Childhood
Jussi
Björling
was born in
1911 in
Borlänge in
the Swedish
province of
Dalarna,
220 km NW
of
Stockholm.
His father
David was a
tenor and
singing
teacher and
trained the
voices of
his
children
from an
early age.
Already in
1915, his
three
oldest
children,
the boys
Olle, Jussi
and Gösta,
made their
first
public
performance
in a
church.
They toured
extensively
with their
father in
Sweden and
1919-1921
also in the
US, where
six
recordings
were made
in
1920.
Opera
debut
In 1928,
Jussi began
his studies
at the
Stockholm
Conservatory
and in
August
1930, he
could make
his
official
debut at
the Royal
Opera in
Stockholm
in Mozart's
opera Don
Giovanni.
Already in
1929, he
had begun
to make
recordings
as a tenor,
and in 1930
he made his
first opera
recordings.
Breakthrough
In 1931,
Jussi
Björling
had a
breakthrough
outside
Sweden with
a recital
at the
Copenhagen
Tivoli. He
continued
to sing at
the
Stockholm
Opera (e.g.
Guillaume
Tell &
Barbiere di
Siviglia
1931,
Rigoletto
&
Elisir
d'amore
1932,
Traviata,
Roméo et
Juliette
& Tosca
1933) and
made many
recordings
in Swedish,
mostly of
popular and
operetta
songs. He
even
recorded
dance music
under the
pseudonym
"Erik
Odde".
Jussi
Björling's
success
steadily
increased
at the
Opera in
Stockholm,
where he
took on
many new
roles (e.g.
Ballo in
maschera,
Faust,
Bohème
&
Fanciulla
del West
1934,
Cavalleria
rusticana,
Aida &
Trovatore
1935,
Pagliacci
&
Madama
Butterfly
1936).
A world
career
begins
In 1936, he
made his
first tour
to Central
Europe, and
had great
success in
opera and
recital in
Czechoslovakia
and Vienna.
This
brought him
his first
international
record
contract,
and he
began to
record
opera and
songs in
the
original
language.
One of his
first
international
recordings
was
"Celeste
Aida".
In 1937,
besides
singing
opera in
Stockholm,
Jussi made
a longer
tour to
Germany,
Austria,
Hungary and
Czechoslovakia
in the
spring. In
the autumn,
after
having
given his
first
recital in
London, he
went on to
the United
States for
a tour
which
included
radio
concerts,
recitals
and his
American
opera debut
in Chicago.
In Sweden,
his great
popularity
was
demonstrated
for
instance at
his regular
open-air
recitals at
Skansen and
Gröna Lund
in
Stockholm.
Debut at the
Metropolitan
Opera
In the
autumn of
1938, Jussi
Björling
went back
to the
United
States and
had his
debut at
the
Metropolitan
Opera in
November
(Bohème).
He would
then return
to that
opera house
as a
leading
tenor
almost
every year,
with an
exception
for the
late war
years.
Jussi
Björling
sang in two
operettas
in
Stockholm
(Fledermaus
1935,
Zigeunerbaron
1938), and
he made
famous
recordings
of operetta
songs,
among them
one of his
favourite
encores
"Ich hab'
kein
Geld".
In 1939,
Jussi
Björling's
permanent
contract
with the
Royal Opera
in
Stockholm
expired,
but he
often
returned to
that opera
house as a
guest
during his
whole
career. He
made his
opera debut
in London
in May
(Trovatore),
and a
little
later he
gave a
radio
concert in
the
Netherlands,
from which
the excerpt
from the
Carmen aria
is
taken.
In August,
he sang for
the first
time under
Arturo
Toscanini,
when
Verdi's
Requiem was
performed
in Lucerne
in
Switzerland.
Another of
the
soloists
was the
Swedish
mezzo
Kerstin
Thorborg,
who is seen
with him on
the film
clip.
