The sun., 1873-08-14
GREAT SINGERS CAREER.
"A HISTORY or THE sUCCESsES OF
CHRISTINE NILSSON.
Tho Ifilo singer Mt the Fair-IIer Debut on
tho Operatic Stage Mt stocLhoim-Ths
Queen OF the Opera in London-Her sue
cess In the United states.

IhlT was belnE ned AT 1Jungby, n small town
IN the maritime dlstrct or laen Of kalmar in
Sweden. Ijunehy lies at distance Of about 30
ny o TO ,h tme 0b soSih % q St2GEn2' ahd lmmed
In many respects very much like a fair anywhere
among country towns or larger VILLAGES Booths
are erected upon some open space In impromptu
lanes Of canvas and boarding Fags iuttor, and
cheap ware, toys, cakes; eit gingerbread: dolls,
There Is roar OF voices, interrupted
or accentnated every now and then with
the sound OF laughter, the rattle Of
drums, the chime ~ some choral song from a
drinking tent, the stentorian voice Of a show
man vaunting the attractions of his entertain
ment and announcing that the performance Ia
about TO begin. twas in the midst Of just such
ago. in the Swedish burgh already mentioned
little girl prettly bedizcned, fairhaircd, blue
sTed i"n tho s"eneT crowd 1Gier e s II he,
10 the 'front.' bearing in her LETT hand violin
quite fourteen She was Of the V very humbsst @
parentage. Her father was poor laboring
would have begun to prSiie, she began % singing Ss
Win the perforated tube at her lips she was
from the very outset, as one would say.a born
regard, directly her sensitive nature had be-
come accustomed To- the fanili'r handling Of
the wizard bow OF strained horsohair, with
which the violinst makes his mr herr weird in
cantations. She nn.ercd the tighicncd catgut
and waved her impcriou- wand almost from the
hrst with subtle mystery over many Of the rc.
sources ~ that wondrous art the supreme and
violinist. 10 the acconp,niinrnt of her own
playing moreover. on the strings ~ the instrn-
as she did. in point ~ fact. upon the memorable
June day here referred 10 Ia the fair at TJungby.
MEMORABLE DAY.
That day in the rustic fair near Kalmar was I'm
truth especially memorable for the poor WCxid
peasants daughter for among her audience was
aSwedlsh gentleman of great influence, as well
as OF rare sagacity. Honor to his nlme-a name
henccforth scaied In The amber OF Christine
Nilssons fame. ~ that of MIR 4. q. Torn(rhieim.
Touched by her voice, her beauty. and her many
rare and most eNooutional rif;s, both as a vocal
Is "A 10 ttf,t
rescuins her at once, ifpossiblc. from her career
asa, as Easran, periormer. t2 this end he took
upon himself the responsibility 81 scein, To her
education He found, upun inquiry that the
pretty child was literally, ~ We have said, the
o1Spfing OF "A poor wOrhingiuau Of WeNiO, man
In the very humbrst circumstances.
Christine Nilsson had been born not far from
that inland city of sweden, at Wedcrsldf. on
Ihursday the ID August, lsl3 She had shown
from the nr~t an instructive love Of. or rather
somehow learnt to sing. to play the flute aud To-
play the violin. Carrying her fiddle with her
child n she was, she was already earning her
livelihood 10y going from fair to fair by attend
ing 9nc popular outdoor entertainment after
sixteen years ago, happily cxtrcated, in the
midsummer Of lsii, by her bcncfactor. MIR
IN lglmstadt, ON the katteeat. Thence,
ssrilai ne haH her remGNed to ,9e great Swedish
that she came under the instruction of
FTanZ Nerwald. Subsequently, with a view
n ore ,esrccially to the the comp.eilen Of her musi-
was placed Ia turn under the tuition of Masset
anu W uitpl SttictlN speaking, before going 10
the French capital to that end, Christine Nilsson,
In the early part OF lcsD, had made her first ap-
pearince on the operate stage at stockholm
Her real diW, however, ia its full value and sig
nincanCe, the occasion upon which she actually
stepped to the very front In the glare OF the
footlghts as Il great European cdHiGiricc, was
later on In the following autumn. This was on
the evening Of saturday, the eth October, 1860.
when the new prima donna appeared at the
Theatre Lyruue Us liol'ttd in Nerdi's opera of
La Trayiata." At the close Of every solo the
stage was PlTtt1c When the curtain fell at
the end Of each act she was recalled by acclama-
ton. The Dnale was the signal for an outburst
OF enthusiasm rarely awakened among the ordi-
narily captious and certainly fastidous Paris.
ians, Ihe triumph achieved by the d hutdnte
pledged To three years engagement.
