excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 8-9 (263 words)

excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 8-9 (263 words)

part of

Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900

original language

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

in pages

8-9

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text excerpt

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It was in St. Andrew's Hall, also, that I was vouchsafed as a boy the privilege of hearing, on a solitary occasion only, one of the greatest artists the world has ever possessed. I refer to Jenny Lind. The close association which existed between that gifted and noble woman and the city of Norwich is a matter of common knowledge. A bishop of Norwich (Dr. Stanley) it was who persuaded the first of the “Swedish Nightingales" to abandon, on religious grounds, the operatic stage; which premature and much-regretted event occurred in 1849. But the famous singer frequently visited Norwich, and more than once she appeared at concerts given on behalf of the funds of the Jenny Lind Infirmary for Children, an institution founded by her and still flourishing in the old city. At one of these concerts, some time during the middle “sixties," I heard Jenny Lind sing. The voice, I remember perfectly, was as exquisitely clear and fresh as a young girl's; its sweet tones haunted me long afterward. Of the wondrous art of the great singer I was too young to judge ; but I shall, never forget what she sang, or the rare wealth of religious sentiment with which she invested the prayer of Agathe in the favorite scena from “Der Freischutz”. Upon the stage, of course, the heroine of Weber's opera always kneels while uttering her touching appeal for her lover's safe return, and Jenny Lind also knelt while singing the same passage upon the platform of St. Andrew's Hall on the occasion I am alluding to.

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excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 8-9 (263 words)

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