Aida — Record News from Sony

THE 1955 STUDIO recording of Aida where Jussi Björling is partnered by Zinka Milanov, Fedora Barbieri, Leonard Warren och Boris Christoff, is generally regarded as one of the best ever, and it is the only Aida preserved with Jussi. Few could accentuate the lyric side of the warrior in love as he did without losing the heroic aspect. In his analysis, Stephen Hastings especially stresses Jussi’s “supreme musical refinement” in the aria(which aria?)and in the final scene.

This recording was recently re-released by Sony / RCA Red Seal (88883729002). It has been transferred with the latest technology from the original tapes to which only the recording company has access. As a result, this mono recording can be heard in a sound which “for depth, transparency, clarity and dynamic range holds its own with any and every Aida recording of any vintage,” to quote one of the enthusiastic commentaries on Amazon.

Those who happen not to own this recording should buy this issue, and those who own earlier versions are most likely to be positively surprised. The recording itself comprises as usual three CDs, but the libretto is available on a fourth CD-ROM.

Let us hope that Sony makes a similar reissue of Jussi’s Trovatore!

Harald Henrysson

 

New website for the Jussi Björling Society

We would like to wish you a warm welcome to the Jussi Björlingsällskapet's new website: www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.se Here you are given good opportunities to delve into the life and work of the singer Jussi Björling. But this website will just be in Swedish.

The old website: www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com, which you are reading now, will remain as a comprehensive archive and will be able to be visited as usual and you can read it in English, click on the British flag.

The new website is intended to be a more up-to-date place for current information from August 2023. 

 

The Jussi Björling Society

The Jussi Björling Society was founded on January 7, 1989. Its task is to promote interest in and spread knowledge about Jussi Björling, his vocal art, life and career.

More about The Society


Join the Society

HERE you can quickly become a member of The Jussi Björling Society. You will receive our magazine, newsletters and invitations to events and gatherings. The annual fee for 2022 is 275 SEK.

More about the membership


Welcome to the American and British Jussi Björling Societies 

 

Please click the banner.

 

 


Jussi Favourites of the Board Members

Hans Thunström presents his favourite recording.

Read about and listen to the favourite


The former Jussi

Björling Museum

Jussi Björling Museet

The museum officially closed on January 1, 2021 and is now vacant. We hope that it will later be replaced by a museum in another location.