Klara presenter Sylvia Broeckaert is a woman of many talents. Music is her passion with a keen eye for female artists with fascinating and remarkable life stories. What she can't fit into her radio programs, she commits to paper. In 2018 she wrote the non-fiction book 'Everyone Opera' and in 2023 came her novel 'Aria'.
On May 22, 2025, it was exactly 125 years since the Ghent-born and internationally celebrated opera diva Vina Bovy was born. On that very day, her biographical novel 'Malvina' (published by Borgerhoff & Lamberigts) was presented in Ostend. Vina Bovy had a connection to the queen of seaside resorts and performed there regularly in the Kursaal, and was the first to sing a song in Dutch there. We're writing about 1929.
With 'Malvina,' Sylvia Broeckaert takes the reader into the captivating and adventurous life of this Flemish opera diva (1900-1983). This Ghent lady had everything an artist needs to leave a mark on history: talent, a golden voice, scandals, and a glitzy lifestyle. With her voice and appearance, she knew how to charm both audiences and many a man. The biographical novel runs along two tracks. The author, with some creative license, delves into the tormented life of Vina Bouvy. Track two: bedridden in a Ghent hospital, old and lonely, the opera diva tries to rekindle the bond with her only son. Letters in which she recalls memories and sketches her life story. She writes to him again and again. He had distanced himself from his mother because of her gambling addiction, which cost him millions after her death. Moreover, he was married to a spiteful woman who forbade him any contact with his mother.
Success didn't come out of thin air. As an orphan, Malvina Bovy was raised by her grandparents. Simple working-class people who lived in the city. The Ghent Opera was known at the beginning of the 20th century as the Théâtre Français. Her grandfather took her to the Opera as a small girl. High up in the gods, seats for the common folk, she watched and listened in admiration to 'Faust' by Gounod. Themusic and spectacle enchanted the little girl. music and theater enchanted the little girl. World War I worked in her favor. Under German occupation, all schools were closed except the conservatory, which remained open. Through a fortunate chain of connections, she ended up there. They discovered her beautiful soprano voice and were astonished by her vocal abilities. An exceptional talent. The teenager was encouraged to take solfège lessons. It soon became clear she was a girl of character, vocally ambitious, with a mind of her own and difficult to restrain.
The author also touches on the Ghent art scene. A new world opens up for the girl from the working-class neighborhood. Soon an international career takes off, taking her to France, Italy, and Buenos Aires. 'Mimi' in Puccini's La Bohème is her dream role. Great composers are absolutely blown away by her voice and interpretation. The poor girl gets a taste of the high life. But she has the strong shoulders to carry such wealth. Vina Bovy knew exactly what she wanted and what she was worth. She falls in love with her co-star André Bordino. But he expects that once married, she will devote herself to family life. However, she chooses her career. Singing was her passion and calling. She breathed music. An artist through and through. During a stay in France, she crosses paths with Norberto Fischer, a wealthy Italian army officer twenty years her junior. She enters into a marriage of convenience. For years he was the right-hand man, confidant and lover of Princess Maria Letizia Bonaparte. She leaves him her beautiful villa. At Villa Cyrnos on the Côte d'Azur, she can live a life of luxury. Celebrities like Churchill are frequent guests. The author also delves into the lives of crowned heads: Spanish, French, and Italian nobility.
After the birth of her son Umberto, she enjoys motherhood for a while, but continues to train her voice with a vocal coach. Later, she leads a nomadic existence, traveling from one renowned opera house to another. She has it all: a career of her dreams and a life of luxury. Motherhood is a bonus, an unexpected source of joy.
In 1929, Vina Bovy performed in Ostend, the city where artists and intellectuals who were a bit eccentric felt at home. She sang songs and arias in six different languages and thought it only natural to add a Flemish song as well. Much against the wishes of the Kursaal director, she got her way. It was 'Ik ken een lied' by Willem De Mol with lyrics by Gentil Antheunis, the son-in-law of Hendrik Conscience. A song about missing one's mother, about youth and love, about loneliness in old age. Her bold impulse to also sing a Flemish song struck a chord.
At the height of her career, World War II becomes the great spoiler. In the fall of 1938 and spring of 1939, she was supposed to make a concert tour in the United States with Toscanini. At the peak of her career, everything comes to a standstill at the international level. She then turns her attention to France and Belgium. Greatly beloved by the opera public of Ghent, she is asked to become director and lift the opera out of its doldrums. She raised the repertoire to a higher level and held the position for three terms. Her last life partner becomes swimming champion Henri De Pauw. Opera critic Erna Metdepinnghen, now deceased, was among her close friends. She was the daughter of her secretary at the Ghent opera.
‘'Malvina,' an engaging book that reads smoothly.
