The sudden death of Pierre Audi in May this year lent a moving note to the presentation of the Birgit Nilsson Prize in Stockholm on October 21. The prize, which has been awarded every three years since 2009, now went to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, where Audi had been artistic director since 2018 – a deeply fitting tribute to a man whose visionary power and unwavering curiosity shaped European music theater for decades.

The prize, worth one million US dollars, is normally awarded to individuals. However, this rule was broken in 2014 when the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra received the award. Now the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence joins this select circle. The festival was recognized for its artistic achievements and, in particular, for its commitment to the development of new opera productions, with special mention of the world premiere of “Innocence” in 2021, with music by Kaija Saariaho and an original libretto by Sofi Oksanen, conducted by Susana Mälkki. For a festival that relies largely on private support and is known for its artistic daring rather than government subsidies, the award is both recognition and confirmation of its approach.

Since its founding in 1948, Aix-en-Provence has been considered a stronghold of the Mozart spirit. Generations of singers, including Victoria de los Angeles, Teresa Berganza, Jessye Norman, Kiri Te Kanawa, José van Dam, and many more, achieved groundbreaking successes there in the early years of their careers. Even though the festival has since expanded its repertoire to include bel canto, contemporary opera, and avant-garde reinterpretations, this Mozartian DNA remains alive and well. This tradition was dignifiedly evoked at the award ceremony in the Konserthuset in Stockholm: Swedish baritone Peter Mattei, who shone in Peter Brook’s legendary 1998 production of “Don Giovanni” in Aix, sang the serenade “Deh, vieni alla finestra” with the aristocratic elegance that has become his trademark.

His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustav presented the award statuette to the mayor of Aix-en-Provence, Sophie Joissains, and Paul Hermelin, chairman of the festival. Sir George Benjamin, composer of “Written on Skin,” also a commissioned work of the festival in 2013, gave the laudatory speech. In it, he spoke of the atmosphere at the festival as an “opera paradise” and praised both Audi and his predecessor Bernard Foccroulle for the trust and commitment they had shown him and his team.

Otherwise, the evening was dedicated to Birgit Nilsson, the outstanding Wagner soprano of her era. A filmed recording of her “Dich, teure Halle” opened the evening and showed the unwavering charisma and noble legato that made her immortal. After the recording, conductor Susanna Mälkki led the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra through the prelude to the third act of “Lohengrin” with an inspired, transparent sound, and then let Wagner’s shadows flicker in Wilhelm Stenhammar’s rarely heard concert overture “Excelsior!” As the second aria, Peter Mattei sang “O du mein holder Abendstern” from “Tannhäuser” with reverent and contemplative dignity.

He was followed by Matilda Sterby, last year’s winner of the annual Birgit Nilsson Scholarship. She performed an aria from Kaija Saariaho’s opera “Innocence.” With her crystal-clear soprano voice, she was able to express its vulnerable and haunting emotions. Finally, Sterby joined Mattei and tenor Daniel Johansson in the finale of the third act of “Tannhäuser” to form a powerfully luminous trio. Sterby unfolded her radiant, full-bodied soprano, as Birgit Nilsson herself once embodied.

Despite the elegiac undertones, however, the celebratory spirit prevailed. At the gala dinner that followed, the young Swedish soprano Christina Nilsson (no relation to Birgit) enchanted the gala audience with light-hearted Swedish songs. Although still at the beginning of her career, she has already performed as “Aida” at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Thus, the legacy of the great Birgit Nilsson lives on in her, in the foundation, and in Sweden’s cultural identity—a legacy that not only honors greatness but also continually inspires the art form of opera.