Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 Mary Garden: An Operatic Muse for Debussy and Massenet Kristen P. Johnson Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC MARY GARDEN: AN OPERATIC MUSE FOR DEBUSSY AND MASSENET By KRISTEN P. JOHNSON A Treatise submitted to the Department of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2008 The members of the Committee approve the treatise of Kristen P. Johnson defended on March 27, 2008. _________________________ Douglas Fisher Professor Directing Treatise _________________________ Dr. Jeffery Kite-Powell Outside Committee Member _________________________ Stanford Olsen Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii I would like to dedicate this treatise to my father and mother, Ed and Sally Johnson. It is because of my parents’ guidance and financial support that I am able to achieve this level of educational accomplishment. I will always be indebted to them for their constant encouragement and unwavering belief in my abilities. Thank you Mom and Dad! iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge Douglas Fisher for his mentorship and encouragement throughout my doctoral studies, and throughout the process of writing this treatise. I would also like to thank Stanford Olsen and Dr. Jeffery Kite-Powell for their willingness to serve on my doctoral committee. Finally, I would like to thank the Chicago Historical Society for providing photos of Mary Garden to be used in this treatise. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures…………………………………………………...vi Abstract………………………………………………………….vii 1. BIOGRAPHY………………………………………………..1 2. MÉLISANDE AND DEBUSSY…………………………….16 3. CHÉRUBIN AND MASSENET……..……………………...29 CONCLUSION………………………………………………….37 APPENDIX A…………………………………………………...39 Photos of Mary Garden APPENDIX B…………………………………………………...48 Synopsis of Pelléas et Mélisande APPENDIX C…………………………………………………...53 Synopsis of Chérubin BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………….56 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH……………………………………59 v LIST OF FIGURES 1. Fig. 1.1 Mary Garden as Charpentier’s Louise……………………..6 2. Fig. 1.2 Mary Garden as director of the Chicago Opera Association (1921-1922)……………………………………………………..13 3. Fig. 2.1 mm. 91-113 of Act II, scene i: Pelléas et Mélisande……...20 4. Fig. 2.2 Mary Garden as Mélisande………………………………...24 5. Fig. 3.1 Mary Garden as Massenet’s Chérubin……………………..32 6. Fig. 3.2 mm. 9-21 of Act I, scene v: Chérubin……………………..34 7. Fig. 3.3 Portrait photo of Mary Garden……………………………..38 8. Fig. A.1 Mary Garden as Bizet’s Carmen…………………………..40 9. Fig. A.2 Mary Garden as Massenet’s Cléopâtre……………………41 10. Fig. A.3 Mary Garden as Fanny Legrand in Massenet’s Sapho..….42 11. Fig. A.4 Mary Garden as Massenet’s Le Jongleur de Notre Dame..43 12. Fig. A.5 Mary Garden as Strauss’ Salome…………………………44 13. Fig. A.6 Mary Garden as Massenet’s Thaïs………………………..45 14. Fig. A.7 Mary Garden as Puccini’s Tosca………………………….46 15. Fig. A.8 Mary Garden………………………………………………47 DISCLAIMER: All photos in this treatise have been approved for use by kind permission of the Chicago Historical Society and/or the rules of public domain.2 2 It is a general rule that any work published in the United States before 1923 is considered to be in the public domain. The photos in this treatise of Miss Garden were all taken prior to 1923, or were permitted by the Chicago Historical Society to be photo-copied and used for academic purposes. vi ABSTRACT Soprano Mary Garden (1874-1967) was a powerful influence on French operatic style and performance practice in the early twentieth century through her association with composers Claude Debussy (1862-1918) and Jules Massenet (1842-1912). Scottish-born Garden created the leading roles in both Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Massenet’s Chérubin, established a successful operatic career in both France and America, and was largely responsible for the introduction of contemporary French opera to American audiences. To support these statements, I have examined the two operatic roles with which Mary Garden was chiefly associated—Debussy’s Mélisande and Massenet’s Chérubin. In spite of the different circumstances in which Miss Garden was chosen to premiere the title roles of these two operas (Debussy having personally chosen her to create the role after the score to Pelléas et Mélisande had already been composed and Massenet choosing to create Chérubin specifically for her), one may confidently assume that her portrayals of these characters were closest to the original intentions of the composers. In support of this argument, the dramatic and musical demands of the two roles were analyzed, specific quotes from Debussy, Massenet and pertinent critical reviews of Garden’s performances were considered, and the breadth of Miss Garden’s influence and artistry were explored to demonstrate why Garden was the ideal choice for both roles. This treatise explores her strengths and attributes both