Jenny Lind
October 6 1820 – November 2 1887
Jenny Lind was a Swedish-born opera singer, popularly known as “The Swedish Nightingale,” who lived from October 6, 1820-November 2, 1887. During her lifetime, she became one of the best known singers in the Western hemisphere, who was also beloved and admired for her generous philanthropic spirit. She toured Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States giving concerts, frequently donating to charities in the places she visited. In her later life she taught at the Royal College of Music in London as a professor of singing. P. T. Barnum, who had never heard Lind sing when he invited her to tour America, capitalized on her both her musical reputation and her renowned charitable nature. Knowing that Americans knew little about opera but would adore a woman whose remarkable voice embodied an equally sweet and virtuous soul, Barnum set about promoting Jenny Lind’s 1850-1851 Tour of America in a way that no one else could match.
Lind’s childhood was less than ideal and she spent her early years living in different households; her mother had never married Lind’s father. Quite by accident, her exceptional voice was recognized when she was a child, and at age nine, Lind entered the acting school of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Sweden; she began singing on stage a year later. She gained a number of prestigious roles in the Royal Swedish Opera, and by 1840, she was not only a part of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, but also the court singer to the King of Sweden in Norway. Her light, agile voice would eventually be characterized as a coloratura soprano.
She continued to train and sing in the 1840s, and began to tour as well. In 1843, while touring Denmark, she caught the attention of Hans Christian Anderson; it is said he fell in love and wrote the Ugly Duckling and the Emperor’s Nightingale in her honor, but Lind did not share his feelings, and remained just a friend. A year later she sang in Berlin, where the German audiences took to her immediately, as well as composers including Felix Mendelssohn. She continued to sing in Europe, and then in 1847, in the United Kingdom where she performed in front of Queen Victoria.
In 1849, P.T. Barnum approached Lind about a possible American tour. Lind had previously received offers to go to America, but had declined them. She responded to Barnum because the letterhead depiction of his elaborate new home, Iranistan, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, intrigued her. It is said that Lind felt the exotic mansion meant Barnum wasn't just trying to cash in on her talent, but knew what he was doing when it came to promoting. She did not jump quickly at the opportunity, however.
First she insisted upon a contract with a strict financial arrangement before she would set foot on a ship to America. The money to be paid her, her pianist Jules Benedict, baritone Giovanni Belletti, and others in her entourage, was to be placed in an escrow account in London. Barnum scrambled to raise the full amount, since even with his wealth he did not have the $187,000 needed on hand. Arrangements were made for a year-long tour to begin in September 1850.
Despite Lind’s name being largely unknown in North America, P.T. Barnum was able to whet the public’s appetite for the performer months in advance, and upon her arrival create an insatiable demand that soon turned into “Lindmania.” Every conceivable product, including items of clothing and accessories, furniture, household goods and decorations, framed prints, sheet music, even locomotives and ships were identified by the name Jenny Lind, a scale of mass merchandizing theretofore unheard of. Barnum did not directly profit from the sale of the innumerable consumer products bearing her name, but he did leverage their great popularity.
Barnum’s advance publicity was so successful that when Lind arrived in New York City along with Giovanni Belletti and Julius Benedict, they were greeted by throngs of crowds. First performing at Castle Garden in New York City on September 11, 1850, Lind's concerts were a runaway success.
The Barnum-Lind tour covered both the United States and Cuba, and the profits were extremely high. Barnum also developed a concert ticket auction scheme that benefitted both himself and the owners of the commercial enterprises that won the auctions and thus brought their business name into the limelight.
True to her word, Lind donated much of the money she earned on tour to charities in the cities where she performed, as well as to Swedish ones. Barnum, the master promoter, used that fact to further elevate Lind's moral character as well as her vocal performance abilities. Newspaper articles of the period typically comment on both her indescribable voice and her generous gifts to the local hospital, orphanage, or charity organization, especially those for women and children.
All of the marketing and the heavy concert schedule, however, began to wear on Lind. She had also fallen in love with the pianist who replaced Benedict, Otto Goldschmidt. They were married on February 5, 1852, in Boston. Possibly Goldschmidt influenced his wife to take advantage of a clause in her contract with Barnum that allowed the two to part ways with certain conditions to the terms, and she did so. Despite Barnum’s disappointment, the two parted on relatively good terms, and remained friends. The Lind company continued to perform in America until May of 1852, and then returned to England. Lind and Goldschmidt had three children.
In later years Lind gave fewer performances and no longer performed operas, but she did participate in concert hall performances around Europe. In 1882, she became professor of singing at the Royal College of Music. She remained in that position until November 2, 1887, when she passed away.
Jenny Lind Goldschmidt is buried at the Great Malvern Cemetery in Malvern, Worcestershire, England.
Lind’s childhood was less than ideal and she spent her early years living in different households; her mother had never married Lind’s father. Quite by accident, her exceptional voice was recognized when she was a child, and at age nine, Lind entered the acting school of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Sweden; she began singing on stage a year later. She gained a number of prestigious roles in the Royal Swedish Opera, and by 1840, she was not only a part of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, but also the court singer to the King of Sweden in Norway. Her light, agile voice would eventually be characterized as a coloratura soprano.
She continued to train and sing in the 1840s, and began to tour as well. In 1843, while touring Denmark, she caught the attention of Hans Christian Anderson; it is said he fell in love and wrote the Ugly Duckling and the Emperor’s Nightingale in her honor, but Lind did not share his feelings, and remained just a friend. A year later she sang in Berlin, where the German audiences took to her immediately, as well as composers including Felix Mendelssohn. She continued to sing in Europe, and then in 1847, in the United Kingdom where she performed in front of Queen Victoria.
In 1849, P.T. Barnum approached Lind about a possible American tour. Lind had previously received offers to go to America, but had declined them. She responded to Barnum because the letterhead depiction of his elaborate new home, Iranistan, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, intrigued her. It is said that Lind felt the exotic mansion meant Barnum wasn't just trying to cash in on her talent, but knew what he was doing when it came to promoting. She did not jump quickly at the opportunity, however.
First she insisted upon a contract with a strict financial arrangement before she would set foot on a ship to America. The money to be paid her, her pianist Jules Benedict, baritone Giovanni Belletti, and others in her entourage, was to be placed in an escrow account in London. Barnum scrambled to raise the full amount, since even with his wealth he did not have the $187,000 needed on hand. Arrangements were made for a year-long tour to begin in September 1850.
Despite Lind’s name being largely unknown in North America, P.T. Barnum was able to whet the public’s appetite for the performer months in advance, and upon her arrival create an insatiable demand that soon turned into “Lindmania.” Every conceivable product, including items of clothing and accessories, furniture, household goods and decorations, framed prints, sheet music, even locomotives and ships were identified by the name Jenny Lind, a scale of mass merchandizing theretofore unheard of. Barnum did not directly profit from the sale of the innumerable consumer products bearing her name, but he did leverage their great popularity.
Barnum’s advance publicity was so successful that when Lind arrived in New York City along with Giovanni Belletti and Julius Benedict, they were greeted by throngs of crowds. First performing at Castle Garden in New York City on September 11, 1850, Lind's concerts were a runaway success.
The Barnum-Lind tour covered both the United States and Cuba, and the profits were extremely high. Barnum also developed a concert ticket auction scheme that benefitted both himself and the owners of the commercial enterprises that won the auctions and thus brought their business name into the limelight.
True to her word, Lind donated much of the money she earned on tour to charities in the cities where she performed, as well as to Swedish ones. Barnum, the master promoter, used that fact to further elevate Lind's moral character as well as her vocal performance abilities. Newspaper articles of the period typically comment on both her indescribable voice and her generous gifts to the local hospital, orphanage, or charity organization, especially those for women and children.
All of the marketing and the heavy concert schedule, however, began to wear on Lind. She had also fallen in love with the pianist who replaced Benedict, Otto Goldschmidt. They were married on February 5, 1852, in Boston. Possibly Goldschmidt influenced his wife to take advantage of a clause in her contract with Barnum that allowed the two to part ways with certain conditions to the terms, and she did so. Despite Barnum’s disappointment, the two parted on relatively good terms, and remained friends. The Lind company continued to perform in America until May of 1852, and then returned to England. Lind and Goldschmidt had three children.
In later years Lind gave fewer performances and no longer performed operas, but she did participate in concert hall performances around Europe. In 1882, she became professor of singing at the Royal College of Music. She remained in that position until November 2, 1887, when she passed away.
Jenny Lind Goldschmidt is buried at the Great Malvern Cemetery in Malvern, Worcestershire, England.
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