With 1835 we come to an important advance of Manuel Garcia's position as a teacher, the first official recognition of his growing fame. When at the close of 1830, fresh from his anatomical studies at the hospital, he had joined his father in his work, he at once resolved to apply the knowledge thus gained. It was, therefore, his custom to insist that every pupil who presented himself should undergo a vocal and medical examination, while at the same time he made him submit to a special treatment, if the larynx appeared to him to demand it.

It has always been stated that he was given the post by Auber, but investigation proves this to be incorrect. Auber was not appointed to the directorship of the Conservatoire until the year 1842. At the time Señor Garcia joined the staff Cherubini was at the head of affairs, having been made director in the year 1821 (after being professor of composition there for five years), and he remained in that position until the close of 1841, when he retired at the age of eighty-one, to be succeeded by the younger composer.

In the year of Manuel Garcia's appointment to the Conservatoire, his sister, Maria Malibran, was in London during May and June, having been engaged by the management of the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden for twenty-one performances at a fee of £2775.

How little did those who listened to her in London that summer foresee that with the close of the season they were to hear her in the capital no more, and that in little over a year her life was to be brought to a tragic end! Yet such was to be the case.

After the close of the London season the contralto retired to Brussels for a rest, and then in the early autumn set out for Naples.

The unhappy impresario was on the verge of bankruptcy, and came to beg her aid. Maria Malibran refused, but offered to sing for him at his theatre for a fee of three thousand francs.

The company and orchestra, who had already half dispersed, were hastily reassembled, and de Bériot himself directed the rehearsals for "Somnambula." The announcement of the forthcoming performance created tremendous excitement,—seats fetched incredible prices; and on the night itself the hall was crammed to overflowing. The tenor was so affected that he suddenly stopped short, and for some minutes could not sing a note. The public began to murmur, and the whole success of the evening was in jeopardy, until Malibran came to the rescue. She at once commenced to sing the tenor music, and rendered it with such virility of accent and gesture that the public shouted with enthusiasm. What was more to the purpose, the tenor was able to recover himself after a few moments and take up his rôle again. At the fall of the curtain the ovation was tremendous,—indeed it seemed as if the applause would never come to an end.

The total receipts of the performance were 10,500 francs, but nothing less than 15,000 could save the unhappy Gallo from bankruptcy. When he presented himself next day with the 3000 francs, as arranged, the tender-hearted artist discovered his predicament, and not only let him off her fee, but provided him with the further sum necessary for the settlement of his debt. Perhaps Alfred de Musset was thinking of this act of generosity when he wrote the lines—

In remembrance of this memorable performance, the municipality of Venice decided that the Theatre of Saint Jean Chrysostôme should be called henceforth the Théâtre Malibran.

There are still extant not only a great number of the designs, which were copied by her orders, but several albums of sketches for which she was herself responsible, and these exhibit considerable dexterity, besides giving proof of the deep interest which she took in the scheme.

In the midst of all this work, and of numberless receptions at which she was ever the principal attraction, she made frequent appearances at the Scala in "Otello," "I Capuletti," "Norma," "Somnambula," and "Giovanna Grey." The enthusiasm of the public had never reached such a pitch before, and it is from this year that those stamps dated which bore her head, and were used to close letters: specimens of these are still to be seen, but they are extremely rare.

On March 26, 1836, the contralto's marriage with Monsieur Malibran was finally annulled by the courts of Paris. This unworthy husband, soon after her return to Europe, had heard of her success in the French capital and followed her thither, demanding a share of her professional emoluments. With this claim she very properly refused to comply. He had obtained her hand by means of deception, and she had acquitted herself of any claim he might have had as her husband, by resigning in favour of his creditors the property which had been settled on her.

Three days after the marriage had been annulled, she was wedded to Charles de Bériot, the violinist, and we read that "the Queen of France presented the bride with a costly agraffe, embellished with pearls."

