Editing Birgit Nilsson (section)

== Biography ==

=== Early life ===
Birgit Nilsson was born Märta Birgit Svensson on a farm at [[Västra Karup]] in [[Skåne]] (100&nbsp;km/60 miles north of [[Malmö]]) to Nils Svensson and Justina Svensson (née Paulsson). When she was three years old she began picking out melodies on a [[toy piano]] her mother bought for her. She once told an interviewer that she could sing before she could walk, adding, "I even sang in my dreams". Her vocal talent was first noticed when she began to sing in her church [[choir]]. A [[choirmaster]] near her home heard her sing and advised her to take voice lessons.

She studied with Ragnar Blennow in [[Åstorp]] for six months to prepare for an audition at the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Music]] in [[Stockholm]] where she came in first out of a group of 47 singers and was awarded the [[Christina Nilsson]] scholarship named for the famous soprano. Her teachers at the academy were [[Joseph Hislop]] and [[Arne Sunnegårdh]]. However, she considered herself self-taught: "The best teacher is the stage", she told an interviewer in 1981. "You walk out onto it, and you have to learn to project." She deplored her early instruction and attributed her success to native talent. "My first voice teacher [Hislop] almost killed me ... [T]he second was almost as bad."<ref name="nyt holland"/>

=== Early career ===
In 1946, Nilsson made her debut at the [[Royal Swedish Opera]] in Stockholm with only three days' notice, replacing the ailing singer scheduled for the role of Agathe in [[Carl Maria von Weber]]'s ''[[Der Freischütz]]''. Conductor [[Leo Blech]] was not very kind to her and, as she wrote in her autobiography, she even contemplated suicide after the performance. In 1947 she claimed national attention in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Macbeth (Verdi)|Lady Macbeth]]'' conducted by [[Fritz Busch]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Blyth|first1=Alan|author1-link=Alan Blyth|last2=Barker |first2=Frank Granville |title=Obituary: Birgit Nilsson|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=12 January 2006 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/12/guardianobituaries.arts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025073534/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/12/guardianobituaries.arts |archive-date=25 October 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=29 April 2018}}</ref> A wealth of parts followed, from [[Richard Strauss]] and [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]] to [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]], and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]. In Stockholm she built up a steady repertoire of roles in the lyric-dramatic field, including Donna Anna in ''[[Don Giovanni]]'', ''[[Aida]]'', Lisa in ''[[The Queen of Spades (opera)]]'', ''[[Tosca]]'', Venus in ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'', Sieglinde in ''[[Die Walküre]]'', Senta in ''[[Der fliegende Holländer]]'' and the Marschallin in ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'', one of her favourite roles, all sung in Swedish. In 1949 she sang in ''[[Ariadne auf Naxos]]'' with [[Hjördis Schymberg]] and [[Elisabeth Söderström]] among others.

=== International engagements ===
[[File:Bnilssonlmacbeth.jpg|thumb|left|Nilsson as Lady Macbeth in the opera by Verdi at the [[Royal Swedish Opera]], Stockholm, 1947]]

Under [[Fritz Busch]]'s tutelage, her career took wing. He was instrumental in securing her first important engagement outside Sweden, as [[Electra]] in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Idomeneo]]'' at the [[Glyndebourne Festival]] in 1951. Her debut at the [[Vienna State Opera]] in 1953 was a turning point; she would be a regular performer there for more than 25 years. It was followed by Elsa in [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s
''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' at the [[Bayreuth Festival]] in 1954, then her first Brünnhilde in a complete ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring]]'' at the [[Bavarian State Opera]], at the [[Munich Opera Festival]] of 1954. Later she returned as Sieglinde, Brünnhilde, and Isolde until 1969.

She took the title role of ''[[Turandot]]'', which is brief but requires an unusually big sound, to [[La Scala]] in Milan in 1958, and then to the rest of Italy. Nilsson made her American debut as Brünnhilde in Wagner's ''[[Die Walküre]]'' in 1956 with the [[San Francisco Opera]]. She attained international stardom after a performance as [[Tristan und Isolde|Isolde]] at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York City in 1959, which made front-page news. She said that the single biggest event in her life was being asked to perform at the opening of the 180th season at La Scala as Turandot in 1958. She performed at many major opera houses in the world including [[Vienna]], Berlin, the [[Royal Opera House]] at [[Covent Garden]], Tokyo, Paris, [[Buenos Aires]], Chicago, and [[Hamburg]].

