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

286 Camilla Hambro
When the time came, the conductor raised her baton competently and
authoritatively, and to applause from the audience, led a performance of a
symphonic allegro by Mozart, which was not further identified. The curtain
rose, new floral decorations appeared along the balcony railings, and Agnes
Nyrop stepped forward to perform Magdalene Thoresen’s prologue, which,
according to one journal, contained too many words about what women
wanted. Socialdemokraten (on 29 August 1895) considered the prologue too
dry and philosophical – a overwrought defence of women’s rights. Furthermore,
Mrs Nyrop was criticised for performing the piece almost like a sermon.
Thoresen’s grave words about the status of women at home and in life
in general, about their goals and abilities, as well as their right to make their
way side by side with men was deemed totally out of sync with the festive
atmosphere in the theatre. Nevertheless, the press discussed the contents
of her prologue to some degree, namely women’s battle for human rights
and their desire to be freed from long-standing obstacles in order to try and
make use of their abilities in new fields.
Following the prologue, the orchestra performed an unidentified andante
by Tchaikovsky. A performance of Anna Kjerulf’s one-act play May he come?
followed. Thereafter, the sisters Don, Fanny Christensen and Gina Oselio
performed romances. I Rosentiden, which turned out to be a fairly lengthy
work of approximately one hour, concluded the evening. The reporter for
Kvinden og Samfundet: Udstillings-Tidende described “the elegance of the
costumes as extraordinary” (6 September 1895, No 9a). The music consisted
in part of recitatives and declamatory movements (influenced by the ravishing
L’enfant prodigue pantomime music by André Wormser) and in part of
well-balanced pieces, imitations of rococo dances, such as the minuet, the
gavotte and the like. The rest of the ballet music had a more independent
style.
A plot leaving an impression of women wanting to be linked in roses and
holy matrimony
The story of the ballet is based on a Nitouche-like 9 motif and set in two
acts: The first act takes place in the courtyard of a monastery, the second
in a rococo parlour where tableaux vivants are to be performed. The young
Chevalier de Gramont jumps over the convent wall to meet the love of his
life, Aline de Fontenay. Seduced by her beautiful singing, he tears a page
out of his sketchbook, writes down his confession of love and climbs over
9 Mamzell Nitouche was a very popular vaudeville-opérette by Louis A. Hervé (1825-
92), premiered in Paris 1883.