Sigrid Arnoldson
Encyclopedia
Sigrid Arnoldson was a Swedish
opera
singer with an active international career at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th. Possessing a fine coloratura soprano
voice with a range of three octaves, music critics believed she was Jenny Lind
's successor and dubbed her "the new Swedish Nightingale". Her voice is preserved on several recordings made in Berlin for the Gramophone Company
between 1906 and 1910.
, Arnoldson was taught by her father Carl Oskar Arnoldson, a respected tenor
, and by Fritz Arlberg, a famous Swedish baritone
. She later had further studies in Paris. She made her professional opera debut in 1885 at the Prague National Theatre
as Rosina in Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville
. The part became her calling card at a number of important houses, including her first and very successful appearances at the Bolshoi Theatre
in Moscow in 1886. That same year The Musical Times
reported that Franz Liszt
had predicted "a brilliant career" for her..
Arnoldson made her London debut in 1887 in Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville
at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
along with Fernando de Lucia
, Mattia Battistini
and Edouard de Reszke
. As Rosina, she was said to be "Young, pretty, and of engaging manner, with a good voice and method, and considerable talent as an actress" and to have "won public favour with the greatest of ease". Apart from a poorly received Zerlina (Don Giovanni
) in 1887, her success there was considerable, and she was engaged to sing at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden
in 1888 and again between 1892 and 1894. The Musical Times called her Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro
) "charming", and her work as George Fox's Nydia in the eponymous opera "a graceful impersonation"
She was engaged in 1890 by the Max Strakosch for an American tour of some 60 concerts for the sum of 250,000 Francs. Her Barcelona debut at the Liceu
in 1891 was reported as being "most enthusiastically received". She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York as Baucis in Philémon et Baucis
in 1893, despite the fact that in 1892 it had been reported that "her voice was smaller than ever".
In 1897 she is recorded as having sung two "hackneyed show pieces" at a Royal Philharmonic Society
concert in London, which were "rapturously applauded" yet earlier that year she was appearing with "immense success" at the Mariinsky Theatre
in Saint Petersburg in Italian opera. 1898 saw her giving a series of performances at the Berlin State Opera
.. As late as 1906 she achieved a "triumph" at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo
in Anton Rubinstein
's The Demon
.
Arnoldson's other roles included Elsa from Richard Wagner
's Lohengrin
, Nedda in Pagliacci
, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Papagena in The Magic Flute
, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera
, Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots
, and Sophie in Werther
with Jean de Reszke
. She also portrayed both Micaëla and the title heroine in Georges Bizet
's Carmen
. She sang the latter impersonation as a last-minute substitute for an indisposed Emma Calvé
at Covent Garden in 1903. She had never sung the role before or ever intended to assail it onstage. She did, however, know the music, as she was accustomed to learning all the parts within the operas she sang in. The performance was later called by Gramophone her "solitary failure"; but given the circumstances of the performance that judgement seems ungenerous.
By 1910 Arnoldson was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
. She retired from the stage in 1911, after which she taught singing in Vienna
for over 25 years. She moved to Stockholm in 1938 where she continued to teach up until her death in 1943.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer with an active international career at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th. Possessing a fine coloratura soprano
Coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...
voice with a range of three octaves, music critics believed she was Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
's successor and dubbed her "the new Swedish Nightingale". Her voice is preserved on several recordings made in Berlin for the Gramophone Company
Gramophone Company
The Gramophone Company, based in the United Kingdom, was one of the early recording companies, and was the parent organization for the famous "His Master's Voice" label...
between 1906 and 1910.
Biography
Born in StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Arnoldson was taught by her father Carl Oskar Arnoldson, a respected tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, and by Fritz Arlberg, a famous Swedish baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
. She later had further studies in Paris. She made her professional opera debut in 1885 at the Prague National Theatre
National Theatre (Prague)
The National Theatre in Prague is known as the Alma Mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art.The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition which was created and maintained by the most distinguished...
as Rosina in Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
. The part became her calling card at a number of important houses, including her first and very successful appearances at the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in Moscow in 1886. That same year The Musical Times
The Musical Times
The Musical Times is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It is currently the oldest such journal that is still publishing in the UK, having been published continuously since 1844. It was published as The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular until...
reported that Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
had predicted "a brilliant career" for her..
