February 20
Mary Garden's Birthday

:Mary Garden in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélsande

Mary Garden was the Sarah Bernhardt of French opera. The Scottish-born singer was one if the great actresses of the opera stage. Her vocal abilities were limited, but per performances were electrifying. Critics used terms to describe her performances that were not used for another 75 years when Maria Callas took the stage.

Her roles were alimited by the few opera houses that could provide her with her preferred repertoire, which basically meant that she generally performed only in France and the United States. She never performed in Italy and only once in England. Before her retirement in 1934, she became director (or directa, as she preferred to be called) of the Chicago Opera Association and later of the Chicago Civic Opera and eventually became an American citizen. After retiring, Garden worked as a talent scout for MGM and gave lectures and recitals, mostly on the life and works of Claude Debussy up through 1949. She retired to Scotland and in 1951 published a successful autobiography, Mary Garden's Story.

In Paris, she was a frequent habitué of the Paris Ritz where George Escoffier created Poires Mary Garden, a less spectacular dessert than his Peche Melba that he created for another created singer, Nellie Melba ) but still a popular dessert that was featured in Garden's favorite restaurants in France and the United States.

Here is an updated version of the Escoffier classic for Mary's birthday. If you are a silent film fan, your may want to try to track down a DVD of Thais (1917) featuring Mary's film debut, an adaptation of the Anatole France novel which was later turned into an opera.

Poires Mary Garden
(Pears with Cherries and Raspberry Sauce)

ingredients
3/4 cup dried sour cherries 1 cup white wine 2 TB butter, cut into pieces 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1/8 tsp ground cloves	1/8 tap ground nutmeg 4 firm, ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, halved, and cored 3 TB heavy cream 1 cup raspberries (if frozen, thawed and and drained),

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, combine the cherries with enough wine to cover them by 2 inches (add water, if necessary). Bring the
     mixture to a simmer over medium heat, then turn off the heat and let cool. Let the cherries soak overnight in the refrigerator,
     until they are plump and soft. Drain the cherries, reserving the juices.
2. Cook cherry juice over medium heat to reduce by 50%. Keep refrigerated .
3. Preheat oven to 375º F.
4. In a bowl, add drained cherries, and 1/3 cup sugar and toss well.
5. In an ovenproof skillet, combine butter, 1/3 cup sugar, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Add pears, cut side down; cover with foil.
      Bake turning pears over halfway through, until tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 25 minutes.
      Lift pear halves with a slotted spoon, and divide among four serving plates with flat side up .Mound reserved cherries on|
      center of pears.
6.   Add reserved cherry liquid in skillet to a boil over medium heat. Add cream; cook until slightly thickened, 1 minute. Stir in
     raspberries. Spoon sauce over pears and serve.

Serves 4