She sang with the [[Sydney Symphony Orchestra]] in the all-Wagner concert that opened the Concert Hall of the [[Sydney Opera House]] in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aso.gov.au/titles/music/sydney-opera-house-opening/ |title=Sydney Opera House Opening Concert. |date=29 October 1973 |access-date=6 August 2012}}</ref>

=== From the 1960s through to the 1980s ===
Nilsson was widely known as the leading [[Wagnerian]] [[soprano]] of her time, the successor to the great Norwegian soprano [[Kirsten Flagstad]], particularly as Brünnhilde. However, she also sang many of the other famous soprano roles, among them [[Fidelio|Leonore]], [[Aida]], [[Turandot]], [[Tosca]], [[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]], and [[Salome (opera)|Salome]]. She had, according to ''[[The New York Times]]'', a "voice of impeccable trueness and impregnable stamina".

The conductor [[Erich Leinsdorf]] thought that her longevity, like Flagstad's, had something to do with her [[Scandinavia]]n heritage, remarking that Wagner required "thoughtful, patient and methodical people." Nilsson attributed her long career to no particular lifestyle or regimen. "I do nothing special", she once said. "I don't smoke. I drink a little wine and beer. I was born with the right set of parents."

In sheer power, her high notes were sometimes compared to those of the [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] belter [[Ethel Merman]]. However Nilsson claims her "explosive" high notes that were her biggest asset on-stage "have not been recorded like they should have been" in the studio. She later lamented: "It always made me a little bit sad when I heard my own recordings. And many people told me that I sang much better in person than I do on the recordings! That didn't flatter me at all, because I know what's going to be left when I am no longer singing".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bruceduffie.com/nilsson.html|title=Birgit Nilsson Interview with Bruce Duffie}}</ref>

Twice at the Met, Nilsson sustained injuries that kept her from performing. In February 1971, she sprained her ankle during a performance of ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'' that resulted in cancellation of one performance (that was replaced by a historic performance of ''Fidelio'' starring [[Christa Ludwig]]). Nilsson recovered to sing the broadcast performance of ''Elektra'' on 27 February. More seriously, in March 1974 she fell and dislocated her shoulder during a rehearsal of ''[[Götterdämmerung]]''.<ref name="Injury at the Met">{{cite news |title=Wagnerian Soprano Injured |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4831500/wagnerian_soprano_injured/|newspaper=[[The Robesonian]]|location=Lumberton, North Carolina|date=5 March 1974 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=4 April 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref> While recuperating in her hospital room at Roosevelt Hospital she said, "other than my bruises and my black and blues I feel fine".<ref name="Injury at the Met" /> Although able to sing Brünnhilde for the first two performances with her arm in a sling, her injury caused her to miss subsequent performances, including that season's ''[[Götterdämmerung]]'' broadcast. ''[[The New York Times]]''' review of the production's 8 March opening night is reprinted in the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Archives]].

=== "Miss N." ===
Beginning at the summer of 1968 at the [[Bayreuth]] Festival, Nilsson was obsessively stalked by a much younger American actress and model, [[Nell Theobald]], until Theobald's suicide nine years later in 1977. Nilsson recounted her experiences with Theobald at length in her memoir, ''La Nilsson'', in which she referred to Theobald solely as "Miss N." The stalking incident was later featured in ''[[Opera News]]'' magazine and ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metoperafamily.org/operanews/issue/article.aspx?id=5277&issueID=336 |title=The Star and the Stalker |author=Kathryn Leigh Scott |author-link=Kathryn Leigh Scott |work=[[Opera News]] |date=August 2009 |volume=74 |issue=2 |access-date=6 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/arts/music/21blum.html?pagewanted=all |title=Soprano's Tale: Obsession, Love and Death. Offstage|author=[[Ralph Blumenthal]]|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=21 May 2006 |access-date=6 August 2009}}</ref>

