Background
Mary Garden was one of four daughters; she was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1877. The family moved to Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States when she was nine years old.
Mary Garden was one of four daughters; she was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1877. The family moved to Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States when she was nine years old.
As a child Mary was taken to America, where she studied violin, piano, and voice.
In 1895 she went to Paris and made her debut there in 1900 in Louise. Impressed with her voice, Carré invited her to join the roster at the Opéra-Comique in 1900. Garden made her professional opera debut with the company on 10 April 1900 in the title role of Gustave Charpentier's Louise, which had received its world premiere only two months before. After her debut, Garden quickly became one of the leading sopranos at the Opéra-Comique. In 1901 she starred in two world premieres, Marie in Lucien Lambert's La Marseillaise and Diane in Gabriel Pierné's La fille de Tabarin. That same year she sang the title role in Massenet's Thaïs at Aix-les-Bains and sang both the title roles in Massenet's Manon and Messager's Madame Chrysanthème at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo; all under the coaching of Sanderson. In 1902, Claude Debussy selected her to play the female lead at the Opéra-Comique debut of his Pelléas et Mélisande. Garden's performances met with considerable critical acclaim. She also created a sensation as Salomé in the French version of Richard Strauss's opera of that name.
Mary made her American debut in the Manhattan Opera House on 25 November 1907 in the title role in Thaïs, a role which fitted her personality and art like a glove. In 1908 she returned to Paris to join the roster at the Opéra National de Paris.
Additionally, Garden appeared in two silent films made by Samuel Goldwyn.
Mary Garden made about 40 gramophone records, they continue to be reissued and are of much interest to connoisseurs of historical recordings. An award for opera singing at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival is made in her name.
There is a small memorial garden dedicated to her in the west-end of Aberdeen, with a small inscribed stone and a bench.
A relentless self-publicist, a woman however of genuine beauty, her flamboyant personal life was often the subject of more attention than her public performances, and her affairs with men, real or imagined, were liable to emerge as scandalous rumours in the newspapers.
From 1901 for two years, Mary carried on an affair with André Messager, who conducted her in Louise.
