My good teacher !
A happy opportunity has presented itself, and I will make use of it to write you a few lines in great haste. The bearer of this, my comrade the tenor Roback is due to depart in a few hours time. He intends to journey to Paris to nurse his health, which probably will improve in a more clement climate and I can assure you that he will appraise and feel greatly honoured by your acquaintance. I will thank you very, very much for your dear letter, I would have answered it long time ago if I had not been so busy. And please do not believe that the reason has been indifference on my part. In truth, to be able to answer all the points in your letter, more than casual consideration is required; I will try to answer you as soon as possible.
All my afternoons are occupied with giving classes, there
are many people of the upper classes who this winter have entrusted me
their children - I am even giving classes at Court to the Royal Children.I
have given them about 14 hours tuition. Selinder was sure that he would
be giving these classes; mais il a eu le nez long - -
If everything goes according to my reckoning I hope
that I will see you again this Summer, you my teacher who found joy
in making me happy. But this journey will be of no avail to me if you will
not be at home. Everything will depend upon that. I will discuss this with
you at length.
I will end by assuring you of my way of thinking,
that as far as you are concerned, it never will change.
With eternal gratitude and friendship,
I will remain
Your
Johansson.
Everybody in the theater has been dismissed except those who have a
running contract.
Back
My good Teacher and Friend!
Never ever has any letter surprised so much as your last one.
I hardly believe that it is true. What a joy, and what happiness
it will be for me to see you again in my native city. Something like this
I would never have dreamed of. I have really exerted myself doing
what you asked me for. The other day I spoke to H.R.H. the Crown Prince
about your arrival, he was very gracious, he said that it would be a great
pleasure for him to meet a man with such a great talent as M. Bournonville.
If you, on your arrival requests an audience with him, You will be able
to ascertain how most sincerely amiable he is.
Lieut. Col. Backman seemed to receive the news of your arrival
with great joy and uttered that it would be a pleasure for him to make
your acquaintance, he even said that he would not be against your performing
on stage. However, the news seemed to surprise him greatly.
If M.Bournonville can, please leave Copenhagen as quickly
as possible so that you will be able to get things in order before the
end of this month, or in the beginning of June; because the spectacles
will surely end about the 12th June. However it depends on the weather,
if it is bad they will carry on as long as possible, but if we are going
to have fair days they will be forced to close earlier, even more so as
Tourniair`s horse show will commence their performances at Djurgården
in the beginning of June.
There is now under construction a manège
which will accommodate 1200 and for the first representation surely
all the inhabitants of Stockholm will flock there. Thus, M. Bournonville,
come as quickly as possible before the public will have time to abandon
the pleasures which the Djurgården can offer this season.
"Robert of Normandie" is being rehearsed every day, now it is dress rehearsed
every other evening. It will be premiered on the 10th, that is to say Friday,
it is being staged with great care in its entirety and with new decor.
The number of performances you could count on is quite uncertain, five times in a fortnight would be the most. 300 banco would be, during the best season, the least you should ask for but I find it hard to believe that the directors at this time would enter into such a contract as they can not now count on good attendance. The directors will most probably propose to give you a percentage of the takings. I myself and several others believe that you will be a success, notwithstanding the not so auspicious time of the year. If you would be so good to write me shortly before your departure from Copenhagen I will then be able to have lodgings in readiness not very far from the theater. Naturally you will decide the number of rooms needed and when I can expect you; going by Malmö and Ystad to Stockholm it will take 31/2 days, but going by Helsingborg, Gothenburg and by canal to Stockholm, not less than 8 days, this latter route by Götha Canal is actually divine.
Some of our sujets will be travelling this Summer - among those Mlles Högquist and Daguin who will be going to Paris, if possible they intend to travel about the 20th of this month. Thus the latter will be safe and what stand Selinder is going to take, when he gets to hear of your arrival, I can only imagine.I have had a vicious row with him which I will tell you about when we meet. But one who rejoices in heart and soul in your arrival is M. Wallquist - he asks to convey his most heartfelt greetings and bids you a thousand times welcome.
Farewell, my dear M. Bournonville. With impatience and longing I shall
wait until I will see you.
Your eternally devoted and grateful eleve and friend.
Johanson.
Back
Good M. Bournonville!
I received your letter of 25th April on 2nd May, thus I could not answer it the following day, because during this short space of time I could not get anything done. At the first opportunity I will inform H.R.H. about your arrival.
Your last letter, (9th May) I received 15 inst. I had already been looking for some rooms; but I have not yet found anything I like. Everywhere I have been they have charged for three rooms 12 Riksdaler banco per week with five beds. (Price goes up the more beds there are) I promise that the rooms will not be far from the theater.
You will not be able to collect your meals from the place where I eat, it might not suit you. Nowadays there is only one set meal every day. However, there are masses of catering inns where the food is very good and one can choose from a menu, so you will not starve.
The steamer leaves Gothenburg for Stockholm on the
26th and will arrive here the 30th early afternoon. If I am busy doing
classes at the Royal Palace just then, Wallquist will receive and great
the friends and bring them to there logis. The steamer will anchor at Riddarholmen.
I promise you, M. Bournonville that you will have great pleasure travelling
through the canals, especially if the weather is nice - it is a divine
tour.
I forgot to tell you in my last letter that the newspapers have
already informed the public of your arrival. Everybody is talking about
your arrival, that is to say, le beau monde.
I have given your regards to Mlle. Daguin and Mr. Selinder,
sher departs for Lubeck, the 30th, the same day as you will arrive. She
has desired a day off on the 19th, but being refused considering that "Robert"
has not yet being performed the determined number of times. She is
very sad not to be able to meet you, M. Bournonville. She asks me to convey
her most heartfelt synphathies. She had so much wanted to partake of your
company. The latter, M. Selinder, surely rejoices in his heart at
your arrival. It is very wise of you, M. Bournonville as a man of the world,
to be desirous of friendly elations with Selinder and you have no reason
to feel otherwise. In any case I can assure you that he in
no way can do you neither harm nor good, with your superiority you will
always be able to flatten him, besides he has been speaking like old almanachs.
I have nothing more to say but will end asking M.Bournonville,
that if any change would occur in the travelling arrangement, if M. Bournonville
would take another route or arrive before the appointed time, be
kind enough to inform me. Thousand times welcome!
Wishes from Wallquist and your devoted eleve, P.C. Johansson.
My regards to the family, Hoppe and the girls.
Back
My good M. Bournonville.
With great joy I will now fulfill my obligation in
writing to you and inform you that I happily returned to Stockholm, to
my pleasant home. I arrived with the stage-coach on 19th September from
Gothenburg.
My journey went very well and it was fine weather. In Gothenburg it
was very pleasant - I stayed there from Saturday morning to Monday morning.
When I stepped ashore from the steamer I met the old Mr Nissen, he immediately
offered me to stay with him, which I accepted; I stayed in his daughters
room, where she keeps her piano forte. I paid a visit to Mme. Gumpert,
she was well; but pined so much for her husband, M. Gumpert should
by then already have been home, by now he surely must have arrived. She
asked me to convey her regards to your family, Augusta, the girls and Hoppe.
Several times I enjoyed the company of Lieut. Col. Clancey. He was very
nice to me, he invited me to have dinner on Sunday, it amused him greatly
to get your greetings and to hear about you, how you are faring and thousands
of other questions. He said that he had parted from you with much regret.
He asked me to convey his sincerest regards to all of you; because he did
not believe that he would get time before I will do it. He would go away
to make all sorts of purchases for the regiment. Clancey had suffered a
great loss the very day I arrived, that is to say he had been forced to
shoot his charger -the most beautiful creature in the whole city and to
him most precious, he had been offered 800 banco for it. As a proof of
M. Clanceys good heart when I bid him farewell he asked me if he could
not in any way do me a favour. I thanked him and told him that I could
not think of anything - he asked me if I did not need money, he asked me
not to feel embarrassed but to tell him honestly if he could be of any
use for me. I thanked him profusely for his kindness; but I wanted for
nothing. One does not meet such people every day, who make such benevolent
offers, at any rate not where money is involved. If he had been a rich
man, I would not have said no.
Now to Stockholm - The day after my arrival here, I presented myself to the Direction, both Backman and the War Council showed their grief of not having been able to grant my request; but I should realize, said the War Council, that it was impossible for the Direction now, with the theater in such dire straits to be able to grant me a scholarship at all. The War Council said that they do not even dare to think of the future but only of the present day, I answered, that in such a case they could not entertain the least hope that something would be done in the near future, then he said that M. Bournonville had told him that if he were a young man and could choose between Copenhagen and Stockholm, he would rather choose Stockholm as here there is a better future for the theater; whereas in Copenhagen it will get worse - whereupon I answered him it is easy for M. Bournonville to say so as he does know the conditions of the Swedish theater, and that I could remain here and become an old man waiting for better days to come, and if it comes the Direction could throw me out into the street, together with several others.
