Jenny Lind Is Considered One of the Outstanding Sopranos of the 19Th Century
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Lind, Jenny Due to her voice, described as extraordinary, her vocal technique and dramatic skill, Jenny Lind is considered one of the outstanding sopranos of the 19th century. It is evident from contemporary depictions that her pianissi- mo in particular - her "messa di voce" - as well as her trills were considered amongst the most notable characte- ristics of her vocal ability. Moreover, she enchanted her audience with astonishingly natural and sensitive dra- matic performances, rapidly becoming a star of the sta- ge. After having risen to the position of prima donna of the Royal Theatre in Stockholm at the age of 22, she was engaged in 1844 by the then Prussian General Music Di- rector Giacomo Meyerbeer as a guest at the Berlin Ope- ra. Especially in the roles of Vielka (Meyerbeer: “Ein Feld- lager in Schlesien”, "A Silesian Encampment"), Norma (Bellini: "Norma") und Amina (Bellini: "La sonnambu- la"), she thrilled her contemporaries and formed the ba- sis of her international career. Further seasons followed in Berlin, Vienna and London, outlining a meteoric yet re- latively brief operatic career, already terminated by Jen- ny Lind in 1849. The singer did not retire from public li- fe, however, but concentrated on the concert area begin- ning in September 1850 with an extended American tour. In combination with the excellent marketing strate- gy of her manager Phineas T. Barnum, she attained the Die Sängerin Jenny Lind. Daguerrotypie von Kolburn, August pinnacle of her success and popularity. Jenny Lind beca- 1850. me a world star. This artist also owed her extraordinary, legendary fame, Jenny Lind not least, to her social commitment and marked sense of Birth name: Johanna Maria Lind charity. Special concerts and contributions to foundati- ons and private persons accompanied Lind's entire care- * 6 October 1820 in Stockholm, Schweden er and, together with her natural demeanour, gave her † 2 November 1887 in Malvern Wells, Worcestershire, the aura of a saviour who, in particular, also conquered England the wider public and became generally known outside the artistic world. Soprano Cities an countries "Jenny is related to Trollhätta Falls, Niagara Falls and all Jenny Lind, although closely tied with her Swedish home- fresh, immediately natural forces; and the effect she ma- land, led a cosmopolitan life as an international star. Be- kes is approximately the same as the effect of these natu- ginning in her native Stockholm, where the singer recei- ral forces." ved her training and ultimately rose to the position of pri- ma donna, the centres of her activities were Berlin, Vien- (Fredrika Bremer: Die Heimath in der neuen Welt. Ein na and London as well as the USA, especially New York, Tagebuch in Briefen, geschrieben auf zweijährigen Rei- Boston and Philadelphia. She gave guest performances sen in Nordamerika und auf Cuba, Bd. 3, Stuttgart: in numerous cities as a result of her intensive concert li- Franckh, 1854, p. 71). fe. Profile Biography – 1 – Lind, Jenny In no way did Jenny Lind grow up in the orderly circums- red her admission to the Theatre. She was then taught by tances that one would like to attest to her, due to her the tenor Isaak Berg. The pupil gained her first stage ex- flawless appearance. She was born as the illegitimate perience in November 1830, initially as a dancer in the daughter of the Anna Maria Fellborg and the bookkeeper play "Edwinsky and Floreska or the Polish Colliery". Du- Niklas Johan Lind. The name and profession of the fat- ring her training, which lasted until 1837, Jenny Lind her, however, vary according to the source. Thus Nils- took on more speaking than acting roles, especially since Olof Franzén (Jenny Lind. Die schwedische Nachtigall. her still immature and sensitive soprano voice lost sound Eine Biographie, Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, around 1832. Although this problem became less acute 1990, p. 9, p. 34) refers to the name variant Niklas Jonas during the ensuing years, she received her first contract Fredricsson, whereas Lotten Dahlgren (Jenny Lind utom at the Royal Theatre in January 1837 (according to Fran- scenen. Förtroliga brev till hennes förmyndare H. M. zén, p. 42, only starting in July) in her capacity as trai- Munthe, Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1928, p. ned actress. When the fourth act of Meyerbeer's "Robert 409) refers to the father as Nils Johan Lind and as a ma- le diable" was performed ,concertante’ in December nufacturer. He had wanted to escape creditors in 1820 wi- 1837, the young artist took on the role of Alice with great th his change of name (Franzén, p. 9). The parents did success. On 7 March 1838 followed the role of Agathe in not get married until May 1835, after a lawsuit had been Carl Maria