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

146 Pentti Paavolainen
the following day, only the crown prince and his wife had time to visit the
Arkadia Theatre, which was a gesture in support of the Fennomans. During
the same summer and the following autumn (1876), Bergbom’s Finnish
<strong>Opera</strong> was in trouble because some of their key figures left, namely, the
Achté family. Without their knowledge, Bergbom had hired a new conductor,
Bohuslav Hřímalý, to take on the role of musical director and replace
Nikolas Achté. Nikolas Achté resigned from the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong>, and Emmy
(Strömer) Achté followed suit in solidarity with her husband. In public opinion
the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong> Company was nothing without Emmy Achté. By this
point the <strong>Opera</strong>’s debts were large, feeding rumour mills all around and the
feelings of insecurity among the staff and the supporters. (Aspelin-Haapkylä
1907, II, pp. 350–356).
The demonstration at Die Fledermaus (November 1876) signals
irreconcilable parties.
During Kiseleff’s absence from the Swedish Theatre Company in the two
seasons 1876 to1878, the last decisive steps were taken on both sides.
Grefberg’s regime had increased opera performances in the New Theatre
by preparing Wilhelm Tell and Rigoletto. Mistrust and rivalry between the
Arkadia and the New Theatre continued. Grefberg, Wahlberg and Bolin
then made an investment in preparing the brand-new operetta by Johann
Strauss II, Die Fledermaus (Läderlappen in Swedish) in November of 1876.
The audience liked the operetta, but a group of young and radical Fennomans
arranged a disruptive whistling display in the New Theatre. This
“radical action”, they declared, was to be understood as a spontaneous act
of indignation against “immorality in a state-subsidised theatre”. They
claimed that it had nothing to do with the Finnish Theatre Company. The attack,
however, was planned in the foyer of the Arkadia where the Fennoman
students had gathered before marching to the New Theatre. The students
said that they hoped to help the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong> Company, but the result was
exactly the opposite: The last vestiges of goodwill towards the Finnish performances
disappeared from Helsinki’s Swedish population, which stopped
going to the Arkadia altogether, a kind of boycott against the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong>
Company. The students were punished by the University, but their moralistic
anti-operetta opinion was spread and repeated. Helsinki was forced to
wait many decades for its next Fledermaus. Now in the spring of 1877 the