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

236 Jens Hesselager
In Andersen’s first novel, Improvisatoren (1835), the idea of the Jewish
voice, in this case female, is introduced in quite a different way. The story is
set in Rome, where the protagonist, Antonio, and his friend, Bernardo, are
both captivated by a young, beautiful woman, whom Bernardo has “found”
in the Jewish ghetto. Together, the two visit the Alibert Theatre where a
soprano is to make her debut as Dido (presumably in Niccolo Piccini’s opera).
Bernardo recognises her as his “Jewess”, while Antonio believes her
to be a Catholic girl from his childhood. For a while her identity (Jewish or
Catholic?) is unclear to the reader. At the point when we finally learn that
the soprano is in fact the Catholic girl, Annunziata, of Antonio’s childhood
memories, her identity has nevertheless become ineradicably associated
with the image of the “beautiful Jewess” – la belle juive – a literary stereotype,
of which, as Diana Hallman argues, Rachel is also a clear example
(Hallman 2002, 213ff).
Escaping a cruel destiny, Annunziata was for a while protected by an old
Jew in the Ghetto (which is where Bernardo met her), and as Antonio later
runs into her, she is always accompanied by an old lady, whose “eyes and
facial features revealed at first sight that she was a Jewess!” 24
Andersen’s description of Annunziata’s fictive performance as Dido follows
the protagonist, and Antonio’s intense subjective experience of it is
cast in the language of admiration, musical romanticism and emotional absorption:
When Aeneas then confesses to her that he will leave her, that they are
not married, that he does not know of their wedding torch, how amazingly
did she not express the transition in her soul, the surprise, the pain,
the anger; and now she sang her grand aria; it was like the waves from
deep below, hitting the clouds above; how can I describe this world of
tones, as it appeared now! […] A general applause washed through the
house, “Annunziata! Annunziata!” they shouted, and she had to reappear,
before the enthusiastic crowd, again and again. 25
24 ”hendes Øie, den hele Ansigtsfor sagde ved første Øiekast, at det var en Jødinde!”
(Andersen 1835/1987, 95)
25 ”Da siden Aeneas tilstaaer hende, at han gaaer bort, at de jo ei ere figte, han
ikke kjender deres Brudefakkel, hvor forbausende vidste hun da ikke at udtrykke
Overgangen i sin Sjæl, Overraskelsen, Smerten, Raseriet; og nu sang hun sin stor
Arie; det var som Dybets Bølger, der sloge mod Skyerne; hvorledes udtaler jeg denne
Toneverden, som her aabenbarede sig! […] Et almindeligt Bifaldsraab brusede gjennem
Huset. “Annunziata! Annunziata!” raabte de, og hun maatte frem og atter frem for den
begeistrede Mængde” (Andersen 1835/1987, 90)