NILSSON’S SURPRISE

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30688, 2 March 1965, Page 6

NILSSON’S SURPRISE

N. York Hears Great Salome

It has been a long time since New York heard a great Salome, a special correspondent of “The Times” reported. The last was Ljuba Welitsch, with Fritz Reiner conducting. Now we have the combination of Birgit Nilsson and Karl Bohm, a pair that can hold their own in anyone’s memory. When the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of the Richard Strauss opera was first given last month there seemed little doubt that Miss Nilsson’s enormous sonorous voice would have a tremendous impact in this score. But frankly I was unprepared for the warm, womanly way in which she sapg. Perhaps her singing in recent years of Italian repertory has helped to kindle her voice and to encourage her to draw broader phrases than before. Whatever the reason, her voice glowed and soared on this occasion as never before, providing one of the great evenings in the annals of the Met.

Karl Bohm took a direct, no-nonsense approach to fte music, illuminating every nook in Strauss’s score.

Since the Festival Hall reopened in London orchestras have been experimenting with platform dispositions at concerts because of its changed acoustics.