Next day de Bériot and his wife arrived at Brussels, and shortly afterwards were heard there for the first time together at a concert given for the benefit of the Polonais, and in another performance at the Theatre Royal.

In September they made a rapid journey from France, arriving at Manchester on Sunday the 11th, where she had been engaged as the principal attraction for the Festival. The same evening she sang no less than fourteen pieces in her room at the hotel to please some Italian friends. On the Monday she took part in the opening performance. Next day she was weak and ill, but nevertheless sang afternoon and evening. On the Wednesday her condition became still more critical, but she managed to render "Sing ye to the Lord" with thrilling effect; and this was the last sacred piece she ever sang, for that same evening brought her grand career to its tragic close.

The scene was one which none forgot who were present on that fatal night.

Her task was over, she had fought in an unequal combat and prevailed. But still an enraptured audience clamoured to hear her yet again, and the noisy demand grew ever more insistent, until Maria Malibran came forward to repeat the closing movement.

As she sang, an agonised expression came over her face, her limbs trembled, her efforts became more and more painful. It was the struggle of a brave woman against sinking nature, the vivid glare of an expiring lamp. Higher and higher rose the voice, paler and paler grew the singer. Then came a last wild note of despair: the swan song was ended, and Maria Malibran staggered from the platform, to sink exhausted into the arms of loving comrades.

A grateful public vied each with the other in doing honour to their heroine, but, alas! those thunders of applause fell on ears that heard them not. Maria Malibran lay hovering 'twixt life and death.

But the end was not yet. She rallied, and was borne across to her room at the hotel, and here she lingered for nine days in a fever before the end came. On her deathbed her poor brain was in song-land, and almost with her last breath she sang snatches of her favourite airs.

Of Maria Malibran's powers as an artist her brother could never speak too highly. She was richly endowed with the artistic genius of the family, and was possessed of a contralto of marvellous purity and richness, being at the same time gifted with great histrionic powers. Her singing, as has been already stated, was always full of fire and warmth, while, besides her passion, there was gentle pathos, which had great effect on the listener. As a girl she was petite and slight, with burning cheeks and flaming eyes. Though not a beautiful woman, she was extremely attractive. Her head was well shaped, her mouth rather large, but her smile very sweet, and she had the most perfect set of teeth, while her pretty figure was full of graceful curves.

"Such a merry-making, frolicsome sort of party I never witnessed," he says. "We had much good singing, as you may suppose; but Mazzinghi's comic duet of "When a little farm we keep"—which I had the honour of singing with Malibran—carried all before it, in consequence of the exquisite manner in which she sang the do re mi part of it; and when she repeated it she executed the florid divisions so delightfully, and so brilliantly, yet quite differently from the first time, that the company was enraptured.... The prima donna requested Lablache to sustain the low F, me to sing B flat, and others the harmonic intervals above, then to place the finger on the side of the nose, so as to form a drone, while she imitated the squeaking tones of the bagpipes in such a manner as to cause the loudest laughter, especially when we sank our voices very slowly together, as if the wind in the bellows was nearly exhausted."

Such was Maria Malibran, untiring in energy, scarcely resting a moment. Little wonder that she did not live to the same age as the rest of her family, for she died at twenty-eight, whereas her mother lived to be eighty-three, and her sister Pauline is still living, approaching her ninetieth birthday, while Manuel entered on his 102nd year before the Reaper summoned him.

Well did Lablache say of Maria Malibran, "Son esprit est trop fort pour son petit corps."

AFTER the death of Malibran in 1836, the ensuing years of Manuel Garcia's life were spent in steady progress of fame as a teacher. The next event of importance in his career took place four years later. These intervening years were, however, brightened by much reflected glory, for as the period between 1830 and 1836 saw the triumphs of his eldest sister and pupil, Maria Malibran, so this next one brought the success of his youngest sister, Pauline Viardot, also his pupil.

Her first lessons had been received as a child at the hands of her father, but seeing that she was only eleven years old when he died, it may be certainly claimed that her brother was responsible for the greater part of her training.

