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

196 Joakim Tillman
introduced in 1917, a couple of years after the copyright protection had
expired, making the work available for theatres other than the Bayreuth
Festival Theatre (Festspielhaus).
Wagner’s operas were heavily criticised, and according to Gademan
(1996, p. 63), his most negative critic, Wilhelm Bauck (1808-77), carried on
what almost amounted to a persecution campaign. Despite this critical opposition
however, Lohengrin immediately became a favourite with the audience,
and was firmly established in the repertoire: by 1899/1900 it had been
performed 124 times. After a somewhat slower start, Tannhäuser gradually
became more highly appreciated (81 performances by 1899/1900). The Holländer,
though, did not achieve the same level of popularity (44 performances
by 1899/1900, 31 of which took place in 1898/99 and 1899/1900). 1
After Bauck’s death in 1877 the critical diatribe against Wagner’s operas
quickly disappeared. However, it was not until 1887 that one of his music
dramas, 2 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (abbr. Die Meistersinger in the rest
of the article), was introduced in Stockholm. Apparently there was some resistance
to his later works at the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> (see Hedberg 1885,
p. 210), and also widespread scepticism towards the music dramas among
music critics in Stockholm.
The aim in this article is to study the beginning of the above-mentioned
second period in the Swedish reception of Wagner through an investigation
of the critical reaction to the first Swedish performances of Die Meistersinger
in 1887 and Die Walküre in 1895. 3
Adolf Lindgren and Wagnerism
After the death of Wilhelm Bauck, Adolf Lindgren (1846-1905) became the
most influential music critic in the Stockholm press. During his long career
he wrote a large number of books, articles and reviews about Wagner’s
works and ideas, and he also reviewed the rapidly growing literature on the
composer. His most important and influential study is Om Wagnerismen
[On Wagnerism] (1881) 4 in which he expresses a positive attitude towards
Wagner’s operas: 5
1 With the exception of one performance in 1885/86, Rienzi disappeared after 1870/71.
2 Despite Wagner’s objections, the expression “music drama” has become the
established genre designation for his works from Das Rheingold to Parsifal.
3 The investigation is based on all the reviews listed in Svenskt Pressregister 1969 (Die
Meistersinger) and 1985 (Die Walküre).
4 Lindgren used the word “Wagnerism” to designate Wagner’s aesthetic ideas, not the
cultural movement.