=== Nilsson's humour ===
Nilsson did not get along with famous conductor [[Herbert von Karajan]]. Once when rehearsing on stage at the Vienna Staatsoper, her string of pearls broke. While helping her retrieve them, Karajan asked, "Are these real pearls bought with your La Scala fees?" Nilsson replied, "No, these are fake pearls bought with your Vienna Staatsoper fees." When Nilsson first arrived at the Met to rehearse the production of ''Die Walküre'' conducted by Karajan, she said, "Nu, where's Herbie?" And Karajan once sent Nilsson a cable several pages long, proposing in great detail a variety of projects, different dates and operas. Nilsson cabled back: "Busy. Birgit."<ref>{{cite book|title=The New York Times Biographical Service|volume=2|publisher=The New York Times & Arno Press|year=1971|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xiJBAQAAIAAJ|access-date=29 April 2018|page=4301|quote=Several years ago, in response to his detailed, two-page cablegram offering her a long list of new production Miss Nilsson sent the maestro a curt two-word cable: "Busy. Birgit." Their feud broke into print two years ago when the soprano canceled several Metropolitan engagements because she felt Mr. von Karajan wanted to work another soprano into her favorite parts. 'When the birds aren't happy they don't sing', she declared. Such Nilsson moods pass quickly, ordinarily.}}</ref>

The Swedish photographer [[Lennart Nilsson]], who became world famous for his [[A Child Is Born (book)|documentation]] of pregnancy from conception to birth, was asked by the magazine ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' to photograph Birgit Nilsson's [[vocal cords]] as she sang high C. Birgit Nilsson turned the proposal down with the words "Your photographer wants me to swallow the tiny camera so he can take pictures of the vocal cord <sup>{{sic}}</sup>. I don't want that, since I know where it has been before."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gd.se/kultur/musik/1.415086-gatan-birgit-nilsson-lever-vidare |title=Gåtan Birgit Nilsson lever vidare (in Swedish) |access-date=29 August 2012 |archive-date=2 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502013318/http://gd.se/kultur/musik/1.415086-gatan-birgit-nilsson-lever-vidare |url-status=dead }}</ref> Eventually, though, she agreed on having the pictures taken.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hbl.fi/kultur/recension/2012-08-02/ar-gastromikrofonin-framtidens-melodi |title=Är gastromikrofonin framtidens melodi? (in Swedish) |access-date=29 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716103728/http://hbl.fi/kultur/recension/2012-08-02/ar-gastromikrofonin-framtidens-melodi |archive-date=16 July 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

There was a healthy competition between Nilsson and tenor [[Franco Corelli]] as to who could hold the high C the longest in Act II of ''Turandot.'' In one tour performance, after she outlasted him on the high C, he stormed off to [[Rudolf Bing]] during the next intermission, saying that he was not going to continue the performance. Bing, who knew how to handle Corelli's tantrums, suggested that he retaliate by biting Nilsson on the neck when Calaf kisses Turandot in Act III. Corelli didn't bite her but he was so delighted with the idea that he told her about Bing's suggestion. She then cabled Bing, informing him she had to cancel the next two performances because she had contracted rabies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Seghers |first=R. |title=Franco Corelli: Prince of Tenors |publisher=Amadeus Press |series=Opera biography series |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olEIAQAAMAAJ |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=216 |isbn=9781574671636 |quote=Later she sent a legendary telegram to Rudolf Bing: 'Muss die kommende Vorstellungen absagen stop schwere Bissverletzung stop Birgit' (Have to cancel all coming performances stop severe bite wounds stop Birgit). Bing, in whom Birgit Nilsson had found a lively verbal sparring partner since her arrival at the Met, immediately saw the public-relations value of the telegram and leaked to the press that Nilsson had written that she had contracted rabies. From there the story ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Fiedler |first=J. |title=Molto Agitato: The Mayhem Behind the Music at the Metropolitan Opera |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-4000-7589-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9gtOoMw8RAC&pg=PT91 |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=91 |quote=... When a jealous Franco Corelli nipped her neck while she held a high C longer than he could, Nilsson called Bing the next day to say she could not go on that night: "I have rabies", she announced. Bing loved her spontaneity ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Veckojournalen |publisher=Åhlén & Åkerlunds |year=1969 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eAMdAQAAMAAJ |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=40 |language=sv |quote='Gå in bara, och när du ska kyssa henne så bit henne ordentligt!' Det gjorde Corelli. Nästa dag fick Bing ett telegram : Kan inte sjunga. Biten av en hund. Har rabies. Birgit Nilsson. — Man ska skämta sig igenom vardagen, sa hon en gång. Det är säkert inget dumt recept ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Leinsdorf|first=E.|author-link=Erich Leinsdorf|title=Cadenza: A Musical Career|publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1976 |url=https://archive.org/details/cadenzamusicalca00lein|via=[[Internet Archive]]|url-access=registration |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cadenzamusicalca00lein/page/111 111] |isbn=9780395244012 |quote=The bill was Puccini's ''Turandot'', the stars were Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli, the conductor Stokowski, and I sat next to Bing in the audience. Toward the close of "In questa reggia" in act two Nilsson held the high C longer than the tenor. Furious over this, Corelli stalked ... This appealed to Corelli, and all proceeded as suggested until at the final curtain Nilsson called for the general manager, loudly crying: 'Mr. Bing, get me a veterinarian, I have the rabies.' Bing told me later that the ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mihalap |first=H. |title=Where There's Hope: There's Life and Laughter |publisher=Trudy Knox, Publisher |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-9611354-6-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXfWAAAAMAAJ |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=82 |quote=By now legendary is the night in Boston that Birgit Nilsson, the great Swedish soprano, held a note longer than Franco Corelli, who had near apoplexy about it later in the dressing room. He threatened to quit that instant until Bing cleverly suggested he bite Nilsson in the next act. Apparently he lost his nerve, but later Nilsson sent Bing a telegram from Minneapolis, the next stop on the tour. 'Corelli bit me tonight', she wired, 'am being treated for rabies.'}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=October 2023}}

