Obituary | Soprano Birgit Nilsson, 87, mastered challenging roles

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Swedish opera star Birgit Nilsson, renowned in the world's great opera houses for her dazzling voice and mastery of the most punishing roles, has died at age 87, it was reported Wednesday.

She died on Christmas Day, the Stockholm daily Svenska Dagbladet reported. A funeral was held Wednesday at a church in her native town, Vastra Karup in southern Sweden, said Fredrik Westerlund, the church's vicar. He did not know when she died or the cause of death, but Nilsson was said to have had heart trouble in recent years.

She was one of the world's top Wagnerian sopranos, known for her Isolde in Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," which she sang for her sensational debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera on Dec. 18, 1959.

"With Birgit Nilsson's passing, Sweden has lost one of its greatest artists," King Carl XVI Gustaf said in a rare statement.

"She was one of the greatest singers of the 20th century," said Menno Feenstra, artistic director at Stockholm's Royal Opera, who developed a close friendship with Nilsson after her retirement. Feenstra called her vocal skills "so solid and so 100 percent that you can hardly find a singer nowadays that has a technique like that."

Born on a farm, Nilsson reigned supreme at the world's opera houses during her career, which began in 1946 at the Stockholm Royal Opera as Agathe in Weber's "Der Freischutz" and continued until 1984.

She was immediately hailed as a worthy successor to fellow Scandinavian Kirsten Flagstad, the Norwegian who owned the Wagner repertory at the Met during the years before World War II.

Other parts Nilsson made her own included Brünnhilde, the warrior maiden of Wagner's "Ring" cycle, the title role of Elektra in Richard Strauss' opera, and the heroine of Puccini's "Turandot."

Seattle Opera general director Speight Jenkins described her sound as one that could "encompass and fill an entire house with the beauty of her voice."

Nilsson made her American debut at the San Francisco Opera on Oct. 5, 1956, as Brünnhilde, and sang at the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1956-74. Nilsson sang with the Met 222 times in 16 roles, making her finale at the October 1983 centennial gala. She took part in an April 1996 gala celebrating conductor James Levine's 25th anniversary with the company, launching into Brünnhilde's "ho-yo-to-ho" battle cry from "Die Walküre," delivering — at age 77 — a performance that would have been the envy of any younger soprano.

Nilsson also was renowned for her playful sense of humor. Once asked what was the chief requirement for singing Isolde, she replied: "Comfortable shoes."

Johanna Fiedler, in her book about the Met, "Molto Agitato," tells the story of Nilsson's unhappiness with the gloomy lighting on which Herbert von Karajan insisted for his production of the "Ring." To register her objections, she appeared on stage during a 1967 rehearsal of "Die Walküre" wearing a coal miner's helmet with searchlight and wings.

Seattle Times classical music critic Melinda Bargreen contributed to this report.