he Swedish
Nightingale in an extraordinary degree. But art and energy have supplied
the defects of nature. Perhaps no artist, if we except Pasta, ever
deserved more praise than Jenny Lind for what she has worked out of bad
materials. From an organ neither naturally sweet nor powerful, she has
elaborated a voice capable of producing the most vivid sensations.
In her mezzo-voce singing, scarcely any vocalist we ever heard can be
compared to her. The most delicate notes, given with the most perfect
intonation, captivate the hearers, and throw them into ecstasies of
delight. This is undoubtedly the great charm of Jenny Lind's singing,
and in this respect we subscribe ourselves among her most enthusiastic
admirers.... She sustains a C or D in alt with unerring intonation and
surprising power. These are attained without an effort, and constitute
another charm of the Nightingale's singing.

"In pathetic music Jenny Lind's voice is heard to much advantage.
Indeed, her vocal powers seem best adapted to demonstrate the more
gentle and touching emotions. For this reason her solo singing is almost
that alone in which she makes any extraordinary impression. In ensemble
singing, excepting in the piano, her voice, being forced beyond its
natural powers, loses all its beauty and peculiar charm, and becomes,
in short, often disagreeable.... Her voice, with all its charm, is of
a special quality, and in its best essays is restricted to a particular
class of lyrical compositions.... As a vocalist, Jenny Lind is entitled
to a very high, if not the highest, commendation. Her perseverance and
indomitable energy, joined to her musical ability, have tended to
render her voice as capable and flexible as a violin. Although she never
indulges in the brilliant flights of fancy of Persiani, nor soars
into the loftiest regions of fioriture with that most wonderful of all
singers, her powers of execution are very great, and the delicate taste
with which the most florid passages are given, the perfect intonation of
the voice, and its general charm, have already produced a most decided
impression on the public mind. By the musician, Persiani will be always
more admired, but Jenny Lind will strike the general hearer more."

Another contemporaneous judgment of Jenny Lind's voice will be of
interest to our readers: "Her voice is a pure soprano, of the fullest
compass belonging to voices of this class, and of such evenness of
tone that the nicest ear can