ACCEPTED ny AccLAMArIoN
Her instant success was moro than confirmed
10y her subsequent representation of Oph,lu TO
NJ taures hdHid In Charles Louis Ambrose
traucht heroine of the Danish tragedy a. inper-
sonatcd 10y her took those ordinarily the most
with one acclanation by the Paris opera goors
as an object II almost uuineasurcd admiration.
II was not until the season Of 1856 that
London was allowed 10 Judge IA to the
merits ~ the now soprano-,his later, and,
a. some said, greater swedish nightingale.
she made Ter d'h0 al Her MJesiy's as she had
done seven years preNuusy IN the Theatre
Lhrgue. a. the heroine IN " la Irhyiata." By
an ODD announcement ON the part oi Mr. Maple
son, the oIcrn chosen for her first appearance at
seotcd S , 1t 's' "s Sd 6y 5 ofe nwSSsm TSs 80
though thc character naturally was, and Is, and,
~ We Will hope, always must hr among any
nned H~~einhlag". 1t was impereonatcd by Chris
tlit Alison Win cousumudte modesty aud
dehta,y thioushout The lIe-h and youthful
voice Wi.h ~ wnhd' rtul range or COMPASS and
It. astonishing hr&ioility did the rest IN rous-
ing ne usually iinpaSsiye audience INTO an out
bulst uI enthusiasm.
The lr,t season of hers in London had not far
advanced when, on SATURDAY, the 18TH June,
isii, the Etocitd of yesterday appeared at Her
MaJestys as the Margaret to slgnur Gardonis
fdtd IN Gounods odIo ,dopcra. when the
northern face and yellow hair seated at lie
spinning wheel, II was like seeing revealed to
Us, under the opalino hight ot fhiryland. the very
Gretchen of Goethe. Lifted up on the crest II
the wave 30 TO speak, the new prima donna
found herself during that very season not only
the queen OF the opera, but.in Mayfair, in
Belgravia m Tyburnia-hoating down the ria
An interval of little more than ten years only
had elapsed since, as warrant minstrel OF thir-
OF her own violin In the rustic throng
sRSt sHa 'a&P aT%w o neT2o nS II a a" %9
had in every respect developed.
HER EDUCATION
had been in no way simply professional.
The chud of terate parents, she had with
astonishing rapidlty perfected her skill as an
accomplished lingust. Beyond er own native
scandinavian, German French, English, Italian
were at her fun command In conversation.
when, In the following season, that Of 1865, she
appeared for the nIst time In London as Lucia
through her bridal dress which had been CON
the then autocratic .Mantalini Of the Pafisian
Unndes DANES her exquisite taste in costume
placahle dcprecators
Pelsiani aud Jenny Lind might have surpassed
her In vocazation IN this particular opera OF
DOnlZettis, but under no circumstances could
either have ever approached her in her imper-
tonation Of the eXquisitely beautiful Lucia di
LdmmerfnOOf.
During the summer Of 1869 Christine Nilssons
concerts were especial attractions In London.
She int ersptrscd, to the surprise of many, among
the operalic fragments she had CHOSEN in them
Tor the display Of her powers, noble mOrcedlr
from the orntorios In which her breadth Of sing
Ing and her tender feeling were surprisingly y
conspicuous. This was particularly manifested
IN angels ever bright and fair" a. well IA in
her grand articulation Of LET the bright
serathinl," 10 the celestial trumpet OblL lLpato. As
anordng Yet further revelation Of the ample
scope Of her powers, the fact is certainly worth
mentioning that, during the autumn Of that
same wear, 1853, she sang In another of her CON
certs that choicest buOu In Thomas's "Mignon,' %
the dalhtlly delicate romance, "Connais-tu le
Pays
HER SUCCESS IN AMERICA.
Tempted beyond the ocean upon "A tour I'm the
United states, Christine Nilsson passed the
winter of $50 and 1871 In America with a success
In some respects unparalleled. During her
comparatively brief stay here, while giving a
serie- - performances at Boston and New York,
and at other cities of Importance, she realized
within few months a fortune fully equal to
that accumulated during much longer inter
val ny her crunirywOinan, Madame Jenny Lind