BIRGIT NILSSON DIES

The great Swedish opera soprano Birgit Nilsson has died at the age of 87. I think I only heard her sing once, maybe twice, at the tail end of her career, but she was still magnificent. She was reknowned for singing the great Wagnerian heroines, but her most frequent role at the Metropolitan Opera was as Turandot.

She was known for her tremendous sense of humor. My favorite Nilsson story was when she was singing a love duet with a tenor, and held on to a high note longer than he could. He got so angry that instead of kissing her, as the script required, he bit her on the neck. She cancelled her next performance, on the grounds that she had contracted rabies.