Jeanette Wässelius
Encyclopedia
Marie Jeanette Wässelius, commonly known as Wässelia or Mamsell
Wässelia, (Stockholm, 23 August 1784 – 5 December 1853, Stockholm), was a Swedish opera singer, court singer
and actress, the leading prima donna
of the Swedish Opera during the Napoleonic age in the first decades of the 19th century and sister of the international opera star Justina Casagli
. She was an associé of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
.
manufacturer. She was accepted as a student at the Royal Swedish Opera
in 1794 at the age of ten, and from this date active as a child actor
in the plays directed by Anne Marie Milan Desguillons
in Dramatens elevskola
and in smaller roles at the main productions.
She was given a contract and appointed premier actress in 1800, after which she came to be considered one of the most promising within her field and as the successor of the prima donna Caroline Frederikke Müller
. During the closure of the Opera in 1806, she was employed at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
, which was no problem for her, as she was fully capable also as a dramatic actor in talking parts; she was said to unite a good singing voice with an equally good talent as an actor at the dramatic stage, and when the Opera was opened again in 1809, she took the place as the leading lady at the operatic stage, just as Carolina Kuhlman
was the leadig lady of the dramatic stage. She was appointed court singer in 1815 and elected as an associé to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
in 1817.
Wässelia retired in 1820 with a full royal pension from the state. Henriette Widerberg
explains the circumstances of the retirement of Wässelia: in 1820, Wässelia was at the peak of her ability, and there was to have been no other grounds for her dismissal than an intrigue staged by actor and singer Edvard du Puy
, with whom she was involved in a conflict and who was at the time prefekt of the opera stage - this statement also comes from Widerberg, who replaced her as the leading prima donna of the stage. Wässelia was never married. The sister of Wässelia, the ten years younger Justina Casagli, entered the theatre school ten years later and was to be famous in all Europe.
, Laura in Léon, ou Le château de Monténéro by Dalayrac
, Sophie in Sargino, ossia L'allievo dell'amore by Paër
, Antigone
in Oedipe uti Athen (Oidipus in Athens) by Sacchini
, Constance in Les deux journées
, ou Le porteur d'eau by Cherubini
and Juliet in Roméo et Juliette composed by Daniel Steibelt
(opposite Karl Gustaf Lindström), (1814-15 season) and Iphigénie in Iphigénie en Aulide by Gluck. In 1809, she was commended for her "appealing modesty and naive love" in Le calife de Bagdad
by Boieldieu
opposite Gustav Åbergsson and Inga Åberg
on the recently reopened Opera. She made a success in the main part of Iphigénie en Aulide
by Gluck in the benefit performance of Elisabeth Forsselius
, who played Clitemnestre (1810); she played the protective angel of Sweden in Gustav Vasa by Gustav III and "did remarkably well" in Fästmännerna (The fiancees) opposite Inga Åberg.
Among her other parts were Lisette in Musikvurmen (Music craze) by Grenier during the 1796-97 season, Melisse in Renaud by Haeffner, (1800–01), Lina in L'opéra comique by F P Della Maria (1803–04), Amelina in Léhéman by Dalayrac (1804–05), Madame de Villeroux in Monsieur Des Chalumeaux by Pierre Gaveaux
(1807–08), Elise in Une heure de mariage by Dalayrac (1808–09), Clorinde in Nicolas Isouard
's Cendrillon
opposite Elisabeth Frösslind
(1810–11), Emilie in Les maris garçons by Berton
(1812–23), Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail
by Mozart, and Mathilda in Joconde by Isouard (1819–20).
In 1814, she performed a cantata
opposite Christoffer Christian Karsten
at a grand ball, which was held in the royal palace in Stockholm to celebrate the new union between Sweden and Norway.
" because of her flat figure, which was only more highlighted by the fashion of the Empire silhouette
of the time. "Wässelia", as she was often called, was highly regarded by the direction because of her professionalism; according to Löwenhjelm, she allowed neither health nor personal feelings ever to effect her work.
Mamsell
Mamsell was a historical Swedish honorific used for unmarried women from about the mid 18th-century until 1866. The title was primarily used for middle class women and women in the cities.- History :...
Wässelia, (Stockholm, 23 August 1784 – 5 December 1853, Stockholm), was a Swedish opera singer, court singer
Hovsångare
Hovsångare , literally Court Singer, is a title awarded by the Swedish monarch to a singer who, by their vocal art, has contributed to the international standing of Swedish singing. The formal title was introduced by King Gustav III of Sweden in 1773, with the first recipients being Elisabeth Olin...
and actress, the leading prima donna
Prima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
of the Swedish Opera during the Napoleonic age in the first decades of the 19th century and sister of the international opera star Justina Casagli
Justina Casagli
Justina Kristina Casagli, née Wässelius, , was a Swedish opera singer. She was internationally famous and active in Italy and Germany...
