My friend “Count Wedgemore” posted this on my chess page a few days ago–O halga natt (O Holy Night), sung by the great Swedish tenor, Jussi Bjorling, in 1959. Wait’ll you hear his voice!
Years later, Luciano Pavarotti was asked to compare himself to Bjorling. He declined. “I’m only human,” he said.
That certainly was a magnificent voice — and as good as this video is, it doesn’t even compare to some other recordings I’ve heard by him. (Alas, I never got to see or hear him in person.) When I first heard his ending to “Nessun dorma,” I actually stopped breathing — it was so gorgeous, I felt has though I’d been hit in the solar plexus. According to Robert Merrill, Bjoerling used to say that at times he felt it wasn’t even his own body that was singing, but that his voice seemed to float out of him and form itself in the space in front of him.
Robert Merrill–him I saw live, at Yankee Stadium. That such a voice could come out of a little man like that was a marvel.
Magnificent! I thought nobody could compete with Pavarotti .Wrong.
Nice!
So beautiful!
This is amazing! After Phoebe’s comments I looked up his “Nessun Dorma”; what a climax! Similar to this piece, you think he’s given his all…but then he pulls out all the stops for the finish.
Wowww…loved it
He is definitely in Pavarotti’s league.
Definitely in Pavarotti’s league.