John Forssell - the man who "discovered" Jussi Björling

There are of course several people who played an important role in the "making" of Jussi Björling, arguably the greatest operatic voice of the 20th century. However, if we had to choose on such person, it would without doubt be John Forssell (1868 - 1941), prominent Swedish baritone, opera administrator and teacher of voice.

Björling was only 14 when his father David - also a singer, who had performed together with his three sons - died in 1926. Without the father there was no future for the quartet, and Jussi worked for a while in a shop in Ystad, a small town in southern Sweden. 

However, the Ystad pharmacist and church singer Salomon Smith, knew John Forssell, the director of the Royal Opera in Stockholm, who also was a professor at the Conservatory and the Royal Opera School. In 1928 Björling took the train to Stockholm for a meeting with Forssell, organized by Smith. 

This first meeting between the two was not particularly positive. Forssell, who noted that Björling did not know much about the theory and history of music, did not even bother to listen to him sing. However, the famous Swedish tenor Axel Öhman, who had heard Björling sing "Recondita armonia", soon convinced Forssell to let Björling have a real audition, which took place on August 21. 

Forssell, who also was present at the entrance examination for the Conservatory a couple of days later, wrote in his diary: "Only 17. A phenomenon. Should be taken care of. Might become something".

Forsell saw to it that Björling soon was able to enter the Conservatory and the Royal Opera School. Forsell became Björling's teacher at both schools, and he also saw to it that the aspiring young talent was boarded with a headmaster's family, and that he got a stipend. Forssell even became Björling's guardian. 

It did not take long before the teacher realized that his pupil was ready for a major role. On  20 August 1930, Björling made his debut at Royal Opera as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Soon a great number of other roles followed. And the rest is opera history ...

Björling was by no way the only famous pupil of Forssell's. Others were e.g. Joel Berglund, Aksel Schiøtz, Hjördis Schymberg, Set Svanholm, and Inez Wassner.

John Forssell in his perhaps most famous role as Don  Giovanni (The Royal  Opera  in  Stockholm, 1906)

John Forssell made his own operatic debut at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, in 1896 as Figaro in The Barber of Seville. He was the leading baritone of the Stockholm opera until 1918, and continued to perform at the theater until his retirement in 1938. 

Forsell also made an impressive international career, appearing in leading opera houses, such as the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Vienna State Opera and the Berlin State Opera. His most famous role was probably the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

John Forsell as Hans Heiling in Heinrich Marschner's opera with the same name. (1906, Stockholm)

Forssell left a large legacy of gramophone recordings, some of which are now available on CD. The British  audio restoration engineer Keith Hardwick had this to say about Forssell's voice: "His voice was a dark, warm, expressive baritone, very well produced and equalized."

Below you can listen to Forssell performing "Svarta Rosor" (Black Roses) by Jean Sibelius and the song "Soldatgossen" (The Soldier Lad) by another, earlier Finnish composer, Fredrik Pacius.