65 Years Ago

“When Jussi Björling was suddenly taken from us on 9 September 1960, there was intense dismay and great sorrow, for he was one of the greatest singers of our time, a fact to which an enormous and always enraptured public bore witness. His audiences were to be found not only in the opera houses and concert halls of the world’s great cities, but also in Swedish amusement parks and in front of hundreds of thousands of radio sets. He was humble before the art of music and, in the truth and meticulousness of his work, a true artist, something to which his colleagues and friends from many opera stages have willingly attested. On many occasions, the heavy demands which he made on himself, and which the public made on him, caused complications, but these can be seen as reflections of a vulnerable artistic character and a fragile human being. He was a good-hearted and kind man, without pretensions or conceit, as his many friends, as well as people who only occasionally came in contact with him, have emphasized. He was, in many respects, an unusual man, both complicated and uncomplicated.” Bertil Hagman, Press Officer / Program Editor, Royal Opera, Stockholm