When Nilsson started singing ''[[Aida]]'' at the Met, soprano [[Zinka Milanov]] was miffed as Aida had theretofore been "her" role. After one performance in which Nilsson was singing, Milanov commandeered and drove off in the Rolls-Royce Nilsson had hired for after the performance. When asked about this afterwards, Milanov said "If Madame Nilsson takes my roles, I must take her Rolls."<ref>{{cite web |title=The Roles Birgit Nilsson & Zinka Milanov Shared & Fought Over |website=operawire.com|date=17 May 2017 |url=http://operawire.com/the-roles-birgit-nilsson-zinka-milanov-shared-fought-over/ |access-date=29 April 2018}}</ref>

The secret to singing Isolde, she said, was "comfortable shoes."<ref>{{cite book | last1=Emmons | first1=S. | last2=Thomas | first2=A. | title=Power Performance for Singers: Transcending the Barriers | publisher=Oxford University Press, USA | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-19-511224-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/powerperformance0000emmo|via=[[Internet Archive]]| url-access=registration | access-date=29 April 2018 | page=[https://archive.org/details/powerperformance0000emmo/page/216 216] | quote=Rehearse in the clothing and shoes that you plan to use. (Remember what Birgit Nilsson said when asked how to sing Wagnerian opera? "Get a good pair of comfortable shoes.") }}</ref> After a disagreement with the Australian soprano [[Joan Sutherland]], Nilsson was asked if she thought Sutherland's famous bouffant hairdo was real. She answered: "I don't know. I haven't pulled it yet."<ref>{{cite book |author=Joan Sutherland |title=A Prima Donna's Progress: The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland |publisher=[[Regnery Publishing]]|year=1997 |isbn=978-0-89526-374-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7cQAQAAMAAJ |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=155 |quote=It was on this occasion that Birgit Nilsson, when asked was Miss Sutherland's hair real, was reported (in Leonard Lyon's column) to have replied: 'I don't know – I haven't pulled it yet!'}}</ref>

Once, asked what was her favourite role, she answered: "Isolde made me famous. Turandot made me rich." When long-time Metropolitan Opera director Sir [[Rudolf Bing]] was asked if she was difficult, he reportedly said "Not at all. You put enough money in, and a glorious voice comes out."<ref>{{cite book |title=International Record Review |publisher=International Record Review|volume=6|number=2|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cEE5AQAAIAAJ |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=1 |quote=The world of opera is mourning Birgit Nilsson, who died on December 25th. [On page 14 John Hughes relates a few tales about her famed wit, including an anecdote regarding her strained relationship with Rudolf Bing, to which could be added another.] When asked if Nilsson was difficult, Bing's response was 'Not at all, you put enough money in and a glorious voice comes out. When preparing her taxes, Nilsson was asked if she had any dependents ...}}</ref> When Nilsson was preparing her taxes and was asked if she had any dependents, she replied, "Yes, just one, Rudolf Bing."<ref>{{cite book |last=Wechsberg |first=J. |title=The Opera |publisher=Macmillan|year=1972 |url=https://archive.org/details/opera00wech|via=[[Internet Archive]]|url-access=registration |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=[https://archive.org/details/opera00wech/page/189 189] |quote=... und Isolde depended on the availability of Birgit Nilsson; there was no one else in her class. (According to a story told around the Met, when an accountant helped Miss Nilsson with her income tax return and asked whether she had any dependents, she replied at once, "Yes, Mr Bing.")}}</ref>

