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

242 Jens Hesselager
Illustration 5. Detail from Julius Rietz: Die Hexenküche aus Faust von Göthe. The Royal
library, Copenhagen.
tuosic passages (f’’ again is the high note, although a “high” g’’ is touched
on, very briefly at one point). 32
Pauline Rung’s last solo performance, at the beginning of the third part
of the concert, is particularly interesting. The text was in German (Pauline
Rung’s mother tongue), and most of the time the piece involves a rather
energetic declamation of the text on a single repeated note. The music, by
Julius Rietz, was a song called Die Hexenküche aus Faust von Göthe. Pauline
Rung represented one of a group of witches, and according to the manuscript,
the music was introduced by a few words to be spoken by Mephistopheles.
Perhaps actors from the Royal Theatre participated in a quasiscenic
performance of the piece. The vocal part is exceptionally low; most
of the time it stays within the interval of the fourth between f#’ and b’. At
the very end it drops down a further octave, to f# (see Illustration 5). This
would be a low note even for an alto, and given the context, it appears that
the point of using such a low register has to do with the song being sung by
a witch.
While the dramatic exclamations in Jødinden are not nearly as low as
this, it nevertheless seems that the lowering of Pauline’s Rung’s voice, so
that syllables expressing particularly stressful emotions are pitched around
or just below c’’ (rather than c’’’), were not only calculated to ensure that
her voice was not strained beyond its capacity, but at the same time added
an effect of “exoticism” to the musical characterisation of Rachel.
Conclusion: Southern, exotic, Jewish, Danish
In 1841, one critic praised Madame Forconi, the female lead of Rossi’s company,
for the “riveting delivery and the extraordinary dramatic effect she
32 For this study I have consulted a selection of the music manuscripts in Henrik
Rung’s collection at the Danish Royal Library, focusing primarily on the solo numbers
performed by Pauline Rung at these concerts. The manuscripts consulted are listed in
the Bibliography (s.v. Court Theatre Concert Manuscripts).