Herr Berg was supervising a grand concert to be given at the Court
Theatre, and was in a dilemma. The fourth act of _Robert le Diable_ was
to be given, but all his singers refused to take the part of Alice,
because it included only one solo. The Herr Direktor was distracted, but
finally thought of his unlucky pupil, Jenny Lind, whose voice could be
trusted in such a minor part, and calling her to his room, he offered
her the part. Without demur she accepted it, and practised feverishly,
but on the night of the performance she was so nervous for fear her
voice would fail, that those near the stage could see her slender form
tremble with fright and excitement. Perhaps the tension and the passion
with which she was labouring wrought the miracle. At all events, she
sang the aria of her part with such wonderful beauty and richness of
tone that the audience were beside themselves with admiration. Jenny's
voice had come out fuller, finer than ever! The recently despised young
singer became instantly the heroine of the hour, while Herr Berg,
watching behind the scenes, was spell-bound with surprise and joy.
The next day he called her to his room and offered her the rôle of
Agatha in Weber's _Der Freischutz_.
Ever since Jenny first began to study and to hear operatic music, this
rôle had been in secret her highest ambition, and one can picture her
standing before the Direktor, her blue eyes flashing with excitement,
her mobile face expressing a dozen varying degrees of joy while her
slender girlish figure looked almost too slight for the task, as she
joyfully accepted the responsibility.
At once she began rehearsing, and one day when she put forth every
effort to express emotion in the way her dramatic teacher wished, the
effort was met with silence.
"Am I then so incapable," she thought. Then glancing at her teacher she
saw tears in the eyes of the older woman, who exclaimed:
"My child, I have nothing to teach you--do as nature tells you,"--and
Jenny knew that her supreme effort had not been wasted.
It is said that she studied the part of Agatha with all the intensity of
her enthusiastic nature and at the last rehearsal sang with such intense
feeling and fire that the orchestra, to a man, laid down their
instruments and applauded loudly. The next day, before the performance,
she was very nervous and worried, but the moment she appeared on the
stage every bit of apprehension vanished, and as Fredrika Bremer said,
"She was fresh, bright and serene as a morning in May, peculiarly
graceful and lovely in her whole appearance. She seemed to move, speak
and sing without effort or art. Her singing was distinguished especially
by its purity and the power of soul which seemed to swell in her tones."
Jenny herself said afterwards, "I got up that morning one creature. I
went to bed another creature. I had found my power."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account