Product Description

First published to wide acclaim in Sweden (1995) and in Germany (1997), the autobiography of opera legend Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005) is finally available in an English translation. From her humble roots in rural Sweden to her artistic triumphs in Stockholm, Bayreuth, Milan, and the Metropolitan Opera House, this candid and utterly charming memoir reveals the personality behind one of the great voices of the past century.

Gracefully weaving together the private and professional, Nilsson chronicles her idyllic childhood in Vastra Karup, the early recognition of her unique natural abilities, and her first tentative steps into a wider artistic world. After achieving national acclaim in Verdi's Lady Macbeth, she went on to establish herself as the dominant Wagnerian soprano of her generation, appearing at the Bayreuth and Munich Festivals, and the Vienna and Bavarian State Opera Houses, creating, along the way, definitive performances of Sieglinde, Bruennhilde, and Isolde. The book details her rise to international stardom with behind-the-scenes recollections of her phenomenal triumph as Turandot at La Scala in 1958 and her headline-making Met premier in Tristan und Isolde the following year.

Nilsson's long and illustrious career (she performed until 1984), her celebrated professional and personal relationships, her friendships and rivalries, are all recounted with a down-to-earth wit and an engagingly odd admixture of ego and selfeffacement. She tells it all: the legendary quips, the often prickly relationships with Met impresario Rudolph Bing and conductor von Karajan, the infamous story of the stalker "Miss N," and the touchingly rendered relationship with her beloved husband, Bertil Niklasson.

What emerges from these pages is a diva in the old mold: a giant voice matched by an oversize personality, a professional who expected the same level of perfection from others that she demanded of herself, and a woman who loved and lived life with joy and good humor . . . and oh, that voice.

Includes 56 photographs and a discography.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #496433 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 356 pages

From Booklist
When one thinks of romantic opera, one hears Birgit Nilsson (1918–2005) singing Brünnhilde, Isolde, Sieglinde, and Turandot. She is remembered for her effortless soprano, her warmth, her quickness in learning roles, her acting ability, her humor, and her support of rising singers. The farm-girl diva debuted at the Stockholm Opera and soon performed in opera houses throughout Europe and the Americas. Wagnerian roles were her forte, but she also triumphed in Mozart, Beethoven, Puccini, and Richard Strauss. Throughout this book, organized by topic rather than chronology, her stories of working with fellow singers, opera-house managers, and conductors brightly reflect her good humor, strong work ethic, and down-home personality. She concludes with chapters of tribute to her husband and about her stalker, "Miss N." Nilsson was a diva in the best sense of the word, a true professional who expected the same degree of perfection from others that she demanded of herself. Her thoroughly entertaining, earthy memoirs are must reading for those curious about the personality possessed of that radiant voice. Hirsch, Alan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"This is an engaging book. We come to know this formidable but warm-hearted woman so well that on next playing a record of hers we are sure to be "on her side" as never before... it may not be reading for the objective professional critic, but it can be highly recommended to everyone else."--John Stearne, Gramophone

"Expertly translated by Popper, the thematically organized narrative conveys the singer's humanity... Nilsson's fame as one of the major international stars of the post-World War II opera scene makes this title essential."--Library Journal

"Nilsson was a diva in the best sense of the word, a true professional who expected the same degree of perfection from others that she demanded of herself. Her thoroughly entertaining, earthy memoirs are must reading for those curious about the personality possessed of that radiant voice."--Booklist

"Nilsson includes all the relevant facts and figures as she outline her life. She also reveals herself as a slyly humorous lady and talks about her feelings about music and colleagues." --American Record Guide

Review
"Birgit Nilsson wrote exactly as she spoke, which makes her autobiography most pleasurable reading; and Doris Jung Popper in her translation has caught the flavor remarkably well. Music lovers should really enjoy this book!" (Julius Rudel, Grammy Award winner and conductor, New York City Opera (1944-1979), music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic (1979-1985) )

