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"Have you seen the Nightingale?": The Triumphant American Tour of Jenny Lind

Jenny Lind portemonnaie Oil on metal

Jenny Lind portemonnaie

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Lucy Ann (Lane) Norcross, the wife of prominent Boston merchant (and future mayor) Otis Norcross, 1850年,在波士顿听了珍妮·林德的歌声后,他买下了这只零钱钱包. By an unknown maker, 这个钱包只是林德在美国巡演期间买到的众多纪念品之一.

P.T. Barnum engages the Nightingale

Johanna Maria Lind was born on 6 October 1820 in Stockholm, Sweden. "Jenny," as she was later known, first sang in public at age 10 and by the 1840s, 她已成为欧洲歌剧舞台上一位广受欢迎、广受追捧的演员. In addition to her talent, 在她的职业生涯中,珍妮也因她的慈善事业而闻名, she gave numerous benefit performances for organizations large and small.

虽然他从未听过她唱过一个音符,但著名的表演者和企业家菲尼亚斯·T. Barnum was never one to miss an opportunity. In 1849, 意识到珍妮·林德的歌唱和慈善事业在非洲大陆引起的轰动, Barnum resolved to bring her to America. Although she had received previous offers to perform here, 据说珍妮承认她接受了巴纳姆的提议,因为他的文具上有一张 Iranistan, his palatial estate in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that had thoroughly captured her imagination. 他们最初的合同要求在12-18个月内举办150场音乐会, 除了珍妮想参加多少慈善音乐会之外,如果任何一方决定提前结束巡演,条款也已经制定好了. 巴纳姆将为珍妮和她的同伴们支付头等舱的旅费和住宿费,并授权他的经纪人每场音乐会给她1000美元.

Once Jenny had signed the contract, Barnum’s well-oiled publicity machine began to hum, 向像巴纳姆本人一样对珍妮知之甚少或一无所知的美国公众介绍珍妮. To stoke enthusiasm about the tour, 巴纳姆宣布了一场歌曲创作比赛——获胜者的歌词将由林德的作曲家朱利叶斯·本尼迪克特谱曲,并在林德的美国音乐会上演出. The poem of Bayard Taylor (1825-1878), a Pennsylvania poet and author, 从700个参赛作品中脱颖而出,这首曲子成为了她最受欢迎的曲目之一.

珍妮·林德和她的随行人员乘轮船抵达纽约市 Atlantic on Sunday 1 September 1850 where an enthusiastic crowd estimated at 40,000 people waited to greet her ship when it dropped anchor. 几天后,她熟悉了这座城市,会见了一些政要和为她的慈善机构请愿的人, 9月11日星期三晚上,珍妮在纽约的城堡花园举行了她的第一场音乐会.

Next stop Boston

这是波士顿动荡的一年,约翰·怀特·韦伯斯特因谋杀乔治·帕克曼而受审, the arrival of Jenny Lind must have seemed like a breath of fresh air. Boston newspapers were replete with notices of her voyage, her arrival in New York City, reviews of her first performances, and notices of her charities, paving the way for an enthusiastic reception in Boston. As in New York, 音乐会的主要门票被拍卖,波士顿的最高价格(625美元)由Ossian F. Dodge, a musician) eclipsed that paid in New York by a whopping $375!

Upon her arrival in Boston, 珍妮在里维尔宅邸住了四间“富丽堂皇”的房间." She was visited by the Commonwealth’s notables including Edward Everett, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Governor George Briggs, and Daniel Webster. After playing to enthusiastic and packed houses at the Tremont Temple, 珍妮计划在堤道街的菲奇堡火车站举行她在波士顿的最后两场音乐会,这一决定可能会破坏她和巴纳姆赢得的任何好感. Although the hall was not particularly well suited to musical performances, the first evening’s concert passed without incident, but on the second and final night, 一大群喧闹的人聚集在一起,人群涌上舞台,几乎发生了骚乱, broken windows and doors, and disgruntled patrons. The Boston Atlas 1850年10月14日的一篇文章将其描述为“可耻的景象……这是对公众一系列前所未有的强加的最后一次。." Jenny performed despite the chaos, 但负面宣传迫使巴纳姆向数百名不满的持票人退款.

