The Swedish tenor Jussi Björling was born 110 years ago in 1911. He was undoubtedly one of the great tenors of the 20th century. His laser-like silver tones graced some of the classic operatic recordings, including a famed La Bohème conducted by Thomas Beecham, and a wonderful Turandot with Birgit Nilsson. He was also one of the great Manrico’s in Il Trovatore. We are lucky to have live performances of this opera. The best is probably from Covent Garden in 1939. Another magical recording he made was of Manon Lescot. He sings that with Italian soprano Licia Albanese. This is a classic reading. We are fortunate, as there are also extra live performances from 1949 and 1956, the latter of which is particularly fine. It is conducted wonderfully by Dimitri Mitropoulos. Just listen to the last two acts!

The British Jussi Björling Appreciation Society is there to keep the legacy of the Swedish tenor alive, and we issue a magazine annually. This will give members advance notice of any future releases, as well as review them and highlight any interesting anniversary. Recently, the Society informed its members of a completely new Björling concert from October 1959, just before he started his last season at the Metropolitan opera. This last season from the Met, consisting of performances of Tosca, Faust and Cavalleria Rusticana, is also the subject of new releases from Immortal Performances. These will be reviewed in the next journal of the Appreciation Society. To join the Society for the very low cost of £20 a year, please contact Robert Manderson at mandersonr54@gmail.com.