Customer Reviews

Nilsson as a Warm, Funny, Unpretentious Woman
This autobiography by Birgit Nilsson was originally published in Swedish in 1995 and in German two years later. This 2007 English translation of the German edition is by Doris Jung Popper, an American who was herself a former Wagnerian singer in Europe. It is for the most part in graceful, witty and seamless prose which catches the informal and down-to-earth way Nilsson spoke. We are taken from Nilsson's life as a farm girl in Sweden through her discovery locally, her schooling in Stockholm, her first breakthrough there and then internationally and her acclaim as the greatest Wagnerian soprano since Kirsten Flagstad. We get backstage stories about performances in New York, Milan, Stockholm, Vienna, London and, of course, Bayreuth. We read about her long happy marriage to Bertil Niklasson, a veterinarian. She shares funny and warm stories about her colleagues, not sparing those with whom she crossed swords -- most notably Rudolf Bing and, much more so, Herbert von Karajan, for whom she is particularly disdainful while admitting that he could draw magnificent music from his performers. She relates the details of her having to deal with her stalker, Miss N., a story well-known in opera circles but which may come as a surprise to some readers. One senses that Nilsson withholds some details in the interest of sparing the feelings of some opera world luminaries who are still with us. This reflects positively on her genuine concern for the feelings of others but might disappoint those who are looking for 'dirt.' There is a discography and a detailed chart outlining events in her life, as well as a compendious index. As well, there are over 60 black-and-white photographs from all periods of her life.

Warmly recommended.

Scott Morrison

I Wish I Could have Known Her!
I was never privileged to meet or know Madame Nilsson personally, but her memoir, _La Nilsson: My Life in Opera_ makes me wish I could! She was a bright spot in the world and her death in late 2005 was a huge loss. I have certainly been an admirer of both her singing and of the woman herself for many years. I do own her earlier book, _My Memoirs In Picures_, which is largely a wonderful collection of photographs from her life and career, and whetted my appetite to know more about her. If you can find a copy, I recommend that book as strongly as I recommend this longer memoir.

That appetite has been mostly--if not completely--satisfied by La Nilsson, an easy, accessible and "can't-put-it-down" fascinating account of her life. This book is just what I would expect of Birgit Nilsson, unpretentious, friendly and conversational in tone, but awe-inspiring in terms of her artistry and long career; her great accumulation of knowledge and experience, and about comic moments onstage and off that made me laugh out loud. Some of the funniest of these deal with language barriers, and the difficulties of correctly interpreting foreign musical terms that were misheard, or misunderstood. She is never mean in spirit, although she doesn't sugarcoat her personal difficulties with von Karajan, and sometimes with Karl Bohm, and Rudolf Bing. But in all cases, she writes in detail about what she admired about them, too. She gave as good as she got in the area of verbal self-defense.

She writes warmly about all her many long-time friends and colleagues on the operatic stage, most notably Wolfgang Windgassen, Set Svanholm, Jon Vickers, Astrid Varnay, Leonie Rysanek, and Hans Hotter. She was a trouper through some harrowing experiences, and while she did not put up with a lack of professional consideration from anyone, she did not just wilfully indulge in "temperamental diva" behavior. No wonder so many of her colleagues loved and respected her!

Madame Nilsson also writes about her parents and her beloved husband, Bertil Niklasson, with great warmth, although she doesn't gloss over some of her frustrations with both parents during her childhood and adolescence. The twelve years she had to deal with her stalker, Miss N. filled me with sympathetic dismay, as I had no idea Madame Nilsson had had to endure that persistent, threatening intrusion into her life.

I highly recommend this memoir to any admirer of Madame Nilsson's in particular and of any interested opera fan in general for the insight into the career of one of the great singers of the 20th century in her own, very witty words.

Melissa Houle

For the Operafile, Wagnerite or Nilssonite, this is for you!!!
Nilsson writes a readable and enjoyable book about her career.

Those who have followed her will already be familiar with some of the stories but there are more details... One story she recounts which I had never heard or read anywhere was one that she tells of being pursued by a relentless stalker.

I myself worked with her professionally and can vouch for the fact that she was a warm and funny person who despite her self-assuredness onstage could express vulnerability when she was with you in a one-to-one setting. The book has moments that give the reader this sense.

She doesn't "tell all" but does "tell some" quite nicely. She was unique.