Ivar Christian Hallström (5 June 1826 – 11 April 1901) was a Swedish composer, particularly of opera.Wiklund A. Ivar Christian Hallström. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.

Life

Hallström was born and died in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Although he learnt the piano, he was self-taught as a composer. He studied law in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

and in 1853 was appointed librarian to Prince Oscar which assisted him in advancing his career as a composer. His operas in collaboration with the librettist Frans Hedberg launched his operatic career, where he was particularly able to use Swedish folk tunes effectively. Hallström introduced a flavour of Gallic wit into his light operas, many of them based on French libretti. Fourteen operatic works survive. He was one of the founding members of

Sällskapet Idun is a Swedish association for men, founded in 1862 in Stockholm. Founding Sällskapet Idun traces its founding back to 22 November 1862 at the Hotel Fenix in Stockholm, Sweden. Its founders consisted of Edward Bergh and Johan Fredrik Höcke ...

, a men's association founded in Stockholm in 1862. After many years neglect, Hallström’s operas were revived, in

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...

in 1986 with ''Bergtagna'', seen also at the

York Early Music Festival The York Early Music Festival is an English arts festival devoted mainly to European classical music, classical music from the 18th century and earlier. It was established in 1977, and takes place in York each July, organised by the National Centr ...

in 1988, ''Hertig Magnus'' at

Vadstena Vadstena () is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It bo ...

in 1988 and 2000, also broadcast on Swedish television, and ''Liten Karin'' in 1997, also at Vadstena, with

Malena Ernman Sara Magdalena Ernman (born 4 November 1970), professionally known as Malena Ernman, is a Swedish mezzo-soprano opera singer. Besides operas and operettas, she has also performed chansons, cabaret, jazz, and appeared in musicals. She is a member ...

as Princess Cecilia.Guillaume Maijeur, "Vadstena – Wider horizons" in ''

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

'', 1997 Annual Festival Issue, p. 127

Compositions

*'' Hertig Magnus och sjöjungfrun'' (Duke Magnus and the mermaid) – romantic operetta *''Mjölnarvargen'' (after Le diable au moulin by

Eugène Cormon Pierre-Étienne Piestre, known as Eugène Cormon (5 May 1810 – March 1903), was a French dramatist and librettist. He used his mother's name, Cormon, during his career. Cormon wrote dramas, comedies and, from the 1840s, libretti; around 1 ...

and

Michel Carré Michel Carré (; 20 October 1821, Besançon – 27 June 1872, Argenteuil) was a prolific French librettist. He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing li ...

) - operetta *''Den bergtagna'' (The bride of the mountain king) – romantic opera *''Vikingarne'' (The Vikings) – romantic opera *''Neaga'' - opera *''Per Svinaherde'' (Peter the swineherd) – fairy play *''Ett äfventyr i Skottland'' (An Adventure in Scotland) - ballet in two acts *''En dröm'' (A dream) - ballet in one act

References

External links

* 1826 births 1901 deaths 19th-century Swedish classical composers 19th-century Swedish male musicians Burials at Maria Magdalena Church Swedish male opera composers Musicians from Stockholm Swedish Romantic composers Swedish opera composers 20th-century Swedish male musicians {{Sweden-composer-stub