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

Rachel the Jewess in Copenhagen
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In chapter 6 of his autobiography, Mit Livs Eventyr, Hans Christian Andersen
tells us of two sources of inspiration for the character of Annunziata: one
was Maria Malibran, whom he heard on his travels; the other was one of
the first actresses he ever experienced as a child in Odense, performing the
role of Hulda in Das Donauweibchen, and whom he later met as a poor old
lady at the hospital in Odense (Andersen 1855/1996, 192-93). While there
is no direct link, of course, between the actress Hulda of Andersen’s childhood
and Pauline Lichtenstein’s later performances of the same character
(also in Odense, among other places), it seems clear that Andersen must
have heard in Pauline Lichtenstein’s performances as Rachel a reflection
of the soprano of his own imagination, Annunziata – a mixture of Hulda
and Maria Malibran, a dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty who fit the part of the
beautiful Jewess – la belle juive – perfectly.
As a literary stereotype, the beautiful Jewess will almost invariably involve
a (“problematic”) love interest between herself and a young Christian
man. And she will be protected by an older Jew, either her father, her grandfather
or someone playing a similar part – a variant of the Shylock character
(in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice). 26 One central question which such
fictions deal with is the possibility of marriage between Jews and Christians
– a question which clearly resonated with contemporary political and
cultural reality in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe. It may even be that
Pauline Lichtenstein’s own parents had faced the same problem. It is hardly
surprising, therefore, that many fictions involving the beautiful Jewess places
this figure in a sort of intermediate realm between Judaism and Christianity;
Improvisatoren is one example of this, La juive another. 27
As far as the vocal characterisation of Rachel is concerned, it would make
sense to look for signs of a similarly “intermediate” realm, a voice that may
be considered “exotic” to a degree (but not ridiculous), which combines this
exoticism with a sense of familiarity and communality and invites emotional
absorption.
Rachel’s voice
With respect to musical style the character of Eleazar seems much more
clearly marked as a Jew throughout the opera than Rachel’s, especially
26 See also Diana R. Hallman’s discussions of Eleazar and Rachel as literary stereotypes
(Hallman 2002, 210-252).
27 Cf. Diana Hallman’s discussion of the “dual religious identity” of Rachel (Hallman
2002, 193ff).