Christoffer Christian (or ''Kristofer Kristian'') Karsten (9 September 1756 – 6 August 1827) was a Swedish

opera singer 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 libretti ...

. He was the maternal grandfather of the ballerina

Marie Taglioni Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in t ...

Life

Born in

Ystad Ystad (; older da, Ysted) is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, a ...

, he was discovered by queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia in 1771, when he sang for her on her way to her visit to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and so impressed her that she gave him the opportunity to study singing 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 ...

Career

In 1773 he debuted at 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 ...

in Bollhuset with Carl Stenborg and Elisabeth Olin in the famous opera performance ''Thetis och Phelée''. He was employed at the opera's choir until he performed his first leading role as

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord". R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by ...

in the opera

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

''Adonis''. He was a student of Potenza 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 when he returned in 1778, he became the perhaps most successful male singer in Sweden together with Carl Stenborg until 1806, admired for the beauty of both his voice and his body. In 1781, at his marriage, he was given the villa Canton at

Drottningholm Drottningholm, literally "Queen's Islet", is a locality situated in Ekerö Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden, with 398 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the island Lovön in lake Mälaren on the outskirts of Stockholm. Drottningholm Palace, the ...

, were his family lived until 1870. He was elected into 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 ...

and made

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 1787 and was given the title royal secretary in 1791. At his debut 1776 he was given the critic: :"At last, the director at the Opera have required a rival to Mr

Carl Stenborg Carl Stenborg (8 September 1752 – 1 August 1813) was a Swedish opera singer, composer and theatre director. He belonged to the pioneer generation of the Royal Swedish Opera and was regarded as one of the leading opera singers of the Gustavian e ...

in young Karsten, who sang and played very well in Adonis. Even without the :clothes and the make up he has a pleasant physionomy, beautiful figure, tall and slim", and was judged as: "An enormous victory for (director) Zibet but a créve-coeur for Mrs Olin, who being forced to act opposite a boy from the choir."Personne, Nils,
Del 1 Under gustavianska tidehvarfvet jämte en återblick på dess tidigare öden
' Karsten and Stenborg was the male stars of the Gustavian age in Sweden, and complemented each other well, as they had different ways of acting: "When Karsten with his strong, sonorous, all-dominating voice shooked the entire nervous system of the listeners, delighted them and commanded admiration, the soft, sensitive, melodious tones of Stenborg penetrated the heart and filled the eyes with sympathetic tears." He also toured abroad. He sang in

1783,

1788, 1792 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and 1810–1811 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. When the Royal Swedish opera was (temporarily) closed in 1806, he was forced to retire with the rest of the staff. After it opened again in 1809, he made guest appearances until 1825.

Roles

Among the plays he performed in was ''Arséne'' by Monsigny opposite

Marie Louise Marcadet Marie Louise Marcadet née ''Baptiste'' (3 December 1758 – 28 February 1804) was a Swedish opera singer and a dramatic stage actress of French origin. She was active in the Royal Swedish Opera as a singer, and in the Royal Dramatic Theatre ...

and Elisabeth Olin during the 1779–80 season, ''Alceste'' by Gluck with

Caroline Frederikke Müller Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

and Carl Stenborg (season 1780–1781); ''Roland'' by Quinault with Carl Stenborg and Müller (1781–1782); ''Atys'' by Piccinni opposite Carl Stenborg and Marcadet (1784–1785), ''Iphigenie på Tauris'' by Glück with Carl Stenborg and Müller and ''Gustaf Wasa'' by Naumann with Marcadet, Carl Stenborg and Müller (1785–1786), ''Armide'' by

Quinault Quinault may refer to: * Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast **Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe **Quinault language, their language People * Quinault family of actors, including * Jean-Baptis ...

with Carl Stenborg and Müller (1786–1787); ''Gustaf Adolf och Ebba Brahe'' by Gustav III with Müller,

