Opera on the Move in the Nordic Countries during the Long 19th ...

Music at the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> in Stockholm…
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by no means restricted this theatre, and it was a long-standing tradition. In
fact, the entr’acte music was, second to opera, the most common type of
music at this time.
Even if there were aspirations to strengthen the connection between
the theatrical performances, the entr’acte music seems to have generally
followed a standard pattern, being selected from a relatively small number
of works (Kronlund 1989, pp. 51-53). As implied in the following quotation,
this made it rather boring:
[…] Certainly, it happens from time to time, mostly when Mr Randel
conducts the orchestra, that you hear something, if not new at least
something you do not know from cover to cover by heart – but this is
an exception. Some of Andreas Romberg’s and Haydn’s symphonies are
among the most frequently played, and one indeed does not exaggerate
if one complains about having to live with the same meagre musical diet
on five, sometimes six, of the Spectacle evenings. If you do not have
any sympathy for the male audience, since it always has the opportunity
to save itself from this intrusive music, you should at least have some
mercy on the ladies, who do not. Even assuming that there is no consideration
for the audience, that the orchestra does not care about the
honour given that it is being treated like a machine in the form of a barrel
organ, you still expect the main motivation for all the dramatic proceedings
– monetary profit – would not be unimportant. Many people would
undoubtedly go to the Spectacles even when less attractive pieces are
being performed, if there was a chance of hearing pleasurable music.[…]
([NN] 1836) 23
It is clear from the above that the music was not only part of the theatrical
performance (or complementary to it), it also had definite intrinsic value,
23 “[…]Visserligen händer en eller annan gång, och mest när hr Randel anför Orchestern,
att man får höra något, som, om icke just nytt, man åtminstone icke från perm till
perm kan utantill, men detta hör dock till undantagen. Några af And. Rombergs och
Haydns symfonier äro de mest efterhägngsna, och man jämrar sig visserligen icke
i otid om man klagar öfver, att fem ibland sex Spektakel-aftnar få lof att lefva af
samma magra musikaliska kost. Om man icke har någon misskund med den manliga
delen af Åskådarne, emedan den alltid har tillfälle att under Entre-akterne gå ut, och
sålunda rädda sig undan den påtrungande musiken, så borde man åtminstone hafva
barmhertighet med Damerne, hvilka icke ega denna ressource. Men förutsatt att man
icke gjorde något afseende Publikens fordran; att icke Orchestern vore nog öm om sin
heder, för att så der behandlas som en machin och antaga naturen af ett Positiv; så
väntar man sig likväl att hufvud-driffjeden till alla de Dramatiska åtgärderne, Penninginkomsten,
här ej borde vara overksam; ty mången skulle otvifvelaktigt besöka
Spektaklet, äfven då mindre lockande Pieser gåfvos, om han ägde hoppet att få höra
Musik, hvaraf han kunde äga njutning.[…”]