Opera Singer. Johann Jonatan "Jussi" Björling was born in 1911 in Borlänge, Sweden. He was the son of a tenor who had once sung at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Jussi's brothers were so also talented singers, so with them he formed the BjörlingMale quartet,which toured Sweden and the United States between 1916 and 1926. After his father died in 1926, Jussi studied at the Stockholm Royal Academy of music, and he made his operatic debut in Stockholm in June, 1930. He sang in Europe, Chicago, and Buenos Aires before he made his Metropolitan Opera debut at the age of 26 in 1938. Jussi Björling had an unusually beautiful, very distinctive voice, and was said to be the only non-Latin tenor who could rival the famous Italian tenors of his day. In March, 1960, Jussi suffered a heart attack just as he was about to go onstage at London's Covent Garden. He recovered enough to go on and perform, but six months later, in September 1960, he died in his native Sweden. Jussi Björling is buried in the Stora Tuna Churchyard just outside his home town of Borlänge, Sweden.
Opera Singer. Johann Jonatan "Jussi" Björling was born in 1911 in Borlänge, Sweden. He was the son of a tenor who had once sung at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Jussi's brothers were so also talented singers, so with them he formed the BjörlingMale quartet,which toured Sweden and the United States between 1916 and 1926. After his father died in 1926, Jussi studied at the Stockholm Royal Academy of music, and he made his operatic debut in Stockholm in June, 1930. He sang in Europe, Chicago, and Buenos Aires before he made his Metropolitan Opera debut at the age of 26 in 1938. Jussi Björling had an unusually beautiful, very distinctive voice, and was said to be the only non-Latin tenor who could rival the famous Italian tenors of his day. In March, 1960, Jussi suffered a heart attack just as he was about to go onstage at London's Covent Garden. He recovered enough to go on and perform, but six months later, in September 1960, he died in his native Sweden. Jussi Björling is buried in the Stora Tuna Churchyard just outside his home town of Borlänge, Sweden.
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