Soprano Birgit Nilsson dies

Swedish opera singer Birgit Nilsson, prima donna among dramatic sopranos in the 1950s and 1960s, has died at the age of 87, media reported yesterday.

Ms Nilsson's debut was at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1946 and her first big international appearance was in Mozart's Idomeneo at Glyndebourne in Britain in 1951. But her enduring reputation was made in the great Wagnerian roles of Isolde and Brunnhilde.

Asked once if she was a difficult diva, the director of the New York Metropolitan Opera Rudolph Bing replied: "Not at all. You put enough money in, and a glorious voice comes out."

Ms Nilsson, whose health had been frail for many years, was buried yesterday at a private ceremony, attended by about 60 relatives and friends, in southern Sweden where she was born and lived since retiring 22 years ago, said the pastor of her local church.

Swedish pianist Lars Roos, who accompanied Ms Nilsson on tour for many years, told news agency TT that Ms Nilsson was "possibly our greatest dramatic soprano ever".