Lind, Jenny (actually, Johanna Maria)

Lind, Jenny (actually, Johanna Maria), famous Swedish soprano, called the “Swedish Nightingale”; b. Stockholm, Oct. 6, 1820; d. Wynds Point, Herefordshire, Nov. 2, 1887. She made her first stage appearance in Stockholm at the age of 10 (Nov. 29, 1830), the same year that she entered the Royal Opera School there, where she studied with C. Craelius and I. Berg; during this period, she also sang in many comedies and melodramas. She continued her studies with A. Lindblad and J. Josephson at the school, and then made her formal operatic debut as Agathe in Der Freischütz at the Royal Opera in Stockholm (March 7, 1838); later that year appeared as Pamina and Euryan-the there, and then as Donna Anna (1839) and Norina (1841). In 1840 she was appointed a regular member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and was also given the rank of court singer. However, she felt the necessity of improving her voice, and went to Paris to study with Manuel Garcia (1841–42). Upon her return to Stockholm, she sang Norma (Oct. 10, 1842); later appeared there as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Anna in La Sonnambula, Valentine in Les Huguenots, and Anna Bolena. Although Meyerbeer wrote the role of Vielka in his opera Ein Feldlager in Schlesien for her, the role was first sung by Tuczec in Berlin (Dec. 7, 1844); Lind first essayed it there on Jan. 4, 1845. She also sang in Hannover, Hamburg, Cologne, Koblenz, Frankfurt am Main, Darmstadt, and Copenhagen. She appeared at the Leipzig Gewandhaus (Dec. 4, 1845) and made her Vienna debut as Norma at the Theater an der Wien (April 22, 1846); subsequently sang throughout Germany, returning to Vienna as Marie in 1847 and creating a sensation. Lind made a phenomenally successful London debut as Alice in Robert le diable at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London (May 4,1847); her appearances in La Sonnambula (May 13,1847) and La Fille du régiment (May 27, 1847) were acclaimed; she then created the role of Amalia in Verdi’s I Masnadieri there (July 22, 1847).

After touring the English provinces, Lind decided to retire from the operatic stage, making her farewell appearance as Norma in Stockholm (April 12,1848) and as Alice at London’s Her Majesty’s Theatre (May 10, 1849). If her success in Europe was great, her U.S. concert tour exceeded all expectations in public agitation and monetary reward. Sponsored by P.T. Barnum, she was seen as a natural phenomenon rather than an artist; nonetheless, her outstanding musicality made a deep impression upon the musical public. She made her N.Y. debut on Sept. 11, 1850, subsequently giving 93 concerts in all, her final one in Philadelphia (1851). On Feb. 5, 1852, she married her accompanist, Otto Gold-schmidt, in Boston; they returned to Europe, settling permanently in England in 1858. She continued to appear in concert and oratorio performances until her retirement in 1883, when she became prof. of singing at London’s Royal Coll. of Music. She also devoted much time to charitable causes. Lind possessed an extraordinary coloratura voice, with a compass reaching high G. She was, without question, one of the greatest vocal artists of her era. A letter written by her, entitled ” Jenny Lind’s Singing Method,” was publ. in Musical Quarterly (July 1917).

Bibliography

J. Lyser, G. Meyerbeer and J. L.(Vienna, 1847); C. Rosenberg, J. L. in America (N.Y., 1851); H. Holland and W. Rockstro, Memoir of Mme. J. L.-Goldschmidt (2 vols., 1893); W. Rockstro and O. Goldschmidt, J. L.-Goldschmidt: A Record and Analysis of the Method of the Late J. L-Goldschmidt (London, 1894); T. Norlind, J. L. (Stockholm, 1919); R. Maude, The Life of J. L (London, 1926); G. Humphrey, J. L. (Philadelphia, 1928); E. Wagenknecht, J. L.-Goldschmidt (Boston, 1931); L. Benet, Enchanting J. L. (N.Y., 1939); H. Headland, The Swedish Nightingale: A Biography of J. L.(Rock Island, III., 1940); M. Pergament, J. L. (Stockholm, 1945); K. Rotzen and T. Meyer, J. L. (Stockholm, 1945); J. Bulman, J. L. (London, 1956); G. Schultz, J. L: The Swedish Nightingale (Philadelphia, 1962); A. Dunlop, The Swedish Nightingale (N.Y., 1965); W. Ware and T. Lockard Jr., translators and eds., The Lost Letters of J. L. (London, 1966); E. Myers, J. L.: Songbird from Sweden (Champaign, 111., 1968).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire