Opera on the Move in the Nordic Countries during the Long 19th ...

Jenny Lind’s vocal strain
Ingela Tägil (with thanks to Eva Öhrström)
Jenny Lind (1820–1887) may be considered one of the last, great singers
of bel canto. The highlight of her career as an opera singer was the period
1838–49, and her repertoire consisted mainly of leading parts by the bel
canto composers Bellini, Donizetti and Meyerbeer. Her voice was a high
lyric soprano which easily performed the required long phrases, but had
some difficulties with rapid passages. She also had a small vocal defect.
The pitches from f1 to a1 were “veiled”, meaning that her voice let through
more air than her vocal chords could use on these specific tones. Already
when she made her big breakthrough in 1838 the reviewers noticed that:
Miss Lind’s higher notes have an unusual strength and sound, but in
her lower notes she has a hoarseness, which might be hard for her to
overcome. 1
The description of her voice as being less powerful in the middle and lower
registers shows up again and again in reviews from Sweden, Germany, Aus-
1 Orvar Odd, in Aftonbladet, 8 March 1838: ”M:lle Linds högre toner ega en ovanlig
styrka och klang, men de lägre vidlåder en viss heshet, den det torde blifva henne svårt
att öfvervinna. All translations are by the author unless otherwise indicated.
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