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Swedish-born soprana
Johanna Maria Lind, better known as Jenny
Lind, was the illegitimate daughter of a schoolteacher
named Anne Marie Felborg. Her first great role was Agathe,
in Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz in 1838 at the Swedish
Royal Opera. In 1843, Hans Christian Andersen met and fell in love
with the singer, but she had no romantic feelings for him. Three of
his fairy tales were inspired by her: The Ugly Duckling, The Angel,
and The Nightingale. In 1850 P.T. Barnum lured The Swedish Nightingale
across the Atlantic ocean for what would become an extraordinarily
popular tour of America. Lind gave 93 concerts in America for Barnum,
earning over $250,000, while Barnum netted at least $500,000. Lind
gave the majority of her U.S. concert earnings to charities. She
ceased her professional singing career with her return to Europe, but
continued to perform in a number of oratorios, concerts, and choruses,
with a particular interest in Bach. She lived first in Dresden,
Germany, and then in England for the remainder of her life, where she
became a philanthropist. Her last public performance was at Düsseldorf
on January 20, 1870, where she sang
in Ruth, an oratorio composed by her husband, Otto Goldschmidt.
Lind died at the age of 67 on November 2, 1887 in Malvern,
Worcestershire, UK, as a result of cancer. She is commemorated in
Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey. |