von Weber's "Freischütz". Due to a statement carried on since 1834 over Jenny Lind's accommodation. by Jenny Lind recorded in the specialist literature, this Since the mother already had a child from her first mar- date does not merely mark her debut, but has also been riage (which ended in divorce in 1812) and Lind's father repeatedly praised as the "hour of birth" of the singer did not feel obliged to support his daughter, the one-year- Jenny Lind: "I got up that morning one creature, and I old Jenny was given to the trading family Ferndal, who li- went to bed another, for I had found my vocation" (quo- ved in the country in Sollentuna-Ed. In 1824 she was ted from Jenny Maude: The life of Jenny Lind, London: brought by the mother back to Stockholm, where she Cassell, 1926, p. 8). The Swede continued to play spoken now lived with her stepsister Amalie and her grandmot- roles, but increasingly sang operatic roles such as Emme- her. lina in Joseph Weigl's "The Swiss Family", Euryanthe in Jenny Lind's mother, Anna Maria Fellborg, earned her li- Weber's opera of the same name and Pamina in Mozart's ving primarily by giving private instruction in French, re- "Magic Flute" (see Henry Scott Holland/William Smith ligion, history, geography, arithmetic, painting and piano Rockstro: Memoir of Madame Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt: (see Eva Öhrström: Jenny Lind. The Swedish Nightinga- Her Early Art-Life and Dramatic Career. 1820-1851. le, Stockholm: Swedish Institute, 2000, p. 6). In additi- >From Original Documents, Letters, Ms. Diaries &c., on, one of her pupils, Louise Johansson, lived with her as Collected by Mr. Otto Goldschmidt, Bd. 1, London: John a border. From 1844 until 1848 she was the companion Murray, 1891, p. 57). of the singer. Her journal entries from these years offer It was especially the new, now complete performance of informative insights into the private and artistic life of Meyerbeer's "Robert le diable", however, that ensured Jenny Lind (Resa med Jenny Lind. Sällskapsdamen Loui- Jenny Lind's meteoric rise as a singer and consolidated se Johanssons dagböcker, utg. med inledning och kom- her popularity beyond Stockholm. When she organised a mentarer av Åke Davidsson, Bibliothecae Regiae Univer- concert in June 1839, she was escorted home by students sitatis Upsaliensis Vol. 3, Stockholm 1986). In 1828 the – this was to occur frequently during the course of her ca- mother gave up her boarding house and moved with reer. In January 1840 she was named Court Singer by Amalie to Linköping, whilst Jenny remained in Stock- King Karl XIV Johan. In addition, she became a member holm and lodged as a foster child with a childless couple of the Musical Academy. (see Franzén, p. 13). It was not until Jenny Lind became a pupil at the Royal Theatre in 1830 that the mother re- In her private life, arguments continued to occur betwe- turned because her gifted daughter could now live with en Jenny Lind and her mother, so that the daughter had her at the state's expense. fled to a boarding house owned by the Theatre in 1834. The mother then sued the Theatre and Jenny Lind had to Jenny Lind initially received vocal instruction from Carl return home in June 1836. Beginning in the autumn of Magnus Crælius, a tenor and actor as well as a member 1839, however, she lived with the composer and poet of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm who ensu- Adolf Fredrik Lindblad and his wife. Through them, Lind – 2 – Lind, Jenny became acquainted with important personalities of cultu- accompanied by a great fear of failure, she accepted the ral life, such as the poet and historian Erik Gustaf Geijer offer and sang the role for the first time on 5 January and the authors Carl Jonas Love Almqvist, Malla Silfvers- 1845. In connection with her performance of Norma and tolpe and Fredrika Bremer. Amina in "La sonnambula", Lind became a frenetically celebrated prima donna in Berlin, venerated both at the Ambitious as she was by her own admission (see the let- court and in artists' circles. Special emphasis should be ter to H. Weselgren of 7 September 1865 in: Hol- placed on the friendship between her and Felix Mendels- land/Rockstro, Vol. 2, p. 300 and p. 446) and further st- sohn Bartholdy. This mutual artistic admiration became rengthened in her intentions by Geijer, Jenny Lind took intensified on the part of Jenny Lind (see Johansson, ent- a season's leave of absence from the Royal Theatre in ry of 17 December 1845, p. 37 and of 7 March 1846, p. 1841 in order to continue her vocal training with Manuel 39) and apparently also of Mendelssohn Bartholdy (http: Garcia in Paris. The brother of the star singer Pauline Vi- //www.musikverein-wien.at/monatszeitung/show_arti- ardot-Garcia and Maria Malibran initially verified, howe- kel.asp?Artikel_ID=1232, as of: 1.7.2010) into a deep, in- ver, that Lind had no more voice (see Maude, p.