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

Rachel the Jewess in Copenhagen
little Kirsten, so virginal and graceful she is! Ms Meyer gave the role
of “Cecilie” in “Mulatten”, but with all due respect to the applause she
received from her fellows-in-faith, there can be only one judgement of
her, namely that she is cold and unbearable; I did not want the beloved
Mulatto spoiled by her, so I did not go, yet I actually regret it, for the high
worth of the Mulatto she cannot, thank God, diminish, the little fool! 40
245
It may be, of course, that Emma Meier was not a great actress. 41 Regardless
of her artistic merits, however, the grim contrast between the praise
lavished on the healthy, Nordic qualities of Liden Kirsten, including Pauline
Rung’s performance of the title role, and the rather contemptuous deprecation
of a performance by a Jewess, whom the author had not seen, is striking
to say the least.
Pauline Rung, it seems, could be appreciated as both “Nordic” and
“southern”; she successfully occupied an intermediate realm between
these poles, balancing them against each other. While she did not belong
to the Jewish community in Denmark, nor was she considered a Jewess, at
least not explicitly, this balancing act seems nevertheless at the outset of
her career to have been quite intimately associated with the convincing way
in which she gave voice to the ambiguous cultural identity of the figure of
the “beautiful Jewess”.
40 ”’Liden Kirsten’ er da blevet opført og modtaget med meget Bifald, hvor er det dog
yndigt, kjære Digter! Og hvor jeg finder Musik og Text i Samklang med hinanden;
det er den yndigste dramatiserede Kæmpevise man kan tænke sig, ret saa nordisk og
sund, jeg ønsker Dem at De havde hørt det! Hansen synger saa smukt og hjerteligt,
som kun han kan synge, og Md: Rung representerer den elskeligste liden Kirsten, saa
jomfruelig og graciøs er hun! Jfr Meyer gav ”Cecilies” Rolle i ”Mulatten”, men med
al Respect for det Bifald hun fik af sine Troesforvandte er der dog kun een Mening
om hende, at hun er kold og utaalelig; jeg vilde ikke have mig den saa høit yndede
Mulat fordærvet af hende, derfor gik jeg der ikke, men jeg har egentlig fortrudt det,
thi Mulattens Værd kan hun Gudskelov ikke forkleine, det lille Asen!” (Hans Christian
Andersen, Letters, 6 June 1846).
41 Having made her debut at the Royal Theatre in 1845, Emma Meier ended her short
career at the Royal Theatre with an appearance in 1846 in Mulatten. However, there
was some controversy concerning whether she had been unjustly treated. After her
engagement at Royal Theatre she enjoyed considerable success as an actress in the
Danish provinces and also in Norway (see Sandfeld 1971, 219-29).