Jussi Björling
[3] Björling (surname also spelled as "Bjoerling" and "Bjorling" in English-language sources) was born in Stora Tuna, Borlänge, Dalarna, Sweden, in February 1911.
His other two official debut roles followed; Arnold in Rossini's William Tell on 27 December, and Jonatan in Saul og David by Carl Nielsen on 13 January 1931.
Among the roles he was entrusted was Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, Almaviva in The Barber of Seville, Duca in Rigoletto, Wilhelm Meister in Mignon, Faust, Vasco Da Gama in L'Africaine, Rodolfo in La bohème with Hjördis Schymberg, Tonio in La fille du régiment, Florestan in Fidelio and Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
He was the first Swedish Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West, Luigi in Il tabarro, Elemer in Arabella and Vladimir in Prince Igor, notably performing the part opposite Feodor Chaliapin in 1935.
He sang many major tenor roles in operas in the French and Italian repertoire, including Il trovatore, Rigoletto, Aida, Un ballo in maschera, Cavalleria rusticana, Faust, Roméo et Juliette, La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca and Manon Lescaut.
[7] Björling then made a short American tour, making his last operatic performance as Faust in San Francisco on 1 April 1960 and his final recital at Skansen, Stockholm, on 20 August 1960 (thirty years to the day after his official debut in 1930).
[8] In 1951, RCA Victor recorded a series of duets with Björling and baritone Robert Merrill including a noted performance of "Au fond du temple saint" from the opera The Pearl Fishers by Georges Bizet.
In the summer of 1954, Björling recorded Puccini's Manon Lescaut with Licia Albanese and Robert Merrill in Rome for RCA Victor followed by Aida opposite Milanov and Warren in 1955.
Björling, Victoria de los Ángeles and Merrill, made a widely admired recording of Puccini's La Bohème conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1956.
Björling's 1959 EMI recording of Madama Butterfly, with de los Angeles in the title role and conducted by Gabriele Santini, is also widely celebrated.
In 1956, Björling appeared in the NBC television anthology Producers' Showcase in two programs entitled Festival of Music hosted by Charles Laughton, followed by José Ferrer.
One of Björling's final recordings was the Verdi Requiem conducted by Fritz Reiner for RCA Victor in June, 1960 with Leontyne Price, Rosalind Elias, Giorgio Tozzi, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the chorus of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.
An archive of nearly all of Björling's recorded performances, photographs, letters, recital and opera programmes, reviews, obituaries, and other items related to his career is maintained at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington.
Luciano Pavarotti, in a 1988 interview for the Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, stated: When I'm about to train a new opera, I first listen to how Jussi Björling did it.
[11] During his lifetime, Björling received many orders, decorations, honorary citizenships and other honours from monarchs, governments and cultural and charity organizations in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Belgium, Greece, Hungary and the US.
