But for one consideration, this would get a “run out and buy this” recommendation since Jussi Björling’s name on the cover guarantees that the discs include some of the most glorious singing ever recorded. The problem is that Björling discs will be part of any self-respecting vocal collection. Therefore, such a collection already will include multiple versions of many, if not most, of the 44 selections here. Of course, this need not matter if you want his 1944 “Questo e quella” from Rigoletto or his 1945 “Ah, lève-toi soleil” from Roméo et Juliette, but only have his 1930 versions. They–and other repertoire duplications–are worth hearing, for the voice became more dense over time, the fullness not detracting from the lyric freshness at all. His artistry deepened as well, drama and emotion conveyed through the voice alone, never toying with words and phrases. Björling often recorded Cavaradossi’s two big arias from Tosca and another pair from La Bohème, but the ones in this set come from his last years, the Tosca from 1960, and Bohème from the Beecham recording circa 1956.
And there’s material here that even seasoned collectors may not have–the Swedish “Silent Night” from 1959 or some American operetta songs sung in English. Some of the great tenor’s familiar “hits”, such as the Swedish national anthem or the duet from Don Carlo with Robert Merrill, aren’t included, but other “very best” items like Beethoven’s song, “Adelaide”, and the incomparable “Au Mont Ida” from Offenbach’s La Belle Helêne are.
So let’s just revert to the obvious: this one’s a must (with the caveat above). Be advised too, that Naxos’ Great Singers series also is reissuing Björling. His opera and operetta recordings in Swedish are available on Naxos 8110722 in so-so transfers, and 8110701 has 23 opera arias in excellent restorations by Mark Obert-Thorn. Unlike Obert-Thorn though, EMI’s unnamed transfer engineers apparently have a powerful aversion to 78rpm surface noise, so while such extraneous artifacts are absent from this set, they are replaced on some tracks by distortion on high notes and other unwanted side-effects of noise-suppression devices. It’s nothing too serious, but the brightness can become wearing in extended listening at the higher volume necessary to reproduce the voice with body and color intact. [6/7/2003]
