Jenny Lind tour of America, 1850–52

The Swedish soprano Jenny Lind, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale" was one of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century. At the height of her fame she was persuaded by the showman P. T. Barnum to undertake a long tour of the United States. The tour began in September 1850 and continued to May 1852. Barnum's advance publicity made Lind a celebrity even before she arrived in the U.S., and tickets for her first concerts were in such demand that Barnum sold them by auction. The tour provoked a popular furore dubbed "Lind Mania" by the local press, and raised large sums of money for both Lind and Barnum. Lind donated her profits to her favoured charities, principally the endowment of free schools in her native Sweden.

Lind's concerts featured a supporting baritone, Giovanni Belletti, and her London colleague Julius Benedict as pianist, arranger and conductor. Lind found Barnum's relentless commercial promotion of her increasingly distasteful, and she terminated her contract with him in 1851 under amicable circumstances, continuing to tour for nearly a year under her own management. Benedict returned to England in 1851, and Lind's friend Otto Goldschmidt joined the tour as her pianist and conductor. She and Goldschmidt married in February 1852.

Lind was born in 1820 and enrolled at the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school at age ten. In 1838, she gained fame for her performance at the Royal Swedish Opera as Agathe in Der Freischütz. After this, she was in great demand throughout Sweden and the rest of Europe for a decade. By 1849, when Lind was in the middle of her third triumphant London season, the American showman P. T. Barnum had become aware of her success and the large audiences she attracted. He had toured Europe in 1845 and 1846 with his first great attraction, General Tom Thumb. He had never heard Lind sing, and was by his own admission unmusical, but he knew that concert halls sold out wherever she performed. Furthermore, he was confident that her reputation for philanthropy could be turned to good use in his publicity. In October 1849, he engaged an Englishman, John Wilton, to locate Lind and make her an offer.

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