Franziska Stading Sofia ''Franziska'' Stading (1763 – 8 February 1836) was a Swedish opera singer of German origin. She is referred to as one of the more notable opera singers in Sweden during the Gustavian era. She was a ''Hovsångare'' and member of the ...

and Carl Stenborg (1787–1788); ''Azemia'' by

Dalayrac Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac (; bapt. 13 June 175326 November 1809), nicknamed the Musician poet, more commonly Nicolas Dalayrac, was a French composer of the Classical period. Intended for a military career, he made the acquaintance of many mu ...

with Müller and

Abraham de Broen Abraham de Broen (1759–1804) was a Swedish actor, stage manager and director. Biography Abraham Isaaksson De Broen belonged to the elite of the pioneer generation actors of the Royal Dramatic Theatre. He was also the founder and first direct ...

(1792–1793); ''Folke Birgersson till Ringstad'' with Marcadet and

Inga Åberg Inga Åberg (Ingeborg Elisabeth; 1773–1837) was a Swedish actress and opera singer. She was engaged as an opera singer at the Royal Swedish Opera, and as a stage actress at the Royal Dramatic Theater, between 1787 and 1810. Life Early li ...

(1792–1793), ''De bägge Savojarderna'' (Two Savoyards) by Dalayrac with Müller and Marcadet (1793–1794); ''Reanud d'Ast'' by Dalayrac with Müller (1795–1796); ''Aeneas in Carthago'' by Kraus with Carl Stenborg (1799–1800) and ''Oidipus i Athen'' by Sacchini 1800–01 opposite Stading. In 1796, he played opposite, Caroline Müller,

Louis Deland Louis Joseph Marie Deland (25 April 1772 – 15 April 1823) was a Swedish ballet dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and ballet master in the Royal Swedish Ballet. He is often considered the first native male star in the Royal Swedish Ballet. ...

, Carl Stenborg and

in the play ''Karavanen'' (The Caravane) by Gretry, which was held to celebrate that the young king had been declared of legal majority.

Private life

Karsten married the Polish actor and opera singer Mariane Sophie Stebnowska (1753–1848), also considered as one of the better talents at the opera until 1806. His daughter,

Sophie Karsten Hedvig Sophie Karsten (3 September 1783 – 25 February 1862) was a Swedish ballerina and artist (painter). Born to opera singers Christoffer Christian Karsten and Sophie Stebnowska, she was the sister of painter Elisabeth Charlotta Karsten. S ...

, was premier dancer at the Opera in 1805–1806, married

Filippo Taglioni Filippo Taglioni (aka Philippe Taglioni; 5 November 1777 – 11 February 1871) was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni. (He had another child who also danced ballet, ...

and became the mother of

. His younger daughter,

Elisabeth Charlotta Karsten Elisabeth Charlotta Karsten, married surname ''Kachanoff'' (1789–1856), was a Swedish painter. She was born in Stockholm, the daughter of Kristofer Kristian Karsten and Sophie Stebnowska and sister of Sophie Karsten. She was the student of ...

, was a painter.

Bibliography

* Marie Taglioni, ''Souvenirs. Le manuscrit inédit de la grande danseuse romantique'', édition établie, présentée et annotée par Bruno Ligore, Gremese, 2017. * Madison U. Sowell, Debra H. Sowell, Francesca Falcone, Patrizia Veroli, ''Icônes du ballet romantique. Marie Taglioni et sa famille'', Gremese, 2016.

References

Project Runeberg: Nordisk familjebok / 1800-talsutgåvan. 8. Kaffrer – Kristdala

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100111065210/http://www.genealogia.fi/genos/5/5_37.htm Genos 5(1934), s.37–87 (Finska anor inom furstehus)
Operakabaler – anno 1803

* ''Kungliga teaterns repertoar 1773-1973'' Repertoire of the Royal Theatre 1773-1973' 1974 (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) * 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:Karsten, Christoffer Christian 1756 births 1827 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century Swedish male opera singers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Swedish male opera singers Swedish classical composers Swedish male classical composers Swedish male stage actors Gustavian era people People from Ystad