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

Two <strong>Opera</strong>s or One – or None
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In the spring he began to become acquainted with Wagner’s works, and in
July he wrote to his friend Otto Florell: “I am already a fanatic Wagnerite.”
(Bergbom to Florell, July 1871, SKS). In the spring of 1871 Bergbom was
uncertain about his future and could not articulate any clear plans for the
next season’s (1871–1872) Finnish activities, about which friends in Helsinki
were asking.
Meanwhile, Nikolai Kiseleff led the Swedish Theatre Company in a very
successful Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Mendelssohn’s music conducted
by Nathan B. Emmanuel. In the spring of 1871 the theatre’s musical
productions also included Jacques Offenbach’s works, a domestic singspiel
by Conrad Greve and N. H. Pinello called Den Bergtagna (The Bride of the
Mountain King) and Auber’s Le Maçon (Muraren in Swedish). This was
season when Ida Basilier was studying in St Petersburg and Emmy Strömer
was in Paris. But in April of 1871 a third singer, Emilie (Mili) Mechelin, accepted
Kiseleff’s offer of an engagement at the Swedish Theatre Company.
How did Nikolai Kiseleff plan his next season (1871–1872) and what did
he think about the activities of the Bergboms and the Fennomans? At least
he wanted the soprano Mili Mechelin to join the permanent company. She
could also help in the theatre as chorus master and thereby assist the new
orchestra conductor, Nathan B. Emmanuel. The spring of 1871 was also the
time when the Swedish Theatre Company Warrants Society, which ran the
activity in the New Theatre and had to pay for any eventual losses, had to
re-organise. The Society collected guarantees from citizens (the warrants)
who would agree to be financially responsible for any eventual deficit. Earlier,
the Bergboms had been members of the Warrants Society, but they
were no longer. In 1871 Nikolai Kiseleff specifically sent a messenger to ask
the Bergbom family and their closest friends to become warrants and thus,
practically supporters of the Swedish Theatre Company. Kaarlo Bergbom’s
sister Emilie Bergbom, 3 an ardent Fennoman, reported this to her brother,
who was in Berlin:
However, Kiseleff seems to have had mixed feelings [melerade tendenser].
He sent [a messenger] and asked whether we or the Heurlins would
sign. We said “no”, but Heurlin was not at home, and the next day the
3 Emilie Bergbom, or Emelie as she was baptised (1834–1905), was virtually a coleader
of the Finnish Theatre and Finnish <strong>Opera</strong> companies. She was responsible for
financial affairs as well as for costumes, correspondence, sandwiches and decency
in the enterprise. She and her sister, Augusta af Heurlin, were also key figures in
the Fennoman urban network, which carried out many social activities (such as
daily lunches for school children).The aspect of public enlightenment in the national
movement should not be forgotten.