Gustavus III, King of Sweden 1746 - 1792.

THE THEATRE KING

By this time the theatre was obviously in a dismal state and it was decided that one should make king Gustavus III16interested in a grand theatrical venture. As all available plays were quite atrocious, it was decided instead to mount a grand opera. This suggestion was considered extremely bold. The opera in question should have pleasant music, pristine costumes, a well choreographed ballet, beautiful and meticulously painted decor, so that it would be a joy both for the ear and the eye. It was fervently hoped that His Majesty would not demand perfection, but have tolerance with certain shortcomings and not believe that a few months work could achieve what a hundred years endeavour had brought forward in other countries. The King took a keen interest in the project and gave his consent.

King Gustavus III supported a great number of projects and we shall here only mention a few. At a soirée at his castle Drottningholm in 1779 the King had listened to an instrument called the "pantaleon". This contraption hade been invented by Pantaleon Hebenstreit, who in 1690 played it for King Louis XIV of France. The instrument in question had a grand total of 276 strings and was a predecessor to the piano. Gustavus III became so taken with the weird instrument that he sent the musician Salomoni abroad for two years 1780 to 1781 to perfect his art. Though, there is no evidence that the instrument became popular in Sweden - as a matter of fact, it was never heard again and Salomoni was most probably the only one who ever mastered it.

After all, there were some resources available which could be of use. The concert master Francesco Uttini17, who was born in Italy, had been in Sweden for twenty years but never bothered to learn the language. He got responsibility, learnt Swedish quickly and became a driving force. Premier dancer Louis Gallodier18, who was born in France, had the formidable task of developing the ballet and be responsible for the corps de ballet. His greatest problem was that he could not find anybody who could dance even passably, but had to start teaching the company from scratch. Gallodier's efforts were highly praised: It was said that without his knowledge, zeal, industriousness and great care to get the ballet into shape, the entire theatre venture would have failed. But how to find people fit for the forming of a ballet company among such a stiff and clumsy race! Of the former French troupe there were not enough members left to make up a corps de ballet. The Swedish Theatre did not possess one single individual who could do a single step. Gallodier might have achieved quite a lot, he taught; even Gustavus III while Crown Prince was his pupil, but his greatest difficulty was in adapting to Swedish life. In the beginning he made many enemies by comparing the Swedes to the Parisians and criticizing them for being provincial, but later on he felt more at home amongst his friends Sergel19and Bellman20 etc.

Anyway, Gallodier choreographed a few ballet pantomimes, but none of them were successes; we have evidence that "Le Rendez-vous comique" was performed twice. He also did a comic pantomime called "Colin and Annette" which was performed four times. This ballet was revived twenty years later by Telemaque Gabrie21 and was then called "Annette and Colin" but it did not fare any better. Gabrie's version was only performed four times as well.

Gifted singers were even harder to find, among the women there was only one who had a trained voice. That was old Mme Elisabeth Kayserin who was seventy years old and unfit! This singer had had some success in her youth at the opera house in Dresden, but soon became more famous for her child bearing capacity than for her singing. At fifteen she had married Herr Kayser, who was a musician, and bore him 23 children. She came to Sweden with her husband during the reign of Fredrik I22 and it was rumored that she had an intimate relation with the King.

The orchestra was in an even worse state. The King's Ensemble consisted mainly of musical invalids, most of them were bedridden, some blind, others deaf, several lame and disabled. For several years one had been content if they had been able to play some piece before the performances and their main occupation had been entertaining at balls. Nobody could handle a wind instrument and furthermore there were no wind instruments. Nor would anyone be willing to learn playing an instrument for the meagre salary of 900 thaler in copper which was all that was offered.
 

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But an opera along French or Italian lines was a must - Gustavus III engaged himself in the project and revised himself the lyrical tragedy "Thetis et Pelée" by Fontenelle23. The score was by Uttini and the choreography by Gallodier. Mme Elisabeth Olin24 sang the title role at the premiere 18th January 1773. One critic wrote: "How could there any longer be any doubt as to the skill and genius of the Swedish people who has reached such height in literary achievement which has hitherto made other nations so feted. Our Swedish Opera even surpasses the French one in the manner in which it has been performed here. Even foreign connoisseurs greeted this first attempt on the Swedish stage with clamorous applause and admitted, that this could in many ways compete with the finest which other countries have achieved in this genre". It might be taken as a measure of the success of the venture that a parodic comedy called "Petis et Thelée" was staged 27 Sept. 1779. And even the King's enthusiasm knew no bounds and he ordered a new production immediately - "Acis och Galathea" by Händel.
 

L: Francesco AntonioUttini  R: Joseph Martin Krauss

                      SOME GREAT MUSICIANS AND ARTISTS

Artists and musicians were hired - One Director of Music who was Abbé Vogler25, first and second conductors who were Uttini and Kraus. Abbe`Vogler, or Georg Joseph as was his real name, had a high self esteem and according to his contract which ran for ten years, he wanted 2000 Thaler, fodder for two horses, six months leave of absence every year to enable him to travel whereever he pleased, and after his term of duty a life pension of 1000 Thaler per annum. As service in return he was obliged to compose one new grand opera for the Royal Theatre every year. Before he finally left Sweden for good he had also found time to give one hundred organ concerts. He also founded a pension scheme for the widows and children of the Royal Musicians.

