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

220 Joakim Tillman
concert performances of the Tannhäuser overture, and continued with the
introduction of Wagner’s operas at The Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> (Kungliga
<strong>Opera</strong>n): Rienzi (1865), Der fliegende Holländer (1872) Lohengrin (1874),
and Tannhäuser (in 1876 as a special performance at Mindre Teatern [The
Smaller Theatre], and in 1878 at the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong>). The second
period began in 1884 with Andreas Hallén’s (1846-1925) Harald der Wiking
(at the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong>, translated into Swedish as Harald Viking),
the first Swedish opera more substantially influenced by Wagner. This work
paved the way for Wagner’s music dramas in Stockholm.
The aim in the article is to study the beginning of this 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. The first parts of the article describe the critical
reaction towards the works themselves. A central aspect is how attitudes
and ideas about expressions associated Wagner’s later works (music drama,
leitmotif, infinite melody and “Gesamtkunstwerk”) influenced the critic’s
evaluations. The later parts give an account of the critic’s opinions of the
cuts, the performances, and the audience reactions.
After the Die Meistersinger premiere the critics were clearly divided into
two opposing camps: for and against Wagner. Die Meistersinger also divided
the audience, and beginning with the second performance attendance
waned. Die Walküre did not cause the same kind of polarised press reaction.
In a relatively balanced way most of the critics pointed out what they
considered the merits and the flaws in the work. The work also met with an
enthusiastic audience reception. According to one critic this finally proved
that even in Stockholm the time of Richard Wagner had arrived.