Klara presenter Sylvia Broeckaert is a woman of many talents. Music is her passion, with an eye for female artists with interesting and remarkable life stories. What she cannot share in her radio programs, she confides to paper. In 2018 she wrote the non-fiction book 'Iedereen Opera' and in 2023 her novel 'Aria' followed.
On 22 May 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 Oostende. Vina Bovy had a connection with the queen of seaside resorts and performed there regularly at the Kursaal, where she was the first to sing a song in Dutch. We are in 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 in history: talent, a golden voice, scandals and a glitzy lifestyle. With her voice and appearance, she knew how to charm the public and many a man. The biographical novel runs on two tracks. The author, with some imagination, sinks her teeth into the tormented life of Vina Bouvy. Track two: bedridden in a Ghent hospital, old and lonely, the opera diva tries to rekindle the bonds with her only son. Letters in which she recalls memories and sketches her life story. She writes to him time and again. He had distanced himself from his mother because of her gambling addiction, which caused him to miss out on millions after her death. Moreover, he was married to a vindictive woman who forbade him all contact with his mother.
Success did not fall from the sky. As an orphan, Malvina Bovy was raised by her grandparents. Simple working-class people who lived in the cité. The Ghent Opera was known at the beginning of the 20th century as the Théâtre Français. Her grandfather took her as a little girl to the Opera. High up in the gods, seats for the common people, she watched and listened in admiration to 'Faust' by Gounod. The music and the spectacle enchanted the little girl. World War I worked in her favor. Under German occupation, all schools were closed, only the conservatory remained open. By a stroke of luck, she ended up there through a chain of circumstances. They discovered her beautiful soprano voice and were amazed at her vocal abilities. An exceptional talent. The teenager was encouraged to take solfège lessons. Soon it became clear she was a girl with character, vocally ambitious, with a mind of her own and difficult to restrain.
In passing, the author also touches on the Ghent art scene. A new world opens up for the girl from the cité. Soon an international career begins that takes her to France, Italy and Buenos Aires. 'Mimi' in Puccini's La Bohème is her dream role. Great composers are utterly flabbergasted by her voice and interpretation. The poor girl acquires 'le goût de luxe'. Yet these are strong shoulders that can bear such luxury. Vina Bovy knew exactly what she wanted and what she was worth. She falls in love with her stage partner André Bordino. However, he expects that once married, she will devote herself to family. But she chooses her career. Singing was her passion and calling. She breathed music. An artist through and through. During a stay in France, the immensely wealthy Italian army officer Norberto Fischer, 20 years her junior, crosses her path. She enters into a marriage of convenience. For a long time 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 lead a princely life. Celebrities like Churchill are frequent guests there. The author also delves into the affairs of crowned heads: Spanish, French and Italian nobility.
After the birth of her little son Umberto, she enjoys motherhood for a while, but continues to train her voice with a vocal coach in the meantime. Afterwards, she leads a nomadic existence, moving from one renowned opera house to another. She has everything: a career of her dreams and a life of luxury. Motherhood is a bonus, an unexpected source of joy.
In 1929 Vina Bovy passed through Oostende, the city where artists and intellectuals 'a bit eccentric' felt at home. She sang there songs and arias in six different languages and found it only natural that a Flemish song was also added. Much against the wishes of the director of the Kursaal, she had her way. It was 'Ik ken een lied' by Willem De Mol to lyrics by Gentil Antheunis, the son-in-law of Hendrik Conscience. A song about missing a mother, about youth and love, about loneliness in old age. Her bold idea to also sing a Flemish song struck a nerve.
At the height of her career, World War II becomes the great spoiler. In the autumn of 1938 and spring of 1939, she was to make a concert tour in the United States with Toscanini. At the peak of her career, everything comes to a halt, even though it is at a great international level. She then turns to France and Belgium. Much beloved by the opera-goers of Ghent, they ask her to become director and lift the opera out of its slump. She elevated 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 the late Erna Metdepinnghen was among her close friends. She was the daughter of her secretary at the Ghent opera.
'Malvina' is an interesting book that reads fluently.