. She was an associé 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...
.
Biography and career
Jeanette Wässelius was born in Stockholm; her father worked as a tapestryTapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
manufacturer. She was accepted as a student at the Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera
Kungliga Operan is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.-Location and Environment:...
in 1794 at the age of ten, and from this date active as a child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
in the plays directed by Anne Marie Milan Desguillons
Anne Marie Milan Desguillons
Anne Marie Milan Desguillons was a French stage actress, active in Sweden. She was also active as an instructor and director of the theatre school Dramatens elevskola jointly with her spouse, and as such had a great influence over the development of the Swedish theatre.-Biography and career:Anne...
in Dramatens elevskola
Dramatens elevskola
Dramatens elevskola, i.e. Kungliga Dramatiska Teaterns Elevskola, or in Eng: The Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school, was the acting school of Sweden's national stage, The Royal Dramatic Theatre, and for many years seen as the foremost theatre school and drama education for Swedish stage actors...
and in smaller roles at the main productions.
She was given a contract and appointed premier actress in 1800, after which she came to be considered one of the most promising within her field and as the successor of the prima donna Caroline Frederikke Müller
Caroline Frederikke Müller
Caroline Frederikke Müller , also known as Caroline Walther, was a Danish and later naturalized Swedish singer , dancer and actor and principal of the theatre academy Dramatens elevskola...
. During the closure of the Opera in 1806, she was employed at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
, which was no problem for her, as she was fully capable also as a dramatic actor in talking parts; she was said to unite a good singing voice with an equally good talent as an actor at the dramatic stage, and when the Opera was opened again in 1809, she took the place as the leading lady at the operatic stage, just as Carolina Kuhlman
Carolina Kuhlman
Ottilia Carolina Kuhlman, also Carolina Deland and Carolina Åbergsson, , was a Swedish actor, the leading lady on the Swedish stage during the Napoleon era in the first two decades of the 19th century.- Biography :...
was the leadig lady of the dramatic stage. She was appointed court singer in 1815 and elected as an associé to 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...
in 1817.
Wässelia retired in 1820 with a full royal pension from the state. Henriette Widerberg
Henriette Widerberg
Henriette Sophie Widerberg was a Swedish opera singer , actor and memoirist. The most famed singer on the Swedish stage of her time, she was counted as the most popular singer in Sweden during the 1810s and 1830s...
explains the circumstances of the retirement of Wässelia: in 1820, Wässelia was at the peak of her ability, and there was to have been no other grounds for her dismissal than an intrigue staged by actor and singer Edvard du Puy
Jean Baptiste Édouard Du Puy
Jean Baptiste Édouard Louis Camille Du Puy was a Swiss-born singer, composer, director and violinist. He lived and worked in Copenhagen and Stockholm from 1793 until his death in 1822.-Early years:...
, with whom she was involved in a conflict and who was at the time prefekt of the opera stage - this statement also comes from Widerberg, who replaced her as the leading prima donna of the stage. Wässelia was never married. The sister of Wässelia, the ten years younger Justina Casagli, entered the theatre school ten years later and was to be famous in all Europe.
Repertoire
Initially, she was noted in light operettas, however her most noted parts were the interpretations of Armide by GluckChristoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
, Laura in Léon, ou Le château de Monténéro by Dalayrac
Nicolas Dalayrac
Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac, known as Nicolas Dalayrac , was a French composer, best known for his opéras-comiques.- Biography :...
, Sophie in Sargino, ossia L'allievo dell'amore by Paër
Ferdinando Paer
-Biography:Paer was born at Parma. His father was a trumpeter with the Ducal Bodyguards and also performed at church and court events. His name, Ferdinando, was after Duke Ferdinand of Parma and was given to him by Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Duke Ferdinand's wife...
, Antigone
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood", "in place of a mother", or "anti-generative", based from the root...
in Oedipe uti Athen (Oidipus in Athens) by Sacchini
Antonio Sacchini
Antonio Maria Gasparo Sacchini was an Italian opera composer.Sacchini was born in Florence, but was raised in Naples, where he received his musical education at the San Onofrio conservatory. He wrote his first operas in Naples, thereafter moving to Venice, then London and eventually Paris, where...
, Constance in Les deux journées
Les deux journées
Les deux journées, ou Le porteur d'eau is an opera in three acts by Luigi Cherubini with a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. It takes the form of an opéra comique, meaning not that the subject matter is humorous, but that the piece is a mixture of spoken dialogue and musical numbers...