The War Councillor is at present away visiting his
relatives in Christianstad - the other day someone told me that the War
Councillor probably on this his journey would be visiting Copenhagen, thus
you might already have spoken to him. This morning I called on the War
Councilloress, we spoke a lot about the gracious Danes - our entire conversation
was about you and your family, about your stay here, about the sweet amiable
Mme. Bournonville etc. etc. They asked me to send thousands of greetings.
Mlle. Emilie, the eldest daughter, who was away last Summer, is so unhappy
that she was not at home to make your and the girls acquaintance. I consoled
her that she will get a new opportunity next Spring, when you, as EVERYBODY
HOPES, will return to us. The spectacles were already in full swing when
I returned; but it is only the lyrical stage which pulls them in, the drama
side is very poor going - not a single new piece has been given - just
little snippets, ancient, and the takings have mostly been 2, 3 or 400
banco. Fra Diavolo has been performed 3 times - I did my entre (27th Sept.)
I danced my pas de trois from Waldemar in the third act. The audience received
me with a vigorous applause - I had great success during the pas and every
time I have done very well. 15th of this month " La Vestale" will be performed,
then I will be dancing the pas which belongs to the opera.
Mlle. Daguin will dance it with me, there is also a pas de trois which
Silfverberg will dance with Fägerstedt and Granberg. Silfverberg has
not got a new contract, but has signed a kind of agreement that he will
dance until the month of February for those 200 banco which the Direction
had left over. He is completely without money and has thus been forced
to succumb to these conditions - he has not yet been on duty and probably
he will not do anything until "La Vestale". These days he is seeking a
post as a dancing master in Fredrikshamn in Finland - when I returned home
he had got a reply from the principal of the Academy that the post was
still vacant and that Silfverberg should send an application form and his
curriculum vitae, this he has done and it is highly probable that he will
get the post, then he would really be in luck from the start. The annual
salary is 1000 roubles. If this works out for S., then the Direction has
done something stupid. The Direction has not even mentioned anything about
Granberg to me, whether I should give her classes. I am not going to bring
it up at all.
Last night Dalqvist appeared, for the first time in "Hernani" as Don Carlos, He refused 12, 14, and 1600 banco in salary, he thought that the theater could not exist without him and the newspapers have said that he could perform on the foremost stages in Germany - nevertheless he has now offered himself to perform for only the bonus, this has now gone up somewhat so that he reckons on not dying from hunger. Roback is not contracted and will not be either, he is now in hospital in order to get really well in his throat, He is going to have a "silence cure" if I may call it that. He must not, on the pain of death, speak a word for two months. If someone visits him, he must communicate by writing. A couple of days ago he was operated on in the throat, the uvula has been cut off, as it is supposed to have been quite weakened.
These days I am absolutely homeless, I have not yet found any
room, for several days I have been running like a madman after newspapers
and those bits of information I have been given, but alas; either it has
already been taken, or it has been too damned expensive, or too awful or
too far away etc. I have advertised about lodgings with full board; but
I have not had any replies yet. I will advertise again, in any case I might
get a room when everybody else gets organized.
As there is going to be a Parliament this winter, rooms are scarce
and they are so expensive at present I am staying with one of my friends.
I also called on mr Berg today, he has really had a hard time.
He has gout, when I returned home he was very poorly, now it is better,
yesterday he was out of bed for the first time, he has even had gout in
the eyes so that he has not been able to see, now even that has improved;
he remains awfully fatigued. He sends you and Mme. Bournonville, the girls
and Hoppe his kindest regards, he asked me to tell you that you are forever
in his thoughts - he asks for your forgiveness because he has not been
able to write; but as soon as his eyesight improves, and he is allowed
to write, it will bring him the greatest joy to write to you. I will end
with many kind regards from everybody at Petterssons, and Almlöfs,
the Conductor (he wrote last Tuesday) even from the President.
He wants to pay his respects. Farewell, good M. B. Live well! and think
sometimes with friendliness of your eleve.
Johansson.
Oh dear! I must not forget to send you greetings from Mlle. Lind.
Notes
We gather that Johansson wanted lodgings with full board. As a bachelor
he could not cope with domestic problems - in those days, menfolk
were not supposed to be able to fend to themselves, so it might be interesting
to know what was being served in that boarding house dining room. There
was often cabbage soup with forcemeat balls, there could be a herring salad
with diced apples and onions. For dessert there might have been something
like the French dish pain perdu, slices of bread dipped in a mixture of
milk and beaten egg, then fried and served with jam.
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