Larsen’s merging of different styles and idioms is complex and clever. This is nowhere more evident that in the Act 2 concert sequence which sees Jenny Lind, having swapped her pure white gown for garish concoction of red ankle-boots and yellow-plumed bonnet, perform ‘Casta Diva’ while the chorus plead with her to “Do that fancy thing with your voice!” As Lind, soprano Lylis O’Hara retained her poise as she delivered Bellini’s lyric masterpiece, her tone both rich and sweet, her phrasing a model of beauty and emotion. The complexity of Bellini’s characterisation seemed here transferred to Lind, creating both sincerity and pathos. This was a terrific performance by O’Hara who communicated strong sentiments in ‘Hear Ye Israel’ from Elijah – which Mendelssohn reportedly composed for Lind so that he could indulge his love of her voice, particularly her F-sharp! He wouldn’t have been disappointed here. And, O’Hara demonstrated superb control over her voice, especially at the top, when she performed Lind’s ‘echo song’, switching from forte to piano on the same pitches with stunning precision and purity. Larsen’s presentation of Lind is a sympathetic one. Though demure, there is little of Lind’s, perhaps unjust, reputation for primness and prudishness, and both her commitment to her art and her philanthropism – she undertook the tour at least partly to raise money to establish children’s orphanages in Sweden – seemed earnest, O’Hara evincing genuine warmth.
