Thoughts on “O Helga Natt”

“No singer was ever more loved than Jussi Björling,” said Elisabeth Söderström at the big concert in Stockholm 1985 to celebrate his memory. Jussi had a quality that set him apart from everyone else. A voice sent from Heaven. So beautiful, so brilliant, so perfect yet so intensely emotional. Every note he sang went straight into the depths of the heart. That kind of attraction cannot be explained, because it is, and will always remain, a mystery. What is deepest in the heart of every human being is that which we cannot put into words. And what do we all have in our hearts? Our souls of course. And who put that eternal soul there? God of course. It didn’t come out of nothing. Jussi was a man of faith. When he sings “O helga natt” on 8 February 1959, it is not only sung with unparalelled magnificence, but with true faith. You cannot sing like that if you don’t believe it. Jussi was the real thing all the way. All the emotions are in the sound. It comes out unfiltered, directly from his heart to ours. And what sound he makes.