Reminiscences of the Opera

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

189-90

text excerpt

Scarcely less triumphant was she in her third character. "The worshippers of Jenny Lind — and their name is legion" — to quote the general phraseology of the newspapers of the day — "were supplied with fresh excitement by the appearance of the Swedish Nightingale in a new character — one in which she had been wonderfully successful on the Continent — that of Maria, in Donizetti's 'Figlia del Reggimento'. "The music of this opera, one of Donizetti's lightest and prettiest compositions, had already been dished up by fragments to the English public in various forms, though, without much savour. On the boards of the Anglo-Italian stage, however, it seemed entirely new; the reminiscences of well-known melodies heightening, perhaps, rather than diminishing the zest with which the audience of Her Majesty's Theatre received the opera. The novel charm bestowed on it by such a "cast," and by an admirable performance throughout of the music, established "La Figlia" at once in favour. The acting of Jenny Lind, as the simple-minded and impulsive Vivandiere, struggling against the trammels of conventional "fine-lady" life, again made a lively impression ; whilst the warmth and feeling with which she sang, with wonderfully elaborate execution, one of her airs, established the character as another of Jenny's triumphs.

excerpt from 'Reminiscences of the Opera' pp. 189-90 (210 words)

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