UPDATED January 12: The legendary Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson died on December 25, it was announced yesterday. She was 87. La Cieca will present a special episode of “Unnatural Acts of Opera” tonight in salute to Mme. Nilsson.

Birgit Nilsson as Isolde, Metropolitan Opera, 1971

Once Birgit Nilsson was negotiating a contract with Herbert von Karajan, at the time director of the Vienna Opera, when a string of pearls she was wearing broke and scattered all over the floor. Von Karajan and several others who were present got down on their knees to search for the pearls.

“Gentlemen, we must find every one of them,” von Karajan said. “Miss Nilsson bought these precious natural pearls with her fees from the Metropolitan.”

“Don’t bother, gentlemen,” Miss Nilsson replied, “Those are just dime-store imitation pearls I bought with my fees from the Vienna Opera.” — Characteristic (if probably apocryphal) anecdote

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