Christina Rahm

Christina Rahm, (c. 1760-1837), was a Swedish operatic singer and a dramatic actress. She was employed at the Eriksberg Theatre in Stockholm in 1780-84 and at the Stenborg Theatre 1784-99, and therefter at travelling theatres. She was the first Swedish artist to play Rosina in The Barber of Seville (1785).

Biography

Christina Rahm arrived in Stockholm in 1782 as the spouse of the wig-maker of the Royal Swedish Opera, Jacob Rahm. She was engaged by Carl Stenborg at the Eriksberg Theatre the same year, and 1784 at the Stenborg Theatre, where she was to be a celebrated prima donna.

Rahm is described as :"one of the theatre's most useful actresses". She participated in both spoken drama as well as opera. She had a good singing voice, which made her often used when the theatre offered opera, musicals and other lyrical performances. She often played the part of soubrette.

Among her parts were: Jenny in Kungen och skogvaktaren(The king and the gamekeeper), Lisbet in Njugg spar, Orphale in Alexander den Store(Alexander the Great) (1784), Catau in Julie (1786), Rosalie in Den bedragne bedragaren(The deceived deceiver) (1788), baron Birkwitz in Greven av Oldsbach(The Count of Oldsbach) (1790), the abbess in The Magic Flute (1794), and Genevieve in Richard Coeur-de-lion by Michel-Jean Sedaine (1795).

On 11 December 1785, she was the first Swedish artist to play Rosina in The Barber of Seville, a part she played pregnant with her daughter - she had five children. A lot of benefit performances were given to Christina Rahm.

In 1799, the Munkbro Theatre was closed. Rahm toured with the travelling theatre of Anton Lindqvist, were she performed in Gothenburg. In 1800, her husband died in poverty. In 1804-09, she was a member in the travelling theatre of Carl Stenborg, and performed in Linköping, Karlskrona Kalmar and Gothenburg.

Roles

When the playwright Didrik Gabriel Björn launched his play Det besynnerliga spektaklet(The odd spectacle) (1790), as an after-play to Greven av Oldsbach (The Count of Oldsbach) by Brandes translated by Björn, the artists of the theatre were to thank the audience for their support in the guise of their most popular role characters. Björn performed as himself: Magnus Bonn as Mäster Sock in Skomakaren(The Shoemaker), Anders Lundberg as Hyrkusken (The Coachman) in Engelsmannen i Paris(An Englishman in Paris) by Bertin d'Antilly, Johan Petter Lindskog as Bartholo and Bazile in The Barber of Seville, Jonas Sundman as Jonas in Mäklaren(The Broker), Carl Schylander as Mor Bobi and dansmästare Rigadoun, Johanna Löfblad as Gertrud in Njugg spar(The stingy saver), Brita Maria Modéer as the maid in Den obetänksamma(The Thoughtless one), Christina Rahm as Anna Stina in Mascarade by Holberg, Lisette Stenberg as Lady Alton in Skottländskan(The Scottish Woman) by Voltaire, Margareta Sofia Lagerqvist as Anette in Anette and Lubin by Charles Dibdin, and Eva Säfström as Trädgårdsflickan (The garderner girl) in Sophie.

See also

• Elisabeth Olin
• Lisette Stenberg

References

• [1]En lång teaterkarriär (A long theatre career) (Swedish), Släkhistoriskt Forum (2004)
• Johan Flodmark: Stenborgska skådebanorna (The Stenborg Stages) (Swedish)

Persondata
Name	Rahm, Christina
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Date of death	1837
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