Einar Larson, Singer and Colleague

As far as I can remember, I only met Einar Larson-- who has written so vividly about his friendship with Jussi----once, at Jussi Björlinggården in Borlänge, the exhibition that had been opened in May 1969. I remember him as a strikingly stately, friendly man, very engaged in what was being done in Jussi’s memory in his native city, but we had no closer contact. I think I can vouch for the fact that there were no objections when the chairman of the local heritage association, rector Gösta A. Karlsson, said about him in his speech at the opening of the exhibition: “Without his unifying enthusiasm, expertise, contacts and friendship, the exhibition would not have become what it is and therefore the plan for today’s program was also confidently placed in his hands.” This exhibition was replaced in 1994 by the Jussi Björling Museum, which has now unfortunately also been closed down. Larson was born in 1897, studied with John Forsell, among others, and made his debut at the Opera in 1926 as Valentin in Faust. He was the Opera’s foremost lyric baritone and was engaged there until his retirement in 1951. In the late thirties, he suffered a vocal crisis, perhaps due to overexploitation in the repertoire, but was able to come back.