, ou Le porteur d'eau by Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries....
and Juliet in Roméo et Juliette composed by Daniel Steibelt
Daniel Steibelt
Daniel Gottlieb Steibelt , was a German pianist and composer who died in Saint Petersburg, Russia.-Life and music:Daniel Steibelt was born in Berlin, and studied music with Johann Kirnberger before being forced by his father to join the Prussian army. Deserting, he began a nomadic career as a...
(opposite Karl Gustaf Lindström), (1814-15 season) and Iphigénie in Iphigénie en Aulide by Gluck. In 1809, she was commended for her "appealing modesty and naive love" in Le calife de Bagdad
Le calife de Bagdad
Le calife de Bagdad is an opera comique in one act by the French composer François-Adrien Boieldieu with a libretto by Claude de Saint-Just . It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Paris on 16 September 1800 and soon became highly popular throughout Europe. It was Boieldieu's first major...
by Boieldieu
François-Adrien Boïeldieu
François-Adrien Boieldieu was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart".-Biography:...
opposite Gustav Åbergsson and Inga Åberg
Inga Åberg
Inga Åberg was a Swedish actress and opera singer, one of the most popular and well known actors of her time in Sweden...
on the recently reopened Opera. She made a success in the main part of Iphigénie en Aulide
Iphigénie en Aulide
Iphigénie en Aulide is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by Leblanc du Roullet and was based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie...
by Gluck in the benefit performance of Elisabeth Forsselius
Elisabeth Forsselius
Gertrud Elisabeth Forsselius , later Elisabet Haeffner and Elisabet Fahlgren, , was a Swedish opera singer and actor, married to the German-born Swedish composer Johann Christian Friedrich Haeffner, and the actor and singer Johan Jacob Fahlgren...
, who played Clitemnestre (1810); she played the protective angel of Sweden in Gustav Vasa by Gustav III and "did remarkably well" in Fästmännerna (The fiancees) opposite Inga Åberg.
Among her other parts were Lisette in Musikvurmen (Music craze) by Grenier during the 1796-97 season, Melisse in Renaud by Haeffner, (1800–01), Lina in L'opéra comique by F P Della Maria (1803–04), Amelina in Léhéman by Dalayrac (1804–05), Madame de Villeroux in Monsieur Des Chalumeaux by Pierre Gaveaux
Pierre Gaveaux
Pierre Gaveaux was a French operatic tenor and composer, notable for creating the role of Jason in Cherubini's Médée and for composing the first operatic version of the story that later found fame as Fidelio....
(1807–08), Elise in Une heure de mariage by Dalayrac (1808–09), Clorinde in Nicolas Isouard
Nicolas Isouard
Nicolas Isouard was a Maltese composer.Isouard studied in Valletta with Francesco Azopardi, in Palermo with Giuseppe Amendola, and in Naples with Nicola Sala and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. From 1795 he was organist at St...
's Cendrillon
Cendrillon (Isouard)
Cendrillon is a French opera in three acts by the Maltese-born composer Nicolas Isouard. It takes the form of an opéra comique with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers, although its authors designated it an opéra série. The libretto, by Charles Guillaume Etienne, is based on Charles...
opposite Elisabeth Frösslind
Elisabeth Frösslind
Kristina Elisabet Frösslind, also called Elise Frösslind, Kristina Elisabet Frösslind, also called Elise Frösslind, Kristina Elisabet Frösslind, also called Elise Frösslind, (27 February 1793 - 24 October 1861, was a Swedish opera singer and actor at the Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Dramatic...
(1810–11), Emilie in Les maris garçons by Berton
Henri Montan Berton
Henri Montan Berton was a French composer, teacher, and writer, and the son of Pierre Montan Berton.-Career:...
(1812–23), Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
by Mozart, and Mathilda in Joconde by Isouard (1819–20).
In 1814, she performed a cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
opposite Christoffer Christian Karsten
Christoffer Christian Karsten
Christoffer Christian Karsten was a Swedish opera singer, sometimes called the greatest male opera singer in Swedish history...
at a grand ball, which was held in the royal palace in Stockholm to celebrate the new union between Sweden and Norway.
Assessment
Her voice was described as a colourful and versatile, her dramatic talent as "mute" but "admirably expressive", her conduct pleasant and it was said that she only needed to be taller to be a perfect heroine and queen. In the press, however, she was sometimes caricatured and called "Miss CucumberCucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
" because of her flat figure, which was only more highlighted by the fashion of the Empire silhouette
Empire silhouette
An Empire silhouette is created by a woman wearing a high-waisted dress, gathered near or just under the bust with a long, loose skirt, which skims the body. The outline is especially flattering to pear shapes wishing to disguise the stomach area or emphasise the bust. The shape of the dress also...
of the time. "Wässelia", as she was often called, was highly regarded by the direction because of her professionalism; according to Löwenhjelm, she allowed neither health nor personal feelings ever to effect her work.