NORDQVIST
11. Till havs [2:49]
Umberto GIORDANO (1867 – 1948)
12. Come un bel di di maggio from Andrea Chénier [3:45]
Ejnar EKLÖF (1886 – 1954)
13. Morgon [3:43]
Ernesto De CURTIS (1875 – 1937)
14. Torna a Surriento [2:23]
16 June 1959
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 – 1791)
15. Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön from Die Zauberflöte
[4:34]
Richard STRAUSS
16. Traum durch die Dämmerung [3:13]
17. Cäcilie [2:35]
August KÖRLING (1842 – 1919)
18. Aftonstämning [2:29]
Wilhelm PETERSON-BERGER
19. När jag för mig själv i mörka skogen gÅr
[2:57]
Ejnar EKLÖF
20. Morgon [3:27]
Gustaf NORDQVIST
21. Till havs [2:11]
Carl MILLÖCKER (1842 – 1899)
22. Nu är jag pank och fÅgelfri from Der Bettelstudent
[2:30]
CD 2 [76:47]
26 June 1958
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
1. Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön from Die Zauberflöte
[4:43]
Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873 – 1943)
2. In the Silence of Night [2:59]
Georges BIZET (1838 – 1875)
3. La fleur que tu m’avais jetée from Carmen [4:27]
August KÖRLING
4. Aftonstämning [2:55]
Gustaf NORDQVIST
5. Till havs [3:47]
Carl MILLÖCKER
6. Nu är jag pank och fÅgelfri from Der Bettelstudent
[2:35]
Ragnar ALTHÉN
7. Land du välsignade [3:14]
Ernesto De CURTIS
8. Torna a Surriento [2:27]
5 August 1957
Amilcare PONCHIELLI (1834 – 1886)
9. Cielo e mar! from La Gioconda [5:04]
Ambroise THOMAS (1811 – 1896)
10. Hon kunde icke tro from Mignon [4:29]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813 – 1901)
11. Di’ tu se fedele from Un ballo in maschera [3:33]
Richard STRAUSS
12. Morgen [4:02]
13. Cäcilie [2:43]
Pietro MASCAGNI (1863 – 1945)
14. Mamma! Quel vino from Cavalleria rusticana [4:57]
Gustaf NORDQVIST
15. Till havs [2:38]
19 July 1956
Giuseppe VERDI
16. Celeste Aida from Aida [5:16]
Friedrich von FLOTOW (1812 – 1883)
17. M’appari tutt’amor from Martha [3:46]
Richard STRAUSS
18. Ständchen [3:01]
Jean SIBELIUS (1865 – 1957)
19. Demanten pÅ marssnön [3:54]
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 – 1924)
20. Che gelida manina from La bohème [5:49]
CD 3 [76:48]
cont’d from CD 2
Giuseppe VERDI
1. La donna è mobile from Rigoletto[2:25]
Carl MILLÖCKER
2. Nu är jag pank och fÅgelfri from Der Bettelstudent
[2:51]
Ragnar ALTHÉN
3. Land du välsignade [3:24]
10 August 1951
Georges BIZET
4. La fleur que tu m’avais jetée from Carmen [4:35]
Carl SJÖBERG (1861 – 1900)
5. Tonerna [3:34]
Wilhelm PETERSON-BERGER
6. Jungfrun under lind [3:35]
Giuseppe VERDI
9. La donna è mobile from Rigoletto [3:41]
Ejnar EKLÖF
10. Morgon [2:57]
5 July 1951
Amilcare PONCHIELLI
11. Cielo e mar from La Gioconda [5:28]
Emil SJÖGREN (1853 – 1918)
12. I drömmen du är mig nära [3:26]
13. Ich möchte schweben [3:19]
Giacomo PUCCINI
14. Nessun dorma from Turandot [3:58]
Pietro MASCAGNI
15. Mamma! Quel vino from Cavalleria rusticana [4:30]
Wilhelm STENHAMMAR (1871 – 1927)
16. Sverige [3:04]
Ruggiero LEONCAVALLO (1857 – 1919)
17. Mattinata [2:36]
6 July 1950
Giacomo MEYERBEER (1791 – 1864)
18. O paradiso from L’Africaine [3:14]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828)
19. Die böse Farbe from Die schöne Müllerin [2:25]
Richard STRAUSS
20. Ständchen [2:17]
Paolo TOSTI
21. L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra [2:20]
Umberto GIORDANO (1867 – 1948)
22. Come un bel di di maggio from Andrea Chénier [2:54]
Ruggiero LEONCAVALLO
23. O Colombin from Pagliacci [1:59]
Jussi Björling (tenor), Bertil Bokstedt (piano) (CD 1 trs. 1
– 14; CD 2 trs. 1 – 15), Harry Ebert (piano) (CD 1 trs. 15 –
22; CD 2 trs. 16 – 20); CD 3 trs. 1 – 23)
BLUEBELL ABCD 114 [3 CDs: 78:52 + 76:47 + 76:48] 
