Some contemporary comments about the theatre:- "Beware of the storm! The audience has heard wind and even storm on the stage, it becomes still and the storm is now sitting in a corner. It is a wheel with shovels of thin wooden battens. Around this contraption there is a webbed belt, fastened in such a way that it can not follow the movement of the wheel. One of the stage hands puts the wheel in motion and the harder he cranks the more roaring the storm will sound to the auditorium. But the stage hand must know his job and crank artistically, and musically. Then we have the thunder, one of the thunders, because the theatre keeps an assortment. In the olden days one used thin sheets of iron which were rattled, but that did not frighten many people. For a thunder storm to appear authentic several women must show anguish, even better if there are some fainting fits. When the audience clearly hears the lightning strike and are ready to storm out of the theatre, the heavier type of thunder has been utilized. In the vast store for all manner of props it is icy cold, but the stage is nowadays heated, the cold before was severe and long time ago the artists had to heat themselves by the means of toddies which they had ordered from the inn kept by the porter. If it was very cold so called mahogany toddies were imbibed. These were reputed to give better inner warmth. Such behaviour is out of the question in the new age".
* * * * *
The ballet had indeed had its ups and downs. In the middle of the 18th
century there had been both a French and an Italian Opera company, each
complete with corps de ballets. These companies had been in Stockholm on
a more or less permanent basis and entertained quite a lot at Court. But
public opinion raged against the great expenses incurred, and the directors
of the troupes decided to hold masked balls in order to get revenue. The
town councillors issued a proclamation 9 January 1759: "...that masked
balls are held to the desecration of the Maker and annoyance of others,
with sinful pastimes until all hours of the night, and that such pleasures
seduce simple minds to all kinds of debauchery, and that even those with
a sensible heathen moral, do not pay heed to the Gospel and the Saviour".
Various councillors voiced different opinions; some meant that it would
be to the detriment of the poor people to imitate the ways of the rich,
whereas others were in favour.
|
Charles Louis Didelot 1767 -1837. |
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
In such an atmosphere ballet obviously did not have much scope. Charles
Louis Didelot36 who was born in Stockholm
1767, the son of the French dancer Didelot, was very promising and he realised
that himself. For several years he was educated in Paris by D'Auberval37
and
Lany38 -King Gustavus III footed all
the bills. At the age of 22 Didelot returned to Sweden, but within short
he asked for absence of leave to work abroad. In 1789 he was dancing in
London, to the consternation of King Gustavus III who wrote a rather sarcastic
letter to the theatre director Armfelt39
on 15th July. The letter reads as follows: -
"The contract of our Didelot is rescinded after the fire in the theatre, and I implore you to let him return immediately, so that I may have the pleasure in seeing him next Winter; because I do not understand why we are paying him when he is dancing in London".
Didelot did actually return, but did not stay long in Sweden. He soon
went back to London where he choreographed his ballet "Flore et Zephyre".
After his second London sojourn he went in 1801 to St. Petersburg, where
he became an important balletmaster and teacher. Another French dancer,
however, did just the opposite - he remained in Sweden. His name was Louis
Frossard40 and he
had arrived as a member of the French Opera company. When this was disbanded
in 1771, he went for a couple of years to Paris, where he worked at the
Théatre Italien as both dancer and choreographer. King Gustavus
III recalled him to Sweden in 1773. Well back, he choreographed together
with Gallodier the ballet for a very early opera version of "Sylvia". It
was premiered 13 July 1774 and was performed four times. A contemporary
wrote about him thus: "In danse de caractère et pantomime he is
excellent. Few dancers have that amount of lightness, fiery liveliness
and elasticité. In his scenes de danse, his weird pirouettes on
one foot are acclaimed, and his great strength and skill with which he
portrayed a slave in irons. He also possesses great inventiveness and constant
variation in his compositions, as well as availing himself of the comique".
Jean-Georges Noverre41,
however, never came to Sweden. There is, though, evidence that one of his
ballets, "l'Amour et les Graces", was staged by André Isidore Carey.
It as premiered 12 Dec. 1821 and performed 28 times, for that epoch it
must have been rather a success.
* * * * *
THE BALLERINAS
During the later part of the 18th century there had been but a few ballerinas
of merit. There was Mme Du Tillet42 -
when we first hear of her she was a ballerina at The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.
She had a high self esteem and maintained that she was the only one who
should be allowed to execute the so called "doubles jupons". When another
young dancer learnt how to do this step, Du Tillet stormed out and went
to Sweden. The Danish theatre director wrote a letter to the ballet master
of the opera in Paris to get some guidance on how to treat the diva, but
got an answer to the effect that her claims were considered "ridiculous
and vain".
 |
Giovanna Bassi, silhouette.
1762 -1834. Ballerina. |
Giovanna Bassi43 was the successor of Du Tillet. Bassi was a great technician, she had been taught by the great D'Auberval and she did an entrechat six with ease; she had also been known to do entrechat huit at times. The Swedish writer Malla Silfverstolpe44 described Bassi thus: "Her regular, beautiful features, her noble physionomy, her curly black hair and her beautiful figure, as lithe and supple as proud and perfect, made her the most beautiful woman. Great loveliness and much nobility was her hallmark". She appeared for the last time in "Les deux Savoyardes"45 23 June 1794 - she then got married and became a chateleine. She died at Högtorp Manor House 16 May 1834.
