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

186 Ulla-Britta Broman-Kananen
singer, no matter how much criticism arose. This was especially clear at the
Christiania <strong>Opera</strong>, where Josephson (together with Arlberg) worked very
hard to create a professional company. The operatic Norden appeared to the
professional and touring artists an open marketplace without any borders,
not even linguistic ones. This contradicted goals of the individual theatres,
which aspired to positions as national theatres. From a nation-building perspective
the Swedish-Swedish opera singers represented the “foreigners”
who colonialised the culture of both capitals, Helsinki and Christiania. Nevertheless,
at the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong> Company this was not a hindrance to having
Swedish guests perform in operas as long as they sang in a language other
than Swedish.
The most obvious differences in the repertoires among the three opera
companies resulted from the availability of singers. At the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong>
Company lyrical operas with prima donna roles were staged more often
than in the New Theatre, which mainly focused on “male” operas, the
French grand operas, at least as long as Emma Engdahl was a novice or
abroad. When she later returned and Saloman left (in 1878), the situation
changed, and operas that depended heavily on female principal roles, such
as Mignon and La Traviata, were given in Helsinki. The Finnish and New
Theatres also competed by performing each other’s signature works, which
means that Il Trovatore was given at the New Theatre and Martha was given
at the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong> Company. Il Trovatore was the first (complete) opera
ever staged in Finnish (in 1870), and it was given often at the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong>
Company. Thus, when the New Theatre included it in their repertoire (perhaps
at the suggestion of Linda Röske-Lund), the audience only reluctantly
warmed to it.
For all three opera companies a vernacular opera repertoire was still only
a dream. Most of the operas given were translations with a few exceptions:
Kung Carls jagt (The Hunt of King Charles) by Fredrik Pacius with libretto
by Zacharias Topelius (in Swedish) was staged twice at the New Theatre
during this period (in 1875 and in 1880). Bergbom wanted to translate the
text into Finnish for the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong>’s premiere in November 1873, but
it appears that Pacius never gave his permission for a translation, although
Topelius did. 48 It is thus understandable that the New Theatre opened with
this opera as soon as the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong> Company had settled down in the
48 Correspondence between Kiseleff and Pacius (STA/SLC). The opera was not
translated into Finnish until 1905. The translation was by Hjalmari Finne, who also
staged the opera in Viipuri (Vainio 2009, p. 272).