The German pianist had already made considerable success by the time his father died in 1827, when he himself was but sixteen years old. The event brought a great change in his circumstances, and made it necessary for him to keep himself by teaching. His services were at once in demand among the best families, and in due course Pauline was placed under him. Though she refers to her talent on the instrument as "passable," Liszt counted her one of his best pupils.

After studying for some time she made her appearance as a pianist at several concerts organised by her sister and de Bériot in Belgium and Germany. Composition, too, she learned under Reicha, and it was to him that she owed that grasp of the technique of her art by which she was able to give full scope to the richness of her own inspiration.

In 1837, as we have already said, her début as a vocalist was made at Brussels. After this she went on a concert tour with de Bériot, and sang at a concert in Paris in 1838 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, when her powers of execution were brilliantly displayed in a cadence du Diable.

She was a mezzo-soprano, with fine clear upper notes, and a wonderful execution in bravura passages. Moreover, as an actress she was equally successful in tragedy or comedy, besides being a perfect musician. And yet, as Señor Garcia would remark, there was not in her case a "phenomenal voice," as there had been in that of the lamented Malibran. It was, according to her brother, by no means a great one, and the voice alone would in ordinary circumstances have been placed in the second class.

There is a well-known story of a certain painter being asked by one of his sitters: "Tell me, with what do you mix your paints to get these wonderful effects?" "Madame," was the reply, "I mix them with my brains." So, too, Pauline Garcia may be said to have sung with her brains.

In the autumn of 1839 she went to Paris for a season at the Théâtre Italien, for which she had been engaged by the impresario, Mons. Louis Viardot, a distinguished writer and critic, and founder of the 'Revue Indépendante.' Here she shared in the triumphs of Grisi, Persiani, Rubini, Tamburini, and Lablache; while her principal parts were three rôles as different as they were characteristic—in the operas of "Otello," "Cenerentola," and "The Barber of Seville."

Many tributes were paid by those who heard her. Liszt, under whom she had studied the piano, wrote of her in these terms—

"In all that concerns method and execution, feeling and expression, it would be hard to find a name worthy to be mentioned with that of Maria Malibran's sister. In her, virtuosity serves only as a means of expressing the idea, the thought, the character of a work or a rôle."

George Sand called her "the personification of poetry and music," and set down her impressions on listening to the singer thus: "The pale, still,—one might at the first glance say lustreless,—countenance, the suave and unconstrained movements, the astonishing freedom from every sort of affectation,—how transfigured all this appears, when she is carried away by her genius on the current of song!"

When de Musset wished to crystallise in prose his feelings on hearing her sing, he expressed himself in these words—

"Si Pauline Garcia a la voix de sa sœur, elle en a l'âme en même temps, et, sans la moindre imitation, c'est le même génie.... Elle chante comme elle respire.... Sa physionomie, pleine d'expression, change avec une rapidité prodigieuse, avec une liberté extrème, non seulement selon le morceau, mais encore selon la phrase qu'elle exécute. Avant d'exprimer, elle sent."

Such was the artiste whose début in London in 1839 was followed by so brilliant a career.

We now come to 1840—a year made noteworthy in the life of Garcia by another important advance in his career.

Since his appointment to a professorship at the Paris Conservatoire, his reputation had continued to be steadily consolidated, and his clientèle included, besides those who were being trained for the musical profession, a great number of amateur pupils, among whom were to be found not only some of the most distinguished names in Paris, but many members of the royal family itself. Throughout this period he had been steadily working to increase his knowledge relative to the mechanism of the voice, and at last, in 1840, he found that his investigations had reached a point at which they might be found of interest to others.

Accordingly, in this year he set down the result of his studies in the classical paper which he submitted to the Académie des Sciences de France under the title, "Mémoire sur la voix humaine," to which was added the rather odd-sounding subtitle, "Description des produits du phonateur humain." In it he embodied the various discoveries which he had made relating to the larynx.

