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

86 Ingela Tägil
play through her lively action, although she has a weak voice, indeed almost
no voice.” 7 Despite Lindblad’s remark – that Jenny had almost no voice
– she was favourably reviewed in a paper for theatre and music: “Among
the actors Miss Lind should have the credit of being mentioned as a primary
consideration, while she performed her part with the utmost perfection as
an actress as well as a singer.” 8 It appears that she did not lose her voice at
once, but the voice gradually became more and more exhausted. In February
1836 Jenny was 15 years old, and her vocal fatigue seems to have begun
then. Regardless of the exact year this occurred, something happened to a
voice that previously had been praised as a high, clear soprano; some years
later, Lindblad remarked that Jenny had a weak, almost non-existent voice.
What did happen? What made Jenny’s voice so fatigued and weak that
she began to lose it? Most likely, it was not one factor, but a number of
things. Holland and Rockstro conducted several, rather superficial analyses
that suggest that the singing tasks she took on were too challenging for
such an early age, that the Royal Theatre used her too often, and finally that
her vocal education had been inadequate (Holland & Rockstro 1891, part
1, pp. 47–48, pp. 106–107). The suggestion that the Theatre used her too
often cannot be corroborated, since she only performed around 20 times a
year during the period 1833–36, which is not a sufficient reason to explain
her vocal fatigue. She was certainly very young, and her vocal folds may not
have been fully developed, but given awareness of her youth combined with
a good singing technique, this should not have been a problem. It was common
for children to be employed at theatres, not only in Stockholm, but also
all over Europe, and the theatres usually knew how to handle children’s
delicate voices. With this in mind, the Royal Theatre seems to have made
an appropriate assessment to allow Jenny to act only 20 times per year, and
in 1836 when she sang her first major operatic role, she performed even
fewer times.
Naturally, the question arises of what may have been wrong with Jenny’s
singing technique. Holland and Rockstro’s conclusion, namely that she
lacked sufficient and qualified education, is probably close to the truth. Her
vocal teacher Berg was an experienced singer with a solid international
education. He also had had a singing career, which, though short, gave him
7 Lindblad, 26 February 1836, KB L 48:3: ”Lilla Jenny Lind som uppträdt i Mamsell
Mathilda Fickers ställe har, ehuru en svag, nästan ingen röst, dock genom sitt lifliga
spel hjelpt upp saken.”
8 Tidning för Teater och Musik, 20 February 1836: ”bland de spelande torde Mamsell
Lind förtjäna att i främsta rummet nämnas, såsom den der med största fulländning, så
väl i anseende till action som sång, utförde sin rol [sic].”