Glad you like it, Milo. I felt pretty sure you'd know Jussi Björling.
Oh yes. Thanks to great singers like Jussi Björling, Nicolai Gedda, and Birgit Nilsson, opera singers and fans (at least here in the US) have created the mythical idea of the "Swedish School" of singing. All 3 had big, bright voices, and in perfect stereotyping form, people started assume that there was something about the way Swedish singers are taught that makes that happen. In reality, these singers were using a standard
bel canto technique, which originated in Italy. It is coincidental that they had vocal size and color in common.
I was lucky enough to perform Berlioz's
La damnation de Faust with Gedda in the title role. Frederica von Stade sang Marguerite. I was singing with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Seiji Ozawa conducting. AND...it was my senior year in high school.
Have I mentioned that being a teenager was a blast for me??