Among the principal points to which he drew attention were the following:—

The memoir on the human voice was duly reported on by Majendie, Savart, and Dutrochet at a public meeting which was held on April 12, 1841, the result being that this resolution was passed: "The thanks of the Academy are due to Professor Garcia for the skilful use which he has made of his opportunities as a teacher of singing to arrive at a satisfactory physical theory of the human voice." The circumstance gave occasion for a somewhat acrimonious discussion concerning certain points of priority as between Garcia and MM. Diday and Pétrequin, two French scientists.

This was followed up by the publication of the 'Method of Teaching Singing,' in which Garcia cleared up the confusion which had hitherto existed between "timbre" and "register."

At this time he stated that there were two registers; but in later years, with the invention of the laryngoscope and the examination of the vocal cords which resulted from it, he altered the original division from two to three—chest, medium, and head-voice,—and this is accepted by all as scientifically correct according to the definition of "register" laid down by him.

The year which found Manuel Garcia presenting his paper to the Académie des Sciences saw his sister Pauline married to Monsieur Viardot, by whom she had been engaged for her first season at the Paris Opera House. Almost immediately after the wedding her husband resigned his position, so as to accompany her on her tours through Italy, Spain, Germany, Russia, and England.

At Berlin, such was her success, that after her performance as Rahel in Halévy's "La Juive," she was serenaded by the whole orchestra. Here, too, she astonished all by volunteering at a moment's notice to sing the part of Isabelle in "Robert le Diable" in addition to her own of Alice, when the artiste who had been engaged for the former rôle was suddenly taken ill.

Pauline Viardot was twenty-two at the time. With a charming appearance, and already ablaze with the reflected glory of her sister, Maria Malibran, the débutante quickly roused the sympathetic curiosity of her audience to enthusiasm. The entire press praised her virtuosity, artistic feeling, and nobility of countenance, but above all they expressed admiration for her gift of revealing the innermost beauty of the grand musical works in which she lived and felt so profoundly.

They admired, too, that unique talent which wrapped every phrase in the exquisite charm and grace which she brought to bear. For that reason the bravura air of Persiani's "Inès de Castro," the final rondo from Rossini's "Cenerentola," and an unpublished air of Ch. de Bériot, earned for her at this first concert as much applause as the great air from Handel's "Rinaldo" and the lighter French, Spanish, and German songs which she sang in the same programme. These last three varieties of song she gave with a national colour so characteristic that, as one of the critics said, "Elles parurent chantées par trois voix et par trois âmes totalement différentes."

Between 1840 and 1843 Mme. Viardot added to her successes many fresh operas, principal among them being "Tancredi," the "Gazza Ladra," and "Semiramide," in which she took the part of Arsace. By the year 1845 her repertoire comprised, in addition to those already mentioned, "Somnambula" and "Norma," "I Capuletti" (in which she played Romeo), "L'Elisire d'Amore," "Lucia di Lammermoor," and "Don Pasquale"; as well as in German, "La Juive," "Iphigénie en Tauride," "Les Huguenots," "Robert le Diable," and "Don Juan," in which she played sometimes the part of Zerlina, at others Donna Anna.

In 1848 she was in Paris again, and enraptured Meyerbeer with her rendering of Fides in "Le Prophète," a rôle which she subsequently sustained on over two hundred occasions in all the chief opera houses in Europe, being—teste Moscheles—"the life and soul of the opera, which owed to her at least half of its great success."

Three years later came another triumph, when, at Gounod's request, she created the part of Sapho. In 1855 she added to her laurels "Le Mariage Secret." Then came the evenings at the Théâtre Lyrique in 1859, with "Orpheo" and "Fidelio," and finally her season of opera in 1861, with "Alceste," "Favorita," and "Il Trovatore."

At one of these, Mme. Viardot's pupils performed an operetta of her own composition, while Mme. Artot sang a scene from an opera, and several others from among the greatest German artists took part in the programme. These included Joseph Joachim and Ferdinand David, the latter of whom was at this time Concertmeister in Leipzig.

