Goldschmidt
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
MADAME (gōld' shmit), maiden name JENNY LIND, a famous Swedish vocalist; born in Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 6, 1820. At 3 years of age she could sing correctly any piece she had once heard, and at 9 she was placed under Croelius, a famous teacher of music. Count Pücke, manager of the court theater, after hearing her sing, caused her name at once to be entered at the Musical Academy, where she made rapid progress. She acted repeatedly in children's parts on the Stockholm stage till her 12th year, when her upper notes lost their sweetness. For four years she studied music theoretically. Her voice having recovered, she appeared at the Royal Theater, Stockholm, as Agatha, in "Der Freischütz," in 1838, and for 1½ years she continued the star of the opera at Stockholm. A series of concerts in the principal towns of Norway and Sweden gave her the means to study in Paris under Garcia. Declining Meyerbeer's offer to go to Berlin, she returned to her native city, where she enjoyed_a great triumph on her reappearance. In 1844 she went to Dresden, and afterward to Frankfort, Cologne, and Vienna. She first appeared before a London audience in May, 1847, as Alice, in "Robert the Devil," followed by a series of unparalleled triumphs in "Sonnambula," "The Daughter of the Regiment," "Puritani," etc. She visited New York in 1850, under the auspices of P. T. Barnum, and was enthusiastically received, but dissolved the engagement prematurely in 1851, was married to M. Otto Goldschmidt, a skillful pianist and conductor, and retired from the stage. She reappeared in 1855, in 1861, in 1863, and in 1880, for a limited period. She was Professor of Singing at the Royal College of Music, 1883-1886. She died in Wynd's Point, Malvern, England, Nov. 2, 1887. famous
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's filed her in 1921 under her married name, "Goldschmidt, Madame" — a convention no library or reference work would follow now, where she is always Jenny Lind. The biographical facts as given still stand: Stockholm birth in 1820, the debut as Agatha in "Der Freischutz" in 1838, study in Paris under Manuel Garcia, the Barnum tour of America in 1850-51, and her death at Wynd's Point on the Malvern Hills in 1887. What the entry could not say is that she left no recordings; her fame rests entirely on written testimony, so the "unparalleled triumphs" can never be checked by ear. Sweden later put her portrait on the 50-krona banknote, and charitable foundations she endowed with her concert earnings — including the children's hospital work in Norwich that bears her name — long outlived her.
Written for this edition, 2026.