Florence Foster Jenkins: Biography and Creativity

Today we will tell you about who Florence Foster Jenkins is. Her biography will be described in detail below. It's about an American pianist and a singer with a soprano voice. She is one of the first representatives of the so-called outsider music. She became famous for the lack of singing talent, a sense of rhythm and musical ear. At the same time, she considered herself an unsurpassed vocalist. She had a variation of the so-called Dunning-Krueger effect. In this state, a person is confident in his genius or talent, although this is objectively not so.

Biography

Foster Jenkins Florence is a pianist who was born in 1868. Her parents were Charles Dorrance and Mary Jane. She studied piano playing at the age of eight. At 17, she said she would go to Europe to study music. Rich industrialist Charles Foster refused to pay her project. As a result, she fled with a doctor named Frank Thornton Jenkins in Philadelphia. Later he became the husband of our heroine. Florence Foster Jenkins earned her living by giving music lessons.

With Frank, marriage was unhappy. They divorced in 1902. In 1909, after the departure of the father from life, our heroine inherited an impressive sum. This allowed her to begin her singing career. She dreamed about this for a very long time. However, the idea was disapproved of the former husband and parents.

Verdi Club

Florence Foster Jenkins took lessons from the famous opera singer, but her name was known only to our heroine and Claire Bayfield - her manager. Actively involved in the creative musical life of New York and Philadelphia, she founded the "Verdi Club". It was like a society of connoisseurs of classical music.

Florence Foster Jenkins in 1912 on personal funds organized a debut solo concert. Then she began performing on various stages of Saratoga Springs, Boston, Washington and Newport. Over time, the efforts of our heroine were crowned with success. She became famous in New York. Annually she gave a private concert at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Only the elected were invited to this event: colleagues, critics, fans and friends. Filled in the hall to 800 people. In 1928, the mother of our heroine died.

Feature

The phenomenon of Florins Jenkins Florence is the uniqueness of her voice. The fact is that before it no one dared to sing this way for the general public. She lacked a sense of rhythm and musical ear. She could not quite hold a note. Cosme McMun, her constant accompanist, could hardly suppress laughter at her concerts. The laughter of the audience, which came from the hall, our heroine regarded as a professional envy. Her repertoire consisted of famous scenic arias by Strauss, Verdi, Mozart, Brahms songs. Also included were the works she and McMun wrote.

Scene

Florence Foster Jenkins often put on unusual stage costumes for her performances , invented by herself. The most famous image is the "Angel of Inspiration", a silk dress with cardboard wings and sparkles. In 1937, a recording studio called Meloton Recording invited our heroine to record a record.

She distinguished herself by a very original approach to working in the studio. All adjustments to the equipment and rehearsals were rejected by her. She came into the studio and sang. All tracks of the disc were recorded from one time. After listening to the result, the singer recognized him as excellent. She demanded that the records were created precisely on the basis of these records.

In 1943, the taxi that transported Florence suffered in an accident. The singer remained unscathed. In addition, she discovered that after the experience, she could take the highest note of fa. Previously, she could not do this. As a result, she sent a taxi driver a box with expensive cigars as a token of gratitude.

For a long time our heroine was asked to perform on the stage of "Carnegie Hall" - the most prestigious venue in New York. However, she refused, without explaining the reasons. But in 1944, October 25, Florence at the age of 76 finally gave a concert there. The excitement was so great that all the tickets were sold out a few weeks before the concert. Florence Foster Jenkins died a month after the triumph. It happened in 1944, on November 26.