''Prinsessan av Cypern'' (''The Princess of Cyprus'') is a four-act fairy opera by

Fredrik Pacius Fredrik Pacius (; born Friedrich Pacius; 19 March 1809 – 8 January 1891) was a German-Finnish composer and conductor who lived most of his life in Finland. He has been called the "Father of Finnish music". Pacius was born in Hamburg. He was ap ...

, with a Swedish libretto by

Zacharias Topelius Zachris Topelius (, ; 14 January 181812 March 1898) was a Finnish author, poet, journalist, historian, and rector of the University of Helsinki who wrote novels related to Finnish history. Given name Zacharias is his baptismal name, and this ...

. It is sometimes referred to as a singspiel or simply as incidental music to the play.Pacius website. http://www.pacius.fi/en/index.html

Performance history

The piece was first performed at the inauguration of the New Theatre (now

Swedish Theatre The Swedish Theatre ( sv, Svenska Teatern) is a Swedish-language theatre in Helsinki, Finland, and is located at the Erottaja ( sv, Skillnaden) square, at the end of Esplanadi ( sv, Esplanaden). It was the first national stage of Finland. Hi ...

) in Helsinki on 28 November 1860, where the Kullervo Overture by Filip von Schantz was also performed. After the New Theatre burnt down the ''Princess of Cyprus'' was performed again at its re-opening. Although occasionally performed after Pacius’s death, ''The Princess of Cyprus'' was neglected for many years. In the summer of 2001, a concert version was played at the 21st Finnish-Swedish Song Festival in Espoo, conducted by

Ulf Söderblom Ulf Arne Söderblom (5 February 1930 – 4 February 2016) was a Finnish conductor and music professor. He was the principal conductor of the Finnish National Opera from 1973 to 1993 and was a key figure in the revival of the Savonlinna Opera Festiv ...

, who also led a BIS recording for CD the following year. In 2008, a stage production was mounted in Helsinki at the Swedish Theatre.Programme with libretto http://www.kypronprinsessa.fi/pdf/Kypron_prinsessa_RUOTSI.pdf Lars-Erik Larsson wrote an opera on the same libretto in the 1930s.

Background

Topelius’ Swedish language play the ''Princess of Cyprus'' is based on an episode in the

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and ...

with Lemminkäinen and Kyllikki. Lemminkäinen journeys to Cyprus and carries off Princess Chryseis back to Finland. Later a blind shepherd kills Lemminkäinen, who descends to

Tuonela Tuonela (; )Oinas, Felix J., and Juha Pentikäinen. "Tuonela." In ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', 2nd ed., edited by Lindsay Jones, 9396-9397. Vol. 14. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. ''Gale eBooks'' (accessed January 3, 2021)/ref> i ...

, but his mother brings her son back to life through prayer. Topelius asked Pacius to make the ''Princess of Cyprus'' into a full dramatic opera, but Pacius was not interested. The music is in the style of mid 19th century romantic composers. There are elements of Finnish music in a 5/4 song and a romance 'Barn av Finland' ('Child of Finland').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prinsessan av Cypern Swedish-language operas Operas 1860 operas Operas by Fredrik Pacius Operas based on the Kalevala