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

174 Ulla-Britta Broman-Kananen
as Nemorino, a role which he presumably learned in only two days. Josephson’s
evaluation of the singer’s execution of his role was quite negative:
Mrs Engdal [sic] as Amina sang weak and too low, and Saloman acted
badly and sang clumsily and stupidly. . . Without the guidance of one all,
he immediately goes into a strong decline. He is losing ground from one
day to the next, and in a year he will be truly bad. He was disliked in Helsinki
[ 37 ], and he said himself that he has improved his tenor, which soon
will have only old, worn-out tones left. 38
Saloman’s departure from Christiania may have offended Josephson, so his
negative criticism was no doubt coloured by this.
Saloman’s engagement introduced a new operatic era at the New Theatre.
Engdahl and Saloman formed the core of a new company, while the other
singers were recruited from among the actors, for example, the young
Swedish actor Algot Lange (1850–1904), who had a good (bass) voice with
great potential. This was actually a new beginning for Lange, who found a
new career as an opera singer after only two years. He first went abroad to
study and later was engaged at the Royal <strong>Opera</strong> in Stockholm. Eventually,
he became one of the leading basses at the Royal Danish Theatre. (Engberg
1995; Shepelern 1995.) Oscar Bentzon-Gyllich (1847–1899) was recruited
as a baritone for the company. He had no training as a singer and originally
was a telegraphist. 39 After a decade as an opera singer in Helsinki, Stockholm
and Christiania, Bentzon-Gyllich returned to his work as telegraphist,
now in Viipuri and in the service of the Russians. The actors at the theatre
suddenly found themselves in the opera chorus. Because the repertoire
during the first season consisted of several French grand operas, they had
a lot of learning to do (Degerholm 1903).
37 It is true that his voice caused astonishment and not always in a positive way.
Berndtson in FAT (7 November1876) did not like his high vocal timbre at all. He
compared it to the voice of a shawm (skallmeja). Other critics claimed that Saloman
did not sing his high notes – a and b – as they were accustomed to hearing them. He
might have had a voice close to a contratenor, because Maria Grape writes in a letter to
Charlotta Raa that Saloman sang like a woman: “Saloman has a peculiar tenor more like
a female soprano, stiff and impossible in his movements.” (Maria Grape to Charlotta
Raa, 19 October1876, FLC/LA).
38 “Fru Engdal [sic] sjöng som Amina klent och för lågt och Saloman spelade uselt och
sjöng klumpigt och dumt. /--/ Utan ledning i ett och allt är han genast på stark retur.
Han skall försämra sig från dag till dag och om ett år vara mycket dålig. Man tyckte illa
om honom i Helsingfors, och sjelf sade han att han förbättrar sin tenor, som snart bara
har gamla, utsjungna toner kvar” (Ideal och verklighet Vol. XV, p. 159).
39 He had served both in England and China before arriving in Helsinki.