Antoinette Sterling, who was then studying with Mme. Viardot, sang an Italian aria, in addition to taking part in the operetta. Her hair was let down for the occasion, while she wore a costume in the Grecian style, surmounted by a red velvet cap. This was the only time my mother ever appeared in "stage costume," or suffered rouge to be applied to her face.

During this period Johannes Brahms was living in Baden-Baden, and Antoinette Sterling has left a description of an episode in connection with the friendship of the composer for Mme. Viardot:—

We have seen the admiration which Pauline Viardot had aroused in many composers besides Brahms. One may add to the list the name of Robert Schumann, for he dedicated to her his beautiful Liederkreis, op. 24. Nor was Señor Garcia's sister unknown as a writer of music, for she has been responsible for many beautiful compositions.

After spending some five years in Baden-Baden, Mme. Viardot was forced to leave the town on the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, owing to her husband being of French nationality. They made their way at once to London, where Manuel Garcia was residing, and of the months which they spent there I shall have something to say later, since Mme. Noufflard, the daughter of Lady Hallé, has given some interesting reminiscences of that period. When things had become sufficiently quiet again Mme. Viardot decided to settle in Paris, and there she has resided ever since.

A true Garcia.

One might well be tempted to dwell still further on that wonderful personality, laying stress on her care as a teacher, on her beneficent work among the artists whom she instructed, after they had journeyed from all directions, from the New World as well as the Old, to place themselves in her hands. One longs to paint her amid her home surroundings, in an atmosphere vibrating with music, bathed in art; one longs to show that lovable serenity, that wonderful gaiety and prodigious activity, which perhaps strike one most of all.

This little sketch of her career will be brought to an end by a quotation from a letter, in which one may appreciate the exquisite turn which she gives to every phrase and thought:—

It is the letter of a moment, but the sentiments, which she expresses so beautifully, are those of an eternity.

THE year 1841 may be looked on as the most important in Manuel Garcia's career as a teacher of singing, for it saw the arrival of the soprano who was to become the greatest of all his pupils—Jenny Lind. For this reason it is my intention to devote a chapter to the events which led up to her coming to him for lessons, to the period of study which she spent under his guidance, and to the success which followed on the completion of this training. For much of the material I am indebted to the interesting memoir of the prima donna's career written by Canon Scott Holland, through whose courtesy I have been enabled to quote from the volume in question.

"As a child," writes Canon Holland, "she would sing with every step she took: one of the forms which the perpetual song assumed was addressed to a blue-ribboned cat, of which she was very fond. Here is the rest of the story as Jenny Lind related it:—

"'Her favourite seat was in the window of the steward's room, which looked out on the lively street leading up to the church of St Jacob. Here she sat and sang to the cat; and the people passing in the street used to hear and wonder. Amongst others was the maid of Mdlle. Lundberg, a dancer at the Royal Opera House, and this girl on her return told her mistress that she had never heard such beautiful singing as that of this little one when she sang to her pet.

"'Mdlle. Lundberg thereupon found out her name and sent a note to the mother, who was in Stockholm at the time, asking her to bring the child to sing to her; and when she heard her voice, she cried, "The girl is a genius! you must have her educated for the stage." But Jenny's mother, as well as her grandmother, had an old-fashioned prejudice against the stage, and would not hear of such a thing. "Then you must, at any rate, have her taught singing," said the dancer; and in this way the mother was persuaded to accept a letter of introduction to Herr Croelius, the Court secretary and Singing-master, at the Royal Theatre.

"'Having been admitted to the manager's sanctum, the first question asked was, "How old is she?" and Croelius answered "Nine years." "Nine!" exclaimed the Count; "but this is not a crêche—it is the King's Theatre;" and he would not look at her, she being, moreover, at that time what she herself has called "a small, ugly, broad-nosed, shy, gauche, under-grown girl." "Well," said the other, "if you will not hear her, then I will teach her gratuitously myself, and she will astonish you one day." With that Count Puke consented to hear her sing; and when she sang he, too, was moved to tears. From that moment she was accepted, being taught to sing, educated, and brought up at the Government expense.'"

