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

Jenny Lind’s vocal strain
by “H.T.” blamed the voice-break at puberty for the veiled tones in Jenny’s
middle vocal range (H. T. in Allgemene Musikalische Zeitung, no 7, February
1845). Jenny was only ten years old when she started to act at the Royal
Theatre, and her voice-break must have occurred sometime during her
years as a pupil. The female voice-break is very individual. Some voices are
deeply affected, while others show little effect at all. Vocal-Learning (1814)
emphasised that the voice-break affects both boys and girls. Vocal-Learning
also claimed that with care and without forcing the deepest or the highest
notes, children can sing during the whole period while the vocal-break lasts
(Sång-lära 1814, p. 6). Therefore, it could not be lack of awareness of the
female voice-break on the part of the Royal Theatre, which allowed children
to sing during this sensitive period. Jenny Lind’s case was not unique in any
way. There were many children in the theatres they sang and acted during
the time their voices broke in the early nineteenth century. Nevertheless, it
cannot be ignored that this change may have been significant in contributing
to Jenny Lind’s problems. García claimed that an advanced vocal education
should not begin until the voice-break was past; for girls, this was after the
age of sixteen (García 1894, p. 8). By that assessment, Jenny had started far
too early. By the time she was sixteen years old, she was considered fully
educated. That in fact was a common age to be considered an adult singer
at theatres all over Europe, but perhaps Jenny’s vocal folds were not completely
developed at a time when more and more was being demanded of
her voice. She may have had to put up with the pressures placed on an adult
singer too early in life.
Another factor, and one that certainly should not be underestimated in
this context, was Jenny’s personal situation. The years after 1834 coincided
with an emotionally difficult period for her. During her first ten years she
lived with her single mother, but there were also long periods in several
foster homes. Jenny’s mother, Anna Maria Fellborg (1792–1851), was unmarried
with two children: Amalia born in 1811, the daughter from Fellborg’s
previous marriage to a Captain Rådberg, and Jenny. The couple had
divorced after only 18 months, and Fellborg had to work in order to provide
for her family. Sometimes she worked as a governess, and when the employers
did not allow her to bring along her youngest daughter, she simply
had to leave the child in foster care. Fellborg’s main source of income
came from running a boarding house for girls. When Jenny was accepted
as a pupil at the Royal Theatre, she was naturally placed in her mother’s
boarding house. The Theatre also placed three other girls there: the sisters
Mathilda and Charlotta Ficker and Fanny Westerdahl. Placing the students
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