Jenny Lind

In 1843, Jenny Lind met Hans Christian Andersen and the latter fell in love with her. Although the two became friends, Lind did not reciprocate his feelings.

After this, the singer became friends with Mendelssohn who used to write passionate love letters to her. Before the duo could start a relationship, Mendelssohn died a premature death in November 1847.

On February 5, 1852, Lind married pianist and conductor Goldschmidt in Boston. She went on to take the name "Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt" both personally and professionally.

Jenny Lind was born as Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind on 6 October 1820 in Klara, in central Stockholm as the illegitimate daughter of Anne-Marie Fellborg, a schoolteacher, and Niclas Jonas Lind, a bookkeeper.

Her mother had divorced her first husband for adultery and refused to remarry until his death due to religious reasons. She did, however, marry Lind’s father when Lind was 14.

When Lind was nine, her singing was overheard by a maid of Mademoiselle Lundberg, the chief dancer at the Royal Swedish Opera. The maid, who was astounded by Lind's voice, returned the following day with Lundberg who later helped Lind gain admission at the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

Jenny Lind started singing on the stage at the age of ten. When she was 12, she had a vocal crisis and had to stop singing for a brief period of time. She, however, recovered later on.

In 1838, she got her breakthrough role as Agathe in ‘Der Freischütz’ at the Royal Swedish Opera. At the age of 20, she served as a court singer to King of Sweden and Norway. During this time, she also became a part of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

From 1841 to 1843, Lind studied under the guidance of Manuel García who saved her singing career by helping her recover from the damage to her voice.

In December 1844, she sang the title role in the opera ‘Norma’ in Berlin. This led to more engagements with opera houses throughout Austria and Germany. The following year, she sang without fee for a charity event in aid of the Orchestra Widows' Fund.

On 4 May 1847, the singer gave her first performance in London when she appeared in an Italian edition of Meyerbeer's ‘Robert le Diable.’ The same year, she appeared at Her Majesty's Theatre in Verdi's opera I masnadieri.

The track ‘The Camp of Silesia’ from Meyerbeer's ‘Ein Feldlager in Schlesien’ became one of the numbers most associated with Jenny Lind. She was called on to sing the song whenever she performed in concerts.

The track ‘The Camp of Silesia’ from Meyerbeer's ‘Ein Feldlager in Schlesien’ became one of the numbers most associated with Jenny Lind. She was called on to sing the song whenever she performed in concerts.