Nilsson, Christine (real name Kristina Törnerhjelm)
Nilsson, Christine (real name Kristina Törnerhjelm)
Nilsson, Christine (real name Kristina Törnerhjelm), admired Swedish soprano; b. Sjoabol, near Vaxjo, Aug. 20, 1843; d. Stockholm, Nov. 22, 1921. Her teachers were Baroness Leuhausen, and R Berwald in Stockholm; with him she continued study in Paris, and on Oct. 27, 1864, made her debut, as Violetta in La Traviata, at the Théâtre-Lyrique, where she was engaged for 3 years. After successful visits to London, she was engaged from 1868 to 1870 at the Paris Opéra; then made long tours with Strakosch in America (1870–72), and sang in the principal continental cities. In 1872 she married Auguste Rouzaud (d. 1882); her second husband (married 1887) was the Spanish count Angel Vallejo y Miranda. She revisited America in the winters of 1873, 1874, and 1883, making her debut on the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera House in N.Y on Oct. 22, 1883, as Marguerite in Faust. Her voice was not powerful, but it was brilliant. She excelled as Marguerite and Mignon.
Bibliography
B. Carlsson, K. N.(Stockholm, 1922); T. Norlind, K.N. (Stockholm, 1923); H. Headland, C. N.: The Songbird of the North (Rock Island, I11., 1943).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire