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

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258 Kristel Pappel<br />

about <strong>the</strong> scenery and <strong>the</strong> activities <strong>on</strong> stage, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> directi<strong>on</strong> of<br />

a character’s glance and his/her reacti<strong>on</strong>s. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Gundula Kreuzer,<br />

keep<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> so-called visual side <strong>in</strong> harm<strong>on</strong>y with his music was essential<br />

for Wagner, thus he <strong>in</strong>corporated visual elements <strong>in</strong>to his music and he<br />

expected <strong>the</strong>m to be realised <strong>on</strong> stage: “[---] Wagner employed all musical<br />

means available to effect a vivid and c<strong>on</strong>t<strong>in</strong>uous s<strong>on</strong>ic “depicti<strong>on</strong>” of<br />

<strong>the</strong> gradual transformati<strong>on</strong> of locati<strong>on</strong>s, <strong>the</strong>ir materiality, and <strong>the</strong> respective<br />

atmospheric and light variati<strong>on</strong>s: an aural equivalent to a seamless, protofilmic<br />

transiti<strong>on</strong>” (Kreuzer 2012, p. 207). As he wrote <strong>in</strong> his well known<br />

essay The Artwork of <strong>the</strong> Future (1849): “Without address<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> eye, all art<br />

rema<strong>in</strong>s unsatisfy<strong>in</strong>g, and thus itself unsatisfied, unfree.” 13 The audience<br />

had to be “dist<strong>in</strong>ctly led to comprehensi<strong>on</strong> of <strong>the</strong> artwork by everyth<strong>in</strong>g<br />

that meets <strong>the</strong> eye.” 14 Or as Patrick Carnegy states, it was Wagner’s firm<br />

belief that “<strong>the</strong> stage picture should mirror <strong>the</strong> music” (Carnegy 2006, p.<br />

25; Kreuzer 2012, p.191).<br />

How much of this was realised <strong>in</strong> practice, especially <strong>in</strong> ord<strong>in</strong>ary, small<br />

prov<strong>in</strong>cial <strong>the</strong>atres with limited facilities? The Tall<strong>in</strong>n examples <strong>in</strong>dicate<br />

that <strong>the</strong> scenery of <strong>the</strong> orig<strong>in</strong>al producti<strong>on</strong> (premier) was taken as <strong>the</strong> model,<br />

and often this <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong> was greeted with a wail of compla<strong>in</strong>t that <strong>the</strong><br />

costs were huge due to <strong>the</strong> new sets and costumes.<br />

The first of Wagner’s operas to be performed <strong>in</strong> Tall<strong>in</strong>n was Tannhäuser<br />

<strong>in</strong> 1853 (premièred at <strong>the</strong> Dresden Court <str<strong>on</strong>g>Opera</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>in</strong> 1845), slightly before<br />

Christmas. The impetus probably came from <strong>the</strong> City Theatre <strong>in</strong> Riga where<br />

it was staged a year before. 15 The new director of <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>atre <strong>in</strong> Tall<strong>in</strong>n, <strong>the</strong><br />

tenor Theophil Fass, came from Riga, as did <strong>the</strong> director accord<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong><br />

poster (Pappel 1997; see also Salmi 2005, 82-84). He “spared nei<strong>the</strong>r time<br />

nor m<strong>on</strong>ey to present this work and to present it <strong>in</strong> a worthy manner”,<br />

and spent 1,000 silver roubles <strong>on</strong> it, which was a c<strong>on</strong>siderable sum at <strong>the</strong><br />

time (by way of comparis<strong>on</strong>, <strong>the</strong> annual salary of <strong>the</strong> musical director of <strong>the</strong><br />

13 “Ohne Mit<strong>the</strong>ilung an das Auge bleibt alle Kunst unbefriedigend, daher selbst<br />

unbefriedigt, unfrei”, see Wagner, Richard [1911]: „Das Kunstwerk der Zukunft“,<br />

<strong>in</strong>: Sämtliche Schriften und Dichtungen, vol. 3, Leipzig: Breitkopf ja Härtel, p. 72.<br />

Translati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> Richard Wagner’s Prosa Works 1966: transl. William Asht<strong>on</strong> Ellis, repr<strong>in</strong>t,<br />

New York: Broude Bros., vol. 1, p. 100.<br />

14 “das Verlangen nach dem Kunstwerk, zu dessen Erfassen er durch Alles, was se<strong>in</strong><br />

Auge berührt, bestimmt werden muß.” Ibid., p. 152 (transl. ibid., p. 185).<br />

15 Here I would like to menti<strong>on</strong> that Tannhäuser was first performed <strong>in</strong> Hels<strong>in</strong>ki <strong>in</strong> 1858,<br />

and <strong>the</strong>n also by <strong>the</strong> Riga opera company. (Wagner’s perform<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Baltic regi<strong>on</strong><br />

has been researched by Hannu Salmi, see Salmi, Hannu 1997.) In Riga, however, Der<br />

fliegende Holländer had been performed before Tannhäuser <strong>in</strong> 1845. The first Wagner<br />

opera to be staged In St. Petersburg was Lohengr<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> 1868 (<strong>in</strong> Russian).

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