Johanna Händel-Schütz was actually an actress from Saxony, but she gave performances in which she included virtually everything, reciting, miming, shawl dancing and antique posing. She was immensely popular, travelled widely and married and divorced four times. There were few Swedish female dancers of note. Hedvig Christina Hjortsberg46, sister of the famous actor Lars Hjortsberg, has been described thus: "C'etait une taille de nymphe, pétrie de graces; c'etait Terpsichore soulevée par les Zéphirs". However, she retired early to get married.
Of the native male dancers of the epoch, we note Carl Dahlén. He might have had a bright future had not misfortune befallen him. His very good looks became his downfall. One evening, when King Gustavus III had seen Dahlén dance and was most impressed with the progress of the young dancer, the King sent a courtier to pay compliments and offer a substantial increase in salary. The courtier passed on the message but also made a crude joke about the dancer's good looks. Dahlén became so offended that he slapped the courtier across the face. Several of the theatre staff had witnessed the incident, the courtier swore to revenge and Dahlén had to flee that same night to Copenhagen. There he appeared for the first time at the Royal Theatre 25 Oct. 1791 and was soon under contract. Unfortunately, he grew very obese, but in spite of this fact he was not fired until 1823.
Another male dancer who made his debut in the ballet of his own making: "Zelima or The two Lovers" was Bautain who spent two years in Stockholm 1801 - 1803. He was supposed to be a great technician and did multiple pirouettes with ease. His contract reads thus: "Quoique Premier Danseur, le sieur B. ne peut point refuser de danser, si les circonstances l`exigent, avec M:mes Åbergsson et Casagli, qui ne sont que Premiers Remplacemens. Le sieur B. sera dispensé de danser des entrées en habit de guerrier et le casque en tête; mais en revenche il dansera les Lutins et tous les pas qui lui seront prescrits par la Direction, soit dans les Operas, soit dans les Ballets Pantomimes".
The next century saw Mme Josephine G. Védel-Sainte-Claire47, then Mlle Sainte-Claire, and last Mme Carey-Saint-Claire. She had previously been a dancer at the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg and made her Stockholm debut in Louis Delands ballet "Myrtil and Cloé" 26th April 1813. The ballet was not a success - it was only performed once, but the audience raved about her and a contemporary wrote: "Mlle. St. Claire fit pendant dix ans les délices de Stockholm. Elle était surtout remarquable par sa pantomime, l'expression aimable de sa figure et la décence gracieuse de sa danse". She excelled in the ballet "Nina, ou la Folle par amour" and in "Jenny, ou le mariage secret". Her many surnames can be sorted out: She was born Sainte-Claire, married to the director of the French troupe in St. Petersburg, Alexandre Védel, then divorced, and finally married to the ballet master at the Swedish Opera, André Isidore Carey. He was born in Paris and a pupil of Auguste Vestris. Carey spent eight years in Stockholm before moving on to Vienna.
The novelty of dancing on pointes had arrived in Stockholm in 1816,
when a dancer from the Hoftheater in Berlin, appeared in "Les Amants réunis",
a divertissement after D'Auberval, staged by Ledet. She was Thérèse
Ginetti48 "premiere danseuse from Petersburg"
sic. The following has been said about her: "She was not actually beautiful,
but pretty, she carried her tall, slim figure with much grace. She had
particularly beautifully rounded movements and was noted for her extraordinary
lightness, suppleness and taste whereby she boldly floated about, did the
most astonishingly difficult pas and held positions which generally astounded
more by their audacity than by their beauty. She surprised with the remarkable
strength and skill with which she moved on the tips of her toes doing the
most difficult pirouettes".
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Marie Taglioni, 1804 - 1884. Ballerina. |  |
MARIE TAGLIONI - THE SWEDISH BALLERINA
Which leads us to Marie Taglioni. The Milanese premier dancer
Filippo Taglioni had arrived in Stockholm in 1803. That same year, he met
and married Sofia Karsten, who was the daughter of First Singer at the
Opera Christofer Christian Karsten49 and
his wife Mariane Sophie50, née
Stebnowska (not Stempkoska, as many records state). C.C. Karsten who was
born in a small town in the south of Sweden, had in his youth taken part
in a concert in honour of Dowager Queen Lovisa Ulrika. She had been so
enchanted with his singing that she arranged for proper tuition in Stockholm.
He subsequently held many posts of importance, he was a member of the Royal
Academy of Musicke and held the honorary title of First Court Singer.
The career of Marie Taglioni is well known and we shall not dwell on
it here. However, some events that took place in her country of birth might
be of interest. Strangely enough she did not appear in Stockholm until
she was 37 - in 1841 - and then pandemonium broke out. Latter day pop singers
could not have been more idolized and she received a treatment bordering
on hysteria. The Board of Directors of the Opera House in Stockholm asked
her seriously to consider being lodged in the theatre building in stead
of staying at a hotel, as they could not vouch for her safety. All manner
of vendors and manufacturers were eager to hitch on -a plethora of objects
were for sale, apart from the more obvious music covers and lithographs.
The range of merchandise ranged from a cut-out paper doll with various
outfits to a platter which measured 36 x 43.7 cm. The platter, made by
the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory in 1843, depicts a scene in which the
dancer is seated in her rented carriage, which is pulled by her fans. Taglioni
watches a Punch-and-Judy show through her binoculars and in a corner there
is a malevolent witch. A recent search in the Gustavsberg archives yielded
nothing - not more than the fact that there had indeed been such a platter
issued in 1843 and that the name of the artist who painted the scene was
Fredsberg, a resident factory artist. No platters, however, have been located
and one wonders if there still would be one in existence somewhere.
* * * * *