To put it simply, Florence Foster Jenkins, a soprano who was active in the early and mid-century of the last century, was an out-and-out weirdo. She is known as "the worst soprano in the history of mankind". Some people describe her singing as "a scream of pain after being stepped on" and "so hard to hear that you can't believe your own ears"... Some professionals also pointed out that Florence Foster Jenkins has no vocal talent and can't even find the right tune. She can stay in the history books only because her clown-like performance satisfies those audiences who want to be curious. In the face of criticism, Florence Foster Jenkins stubbornly responded to her famous saying: "You can say that I can't sing, but you can't say that I haven't sung." (Click on the video below to listen to his performance of Mozart's famous song "Queen of the Night". If you are curious, you can drag directly to the coloratura part at 49 seconds and the end)
Although the evaluation of the traditional music industry is discouraging, Florence Foster Jenkins is not without success. The late David Bowie was her supporter. He once said that more than 20 years after the death of Florence Foster Jenkins, the album of the same name published by his descendants in 1962 was the love of his life and rewrote his life; this summer, the movie of the same name starring Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep (Chinese translation: "The Queen") will be released around the world. Last year, actress Catherine Frot, who starred in "The Chef at the Elysée", also starred in a French film "Marguerite" inspired by Florence Foster Jenkins. Although both filmsIt is based on the tone-deaf soprano singer, but the style is completely different: the former is obviously an inspirational and touching light comedy with the potential to win an Oscar, while the latter uses extensive adaptations to give the story a strong tragic color.
On June 19, 1868, Florence Foster Jenkins was born into a wealthy family in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. Although she was criticized in her later singing career, she was recognized as a musical talent in her childhood. Florence Foster Jenkins studied piano since she was a child and became famous, even playing in the White House. After graduating from high school, she wanted to study music abroad, but her father stopped her and stopped providing her with material support. In a fit of anger, Florence Foster Jenkins made a private relationship with Frank Thornton Jenkins, a man 16 years older than her, and then moved to Philadelphia. The two got married in 1885, but unfortunately, shortly after their marriage, Florence Foster Jenkins was infected with syphilis by her husband. According to relevant records, Florence Foster Jenkins never mentioned her husband again in her life, but retained her husband's surname "Jenkins" until her death.
In Philadelphia, Florence Foster Jenkins made a living by teaching piano, but an accident made it difficult for her to continue playing the piano with her arms. Fortunately, her mother, who had always doted on her, came to help her. Around 1900, she and her mother moved to New York and met her future agent and partner for the rest of her life (the two were not married), Clair Bayfield, a British Shakespearean actor.
The arm injury forced Florence Foster Jenkins to give up the piano and start learning vocal music. After her father's death, she inherited a large fortune, which allowed Florence Foster Jenkins to develop her music career without restraint, first in various folk women's clubs, and later she founded her own club called Verdi - where she sang unscrupulously, although people said that she was not only tone deaf, but also couldn't even enunciate clearly when singing Italian and other foreign language operas. In addition, a strange thing happened at this stage. Florence Foster Jenkins was frightened in a car accident and screamed loudly. Unexpectedly, she found that she could sing the high F syllable, which was impossible to challenge before. As a blessing in disguise, she even dropped the charges against the taxi driver who caused the accident and gave him a set of valuable cigars to "express her gratitude."
In 1944, Florence Foster Jenkins reached the peak of her career. She held a concert at the famous Carnegie Hall. Whether it was out of curiosity or irony, the audience was packed. Florence Foster Jenkins wore a gorgeous costume designed by herself and sang heartily on the stage. Although the singing was still so harsh, and according to some reports, there were uncontrollable laughter from time to time in the audience, but "this is definitely an opera concert where no one will fall asleep." Along with this unprecedented concert came the death of Florence Foster Jenkins: two days after the performance, she suffered a heart attack while shopping in a music store and died a month later at the age of 76. Some people say that Florence Foster Jenkins finally could not withstand the public criticism of her and died of despair. Others say that after she was infected with syphilis by her husband in her early years, she suffered from long-term treatment with toxic side effects, which caused her physical and mental exhaustion to the point of collapse.
As impressive as her singing were the costumes. Florence Foster Jenkins personally designed the stage costumes she wore: she followed suit.The character in the painting of artist Howard Chandler Christy designed a long dress with angel wings, creating one of her most classic stage images. In addition, she is also extremely fascinated by headdresses. Exaggerated headdresses made of feathers, flowers, and wire mesh have all appeared on her head. Just as her singing voice was different from that of a traditional soprano, her stage appearance was also unique at the time.
In the movie "The Queen", in order to recreate this strange woman in the history of music, British director Stephen Frears, who directed "Queen" and other films, not only found acting superstars like Meryl Streep, but also invited costume designer Consolata Boyle, who had worked with "Queen", to ensure that the image of Florence Foster can be accurately restored. Jenkins' style - "Boyle is the only best candidate. I don't need to tell her more. I just have to wait and see the results. We have been working together for 25 years." In addition to "The Queen", this Irish woman who studied scene and costume design at the Abbey Theater has also designed costumes for movies such as "The Iron Lady" and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design that year.
“Meryl Streep and I discussed a lot about this character, and I added a lot of padding to her costume in order to restore the more voluptuous figure of Florence Foster Jenkins,” Consolata Boyle told The Telegraph. "Florence Foster Jenkins is a unique performer. She lives in a closed world. She maintains her childhood dress. Although there are many dark episodes in her life, her image on the stage is as unmistakable as her singing.Fearless".
Inevitably, this is a world where seeking common ground is more important than reserving differences, even in the fashion industry, which seems to have no rules and loves heterogeneity. Today, more than a hundred years later, when people praise (or consume) the alternativeness of Florence Foster Jenkins in a new light, they have already included her in the mainstream values of "seeking the true self" - at least, this is how people view her costumes.