Continued
success in
America
In the
autumn of
1940, Jussi
Björling
made his
opera debut
in San
Francisco
(Bohème),
sang two
concerts in
New York
under
Toscanini
(Verdi's
Requiem
&
Beethoven's
Missa
Solemnis)
and opened
the
Metropolitan
Opera
season for
the first
time, as
King
Gustavus
III of
Sweden in
Verdi's
Ballo in
maschera.
In the
spring, he
had made
his first
recordings
in the USA,
where he
demonstrated
his ability
as a lieder
singer in
several
Schubert
songs.
In Europe
during World
War
II
After he
had come
back to
Sweden in
the spring
of 1941,
Jussi
Björling
remained in
Europe and
mostly in
his native
country for
the rest of
the World
War. His
most
important
appearance
abroad was
his Italian
opera debut
in Florence
(Trovatore)
in the
spring of
1943. He
toured
extensively
in Sweden,
partly as a
field
artist, and
appeared
many times
on Swedish
radio.
Back to the
USA
In October
1945, Jussi
Björling
returned to
the USA
after the
war for an
8-month
tour, and
in the next
years he
spent a
large part
of the year
in America,
singing in
opera and
concert.
However,
much of the
summer was
always
spent in
Sweden, at
his summer
home on
Siarö in
the
Stockholm
archipelago.
In August
1946, he
sang for
the first
time with
the La
Scala
ensemble in
Milan
(Rigoletto
at Sports
Palace),
and in
May/June
1951 a
second time
(Ballo in
maschera).
Beginning
in 1947, he
often had
his wife
Anna-Lisa,
an opera
singer whom
he had
married in
1935, as
partner in
concert and
a few times
also in
opera. In
1949, Jussi
took on a
new role,
Des Grieux
in
Puccini's
Manon
Lescaut,
and the
next year
another
one, the
title role
in Verdi's
Don Carlo,
which
opened the
season of
the Met.
The first
of his many
recitals at
Royal
Albert Hall
in London
took place
in 1951. In
1950, he
began a
series of
opera
recordings
in New
York, of
which the
"Pearlfishers
duet" with
Robert
Merrill,
recorded
1951, is
certain to
be the most
famous
one.
First complete
opera
recording
In the
spring of
1952, Jussi
Björling
made the
first of
what would
eventually
become 12
complete
opera and
oratorio
recordings,
Verdi's Il
Trovatore.
South
Africa
In 1953,
Jussi
Björling
once more
opened the
Metropolitan
season,
this time
in Faust,
but this
was
followed by
a period
with voice
problems
caused by
laryngitis.
Jussi
Björling's
only
appearances
outside
Europe and
America
took place
in the
autumn of
1954, when
he made a
concert
tour to
South
Africa. In
1955, he
sang for
the first
time at the
Lyric
Theatre
(later
Lyric
Opera) of
Chicago, to
which
company he
later often
returned.
Puccini's
Bohème was
an opera
which Jussi
performed
much more
than any
other work
in his
repertoire,
and the
complete
recording
which was
made in New
York in the
spring of
1956 is one
of the most
famous
opera
recordings
of all
time.
The last
years
During the
last years
of his
life, Jussi
Björling
continued
to sing
much in the
USA, though
he was
absent from
the Met
between
April 1957
and
November
1959. He
began to
suffer from
heart
problems,
but still
had a
hectic
schedule.
In March
1960, he
sang his
last
performance
at the
Royal Opera
in
Stockholm
(Trovatore),
and later
in the same
month
returned to
the Covent
Garden
Opera in
London for
the first
time since
1939
(Bohème).
His very
last opera
performance
took place
in San
Francisco
with the
Cosmopolitan
Opera
ensemble on
1 April
1960
(Faust),
and his
last
recital at
Skansen in
Stockholm
on 20
August.
Early in
the morning
of 9
September,
Jussi
Björling
died in his
sleep at
his summer
home on
Siarö.
Recordings
from the
last months
of Jussi's
life
demonstrate
that his
voice and
artistry
were not
influenced
by his
illness. It
happened
that the
last
commercial
recording
he made, in
June 1960,
was Verdi's
Requiem.
