Carl Stenborg (8 September 1752 – 1 August 1813) was a Swedish

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

singer, composer and theatre director. He belonged to the pioneer generation of the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

and was regarded as one of the leading opera singers of the

Gustavian era The History of Sweden from 1772 through 1809 is better known as the Gustavian era of Kings Gustav III and Gustav IV, as well as the reign of King Charles XIII of Sweden. Gustav III Adolf Frederick of Sweden died on 12 February 1771. The ...

. He was a ''

hovsångare The titles Hovsångare (, literally "Court Singer") for men and Hovsångerska () for women are awarded by the Swedish monarch to a singer (usually an opera singer) who, by their vocal art, has contributed to the international standing of Swedish s ...

'' and a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...

Life

Carl Stenborg was born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

to actor

Petter Stenborg Petter Stenborg (1719 – 6 November 1781) was a Swedish stage actor and theater director. He was the director of the Stenborg Company or ''Svenska Comoedi-truppen'' from 1758 onward and as such the director of the '' Humlegårdsteatern'' (17 ...

(1719–1781), director of the Stenborg Troupe, and Anna Krüger (1710–1803). Of his brothers, Johan Fredrik Stenborg (1743–1813) studied at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

and became an official, and Nils Stenborg (d. 1780) became an opera singer. He received a good education, debuted as a concert singer in

Riddarhuset The House of Nobility ( sv, Riddarhuset) in Stockholm, Sweden, is a corporation and a building that maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility. Name The name is literally translated as ''House of Knights' ...

in 1766 and was appointed councillor at the

Royal Court of Sweden The Royal Court of Sweden ( sv, Kungliga Hovstaterna) is the official name for the organisation ( royal households) that supports the monarch, and the royal house. The incumbent monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf, is head of the Royal Court. The Royal ...

in 1767. This was considered unusual, since his father was not of wealthy means. Carl's mother had been the housekeeper of the nobleman and statesman

Adam Horn Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as ...

(1717-1778). Carl or one of his brothers may have been his son, which was to be the reason why the sons of a poor man had been able to receive such a good education and reach high positions so early in life.

Royal Opera

When the Royal Swedish Opera was founded in 1773, he played the main male role in

Francesco Uttini Francesco Antonio Baldassare Uttini (1723 Bologna – 25 October 1795) was an Italian composer and conductor who was active mostly in Sweden. He is best remembered today as a composer of operas in both the Italian and Swedish languages and f ...

's opera '' Thetis och Pélée'' opposite the primadonna Elisabeth Olin, with whom he had a relationship.Bertil H. van Boer, 'Stenborg, Carl' in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', Stanley Sadie and John Tyrell (eds), 2001 He was the leading male star for several years and in 1780 was given a life contract. Although he sang

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

roles, his voice was known for its dexterity and dark

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...

and was nearer to that of a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

. Carl Stenborg was appointed

Hovsångare The titles Hovsångare (, literally "Court Singer") for men and Hovsångerska () for women are awarded by the Swedish monarch to a singer (usually an opera singer) who, by their vocal art, has contributed to the international standing of Swedish s ...

in 1773, royal secretary in 1782 and was elected to the

in 1783.

The Stenborg theaters

He was the director of his father's theatres in 1780–99: from 1788, he was allowed to perform in them. He was engaged in 1782 and in 1793 he married the singer Betty Olin, daughter of Elisabeth Olin, and performed with her in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in 1794 and 1795. The engagement had been long because of the unwillingness of Elisabeth Olin to give her consent to the marriage between her daughter and her own former lover. In 1784 Stenborg's

''Gustaf Ericsson i Dalarna'' premiered at one of his father's theaters. After the Stenborg Theatre was closed in 1799, he toured the country (1804–09) with his own company.

Later life

He was given a pension in 1806. He gave his last performance at a concert on

27 February 1808, "to the great surprise of everyone" opposite Elisabeth Olin, which now also gave her last performance, and Jeanette Wässelius, with music of the royal chapel,

Johann Christian Friedrich Hæffner Johann Christian Friedrich Hæffner (2 March 1759 in Oberschönau – 28 May 1833 in Uppsala) was a German-born Swedish composer. Hæffner received his first musical education with the Schmalkalden organist Johann Gottfried Vierling. He st ...

, Freidrich Müller and his own daughter, the pianist Carolina Stenborg (1798–1869). He died in Stockholm on 1 August 1813.

References

Other sources

Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 26. Slöke - Stockholm 1219-1220
on Project Runeberg. * Kjellberg, Bertil, Beijer, Agne & Andersson, Ingvar (red.), Gustavianskt: 771-1810 Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm, 1945 * Klas Åke Heed, Ny svensk teaterhistoria. Teater före 1800, Gidlunds förlag (2007) * ''Kungliga teaterns repertoar 1773-1973'' Repertoire of the Royal Theatre 1773-1973' 1974 (Swedish) * Oscar Levertin: Teater och drama under Gustaf III, Albert Bonniers förlag, Stockholm, Fjärde Upplagan (1920). Teater och drama under Gustaf III'(in Swedish) * Fredrik August Dahlgren: Förteckning öfver svenska skådespel uppförda på Stockholms theatrar 1737-1863 och Kongl. Theatrarnes personal 1773-1863. Med flera anteckningar. (List of Performances staged at the theatres of Stockholm from 1737 to 18863 and the staff of the royal theatres from 1773 to 1863) (Swedish) * Jonsson, Leif & Ivarsdotter, Anna (red.), Musiken i Sverige. 2, Frihetstid och gustaviansk tid 1720-1810, Fischer, Stockholm, 1993 (Music in Sweden. The age of Liberty and the Gustavian age 1720–1810) * Johan Flodmark: Stenborgska skådebanorna: bidrag till Stockholms teaterhistoria, Norstedt, Stockholm, 1893 * Nordensvan, Georg, Svensk teater och svenska skådespelare från Gustav III till våra dagar. Förra delen, 1772-1842, Bonnier, Stockholm, 1917(Swedish theatre and Swedish actors from Gustav III to our days. First book 1772–1842) (Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stenborg, Carl Swedish male stage actors Swedish operatic tenors 1752 births 1813 deaths 18th-century Swedish male actors Swedish theatre directors Swedish opera composers 18th-century Swedish male opera singers Swedish male classical composers Male opera composers Gustavian era people 18th-century theatre managers 19th-century theatre managers