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

124 Anne Reese Willén
Weber, William (2003): Music and the middle class: the social structure of concert
life in London, Paris and Vienna between 1830 and 1848 (Aldershot:
Ashgate 2003, 2 nd ed)
Weber, William (2008), The great transformation of musical taste: concert
programming from Haydn to Brahms (New York: Cambridge university
press 2008)
Summary
The Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> in Stockholm was not just a theatre and opera
house, but also the centre of public musical life in Stockholm for a great deal
of the nineteenth century. Because of its key position, the music performed
on the royal stage represented the core of the classical concert repertoire
in the city. This article examines the music repertoire and the different
contexts in which music was performed at the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong>. It also
analyses the criticisms of some music professionals concerning its influence
on concert life and programming in Stockholm. At the core of much of
the criticism was the fact that concerts were not among the <strong>Opera</strong>’s main
activities and were thus not prioritised. The Royal <strong>Opera</strong> Orchestra was for
a long time the only one available, and the only choice for artists wanting
to give concerts. Its members always had to give priority to their commitments
there, and it was therefore not easy for them to make other arrangements.
Albert Rubenson and Ludvig Norman were among the most prominent
music critics in the music journals Ny tidning för musik and Tidning
för theater och musik from the 1850s. They were clearly influenced by and
based much of their criticism of the concert programming and repertoire on
their experiences in Leipzig and the music idealism that was present there
in the 1840s.