Known as " The Swedish Nightingale ", Jenny Lind had one of the most beautiful soprano voices of the nineteenth century.
She was born in Stockholm in 1820 and after a début in her native city, went to Paris where she temporarily lost her voice. Recovering after intense study, she was noticed by the composer, Meyerbeer. He recommended her to the Berlin Opera, where she created the leading rôle in his opera Feldlagmer in Schlesien. A successful European career followed.
In 1847 she was offered a contract at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, as a rival attraction to the new Covent Garden opera house. That year she created the r├┤le of Amalia in Verdi's
I masnadieri.
She retired from the operatic stage after three seasons, thereafter singing only in oratorio and concert. She died in Malvern, England, in 1887.
Her voice was remarkable for its range, purity, breath control and beauty of interpretation. In 1894 a study of her method was published, including a selection of her cadenzas and other ornamentations.
