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

132 Pentti Paavolainen
by Carl Maria von Weber to a libretto by Pius Wolff. Loosely based on a
Cervantes’ novella, the story tells of a gypsy changeling who was originally
a girl of noble birth. She has grown up and wandered with the gypsies
from whom she learned to sing. A nobleman, enthralled with her beauty,
follows the girl, until one day in her own castle, her true, noble identity is
revealed, and the nobleman can marry her. The play was outdated in most
countries, but was still seen in Finland. Although it was not often done by
professionals, it was taken up by Fennoman amateurs, who liked to dress
as gypsies and perform as members of the lower classes. In December of
1869 the performers had rehearsed only some of the musical parts, and the
production of Preciosa was postponed until the late spring of 1870. (Aspelin-
Haapkylä 1906 (I), pp. 145–154,160–169.)
Nevertheless, Kaarlo Bergbom received a salary for his work at the
Swedish Theatre Company that autumn. On 10 December 1869, two days
after the concert performance of Preciosa, Bergbom resigned from the
board of the Company, “because of different opinions about the repertory,
and some other issues”. There are several possible explanations for the
conflict. Bergbom was not always an easy partner to work with, but the “different
opinions” cannot be attributed only to his youth and Fennoman party
arrogance. The provisional executive, Weckström, did not have enough will
or skill to be visionary or to risk anything by changing his management of
the theatre’s immediate cash flow.
The paths of Nikolai Kiseleff and Kaarlo Bergbom unfortunately did not
cross, as it was this very year, 1869–1870, that Kiseleff resigned from the
leadership of the Swedish Theatre Company. One cannot help but wonder
whether Kiseleff would have reacted better in dialogue with Bergbom because
Kiseleff’s ideas were more conciliatory and creative in approach than
Weckström’s. Kiseleff was pragmatic and extremely frugal, yet he was a
talented and visionary individual. He was very formal and polite, but as a
merchant he could have seen the commercial potential in Bergbom’s and
Nervander’s proposals. Kiseleff might well have asked Bergbom to start
a domestic opera company within the New Theatre. Kiseleff had already
engaged Richard Faltin, a very competent conductor and “Musikdirektor”
from Viipuri (today Vyborg, Russia) in eastern Finland, to lead the Theatre
Orchestra with the aim of expanding and developing the musical repertory.