Birgit Nilsson / Elektra's monologue / New York 1973

A hidden treasure found on an old cassette recording. Elektra's monologue from Richard Strauss' opera "Elektra".
Here performed in Carnegie Hall, New York, in 1973.
Enjoy this piece of history from one of the greatest.
Birgit Nilsson May 17, 1918 - December 25, 2005

[@evelynkatz1301]

She is 65 here..... All sonorous metal.... fresh crystal....... beautiful, clear, wonderful!!! Also, perfect tempi, slower than usual but more suitable for her and for the music too. Thanks for posting!!

[@wotan10950]

From the NYTimes: NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY. With Birgit Nilsson, soprano. Conducted by Henry Lewis, At Carnegie Hall.
Also Sprach Zarathustra; Monologue from Elektra; Le Bourgeois Gentilhome; Final scene from Salome... Strauss.
Up to now Henry Lewis, at his Carnegie Hall concerts with his New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, has been featuring Marilyn Home as his soloist. But there are other sopranos in the world, and Mr. Lewis tried one of them out at his concert on Thursday night - a Swedish soprano who goes under the name Birgit Nilsson. She's good too.
The hall was about sold out, and there was the buzz of anticipation that signals an Event. Mr. Lewis had chosen a Strauss program, and Miss Nilsson was to sing two of her specialties the monologue from “Elektra” and the closing scene from “Salome.” Everybody waited patiently through the halfhour‐plus of “Also sprach Zarathustra,” and then Miss Nilsson came out.
Before she even opened her mouth, she was greeted with a prolonged ovation. The Nilssonites yelled and screamed. Yet all together they did not, have the volume of Miss Nilsson when she started singing. Her voice remains one of the national wonders. She does not use it as prodigally as of yore; she holds back a bit and paces herself these days. But she has plenty in reserve, and when she cuts loose she soars over the orchestra, through the hall and presumably out 57th Street and up the Hudson River.

[@darylgimmillaro7149]

I heard her in Elektra at the Met in 1971 with Rysanek, Resnik, Thomas. Bohm conducting. One of the very greatest performances of my life.

[@michaeldelos2863]

Nilsson makes a false entrance near the end and is about 3 bars ahead of the orchestra for about a page and half! Still, she's in magnificent voice and her top C is one of the wonders of the known universe.

[@roberthorn1838]

Nilsson at her magnificent best.How can such a huge , weighty voice soar to such thrilling high notes...extreme focus is the answer, along with incredible energy.All singers should listen to this lady

[@draganvidic2039]

GRANDISSIMA ‼️‼️‼️