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

Staging a national language
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tiania Theatre. The tenor’s demands became an obstacle: He wanted to be
engaged not only for the rest of the current season, but also for the following
season as well. Nor were his wage requirements moderate; he actually
asked for the same salary as Röske-Lund – 800 kronors a month, which
was a great deal for a singer who had only recently made his debut. The
Board realised that agreeing to Saloman’s engagement also meant agreeing
to continue the opera performances for the next season. Some of the Board
members were strongly opposed to this idea. A strong argument for closing
down the opera was the lack of Norwegian singers in the company. Another
forceful contention was that the drama section and the actors were overshadowed
by the extravagance of the opera, which seemed to appeal more
to the audience than the drama. In reality this meant that the actors were
jealous of the opera singers’ much higher salaries. (“Ideal och Verklighet”;
Josephson 1898.)
In his long answer to the Board, Josephson went through all of these arguments
and presented his own view: Hans Brun was no singer, but an actor.
In addition he was often ill, and the troupe had not been able to perform
as often as needed. Two prima donnas and one (mediocre) tenor were not
enough for any opera, because at least two good tenors were needed in the
event of illness. There were no Norwegian singers at all to choose from;
those with training education were already engaged elsewhere. However,
this could change in due time, Josephson emphasised, as Arlberg was giving
lessons to promising young Norwegian singers who, unfortunately, were
not yet ready for the stage. And finally, the fear among the actors that the
opera would impoverish the whole theatre with its huge salaries could be
proved to be totally wrong. The opera actually brought more money to the
theatre than it spent. As a strong counter-argument to the Board’s doubts
about the opera, Josephson used Helsinki and Gothenburg as examples of
cities where a national opera had been founded, no matter how small they
were in comparison to Christiania. “It would be a great shame if Christiania
was not able to compete with these two Nordic cities.” 17 The Board seems
to have capitulated to Josephson’s verbal persuasion, at least this time.
Saloman was engaged and the opera could move on to its next season.
The debate continued in the press, however, and the Swedish language
used in the opera performances repeatedly gave rise to criticism. This debate,
which sometimes bogged down in details, reveals something of the
inflamed atmosphere at the time. Josephson, for instance, had written the
17 “Det vore stor skam om Christiania ej skulle kunna täfla med dessa två nordiska
städer.” (“Ideal och verklighet” Vol. XIII, p. 73g.)