I reviewed, elsewhere on this site, a recent
EMI issue entitled ‘The
Very Best of Jussi Björling’ (bargain price double).
This contained items recorded between 1936 and 1956. I outlined
biographical details of the singer and his emergence as a leading
‘lyrico spinto’ tenor of his generation. I pointed out that Björling
was a prodigious recording artist making over one hundred and
fifty 78rpm records. It is from those 78s that this issue derives
its material. There are several items common to this and the EMI
issue. I must state straight away that the EMI issues is far superior
in respect of the totality of the recorded sound. This issue has
the sound set at a higher level than the EMI with the result that
surface noise, largely absent from the rival, can be heard at
the start and finish of some tracks and during quiet passages.
This is particularly noticeable for anything with piano accompaniment
(tr.18). I suspect that whilst EMI presumably had access to first
generation recorded material, this issue has depended on shellac
sources. This, I am afraid, means variable quality with distortion,
drop-out and surface noise being present on some tracks. For example
Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ (tr.21) the orchestral bass is woolly
and just becomes a mush. Elsewhere the orchestral sound is boxy
(tr.16) an effect that is mitigated on the EMI discs.
Of course a Björling issue is about singing
not recording. Many of the tracks here date from the 1930s and
were recorded in Stockholm prior to the singer’s international
career taking off. His voice at that period was at its most honeyed
and lyric with a characterful evenness of timbre and tone, often
caught on the breath, and with the loveliest passagio. These characteristics
of Björling’s singing, together with elegant phrasing and
clear diction were never lost. In fact his voice grew in strength
and depth when he took on heavier roles. Tracks 21-23 of operatic
excerpts illustrate this well whilst the songs in English (tr.13-19
) show some weakness in language but not in beauty of tone, diction
and nuance. The disc concludes with the famous Bizet duet recorded
in New York with Robert Merrill . This has been a long time favorite
on UK record request radio broadcasts. This is the only track
that is not derived from HMV (now part of EMI) sources. The sound
compared with that on RCA’s ‘Jussi Björling, The Ultimate
Collection’ is harsher, due I suspect to the high transfer level
I have referred to, but without any discernible surface noise.
RCA-Victor number DB 21426 is given as the source issue with a
recording date of January 3rd 1951, whilst the RCA
Björling issue referred to above gives November 30th
1950! Were these different takes? I can hear no discernible difference
in the performance.
This issue will be of interest to those wanting
the singer’s earlier recordings and who are enured to less than
perfect re-mastering, or to put a more positive slant, preferring
less doctoring of the sound.
Robert J Farr
Various orchestras and conductors