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

The introduction of Richard Wagner’s music dramas in Stockholm
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nique (see e.g., Dahlhaus 1971, pp. 56-59). As is apparent in Om Wagnerismen,
Lindgren was aware of the difference between Wagner’s operas and
his music dramas. In fact, it was this very difference that provoked his criticism
of the music dramas. However, he apparently viewed the dividing line
as more flexible than Dahlhaus did, for instance. It is also possible that the
cuts made Die Walküre appear in another light to Swedish critics in the late
nineteenth century.
Even if he admitted that there were passages containing beautiful vocal
melodies, Lindgren continued to criticise Wagner for making the music
more orchestral in his works after Lohengrin, for placing the melodies in a
completely symphonic orchestra and reducing the importance of the singers.
Other critics also had objections to the vocal parts. One, for instance,
under the signature Verus (GP 8/11 1895) wrote that these “do not move in
sweeping melodies, but in the most strange intervals, and although Wagner
is extremely afraid of repeating even a single word, he makes the opposite
mistake in piling up words and phrases after each other with the result that
longueurs are not few in number […]”.Henrik Victorin (NDA 8/11 1895)
pointed out the difficulties Wagner’s vocal parts caused Swedish singers
who were unused to the style. He claimed that the motivic work was the
worst stumbling block for them because on the one hand they lacked experience
of the many difficult intervals, and on the other hand they “had sung
too much absolute music to be able to make an immediate adjustment to
Wagner’s short, forceful and plastic motifs.”
One noticeable change in the reception of Die Walküre was a more balanced
view of the leitmotif technique. Admittedly, Magnus Josephson (PIT
8/11 and 21/11 1895) had several objections:
1. Claiming that a detailed knowledge of all the leitmotifs is a condition
for understanding the work is ridiculous pedantry.
2. It is not possible for a motif to depict a character or a situation so
clearly that it always brings them to mind when you hear the motif in the
orchestra.
3. There are many clever references in the orchestra you can admire in
the score, but which are not apparent in the mighty swell of the orchestral
sound.
However, Josephson also praises the magnificent effects Wagner achieved
with his ingenious use of the leitmotifs. Even when he is too ingenious one
can enjoy the rich symphonic texture in the orchestra, the result of a combination
of all the melodically beautiful and rhythmically pregnant motifs,
without worrying about whether one fully perceives everything he wished