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

264 Kristel Pappel
The vocal score of Aida, published in 1890, contains detailed interpretational
remarks (to be discussed later) and some tentative notes, such as
“suddenly away” (plötzlich ab) (TMM, fund Mo 256).
The set is rarely mentioned, but it did attract attention at the Tallinn
première of Aida (15.11.1890) – both the decor and the costumes were new,
which was understandable in the case of such an exotic and grand-scale
opera. The production was acclaimed as a whole, a musical drama in which
all the components are harmoniously combined.
Singing and roles As mentioned above, Der Troubadour was one of the
favourites for opening the opera season. Sometimes, however, the hired
tenor failed miserably as Manrico and the director had to look for a replacement,
which in the 1891-92 season was the newly arrived young Karel
Burian. Burian’s debut in Tallinn was successful, but in his acting – as the
reviewers noted – he was still a beginner (RZ, 15.09.1891). He was also
criticised for his habit of straining his voice in the high register.
Critical attention was focused on whether the singer playing Manrico
was able to sing the famous stretta in C major or if it had been transposed to
a lower key. However, the audience required C major for a striking performance
(RZ, 15.09.1894).
Interestingly, singers were more expressive in their mannerisms when
performing Verdi than with Wagner, who clearly offered fewer opportunities.
They used too much “portamento, declared sacred on all stages“ (Der
Troubadour, see RZ, 14.09.1882), there was often tremolo in the voice
(Violetta in Traviata, RZ, 20.09.1894), rhythmic inaccuracy (Alfredo in the
same performance) and bad pronunciation (Azucena in Der Troubadour; RZ,
14.09.1882). They tended to compensate for their vocal shortcomings by
overacting (e.g., Azucena in Der Troubadour, RZ, 15.09.1894), but there is
no indication of what this entailed.
The chorus was problematic in Der Troubadour because of the shortage
of singers, or the intonation was wrong or rhythmically tentative. One
reviewer suggested in 1882 that only the Gipsy Chorus (Act II) should be
kept and the rest could be cut (RZ, 14.09.1882). The situation was somewhat
better eight years later in 1890, but the famous and difficult “Miserere”
was still “a chaos of dissonances” (RZ, 17.11.1890).
Adaptations and orchestration Among the most interesting surviving
musical material of the Tallinn City Theatre is the vocal score of Aida,
which Joseph Wilhelmi, a long-serving conductor in Tallinn theatre who