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

212 Joakim Tillman
and critics during the “last couple of years”. His debut at the Royal Swedish
<strong>Opera</strong> was as a tenor in 1869, and he had sung the lead part in Rienzi
and the helmsman in Holländer before becoming a baritone. He took the
role of Herold in the first Swedish performance of Lohengrin (1874), and
when Fritz Arlberg left Stockholm in the mid-1870s he inherited the part of
Telramund. He also had great success as Wolfram in Tannhäuser. Hedberg
concludes at the end of his chapter on Lundqvist in Svenska operasångare
[Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> Singers] that he had all the qualities required to make Hans
Sachs one of his best achievements. However, this did not happen. All the
critics considered the part to be too low for his voice, and according to
Fredrik Vult von Steijern this could have made him appear less secure, and
thus his declamations were not as expressive as they should have been (DN
9/4 1887).
The leading lyrical tenor at the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong>, Arvid Ödmann
(1850-1914), performed the role of Walter. According to Svenska Dagbladet
(13/4 1887), Wagner’s tenor roles were not the most suitable for Ödmann’s
voice:
“Mr Ödmann has silver and moonlight in his voice, but in order to sing
Wagner you need iron ore and fire. However, the lyrical element is so
predominant in the whole part of Walther that it can hardly be compared
to Wagner’s other tenor roles.”
The general opinion was that Ödmann succeeded well in the lyrical episodes,
but that he did not master the Wagnerian declamatory style. According
to Fredrik Vult von Steijern, for instance (DN 9/4 1887):
“It is well known that Mr Ödmann is not a Wagner singer, and if this is
taken into proper consideration it could be said that he makes the best
he possibly can of Walther. Whenever the song alone carries the mood,
the elevation and poetic warmth of the singing, his performance is good,
such as when he sings his prize song for Sachs and Eva, but he lacks
the capacity for dramatic individualisation […] He has the great merit of
clearly pronouncing every word, but because of the effort this demands
his declamation is dry and torn to pieces.”
Irrespective of their position regarding Wagner’s vocal style, it is noticeable
that the critics had strong opinions about the correct and idiomatic way
of executing the vocal lines. Given their awareness of the shortcomings
of the Swedish singers, it is somewhat odd that they did not consider the
possibility that their negative impressions of Wagner’s vocal melodies were