Joseph Martin Krauss26, who had come to Sweden at the age of 22, then made a long journey which lasted for nearly five years, all at the King's expense. He travelled to Germany, Italy, France and England in order to acquire knowledge about new theatrical methods. He did eventually return to Sweden and signed a contract to the effect that he would remain in the country for at least ten years, be responsible for the academies of singing and music theory and see to it that new gifted singers were auditioned and trained properly.

Another composer who has actually been called "The Father of Swedish Music" also lived in that epoch. His name was Johan Helmich Roman, much influenced by Händel. Of Finnish extraction, he attracted attention early as a child prodigy playing the violin. As a member of the Royal Orchestra he obtained a scholarship to study abroad, in London, Paris and Rome. On returning to Sweden he energetically got to work reorganizing the entire structure of music life - he gave classes in violin and oboe playing, performed in concert, translated foreign treatises on instrument technique and introduced new works which he had familiarized himself with during his travels. The members of the orchestra were very much below par, so one must recognize that his task must have been a formidable one. Yet, he found time to compose several works of which "Drottningholmsmusiken" is still being performed today, as well as some sacred music.

Johann Gottlieb Naumann27, who liked to call himself Giovanni Amadeo, had been specially invited by King Gustavus III, not as a conductor, but as a composer. He composed the opera "Amphion" and supervised the performances from the premiere 26th January 1778, until the end of the season when he was obliged to return to Dresden where he was the resident conductor. However, he had one more sojourn in Sweden when he composed his opera "Gustav Wasa", but left the country before the premiere, never to return.

A young and very gifted Swedish musician, Anders Wesström28, met Naumann while he was studying in Dresden in 1757. Wesström had by chance gone to Blasewitz, a village near Dresden, and in the Naumann cottage found both a good piano and the sixteen year old son of farmer Naumann composing the most intricate works. Wesström suggested that the boy should accompany him to Italy so he could get proper tuition. The boy pleaded with his father who consented after much deliberation. But young Naumann soon began regretting having taken this step. While in Padova where Wesström studied with the famous violinist Tartini29 he treated the boy as a servant. Naumann had to carry the instruments, find work as a copyist in order to support both himself and Wesström, and even at times act as a cook. But Naumann was an astute lad and asked Tartini if he could study with the master. Tartini heard the boy play, was astounded at his talent and kept him as his pupil for three years. Needless to say, Wesström became furious and they parted company. Wesström undoubtedly had great gifts, but somehow he seems to have squandered them, his temper was uneven and he was a fullblown egotist. He ended his day as an organist in a small town in the north of Sweden, whereas Naumann enjoyed great success.

Another musician worth mentioning is Italian-born Jacopo Giovanni Battista Foroni30. Having had a thourough musical education in his native Verona, he came to Sweden in 1849. He was a lively and energetic conductor, composed a few operas, among them "Maitre Pathelin". At the age of thirty-three he died in the cholera epidemic, much mourned by his colleagues who had taken this gifted young Italian to their hearts.

THE DECORATOR

The sculptor Tobias Sergel who moved in Royal circles also had many acquaintances among artists - some of his closest friends were the poet Carl Mikael Bellman31 and the painter Jean Louis Desprès32. Recommended by Sergel and at the behest of Gustavus III Desprès was contracted to the Royal Opera House for 12 years. His salary was 1000 thaler per annum, plus free housing and firewood. The King, during his Italian tour had met with Desprès in Rome and liked his work but then Despres was "ancien pensionnaire du roi de France à Rome". However, in 1784 Després came to Sweden. He designed on a grand scale, perhaps on too grand a scale. There were complaints that one single decor had cost over 4000 thaler and in 1791 the Director had to tell Després that in the future he was only supposed to do simple sketches. The theatre got deeper into debt, and Després did only one single sketch during the last seven years of his contract. But he worked in other fields as well, he held the post as the King's first architect and designed many fine buildings.

THE DECLINE

After the death of Gustavus III the grants set aside for the upkeep of the two Royal Theatres, the Opera and the Dramatic stage continued to be paid from the Privy Purse. King Gustavus IV Adolphus33was in the beginning kindly disposed towards the theatre, but as time went by he grew increasingly discontented, capricious and impossible to please. At one gala spectacle, when "Anacreon at Samos" was performed, he raged at the lack of decency of the libretto and what he believed to be an attack at the sanctity of royal dignity. On behalf of theatre director Hamilton34 the King apologized to the diplomatic corps for the lack of taste and judgement. No more than three new works were presented during a time span of four years and this was probably due to the King's aversion against all forms of entertainment. The entire theatre went on crutches, but worse was to come. In an address, dated 27 September 1806, the King ordered that the theatre be shut, and on 16 March 1807 in Malmoe, he went even further and ordered that the Opera house be demolished. We do not know if this was pure coincidence or an act of deliberation that this order was issued on the anniversary of the murder of King Gustavus III. However, the orders were not carried out to their full extent, the building was used as a military hospital, but the ballet found itself without a home.

Already within a month of the deposition of King Gustavus IV Adolphus, a gracious communique was issued that the Opera House was to be re-inaugurated anew and open with the opera "Gustavus Vasa" which had music by Johan Gottlieb Naumann. The new king, Carolus XIII35 desired a truly grand opera, but unfortunately there were hardly any artists left, and schools for dancers and singers were quickly established so that new choirs and a corps de ballet could be formed.

In 1812 it was also decided that The Royal Theatre would consist of two separate units, the Opera and the Dramatic Theatre and that these two units would have separate repertoires. At the Opera House performances would be given three times a week and at the Dramatic Theatre every night, including Sundays.

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