Hedvig Wigert

Hedvig Christina Wigert, "née" Falk, (1748-1780), was a Swedish opera singer and actress. She belonged to the famous pioneer group of performers of the Royal Swedish Opera.

Hedvig Falk belonged to the first group of singers hired at the foundation of the Royal Swedish Opera in Bollhuset in 1773. Just as the great Elisabeth Olin, she was by then a singer and well-known for her musical talent, called: "one for her musicial talent already well-known female", and Gustav III wanted her for the part of the goddess Doris in the opening grand opera "Thetis och Pélée" (an opera in Swedish composed by Francesco Uttini with words by Johan Wellander) at the inauguration of the new Opera.

The employment of Wigert illustrates social and gender-related issues; there was an initial difficulty in getting female actors because the profession had a bad reputation, and Wigert also represents the fact that people from the upper-classes participated in the Opera project of the king; similar to the case of Elisabeth Olin, Wigert was a member of the upper-classes, and though she herself was willing to participate, her employment was delayed by the disapproval of "Two old powder-witches" in her family; eventually, she was given a contract which stipulated that she would be allowed to resign whenever her family wished her to, as long as she participated in the inauguration performance.

After Doris in "Thetis och Pélée", in the inauguration performance of the Opera 18 January 1773, where she played opposite Carl Stenborg (Phelée), Elisabeth Olin ("Thetis"), Lars Lalin (Jupiter), Anders Nordén (Neptune), Nils Gustav Stenborg (Mercury), Betty Olin (Amor) and Hans Björkman and Johan Filip Lising, she played "many demanding parts", the most remembered being the main part of "Mérope" by Voltaire in the 1777-78 season after her marriage, were she according to the papers, "was given lively approval" by the audience.

References

* Anna Ivarsdotter Johnsson and Leif Jonsson, "Musiken i Sverige, Frihetstiden och Gustaviansk tid 1720-1810"
* Georg Nordensvan, "Svensk teater och svenska skådespelare från Gustav III till våra dagar, Första bandet, 1772-1842"
* "Kungliga teaterns repertoar 1773-1973"
* Oscar Levertin, "Teater och drama under Gustaf III", Albert Bonniers förlag, Stockholm, Fjärde Upplagan (1920).