#jussi björling

[laziestgirlintown]

This happens at midnight to Christmas Eve on Swedish radio so I want to share it with you as well. One of the world's greatest ever tenors, Jussi Björling, sings O, Holy Night. It always rings in Christmas for me, detached as I am from the rest of it. This is just that awesome, in the original sense of the word.

[laziestgirlintown]

O Holy Night sung by Jussi Björling. Just listen:

[sirquacklesdefoof]

Kan ni tänka er att jag är singel

[tiaramania]

Boucheron's Dragonfly Tiara

I was looking for something else and I found out that I missed a very important (to me at least) tiara auction in December. The tiara was made by Boucheron in 1909 using diamonds set in platinum and features dragonflies and bulrushes/reedmace. I love the sense of movement in the design.

The tiara was part of a collection of art nouveau style tiaras made by Boucheron in the early 1900s using diamonds instead of the more unusual materials that art nouveau was known for. According to Geoffrey Munn in Tiaras: A History of Splendour, the combination of traditional materials and non traditional designs did not sell well and most were dismantled. The Great Wave off Kanagawa Tiara and the Flowers in the Rain Tiara were both part of the same collection. I need to make a post with more of them together because they are some of my favorite tiaras.

I didn't even know that this one still existed so it's amazing to see. According to Bukouskis, the tiara was bought in 1956 by Anna-Lisa Björling, wife of opera singer Jussi Björling, and she's wearing is her for the opening night of Don Carlo in 1957.

The tiara sold for 2,700,000 SEK or 258,672 USD.

[sunset-supergirl]

Happy birthday Robert Merrill

[kivikunnas]

Jussi Björling - Sverige (1959)

[iwillruletheuniverse]

”You will never find a phonograph record by Jussi Björling”, mum have told me. I believed her. It really felt like I never would. I have searched after one for so long. When I showed this to her she couldn’t believe it, neither can I. I have seen Pettson & Findus a billion times and to hear ’Till Havs’ well it have always been very special for me. It feels so unreal that I finally have a phonograph record by Jussi♥️ Btw Jussi was a name considered to be Thomas’ name before his names came to me♥️

[1oldbear]

Magnificent!  But he always considered Jussi Björling his superior.  

[haraldryeng]

Min kjære venninne Aase Nordmo Løvberg

World famos operasinger

Born 10. juni 1923. Died 25. januar 2013

Har sunget med Jussi Bjørling ved Kungliga Operan i Stockholm, og under berømte dirigenter som Herbert Von Karajan og Georg Solti.

Signatur Hjertelig hilsen fra Aase Nordmo Løvberg

[i12bent]

Jussi Björling (Feb. 2, 1911 - 1960) was a Swedish operatic tenor, whose Nessun Dorma never has been surpassed. Björling was an international star of opera from the late 30s, through the 1950s. He died of an apparent heart attack at the young age of barely 50, but had also struggled with alcoholism for decades...

[laziestgirlintown]

My additions

Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24

Spotify Wikipedia Youtube

an instrumental medley of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and "Shchedryk"; the piece describes a lone cello player playing a forgotten Christmas carol in war-torn Sarajevo.

Christmas Sucks, by not actually Tom Waits and Peter Murphy - actually called This Holiday Season by parody band P# Orchard (don't wanna write that word on tmblr) (will warn: suicide ideation, though)

Zan Vevede by Angelique Kidjo

Spotify Youtube

Sure you've heard O Holy Night. But you've never heard it like this. Kidjo is from Benin, and I haven't easily found which of the several languages she speaks it's in, if you know please tell me 😊 Listen and broaden your ears

O helga natt

Spotify Youtube

If you like an old-fashioned O Holy Night as well, take a listen to one of the world's best ever tenors, Jussi Björling, giving it his all.

My top favorite weird christmas songs

These are christmas songs that are bizarre in nature but i unironically love them and they slap. (I have a lot of other unique Christmas songs I love, but this list is specifically for the Weird ones)

Fairytale of New York by The Pogues

This song tells the story of two people who seemingly moved to New York with big dreams and now those dreams have fallen apart. Its Christmas and they kind of hate each other but need each other. Its almost like a Christmas edition of No Children. The beginning is kind of slow but then it gets so fun. Warning for some colorful language

YouTube ○ Spotify ○ Apple Music

The Cowboys' Christmas Ball by The Killers

Does what it says on the label. Not extremely weird on its own, though almost nothing in the lyrics are particularly Christmassy; the extra weird part of it is its music video. This is literally one of my favorite Christmas songs of all though it slaps so hard. There's several other weirder songs on The Killers' Christmas album but this is my favorite song and this is my list so.

YouTube ○ Spotify ○ Apple Music

(Don't Call Me) Mrs. Christmas by Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler

Mrs. Claus is divorcing Santa. That's the song

YouTube ○ Spotify ○ Apple Music

Snoopy's Christmas by The Royal Guardsmen

So apparently Snoopy loves to fantasize about being a WWI pilot and someone decided to transpose that with the real historical event of The Christmas Truce when soldiers stopped fighting on Christmas day to celebrate together. Snoopy feels so random to me in this song but whatever it slaps.

YouTube ○ Spotify ○ Apple Music

Dominick the Donkey by Lou Monte

I debated about adding this one since its almost a classic and almost normalized but. Its a fucking weird song and its going on the list. It sounds like a concept made up my a random internet generator of some kind but it was written in the 1960s. Apparently Santa ditches the reindeer for a single donkey named Dominick while distributing presents in Italy.

YouTube ○ Spotify ○ Apple Music

i know many other weird christmas songs if you need more but i dont love them as much as these thank you for your time

[sunset-supergirl]

Happy birthday Jussi Björling

[kivikunnas]

Jussi Björling - Ack Värmeland du sköna