The King of Opera

 

Jussi Björling was Sweden’s, and perhaps the world’s, greatest tenor of all times. Born in Dalarna in 1911, he divided his time between Sweden and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

“Hör mig när jag ropar…” (“Hear my call…”) reverberates the piercing song of three young boys. It is April 1917. Six-year-old Jussi Björling and his brothers Gösta (aged 5) and Olle (aged 8) are in the middle of their 62nd performance. This one is particularly heart-wrenching. They are singing their last farewell as the coffin of their mother Ester is lowered into the ground. 

The echo from his mother’s funeral would forever reverberate throughout Jussi’s career. It was as though he could tap into his pain on demand, creating a famously intimate connection between himself and his audience. 

Jussi Björling was born in 1911 in Stora Tuna, just outside Borlänge in Dalarna. His father David Björling had trained at the Metropolitan in New York City and had shared a stage with the great Caruso, but he never made it big and decided instead to pour all his efforts into helping his talented sons reach their full potential. At a very young age the Björling boys began touring the churches of Dalarna, but David had bigger plans. In October of 1919, the family boarded S/S Bergensfjord and headed to New York City in search of fame and fortune. 

Their debut in the city was a huge success. For all nostalgic Swedish emigrants, Björlingkvartetten or the Björling Male Quartet acted as a bittersweet reminder of the homeland. The boys and their father sang their way across the country via the old Swedish settlements in Minnesota and Kansas, all the way to California and back again. 

They made a good living, but one day, after nearly two years in the US, homesickness got the better of them. A Swedish sill (herring) lunch in New York City and the news that S/S Stockholm had just arrived in New York harbor, triggered the sudden decision to return home. David cancelled their entire tour and before anyone could flinch, the family was on their way back to Sweden. 

Back home, they continued touring. By now, Björlingkvartetten had become mildly famous, and their future looked bright. Then, suddenly, David passed away on August 13, 1926, only 53 years old. The boys, now orphans, were left with nothing but their voices. They kept touring, but without their father things quickly fell apart. They slept in barns and traveled by bike, unable to afford train tickets or even food some days. In 1927, Björlingkvartetten split up and the brothers were taken in by relatives and friends. Jussi ended up in Ystad, Skåne, where he found employment in a lamp store. He arrived with nothing but a suit, one set of underwear and a coat for which he still owed 50 SEK, but he was determined to make his father proud. He soon moved to Stockholm where he made a living washing taxi cabs at night. Waiting outside the door of John Forsell, head of the Stockholm Opera, Jussi managed to secure an audition and was accepted to the Royal Opera School in Stockholm.   

“Remarkably good. A phenomenon. 17 years old,” 

read Forsell’s notes. 

 

Operatic Debut

In 1930, at the age of 19, Jussi made his operatic debut as Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He soon became a central figure at the Stockholm Opera. Rock music had not yet been invented. Jussi was the new star among opera lovers and youth alike. 

Jussi Björling at Stockholm stadium in 1945. Photo courtesy of Jussi Björling Museum.

At the age of 26, Jussi returned to the US for the first time since his childhood to sing the part of Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème at the Metropolitan. 

“I’ll never forget it,” he recalled in a radio interview. “It was Thanksgiving Day 1938. It was a blizzard. No taxis around and everything was blocked so I had to walk from my hotel on 59th street in Central Park, way down to 39th street.”

After fighting through the snow for 20 blocks, Jussi walked up on stage and blew the American audience away with his performance. His big breakthrough realized, Jussi became one of the world’s most sought-after tenors. Three winters in a row, Jussi performed at the Metropolitan and toured the US. In the fall of 1941, he and his wife, soprano Anna-Lisa Björling, were about to head to the US for a fourth season, but at the last minute Jussi changed his mind. 

Family and friends had gathered at the train station to see them off. Everybody boarded, including Anna-Lisa, but not Jussi. The train departed without him. Without explanation, he cancelled all his upcoming performances in the US and headed to the pub instead. The newspapers speculated that he had suffered a nervous breakdown. A few weeks later, the US entered the war and all trips across the Atlantic were stopped. Now, everybody applauded Jussi’s whim. Had they gone, they might have been stuck in America for years. 

For Jussi and his family the war was a happy time as it enabled the family to stay together. Sweden, once one of Europe’s poorest countries, was prospering. Jussi performed all across the country and was voted the most popular radio voice in the nation. With his patriotic tunes, Jussi provided the soundtrack for the nation’s transformation. He even personified it; a poor but talented dalmas who through hard work had won over the entire world. If he could do it, so could Sweden as a nation. 

 

Returning to the States

When World War II ended, Jussi returned to the US where the Metropolitan Opera in New York City became his main stage for the remainder of his life. His performances here, as well as at opera houses in Chicago and San Francisco, were eagerly awaited. Jussi also toured much of the continent (and the world), performing in concerts and recitals as well as on radio. 

Early in 1960, he was about to perform La Bohème at Covent Garden in London before Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family when he suffered a massive heart attack backstage. His colleagues thought he had died, but Jussi came to. Refusing to let the Queen Mother down, he performed the concert just thirty minutes delayed.  

Later that year, Jussi died of cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart) on Siarö in the archipelago of Stockholm only 49 years old. However, his extensive legacy of recordings, and his enormous popularity among opera lovers around the world, live on to this day.  

 

To listen to some of the great tenor’s recordings, visit the Jussi Björling Society online: https://jussibjorlingsociety.org/audio