as a singer and as an actress. vii CHAPTER ONE BIOGRAPHY Mary Garden was born on February 20, 1874 in Aberdeen, Scotland to Robert Davidson Garden and Mary Joss. The first of four daughters, Mary never revealed any interest in being a singer, but was undoubtedly born a natural dramatist. She would often create imaginary scenes with her sisters and pretend to faint or initiate some other outrageous gesture to urge a reaction from her audience.3 The instincts Garden had as an actress would later prove to be the basis of her successful career, as she was one of the greatest dramatic interpreters in opera at the turn of the twentieth century. When the Garden family moved to America in 1889, they initially came to Chicopee, Massachusetts, but later settled in the Hyde Park area of Chicago, Illinois. At this time there was a large Scottish population living in Hyde Park, which made the move an easy transition for the Gardens.4 Chicago would provide a significant beginning to Mary’s musical career, because it was in Chicago that she had her first voice lesson, experienced her first public performance as a singer, and witnessed her first operatic performance. Mrs. Sarah Robinson-Duff, former student of renowned singer and pedagogue Mathilde Marchesi, was Mary Garden’s first vocal instructor. Mrs. Duff was introduced to Mary through Robert Garden’s employer and immediately committed to mentor young Mary to reach her potential as a singer. Michael Turnbull, author of the biography Mary Garden (1997), quotes Mrs. Duff’s memories of her first lesson with Garden: “Her voice at that time was small but very lovely and pure in quality. It is no exaggeration to say that she sang then with the same astounding musical understanding and remarkable phrasing which has colored her entire career.”5 Mrs. Duff continued to nurture Mary’s vocal progress, and finally, on October 28, 1891, Mary made her recital debut singing the aria Bel raggio lusinghier from Rossini’s Semiramide. A critic who was present at the recital said of Garden’s performance: “One of the most brilliant 3 Michael T.R.B. Turnbull, Mary Garden (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1997), 3. 4 Turnbull, 4. Richard D. Fletcher, “‘Our Own’ Mary Garden,” Chicago History 2 (Spring 1972-Fall 1973) : 34-46. 5 Turnbull, 5. 1 successes of the evening was Miss Garden’s singing a very difficult and exacting aria not often attempted by so young a vocalist and rarely better executed than by Miss Garden.”6 A few years after Mary began studying with Mrs. Duff, Mr. and Mrs. Mayer, a wealthy couple in Chicago, were introduced to Mary through Mrs. Duff. After hearing Mary sing, the Mayers were so impressed by her that they agreed to finance the remainder of her education in America, and eventually in Paris. The Garden family was suffering financially at this time and was preparing to move to Hartford, Connecticut in response to an employment opportunity for Robert Garden. The Mayers agreed to house Mary in Chicago, if she wished to stay and continue her musical education. Mary accepted the Mayers’s offer and was separated from her family in order to continue her vocal studies. During her stay at the Mayers’s home, she often accompanied them to the Chicago Auditorium, the theater where Mary would give many operatic performances during the 1920s and 1930s. It was at the famous Auditorium where Mary witnessed her first opera, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. The singers that night were soprano Nellie Melba and tenor Jean de Reszke, two people with whom Mary would eventually become closely acquainted during her career.7 In May 1896, Mary sailed with Mrs. Duff to Europe to further her education in Paris. In Garden’s autobiography (which one should read with caution, as it was mostly a personal memoir and not an accurate account of her life)8 she stated: “I never saw America again until I came back as an established artist.”9 This statement was based on the fact that Mary did not return again to America until 1907, when she would premiere Thaïs at the Manhattan Opera House under the administration of Oscar Hammerstein.10 Upon her arrival in Paris, Mrs. Duff’s first and most important task was to secure a voice teacher for Mary. Initially, Mrs. Duff sent Mary to her former teacher, Madame Marchesi, who had also taught successful singers such as Emma Eames, Emma Calvé, 6 Turnbull, 5. 7 Turnbull, 7. 8 Turnbull explains in his biography why Mary Garden’s autobiography was often exaggerated: “Mary’s distortion of the facts stemmed from an innate tendency to exaggerate which, in combination with her failure to keep accurate records, her later highly developed skill in managing the media, and the onset of senile dementia around 1945 [her autobiography was published in 1952], led to the confusion or transposition of dates, events, feelings and even people.” (Turnbull, 1.) 9 Mary Garden and Louis Biancolli, Mary Garden’s Story (London: Michael Joseph Ltd., 1952), 21.