If you will send your name, address and email address to the University of Rochester Press, you will receive a 25% discount off the retail price of “The Björling Sound.” Please send your information to sueflaster@earthlink.net

The Björling Sound, Stephen Hastings

30 May 2012
Pages: 424
Size: 9 x 6
University of Rochester Press
$49.95

A half century after his death in 1960, Swedish tenor Jussi Björling remains one of the most beloved singers in the world. He spent forty-five of his forty-nine years performing in public, rapidly conquering opera house and concert stages on both sides of the Atlantic. Along the way, he left a vast recorded legacy that continues to enchant lovers of vocal music and inspire young singers. In this ground-breaking book, Stephen Hastings analyzes 445 of the great tenor’s recordings, comparing them with the output of ninety-nine other tenors, from Caruso to Alagna. The repertoire ranges from brief art songs by Schubert and Sibelius to entire opera recordings–some made in the studio, others captured “live.” What emerges is a richly stratified portrait of this most musical of singers. As Hastings’s comparisons demonstrate, Björling left his unique imprint on almost all the scores he sang, combining a perennial freshness of approach with the richly inflected phrasing made possible by a perfectly honed technique.

Born in London and educated in Oxford, Stephen Hastings has been the Milan correspondent of Opera News since 1991 and editor-in-chief of the Italian monthly Musica for the past twelve years.