Great Singers, Second Series: Malibran To TitiensFerris, George T. (George Titus)
History
Great Singers, Second Series: Malibran To Titiens
Ferris, George T. (George Titus)
Singers -- Biography
Nothing was talked of except Jenny Lind, and on the night of the first
appearance, September 11th, seven thousand throats burst forth in
frantic shouts of applause and welcome, as the Swedish Nightingale
stepped on the Castle Garden stage in a simple dress of white, and as
pallid with agitation as the gown she wore. She sang "Casta Diva," a
duo with Belletti, from Rossini's "Il Turco in Italia," and the Trio
Concertante, with two flutes, from Meyerbeer's "Feldlager in Schliesen,"
of which Moscheles had said that "it was, perhaps, the most astonishing
piece of bravura singing which could possibly be heard." These pieces,
with two Swedish national songs, were received with the loudest salvos
of applause. The proceeds of this first concert were twenty-six
thousand dollars, of which Jenny Lind gave her share to the charitable
institutions of New York, and, on learning that some of the members of
the New York orchestra were in indigent circumstances, she generously
made them a substantial gift. Her beneficent actions during her entire
stay in America are too numerous to detail. Frequently would she flit
away from her house quietly, as if about to pay a visit, and then she
might be seen disappearing down back lanes or into the cottages of
the poor. She was warned to avoid so much liberality, as many unworthy
persons took unfair advantage of her bounty; but she invariably replied,
"Never mind; if I relieve ten, and one is worthy, I am satisfied." She
had distributed thirty thousand florins in Germany; she gave away in
England nearly sixty thousand pounds; and in America she scattered in
charity no less than fifty thousand dollars.
To record the experiences of the Swedish Nightingale in the different
cities of America would be to repeat the story of boundless enthusiasm
on the part of the public, and lavish munificence on the part of the
singer, which makes her record nobly monotonous. There seemed to be no
bounds to the popular appreciation and interest, as was instanced one
night in Baltimore. While standing on the balcony of her hotel bowing to
the shouting multitude, her shawl dropped among them, and instantly it
was torn into a thousand strips, to be preserved as precious souvenirs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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