Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-04-27


IA this countzy han hat achfsTsd b Jen-
~ LIND twenty yeafs ego. aad those d
oux citizens who heard the litter here,
val now havs the opp rtunitE Of contrast,
ng her powers With those Of allle Nilsson.
mere VIII b great rush for seats, aud
IS enc stsys here bat one night, We predict
ina. tne nan VA be Allied TO its Utmost ca
pac.sy. Ine following is the sketch Of
Mile Nilsson to which We refer:
Mile Christina Nilsson was born In 1919.
in peasants home, in q little Swedish.
hamlet, near the town Of Veccio. At first
her parents employed her to gather FACETS
from Q neighboring forest; but her broth
er, Who was wandering violinist or min
strel, inspired in her a desire to initiate
him. Soon she became proficient enough
to accompany him in his daily tramps, and,
on one occasion, she played 90 well, or
rather with 50 much zeal, at q village fes-
nval, that she attracted the attention Of a
stranger, who questioned her, was charmed
with her pretty face-she was oniy twelve
her sehpossession and her taicnt, which.
if not great then, wasextraordinaxy IN one
so young as the Swedish peasant girl. Tie
stranger took her to lady % Gotteu1
bourg, Gn old musicenne, who had sung Ia
the theater. The lady likewise questioned
the brave little girl, was delighted with
her responses, and concluded BY proposing
to give her an education and JeaE the ex-
pense of her support. 70 B. rs-r-
The matter was soon arranged with the
girls parents, and she was placed in aeon
Portable home in Gottenboare. From
Gottenbourg she was taken to Stockholm;
later, she was taken to Paris. Once in
Paris she entered an English family, and
was placed under the instruction Of Wartel,
who disciplined her voice, and when she
was twenty-one, concluded that she had
learned all that he could teach. She msde
her debut at the Theatre Lyrique in the
role Of Violetta, In La Travista. Mistress
Of her voice she had yet 70 learn what Is
called defamation theatral, or dramatic
elocution, and, in fact, all the mimic
science which is necessary to make great
actress. This, too, Christina Nilsson pa
tiently studied, aided by her great natural
intelligence and strong viii, at the rehears-
ais for her first engagement. When she
appeared upon the scene, ''she obtained
ut once great success and excited an I'M
mense curiosity" Earnest Faydeau said.
''She was 50 pretty She sang SO we'll
Who was she? And where did she come
from? Evidently not from the Oonserva-
toire. Nobody could tell The came
evening she was famous" The day after
her debut she quilted the English family
with whom she had lived in somewhat en-
barrassed circumstances during six years,
and installed herself with a friend, an az
fable and sedate person, who held the place
Of mother, and always accompanied her
From this moment the biography Of
Christina NILSSON Is wholly in the splendor
of the theatrical world She sang at Paris
and at London ''la Flute Euchantee, Mar
ta's Don Juan, les Noces de Figaro Ducie,
etc. She enacted the role of 0phelia with
inexpressible charm. And it is claimed
that the fair scandinavian understands
and enacts the character of Goethe's Mar
guerite better than any one who has filed
the role. Faydeau exclaims: 1.-THE shadow
of Goethe must have quivered with delight
from the bottom of its sombre Elysium,
where it converses with the great poets of
ancient Greece, if it has seen the wonder
ful rendering of his most adorable creA-
ton" Mr.. Howard Ticknor, now residing
In Europe, wrote to the Boston Daily id
geTttser concerning Nilsson some tine
last year, and we will here
give a description from his letter
Here, for those who have not
seen Christina Nilsson, it does not seem to
me idle to make the portrait Of the cele-
brated prima donna, She is a SWede. She
has all the beauty of her race. But she
has also its peculisrities. Scandinavian
people are not gifted with the mobility of
Meridianal people. The forms are very
pronounced, the angels little salient,
and that mode Of confirmation gives them
something abrupt and decided IN the out
carriage. Christina Nilsson has not en-
tirely escaped that law of nature. Grace,
which seems innate in her, has, however,
corrected what may be stiffness in few Of
her country-women. She is of medium
height, almost tall, little slender in form,
and an exotic elegance, full Of character,
reveals itself m her ain and action. Her
head Is at the same time Raphaelesqus
and Septsntrional. Her little head, well
formed, is well placed on her shoulders.
her hair ashen blonde, frames her brow
with thick masses, lightly rippled, like
that of Venus. The brow is regular and
intelligent, and indicates reflection no less
than decision, the sentiment Of analysis
no less than character. That which Is
most charming in her, is incontestibly her
glance. have never seen eyes that in
given moment express so well the wild
movements of the soul, of rage or indig-
nation. Her concentrated glance jets
from the shadow of its orbit with the
metallic CLEAN of sword blade. But, also,
have never seen any which, on occasion,
emitted amiability and tenderness IN
more charming manner. I shall have said
all about the beauty of the prima donna BY
adding that, in her g-ace, little wild,
perhaps, she has the most delicious smile,
a smile full Of effusion, Of an adorable
naivete."
The late Charles B. Seymour, for years
the musical man of the New York Times,
wrote from Paris to that paper during the
International Exhibition Of 1867, as fol-
lows: ''The most widely known and sym
pathetic success of Christina Nilsson was
probably m her rendering CT Ophelia, in
Ambrose Thomas opera Of Hamlet. The
duo of Ophelia and Hamlet, in the scene
of the soliloquy, TO be or not to be, and
the air when Ophelia reads her missal,
make what the French call prOdigious
success; but the climax of vocal charm
and romantic, pathetic, elegiac beauty, is
reached when she culls flowers from the
river bank, ane in the wandering Of her
crazed mind listens to the mysterious
voices of the waters. To see Nilsson in
this scene, to hear her voice, viii probably
make q lasting sensation, and tadeless
picture of beauty for ones whole lie
voice, face, figure-Rl are graceful, adora-
BILE and harmonious. A delirium OF plea
sure, pure and exalted as an emanaton
from the very spirit Of tender sadness,
from the immaculate passion of maiden
hood, seizes upon the susceptible Paris
ians, and to some extent, upon any one
sensitive to the mystery Of the sources OF
esthetic rapture.