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

260 Kristel Pappel
the wings reported her death (RZ, 19.11.1860: many theatres did not show
the coffin).
The singing and the roles The main material used for the interior of the
Tallinn City Theatre was wood, which contributed to the good acoustics and
in general the singers had no problems in being heard. There is only one
remark suggesting that it was wrong to label the part of Lohengrin a “tenor
murderer” (RZ, 19.02.1892). In Tallinn a great deal of attention was paid
to declamation and making the text understood. Although the libretto was
sometimes for sale, the audience followed the narrative via the sung text.
Attempts were made to achieve variety in the repetitions through timbre
changes in the voice, otherwise the audience was disappointed and the critics
demanded that the singers should add more colour to the harmony.
This was something for which David Grobé, the first Tallinn Lohengrin, was
praised: “The often repeated phrase “Fühl ich [zu dir] so süß mein Herz entbrennen”
shows these erotic dreams in which frequent and sudden changes
of key depict the alteration of souls.“ 18 (RZ, 10.03.1883) Grobé’s Lohengrin
became a model on the Tallinn stage, and the singers were expected to be
full of emotion and eroticism. The young 22-year-old Bohemian Karl (Karel)
Burian (1879-1924), later a famous interpreter of Wagner and Strauss in
Dresden and New York, brought heroic and masculine features to the role
in 1892. His voice had force, stamina, youthful freshness and brightness,
and he showed no signs tiredness at the end of the opera (RZ, 19.09.1892).
Burian wrote in his memoirs that he was then tall and as slim as a herring,
and that he was the first beardless Lohengrin on the Tallinn stage. 19
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was produced for Christmas in 1901
when it had become customary to emphasise before each Wagner première
how many rehearsals there had been – as if otherwise it would not have
been the “right” Wagner. According to the Tallinn theatre director there
were 123 rehearsals (RZ, 20.12.1901), which even counting all the individual
music rehearsals seems excessive. Nevertheless, it indicates diligence
and carefulness. The role of Hans Sachs, performed by Herman Ganser,
was highly praised both for the acting and the singing (RZ, 24.12.1901). The
need for a bright high tenor register in the role of the Walther was emphasised.
Beckmesser’s performance did not meet the requirements according
to the reviewer: it was customary to show Beckmesser’s priggishness and
18 “Die häufige Wiederholung der Strophe: ‘Fühl ich so süß mein Herz entbrennen’
zeigt jene erotische Schwelgereien, in welcher der öftere und plötzliche Wechsel der
Tonarten die Alteration der Seelen versinnlicht.”
19 , 8.09.2012. See also RZ, 19.09.1892