Results: Weird Music Wednesday: Florence Foster Jenkins

Florence Foster Jenkins--daughter to and heir of a wealthy lawyer, common law wife of an actor, patron of the arts--wanted to be an opera singer since she was seven years old. But, as The Book of Heroic Failures author Stephen Pile observed in his 1979 work, Jenkins was "the world's worst opera singer ... No one, before or since, has succeeded in liberating themselves quite so completely from the shackles of musical notation." Have you ever not let a lack of talent for an activity prevent you from attempting it?

Considering the wealth at her disposal and position of potential influence in being able to financially support musicians to her liking, none of her New York City high society lady friends cringed, laughed nor ridiculed Jenkins publicly when she sang. Some of her friends cheered and clapped loudly when others might react more derisively at her private performances. Have you ever had to hold back an honest reaction to something done by a someone who could be considered a very important person?

Jenkins' may or may not have been in on the joke of her abject lack of talent. She fired one pianist who accompanied her private recitals for giving the audience a "knowing smile"; and the private nature of her performances, before her lone performance at Carnegie Hall only two days before her death at age 76, excluded music critics and anyone else who might be less than complimentary of her singing. Have you ever excluded anyone from witnessing something you like to do because of negative feedback you may receive?>

Jenkins' legacy might not have outlasted her earthly life were it not for the one album she recorded at her own expense, though it was posthumously reissued by RCA Records and became one of the label's releases to remain in print for decades. Had you heard of Florence Foster Jenkins before starting this poll?

In 2016, Meryl Streep starred in a biographical film about Jenkins and named for her. Writing about her now as I have, I'm now wanting to watch the movie? Have you seen it?