=== Business ===
Nilsson was also famous for her ability to make money. She became one of the highest-paid singers in the field, in part because of the rarity of her skills. Being a shrewd businesswoman, she negotiated much of her own career. She never ranted or engaged in tantrums. She would begin contract talks by refusing every offer and being evasive about her availability. This tack would continue until the impresario offered something she wanted. Nilsson's reply would be "maybe".{{Cite quote|date=October 2023}}

[[File:Birgitn.jpg|thumb|Nilsson behind the stage at [[Gröna Lund]], Stockholm, 1960s]]

=== Interactions with conductors ===
Nilsson was known for standing up to conductors. In a 1967 rehearsal of ''Die Walküre'' with [[Herbert von Karajan]] conducting, Nilsson responded to the gloomy lighting of the production by wearing a miner's helmet (complete with Valkyrian wings).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blum |first1=D. |last2=Steinhardt |first2=A. |title=Quintet: Five Journeys Toward Musical Fulfillment |publisher=Cornell University Press |series=G – Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8014-3731-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/quintetfivejourn00blum|via=[[Internet Archive]]|url-access=registration |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=[https://archive.org/details/quintetfivejourn00blum/page/173 173]}}</ref> When on some occasion [[Herbert von Karajan|von Karajan]] urged a retake "but this time with more heart. That's the place where you have your purse", Nilsson replied, "I'm so pleased to find we have something in common."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nilsson |first1=B. |last2=Popper |first2=D. J.|title=La Nilsson: My Life in Opera |publisher=University Press of New England |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-55553-859-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YvPwCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=113}}</ref> When [[Georg Solti]], in ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'', insisted on tempos too slow for Nilsson's taste, she made the first performance even slower, inducing a change of heart in the conductor.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

=== Self-criticism ===
Despite her worldwide recognition, Nilsson said she was nervous before every major performance. "Before a premiere, on the way to the opera, I'd hope for just a small, small accident, it didn't need to be much, but just so I would not have to sing", she said in a 1977 interview on Swedish TV. Nilsson often spoke of her limits. She said her voice was not a good fit with what she described as the softer textures and refined tones of Italian operas. Nonetheless, she sang roles in Italianate operas such as Donna Anna in ''[[Don Giovanni]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Terkel |first=S. |title=And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey |publisher=New Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-59558-655-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hsaIG4lSOyYC&pg=PA33 |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=33}}</ref>

=== Recordings ===
Nilsson recorded all of her major roles in major commercial recordings of the complete works, as well as about a dozen solo recitals of arias, art songs, concerts, and hymns—all were originally released on vinyl LP format and most have been reissued on CD or in digital format. Partly because of her availability to play Brünnhilde, [[Decca Records]] undertook the expensive project of making a studio recording of Wagner's four-opera ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring Cycle]]'', conducted by Solti and produced by [[John Culshaw]]. The effort took seven years, from 1958 to 1965. A film of the proceedings made her a familiar image for arts-conscious television viewers.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Opera News]]|publisher=Metropolitan Opera Guild|volume=61|number=9–17|year=1997<!-- |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jKc4AQAAIAAJ|access-date=29 April 2018 -->|page=5}}{{title missing|date=December 2023}}</ref>

=== Absence from New York and Salzburg ===
Though a frequent visitor to the [[Metropolitan Opera]], Nilsson did not always see eye to eye with its redoubtable general manager, Rudolf Bing (who was often said to dislike Wagner), nor with conductor Herbert von Karajan. Subsequently, she made fewer New York appearances than hoped in the early 1970s and was virtually excluded from the [[Salzburg Festival]]. Her American career was derailed in the mid-1970s by US [[Internal Revenue Service]] claims filed for back taxes. Several years later a schedule of payments was worked out, and Nilsson's hiatus from the United States ended. When she returned, [[Donal Henahan]] wrote in ''[[The New York Times]]'', "The famous shining trumpet of a voice is still far from sounding like a [[cornet]]."<ref>{{cite book |title=The New York Times Biographical Service|publisher=The New York Times & Arno Press|volume=12|year=1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jDwoAQAAIAAJ |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=1393 |quote=As recently as last season, Donal Henahan declared that 'the famous shining trumpet of a voice is still far from sounding like a cornet.' Miss Nilsson's longevity in this taxing profession is a marvel. She has outlasted even Kirsten Flagstad who left the operatic stage at 58.}}</ref>

