Editing Jussi Björling (section)

==Career==
[[File:Press photo of Jussi Björling.jpg|thumb|Björling performing at Skansen, Stockholm in 1960]]

Björling made his first stage appearance in the small part as the Lamplighter in ''[[Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon Lescaut]]'' at the [[Royal Swedish Opera]] on 21 July 1930. This was soon followed by his official debut role as Don Ottavio in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' on 20 August 1930, with his teacher [[John Forsell]] as the protagonist. His other two official debut roles followed; Arnold in Rossini's ''[[William Tell (opera)|William Tell]]'' on 27 December, and Jonatan in ''[[Saul og David]]'' by [[Carl Nielsen]] on 13 January 1931. This led to a contract with the [[Royal Swedish Opera]], where Björling added 53 parts up to 1938. 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 (opera)|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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jussi Björlings scenrepertoar |url=http://www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com/uploads/file/Inspelningar_och_framtradanden/Jussi_Bj_orlings_scenrepertoar.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com/uploads/file/Inspelningar_och_framtradanden/Jussi_Bj_orlings_scenrepertoar.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|website=Jussi Björlingsällskapet|publisher=The Tenor|access-date=21 October 2019}}</ref>

In July 1931 he appeared in recital at [[Tivoli (Copenhagen)|Copenhagen's Tivoli]], his first appearance outside Sweden as an adult.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bjorlingsocietyusa.org/projects|title=Biography|website=Jussi Bjorling Society}}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Björling appeared quite frequently as a recitalist, often appearing in summer recitals in Scandinavian ''[[folkpark]]s'' and tivolis, while confining himself to more serious music during his recital tours abroad. In 1936–1937 he first appeared in recital and opera in Vienna and Prague and also appeared in Berlin, Dresden and [[Nuremberg]] in operas in Swedish in an otherwise German ensemble. In 1937 Björling made his recital debut in London and his first American tour as an adult. Björling made his American concert debut at the [[Carnegie Hall]] in 1937 – also appearing in opera in Chicago that year. On 24 November 1938 he made his debut at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] as Rodolfo in ''[[La bohème]]'', where he remained on the roster until 1941, often appearing in opera in San Francisco and Chicago as well.

In December 1940 [[Arturo Toscanini]] invited Björling to sing the tenor part in [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s ''[[Missa solemnis (Beethoven)|Missa solemnis]]'' in New York, a recording of which exists. Björling also performed the ''[[Requiem (Verdi)|Verdi Requiem]]'' under Toscanini in 1939 in [[Lucerne]], Switzerland, and in November 1940 in New York, another performance that was recorded and eventually issued as an [[LP record|LP]].

Björling made his debut at the [[Royal Opera House]] in London in 1939 as Manrico in ''[[Il trovatore]]''. The war confined his appearances to Europe. He appeared in opera in Copenhagen, Helsinki and Budapest and made his Italian debut at the [[Teatro Comunale, Florence]], in 1943 in ''Il trovatore''. In 1944 Björling was appointed ''[[hovsångare]]'' (i.e. "Royal Court Singer") by the Swedish King, [[Gustaf V]].

In 1945 Björling returned to the US and appeared frequently at the Metropolitan Opera. 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 (opera)|Faust]]'', ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]'', ''[[La bohème]]'', ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', ''[[Tosca]]'' and ''[[Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon Lescaut]]''. He appeared as ''[[Don Carlo]]'' in the opening of the 1950–1951 season, but the relationship with [[Rudolf Bing]] was strained, and as a consequence he was absent for a couple of seasons in the mid 1950s. Meanwhile, Björling appeared with other American opera companies such as [[Lyric Opera of Chicago]] and [[San Francisco Opera]].

Björling appeared at [[La Scala]] in 1946 in ''Rigoletto'' and 1951 in ''Un ballo in maschera''. His planned Paris début in 1953 was cancelled, however, and except for recitals in United Kingdom, some performances in Yugoslavia, East Germany and South Africa in 1954, Björling rarely appeared outside Scandinavia and United States.

On 15 March 1960 Björling suffered a heart attack before a performance of ''La Bohème'' at Covent Garden. He insisted on singing in spite of his condition.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mr Björling taken ill on stage|quote=A spokesman for Mr Björling said 'I think he had a minor heart attack.'...'But being told that the Queen Mother was in the audience gave him an extra fillip and he sang the role.'|date=16 March 1960|work=The Times|page=12}}</ref> 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). He died of heart-related issues on the island of {{ill|Siarö|sv|Siarö}}, Sweden, on 9 September 1960, aged 49.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Harald Henrysson|author2=Andrew Farkas|title=Jussi|publisher=Amadeus Press|year=1996|isbn=9781574670103|page=384}}</ref>