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

138 Pentti Paavolainen
man returned to ask Heurlin. It was not, of course, for the money, for
they had enough of that. He had even been sent to the Löfgrens.” (E.
Bergbom to K. Bergbom, 6 April 1871, SKS)
She refused Kiseleff’s request straight out. Emilie knew that Kiseleff did
not lack for warrants, so he must have had some other reasons – “mixed
feelings.” Could she and her friends have answered more diplomatically?
How would her younger brother Kaarlo have answered?
Why did Kiseleff not repeat his contact with Emilie Bergbom, especially
as he had consistently begun to hire domestic artists who were capable
of opera performances. Logic would suggest that he would have wanted
Kaarlo Bergbom to return as a member of the Swedish Theatre Company
leadership. But Bergbom could not be appointed by the Warrants Society
electoral committee unless he became a member of the Society and was a
designated supporter of the theatre. With Trubaduuri, Kiseleff had seen
how much popularity the operas enjoyed. Bergbom could be very useful
after his return from Berlin: as a dramaturge, he could read the texts in
both national languages and in several continental languages, and he could
also oversee the staging of opera performances with domestic artists in the
theatre. This appointment, however, never took place.
Most likely, Mili Mechelin, who had sung Lady Durham in a performance
of Act II of Martha in May 1869, was now the one who suggested to Kiseleff
a performance of the entire opera Martha. She may have recommended that
Bergbom be asked to do the staging in the autumn when he returned from
Berlin.
Kiseleff obviously did have plans for Bergbom. But why did he not reveal
some of them to Emilie or write directly to Bergbom in Berlin? As a
businessman, Kiseleff probably did not want to put himself in an awkward
position: Not everyone in the Warrants Society believed that opera could
or should be sung in Finnish, nor did everyone believe that amateurs and
professionals should be mixed or pretend that their respective talents could
be evaluated on equal terms. (Helsingfors Dagbladet 3.12.1870). A written
letter or document to the Bergboms would have been too binding, and Kiseleff
could not promise anything on behalf of the electoral committee within
the Warrants Society. The only way to be sure to have joint domestic opera
activity in the New Theatre was for the Bergboms to be formally appointed
to the Warrants Society. If Emilie Bergbom understood the situation or at
least if she realised that Kiseleff’s “mixed feelings” possibly referred to
engaging her brother Kaarlo, why did she refuse so categorically to support
the society? (E. Bergbom to K. Bergbom, 6 April 1871, SKS). Evidently,