Nilsson appeared at the Metropolitan Opera 223 times in 16 roles. She sang two complete ''Ring'' cycles in the 1961–62 season, and another in 1974–75. She was Isolde 33 times, and [[Turandot]] 52. She played most of the other major soprano parts: [[Aida]], [[Tosca]], the Dyer's Wife in Strauss's ''[[Die Frau ohne Schatten]]'', [[Salome (opera)|Salome]], [[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]], Verdi's [[Lady Macbeth]], and Leonore in Beethoven's ''[[Fidelio]]''. In 1966 she simultaneously performed the roles of Venus and Elisabeth (who never appear together) in Wagner's ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]].''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://69.18.170.204/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=205800&limit=3000&xBranch=ALL&xsdate=&xedate=&theterm=1965-66&x=0&xhomepath=http://69.18.170.204/archives/&xhome=http://69.18.170.204/archives/bibpro.htm|title=BiblioTech PRO V3.2b|website=69.18.170.204|access-date=2019-10-31}}</ref> She memorably appeared as replacement Sieglinde to [[Rita Hunter]]'s Brünnhilde in the 1970s. She appeared 232 times at the [[Vienna State Opera]] from 1954 to 1982, and the [[Vienna Philharmonic]], the company's orchestra, made her an honorary member in 1999. "If there ever was someone that one can call a real star today and a world-famous opera singer during her time then that was Frau Nilsson", said [[Ioan Holender]], director of the Vienna State Opera.

=== Later life ===
[[File:Birgit Nilsson, Swedish Wagnerian Soprano, at home.jpg|thumb|right|Birgit Nilsson in 1981]]
Nilsson's autobiography, ''Mina minnesbilder'' (''My memoirs in pictures'') was published in Stockholm in 1977. She retired in 1984 to her childhood home in the Skåne province of southern Sweden, where her father had been a sixth-generation farmer and she had worked to grow beets and potatoes until she was 23. In an interview in the mid-1990s, she appeared happy, serene and as unpretentious as ever. "I've always tried to remember what my mother used to tell me", she said. "Stay close to the earth. Then when you fall down, it won't hurt so much."

In 1981, Sweden issued a postage stamp showing Nilsson as Turandot.<ref>{{cite book |title=The New York Times Biographical Service|publisher=The New York Times & Arno Press|volume=12|year=1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jDwoAQAAIAAJ |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=1393 |quote=It is Birgit Nilsson — and although 63 years old and a survivor of 35 years in the world's most demanding dramatic soprano repertory, she can still summon an instrument of stunning power and clarity. ... Payment schedules were worked out, tempers soothed, and in February 1980, Miss Nilsson gave New York a triumphant ''Elektra''. ... As she travels the world, her honors follow her — one of them a newly issued Swedish postage stamp bearing her likeness in the role of 'Turandot'.}}</ref> She received the [[Illis quorum]] gold medal, today the highest award that can be conferred upon a Swedish citizen by the Government of Sweden.<ref>{{cite book |author=Nordic Council |title=Nordisk kontakt |publisher=Statens reproduktionsanstalt |year=1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=miIdAAAAIAAJ |language=sv |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=724 |quote=Sångerskan Birgit Nilsson har fått Illis Qourum i I8:e storleken. Hon fick medaljen för "sina synnerligen uppmärksammade insatser inom operan och annan sångkonst", heter det i regeringens motivering. Det är första gången Illis Quorum i 18:e storleken tilldelats en kvinna och det är fem år sedan den delades ut förra gången.}}</ref> In 1988, on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of [[New Sweden]], the first Swedish settlement in America, [[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]] named their prize for promising young American opera singers the [[Birgit Nilsson Prize]]. Nilsson personally chaired several competitions.<ref>{{cite book |author=Swedish Council of America |title=Sweden & America |publisher=Swedish Council of America |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3YOAQAAMAAJ |language=de |access-date=29 April 2018 |page=9}}</ref>

=== Death ===
Nilsson died, aged 87, on 25 December 2005 at her home at Bjärlöv, a small village near [[Kristianstad]] in Skåne in the same county where she was born. No cause of death was released. She was survived by her husband Bertil Niklasson (died March 2007), a veterinary surgeon whom she had met on a train and married in 1948. They had no children.<ref>{{cite news |title=Birgit Nilsson, 87; Wagnerian Soprano Known for the Power of Her Voice and Personality|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=12 January 2006 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-12-me-nilsson12-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409153553/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/12/local/me-nilsson12 |archive-date=9 April 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=29 April 2018 }}</ref>