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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the repertoire, such as the availability of the right singers. However, after
the second performance Dagens Nyheter noted that the audience did not
show the same enthusiasm as after the premiere. Peterson-Berger, who
was present at at least four of the performances after the first night, writes
that they were given to successively smaller audiences (1941, p. 56). Thus,
insufficient audience interest appeared to be at least one reason why Die
Meistersinger did not become established in the repertoire. Another reason
may have been the financial problems of the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong>. Following
the withdrawal of the governmental grant the operatic activities were
outsourced and taken over by Conrad Nordqvist between 1888 and 1892.
Performing a work that required extensive resources and could not guarantee
box-office success would probably not have been wise under such
circumstances.
In his review of the Die Walküre premiere Adolf Lindgren refers to the
animated discussions between the acts “where, as is always the case with
a work by Wagner, the opinions were somewhat divided” (AB 8/11 1895).
However, there was no booing, and no one left the theatre in protest (the
reason for the departure of King Oscar II after the first act was a planned
hunting trip, see SDS K 11/11 1895). On the contrary, Lindgren points out
that the audience appeared unanimous in its recognition of the highlights of
the work (just as after the quintet in Die Meistersinger, there was applause
during the acts). He also writes that the audience was in high spirits, and
the response developed into full-blown enthusiasm, as witnessed by the
20-to-30 curtain calls for the leading singers, and eventually also the conductor,
producer and stage designer. Magnus Josephson (PIT 8/11 1895)
claimed that the enthusiastic reception finally proved that the time of Richard
Wagner had arrived, even in Stockholm.
Without doubt, Die Walküre achieved much greater success than Die
Meistersinger. Its second performance, unlike that of Die Meistersinger, met
with an enthusiastic reception (SvD A 11/11 1895). TA therefore assumed
that “the stirring tone paintings of Die Walküre had begun to take root in
the Swedish mind.” The work was performed 13 times during its first theatrical
year and was also performed the following years (three times in
1896/97; four times in 1897/98; and three times in 1898/99). After a break
in 1899/1900 it was performed at least once every theatrical year up to the
mid-1960s. With 191 performances by 1972 it was at that point the most
frequently performed Wagner work at the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> after Tannhäuser
(477 performances) and Lohengrin (458 performances).