Even after her departure from the city, 波士顿的报纸继续跟踪“瑞典夜莺”在全国各地的旅行——分享她在音乐会上的胜利(和苦难)的消息。, charitable acts, and other notes-- assuring she was never far from Bostonians’ minds. After a months-long tour that included stops throughout the United States, as well as Havana, Cuba, Jenny returned to the northeast where, after her 93rd concert, she and Barnum officially parted ways. 珍妮向巴纳姆支付了提前终止的费用,并继续在她自己的管理下进行巡演. She performed her last concert in Boston (her second "farewell" appearance) on 6 December 1851. Following concerts in New Haven, Worcester, Philadelphia, and New York, 珍妮回到波士顿,与她的钢琴家奥托·戈德施密特(Otto Goldschmidt)在路易斯堡广场的家中结婚. and Mrs. Samuel Gray Ward on 5 February 1852. After a three-month honeymoon in Northampton, Massachusetts, 戈德施密特夫妇在镇上举行了两场慈善音乐会,并在纽约又举行了三场音乐会,然后乘坐载着她到美国海岸的同一艘船启程前往英国. With the proceeds of her American tour, estimated at more than $350,000 (more than $9 million in today’s dollars), 珍妮·林德实现了她在祖国瑞典资助免费学校的梦想. 珍妮和奥托·戈德施密特最终在英国定居,并生了三个孩子. Although she never returned to opera, Jenny continued to perform concerts. 她在67岁时去世,与她一起下葬的是一条拼布被子,这是她在美国访问期间学生们送给她的.

The "Jenny Rage"

这里展示的零钱钱包只是美国珍妮林德热潮的一个产物. 除了无处不在的珍妮·林德歌曲集(通常是珍妮和P的传记).T. Barnum) sold at her concerts, there were Jenny Lind lithographs, photographs, tokens, fans, stoves, tea-kettles, and other Lindiana. Long after her departure from this earth, her name and likeness have been used to sell china, silverware, furniture, and even fishing line! Before she had even set foot in Boston, the Liberator 1850年9月13日以“愚蠢”的标题谴责了“珍妮狂热”:

是时候让我们的一些城里人开始出丑了, by harnessing themselves to her carriage, 或者把她当作神一样崇拜……这一季除了珍妮·林德的金发女郎什么都不行, and Jenny Lind berthas, Jenny Lind watches and Jenny Lind chains, Jenny Lind shoes and Jenny Lind petticoats, Jenny Lind hats and head-dresses, and Jenny Lind body-dresses, 以及一篇名为《og体育官网》的新文章……如果人们能窥视一下她的卧室和菜单就好了, we have no doubt that they will eat, drink, sleep, wink and blow their noses à la Jenny Lind 他们最好遵循这位神圣女歌手的习俗,分发慈善物品à la Jenny Lind!

In November, the Liberator 转载了一篇og体育平台珍妮的狂热的报道,当时这种狂热正在席卷全国:

New stores and saloons and hotels are christened "Jenny Lind"; steamboats, locomotives, stages, and all vehicles are "Jennys"; on ‘Change they sell "Jenny"-see wheat; the spinning "Jenny" is eclipsed by the singing "Jenny," at least for this "Jenny"-ration; people delight in tracing their "Jenny"-alogy back into Sweden; all men seem to be studying verbs in the "Jenny"-tive case; even "Jenny"-rosity is a virtue no longer neglected; even our only military Major Jenny-ral has surrendered to the queen; fond mothers call their babes, sportsmen their dogs and horses, farmers their cows and pigs, "Jennys"; in short "Jenny" is the "Jenny"-ric term for all these things, and for how many more, "Jenny"-sais quoi."

For further reading

Barnum, Phineas T. The Life of P.T. Barnum. New York: Redfield, 1855.

Dunsmore, Sarah Jenny. Jenny Lind: The Story of the Swedish Nightingale. [England]: RedDoor Publishing, 2015.

A biographical account by Jenny Lind Goldschmidt’s great-granddaughter.

Ware, W. Porter and Thaddeus C. Lockard, Jr. P. T. Barnum Presents Jenny Lind: The American Tour of the Swedish Nightingale. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980.