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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related to the performance. The discussion about the appropriate way of
singing Wagner continued after the Swedish premiere of Die Walküre, and
indeed, Magnus Josephson claimed that Wagner’s music would not deserve
criticism if the singing were accomplished in an appropriate way (PIT 9/11
1895):
“What must be stated as an imperative condition is clear and distinct
diction, and an expressive, richly nuanced declamation of text and music.
The nuances are of the utmost importance, and Wagner’s music would
never have been accused of being monotonous if adequately trained singers
had been available to perform his works.”
According to Josephson, it was the ability to meet these demands that made
the Sieglinde of Carolina Östberg (1853-1924) stand out in comparison with
all the the others singers participating in the Die Walküre performance:
“It is always possible to hear her text clearly, something that contradicts
all claims that this is incompatible with a legato delivery. On the contrary,
you could claim that if the diction is not entirely clear, then a truly perfect
legato is not possible either. Mrs Östberg’s phrasing and declamation are
above all praise.”
It was defective declamation that Josephson considered the biggest flaw in
Adèle Almati-Rundberg’s (1861-1919) singing as Brünnhilde: “She sings
without nuances and does not meet the changing demands of the text, even
if her diction nowadays is clearer than it used to be. Altogether, though, her
performance is meritorious, and it has, as already pointed out, exceeded
expectations.”
David Breckbill (1992, p. 363) mentions “two apparently contradictory
ideologies of Wagner singing which emerged in the late 19 th century: that
of projecting the words and that of singing the music.” He points out that
“the inexpert approximation” of the first ideology “which achieved general
circulation in the 1880s and 90s featured sloppy, imprecise, often choppy
singing at a monotonously forthright dynamic level which it was thought
would make the word more comprehensible.” The ideal Wagner singing in
Magnus Josephson’s view, however, was obviously a combination of clear
text delivery with a musically satisfying execution. A couple of years later
he wrote in an article about Andreas Hallén’s opera Waldemarsskatten
(“Waldemar’s Treasure”):
“Now at last fresh breezes are blowing, one is tired of the one-sided
declamatory usage of the voice in the new operas, and one even wishes