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

120 Anne Reese Willén
son and Norman strived for, the gathering of musicians under his leadership
facilitated the performance of other kinds of music as well. His musicians
formed the basis of the orchestra performing at the Musikforeningen concerts,
but with Gade as conductor (Schiørring 1979, p. 299). The first independent
orchestra in Stockholm, on the other hand, was not founded until
the 1860s and was much more tied to its functions at the new restaurant
and place of entertainment Berns. Moreover, musical life in Copenhagen
was not so closely tied to the royal institutions as it was in Stockholm: even
if these institutions were important, they did not have as much influence.
The position of the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> in the city’s musical life is one
thing that separates Stockholm from the other Nordic capitals and other
cities in Sweden and the Nordic countries. Stockholm thus had a unique
position. The situation in the capitals differed, and generally one could pair
up Stockholm and Copenhagen, and Helsinki and Christiania (now Oslo) as
exhibiting similarities. On the one hand Stockholm and Copenhagen had
similar royal institutions and an influential royal presence, whereas Helsinki
and Christiania both lacked a royal presence and established music
institutions such as The Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> (see Ulla-Britta Broman-
Kananen’s article on opera in Christiania and Helsinki in this anthology),
at least until the latter part of the century. However, musical and cultural
exchange flourished, with music professionals travelling between the Nordic
countries and visiting musicians from the European continent passing
through most of the capitals, thereby connecting the Nordic cities.
Some concluding remarks
The Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> had a unique position in the musical life of Stockholm
during the nineteenth century. The 1850s was a time of change, both
in society in general and in the music climate. It was a definite highpoint
in terms of awareness and critical appraisal of the state of contemporary
music, as well as a time of great vision and aspiration among young professional
musicians. The music journals NTM and TfTM publicised these
idealistic critiques and visions, thereby opening up a debate on the state
of musical life in the city. It is clear that the central position of the Royal
Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> was considered a problem. There was a definite desire to
support higher ideals, influenced by the situation in Liepzig, among other
things. The concert repertoire was always mentioned in this connection
in that it was being institutionalised to the same extent as the practical
organisation.