Arnoldson made her London debut in 1887 in Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
along with Fernando de Lucia
Fernando De Lucia
Fernando De Lucia was an Italian opera tenor and singing teacher who enjoyed an international career....
, Mattia Battistini
Mattia Battistini
Mattia Battistini was an Italian operatic baritone. He became internationally famous due to the beauty of his voice and the virtuosity of his singing technique, and he earned the sobriquet "King of Baritones".-Early life:...
and Edouard de Reszke
Edouard de Reszke
Édouard de Reszke, originally Edward, was a Polish bass from Warsaw. Born with an impressive natural voice and equipped with compelling histrionic skills, he became one of the most illustrious opera singers active in Europe and America during the late-Victorian Era.-Career:Édouard de Reszke was...
. As Rosina, she was said to be "Young, pretty, and of engaging manner, with a good voice and method, and considerable talent as an actress" and to have "won public favour with the greatest of ease". Apart from a poorly received Zerlina (Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
) in 1887, her success there was considerable, and she was engaged to sing at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
in 1888 and again between 1892 and 1894. The Musical Times called her Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
) "charming", and her work as George Fox's Nydia in the eponymous opera "a graceful impersonation"
She was engaged in 1890 by the Max Strakosch for an American tour of some 60 concerts for the sum of 250,000 Francs. Her Barcelona debut at the Liceu
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
in 1891 was reported as being "most enthusiastically received". She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York as Baucis in Philémon et Baucis
Philémon et Baucis
Philémon et Baucis is an opera in three acts by Charles Gounod with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. The opera is based on the tale of Baucis and Philemon as told by La Fontaine...
in 1893, despite the fact that in 1892 it had been reported that "her voice was smaller than ever".
In 1897 she is recorded as having sung two "hackneyed show pieces" at a Royal Philharmonic Society
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
concert in London, which were "rapturously applauded" yet earlier that year she was appearing with "immense success" at the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
in Saint Petersburg in Italian opera. 1898 saw her giving a series of performances at the Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
.. As late as 1906 she achieved a "triumph" at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Opéra de Monte-Carlo
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house located in the principality of Monaco.With the lack of cultural diversions available in Monaco in the 1870s, Prince Charles III, along with the Société des Bains de Mer, decided on the construction of an opera house. Initially, it was Charles III's...
in Anton Rubinstein
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
's The Demon
The Demon (opera)
The Demon is an opera in three acts by Russian composer Anton Rubinstein. The work was composed in 1871. The libretto was by Pavel Viskovatov, based on the poem of the same name by Mikhail Lermontov.-Background:...
.
Arnoldson's other roles included Elsa from Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, Nedda in Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Papagena in The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
, Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
, and Sophie in Werther
Werther
Werther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....
with Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke, born Jan Mieczyslaw, , was a Polish tenor. Renowned internationally for the high quality of his singing and the elegance of his bearing, he became the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century....
. She also portrayed both Micaëla and the title heroine in Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
. She sang the latter impersonation as a last-minute substitute for an indisposed Emma Calvé
Emma Calvé
Emma Calvé, born Rosa Emma Calvet , was a French operatic soprano.Calvé was probably the most famous French female opera singer of the Belle Époque. Hers was an international career, and she sang regularly and to considerable acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, and the Royal Opera...
at Covent Garden in 1903. She had never sung the role before or ever intended to assail it onstage. She did, however, know the music, as she was accustomed to learning all the parts within the operas she sang in. The performance was later called by Gramophone her "solitary failure"; but given the circumstances of the performance that judgement seems ungenerous.
By 1910 Arnoldson was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
Royal Swedish Academy of Music
The Royal Swedish Academy of Music or Kungl. Musikaliska Akademien, founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden...
. She retired from the stage in 1911, after which she taught singing in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
for over 25 years. She moved to Stockholm in 1938 where she continued to teach up until her death in 1943.