Birgit Nilsson

**Märta Birgit Nilsson** (17 May 1918 – 25 December 2005) was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano. Although she sang a wide repertory of operatic and vocal works, Nilsson was best known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Her voice was noted for its overwhelming force, bountiful reserves of power, and the gleaming brilliance and clarity in the upper register.

## Overview

Nilsson made such strong imprints on many roles that they came to be known as the "Nilsson repertory". She sang the operas of Richard Strauss and made a specialty of Puccini's *Turandot*, but it was the music of Wagner that made her career. She once said that *Isolde* made her famous and *Turandot* made her rich. Her olympian command of his music was comparable to that of Kirsten Flagstad, who dominated the Wagner repertory at the Metropolitan Opera during the years before World War II.

## Death

Nilsson died, aged 87, on 25 December 2005 at her home at Bjärlöv, a small village near Kristianstad in Skåne in the same county where she was born. No cause of death was released. She was survived by her husband Bertil Niklasson (died March 2007), a veterinary surgeon whom she had met on a train and married in 1948. They had no children.

## Legacy

Three years after Nilsson's death, in December 2008, the Birgit Nilsson Foundation announced that it would award a prize every two to three years to a concert or opera singer, a classical or opera conductor, or a specific production by an opera company. The prize was funded by Nilsson herself. The foundation said that Nilsson had chosen the first winner, to be announced in early 2009.

On 20 February 2009, Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo was announced as the inaugural recipient of the prize, which carried with it a cash award of $1,000,000. The first award ceremony took place in the Royal Swedish Opera on 13 October 2009. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden personally presented the prize to the designated winner. A jury has been set up by the foundation to make recommendations for future prizes. The second winner of the Birgit Nilsson prize was Riccardo Muti,who received the award in Stockholm on 13 October 2011. On 9 April 2014 it was announced that the third recipient of the prize would be the Vienna Philharmonic.

On 6 April 2011, the Bank of Sweden announced that Nilsson's portrait will feature on the 500 kronor banknote, beginning in October 2016.

## Awards

* 1954 Royal Court Singer (Swedish: Hovsångerska), Stockholm, Sweden
* 1958 Gold Medal, Teatro Liceo, Barcelona, Spain
* 1960 Royal Medal Litteris et Artibus, Stockholm, Sweden
* 1960 Honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Stockholm
* 1966 Sonning Award, Denmark
* 1967 Gold Medal For the Promotion of the Art of Music (Swedish: För tonkonstens främjande) of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Stockholm
* 1968 Austrian Kammersängerin in 1968
* 1968 Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera, Vienna, Austria
* 1970 Honorary doctorate from Merrimack College, Andover, Mass. USA
* 1970 Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, London, England
* 1970 Bavarian Kammersängerin, Munich, Germany
* 1972 Royal medal Ingenio et Arti, Denmark
* 1974 Commander of the Order of Vasa, first class, Stockholm, Sweden
* 1975 Commander of the Order of St. Olav, first class, Norway
* 1981 Illis Quorum gold medal, 18th grade with chain, Stockholm
* 1981 Gold medal of the Royal Opera Stockholm (Swedish: Kungliga Teatern), Stockholm
* 1982 Honorary doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music, New York City
* 1982 Honorary doctorate from Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
* 1982 Swedish-American of the Year Award, New York City
* 1988 Cross of merit, first class, of the Land of Lower Saxony, Germany
* 1991 Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, France
* 1993 Royal Opera House Silver Medal for 25-year's service as a Guest Artist, London, England
* 1994 Award of the Sweden–America Foundation (Swedish: Sverige-Amerikastiftelsen), New York City
* 1997 Honorary doctorate of the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland
* 1999 Honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna, Austria
* 2012 Gramophone's Hall of Fame in 2012

## Videography

* *The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala*, Deutsche Grammophon DVD, [[1]]