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

Performative elements and sources
263
nani-Silva) was moved to Act III, which caused “irreparable confusion”,
as the reviewer from the Revalsche Zeitung newspaper remarked (RZ,
14.09.1860), ending his article as follows: “In order to understand it better,
we demand the fourth act!”. There was an argument for leaving out Act II,
which ended happily. In fact, this version with the happy ending was performed
on many stages in the German-speaking theatrical world up until
the 1930s (Gerhartz 1997, 400).
Verdi became popular in Tallinn five years later, in 1865 when Der Troubadour
(Il trovatore) was first performed there. In fact, it was the only Verdi
opera to be performed in Tallinn between 1865 and 1890, a period of 25
years! It frequently opened the season – it allowed the tenor, the soprano
and the mezzo-soprano to demonstrate their skills. Although the critics
referred to the music, the rhythms and the melodies as trivial, it was a favourite
with the audience (RZ, 3.09.1892; 1.12.1894; 9.09.1895). Only Aida
(from 1890) began to undermine its position, followed by Traviata (La traviata)
and Maskenball (Un ballo in maschera) (both in 1894-95) and Rigoletto
(in 1896-97). Thus general and more sustained interest in Verdi was not
evident in Tallinn until the 1890s.
Scenography and direction There were few model productions on which
to base performances of Verdi’s operas, as there were with Wagner, and
the libretti gave less information and fewer directions. We therefore need
to use other archival materials concerning productions of Italian operas in
order to envisage a production of a Verdi opera at the end of the nineteenth
century in Tallinn. The archival materials about Tallinn theatre contain
the libretti of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Lucrezia Borgia, with
director’s pencilled remarks concerning the placing of the characters and
the chorus, as well as notes for the stage manager concerning thunder and
storm effects (TMM, fund T 187, register 1). The director (and bass singer)
August Dörner made notes in the old libretti (which had been in use since
the 1840s) in the 1894-94 and 1895-96 seasons. These notes followed a
certain tradition in terms of performing Italian operas, on which research
into the production of Verdi’s operas would shed light. In any case, Dörner
is praised for his direction (Regieführung) of Der Troubadour because of
his “nice arrangement” (hübsches Arrangieren) (RZ, 9.09.1895). In general,
however, directors were praised for quick scene changes (e.g., Treumann in
1891-92; RZ, 3.09.1892).