Thus did Jenny Lind tell the crucial event of her life in her own graphic manner.

It was not long before her project was put into execution. On Thursday, July 1, 1841, Mdlle. Lind, now in her twenty-first year, embarked on the steamship Gauthiod for Lübeck.

After a few days of rest and enjoyment she proceeded to Hâvre by steamboat and thence by diligence to Paris.

Here we can take up the narrative as it is told by Canon Holland:—

"On leaving Sweden she had brought with her a letter of introduction to the Duchesse de Dalmatie (Madame la Maréchale Soult) from her relative, Queen Desideria, the wife of Maréchal Bernadotte, who had become King of Sweden and Norway in the year 1818, under the title of Karl XIV. Johann.

"As a result of the letter she received an invitation, soon after her arrival, for a reception at Madame Soult's house. It was understood that she would be asked to sing, and Signor Garcia was specially requested by the Duchess to be present that he might hear the new arrival.

"Such training she had never had. She had formed her own ideal of the difficult rôles that had been entrusted to her at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm, and had tried to reach that ideal by the only means she knew of—very pernicious means indeed. The result was that the voice had been very cruelly injured. The mischief had been seriously aggravated by the fatigue consequent upon a long and arduous provincial tour; and the effect was a chronic hoarseness, painful enough to produce marked symptoms of deterioration upon the fresh young voice which had never been taught either the proper method of singing or the cultivation of style necessary for the development of its natural charm.

"Manuel Garcia was not slow to perceive all this, and he afterwards told a lady who questioned him upon the subject that the Swedish soprano was at that time altogether wanting in the qualities needed for presentation before a highly cultivated audience.

"Soon after this Mademoiselle Lind called by appointment upon the maestro, who then occupied a pleasant deuxième étage in a large block of houses in the Square d'Orleans, near the Rue Saint Lazare. It was a handsome residence, built around a turfed courtyard, with a fountain in the centre and a large tree on each side.

"After making her sing through the usual scales and forming his own opinion of the power and compass of her organ, he asked her for the well-known scena from 'Lucia di Lammermoor'—'Perchè non ho.' In this, unhappily, she broke down completely—in all probability through nervousness, for she had appeared in the part of Lucia at the Stockholm Theatre no less than thirty-nine times only the year before, and the music must therefore have been familiar to her. However, let the cause have been what it might, the failure was complete, and upon the strength of it the maestro pronounced his terrible verdict: 'It would be useless to teach you, mademoiselle; you have no voice left.'

"It is necessary that these words should be distinctly recorded, for their misquotation in the newspapers and elsewhere has led to a false impression, equally unjust to master and pupil. The exact words were—'Vous n'avez plus de voix,' not 'Vous n'avez pas de voix.' Jenny Lind had once possessed a voice, as Garcia realised perfectly clearly, but it had been so strained by over-exertion and a faulty method of emission that for the time being scarcely a shred of it remained.

"Moved by her evident distress, he recommended her to give her voice six weeks of perfect rest,—to abstain during the whole of that time from singing even so much as one single note, and to speak as little as possible. Upon condition that she strictly carried out these injunctions, he gave her permission to come to him again when the period of probation was ended, in order that he might see whether anything could be done for her. Intense indeed must have been the relief when these six weeks had at last expired.

"The delight of the artist at being once more permitted to sing may be readily imagined. Though discouraged sometimes by the immense amount she had to learn—and, with still greater difficulty, to unlearn—she never lost heart; and so rapidly did the vocal organs recover from the exhaustion from which they had been suffering, that before long she was able to practise her scales and exercises daily for the fullest length of time which a singer could manage without over-exerting the voice."

The lessons were commenced about the 25th of August, and were continued without a break from then until the month of July, 1842.

Jenny Lind thus describes her first introduction to the new system in a letter to her friend, Fröken Marie Ruckman:—