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‘Le bon public de la Haye’. Local governance and the audience in the French opera in The Hague, 1820–1890

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2013

JAN HEIN FURNÉE
JAN HEIN FURNÉE*
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Amsterdam, Spuistraat 134 (k. 533), 1012 VB Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Abstract:

In nineteenth-century The Hague, the French opera performances in the Royal Theatre were the most important occasions during the winter season at which men and women from almost all social ranks experienced a strong sense of social cohesion in a common leisure pursuit, albeit one in which social hierarchies were clearly demarcated. This article analyses the changing social composition of the opera audience through analysis of subscription and admission records, and evaluates the changing composition of the audience in relation to changes in taste, theatre architecture and policy. Although it was almost impossible to exploit financially and was also a constant object of political, musical and moral criticism, the French opera succeeded in maintaining its central position in The Hague's musical and social life throughout the nineteenth century.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History , Volume 40 , Special Issue 4: Music and the city , November 2013 , pp. 625 - 645
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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References

1 Gram, J., ‘s Gravenhage in onzen tijd (Amsterdam, 1893), 137Google Scholar; cf. Furnée, J.H., ‘Muziek voor de haute volée: Concert Diligentia en het Haagse muziekleven in de negentiende eeuw’, Holland, 40 (2008), 189–216, at 189Google Scholar.

2 For the French theatre in eighteenth-century The Hague, see the substantial study of Lieffering, A., The French Comedy in The Hague, 1749–1793: Opera, Drama and the Stadholder Court in The Hague Urban Culture (Utrecht, 2007)Google Scholar.

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6 The sparse literature on the French theatre in nineteenth-century The Hague mainly focuses on institutional developments and is highly anecdotal: D.W.P. Keuskamp, ‘Een en ander over den Haagschen Schouwburg en het “théâtre français” in de 19e eeuw’, Jaarboek Die Haghe (1904), 378–423; Korenhof, P., ‘Het Théâtre français in de periode 1804–1919’, in idem (ed.), De Koninklijke Schouwburg (1804–2004): een kleine Haagse cultuurgeschiedenis (Zutphen, 2004), 82–113Google Scholar; F. Boulangé, En zij zongen in de Franse Schouwburg: uit de geschiedenis van de Koninklijke Franse Schouwburg, 1804–1919, 2 vols. (unpublished, n.p., n.d.). For an excellent overview of the repertoire, see F. Boulangé, Théâtre Royal Français: chronologische lijst van programma's uitgevoerd door Franse toneel/operagezelschappen in de Koninklijke Schouwburg Den Haag, 1804–1919, 9 vols. (n.p., 1988–98).

7 For the social and cultural history of the Dutch drama performances in The Hague, see J.H. Furnée, ‘“Het genot der middenklassen”: het nationale toneel in de Koninklijke Schouwburg, 1815–1870’, Jaarboek Die Haghe (2008), 12–63; and idem, ‘“Het trefpunt van de beschaafde klassen”: het nationale toneel in de Koninklijke Schouwburg, 1870–1890’, Jaarboek Die Haghe (2009), 101–61.

8 See also M. van der Riet, ‘De Haagse schouwburg, 1802–1830: de aandeelhouders van de Schouwburg – oftewel het “mindere” Haagse publiek’, Jaarboek Die Haghe (2001), 87–141, at 91, 96–8 and 103.

9 Van der Riet, ‘De Haagse schouwburg’, 108; Royal House Archive (KHA), Archive Court Committee (AHC), inv.nr 41, Royal decree, 19 Sep. 1819; The Hague Municipal Archive (HGA), Archive Theatre Committees (ASC), inv.nr 5, Financial overview, 1829.

10 Van der Riet, ‘De Haagse schouwburg’, 118; HGA/ASC, inv.nr 7, Overview of income, 1830–53. Even in 1852, with a total expenditure of fl. 489,039, the local council invested only fl. 36,400 on medical care and fl. 50,000 on education. Verslag over de toestand der gemeente ‘s Gravenhage over het jaar 1852 ('s Gravenhage, 1853), 16.

11 HGA/ASC, inv.nr 7, Overview of income, 1830–53. For the definition of the grand opéra, see Gerhard, The Urbanisation of Opera, 9–10; Charlton, ‘Introduction’, in idem (ed.), Cambridge Companion, 3–10.

12 KHA, Archive of the Treasurer (AT), inv.nr 4, Overview of annual spending, 1841–52; HGA/ASC, inv.nr 7, Overview of annual expenditure, 1844–49; M. Briol, Grandeur et décadence du theatre français à La Haye, 10.

13 HGA, local council minutes, 18 Jan., 15 Feb. and 19 May 1853.

14 HGA/ASC, inv.nr 52, Accounts, 1863–64; ibid., inv.nr 53, Accounts 1864/65.

15 KHA/AHC, inv.nr 31, Rapport betreffende de door Z.M. Willem III aan de Koninklijke Fransche Schouwburg verleende subsidien, 1853–88; Verslag over de toestand der gemeente over het jaar 1880, annex 13 and 14. In 1880, with a total expenditure of 3,1 million guilders, the local council raised fl. 865,000 in local taxes and invested fl. 247,161 on education and fl. 75,451 on medical care.

16 KHA/ASC, inv.nr 1, Rapport court committee to the king, 1 Aug. 1818.

17 HGA, local council minutes, 4 Feb. 1862.

18 For the context of this cultural policy, see Furnée, J.H., ‘The Hague, city of wealth. Urban government and culture in the nineteenth century’, in Lucassen, L. and Willems, W. (eds.), Living in the City: Urban Institutions in the Low Countries, 1200–2010 (London and New York, 2012), 129–46Google Scholar.

19 KHA/AT, inv.nr 2, Board of mayor and aldermen to the king, 15 Jan. 1841.

20 HGA, local council minutes, 19 May 1853.

21 's Gravenhaagsche Nieuwsbode (GN), 2 May 1852; cf. ibid., 27 Feb. 1852.

22 GN, 2 Apr. 1852; Briol, Grandeur et décadence, 11 and 25; HGA/ASC, inv.nr 41, Rapport over den Schouwburg te ‘s Gravenhage, 4–5; ibid., local council minutes, 5 Feb. 1861, 25 Feb. and 2 and 9 Mar. 1863.

23 J.H. Furnée, ‘Between resentment and emancipation: the rise of a shopkeepers and artisan “elite” in The Hague, 1850–1890’, in Couperus, S., Smit, C. and Wolffram, D.J. (eds.), Changing Times: Elites and the Dynamics of Local Politics (Leuven, 2007), 27–40Google Scholar.

24 Dagblad van Zuid Holland en ‘s Gravenhage (DZHG), 11 Mar. 1862; cf. ‘Haagsche brieven’, Utrechtsch Provinciaal en Stedelijk Dagblad (UPSD), 2 Feb. 1865.

25 HGA, local council minutes, 27 Mar. 1860; cf. ibid., 5 Feb. 1862 and 7 Jan. 1868.

26 Ibid., 11 Dec. 1883. As already indicated, The Hague's local authorities tolerated rather than stimulated the twice-weekly Dutch drama performances at least until the mid-1870s. See n. 7. For state support in France and Germany, see Hemmings, F.W.J., Theatre and the State in France, 1760–1905 (Cambridge, 1994)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Daniel, U., Hoftheater. Zu Geschichte des Theaters und der Höfe im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert (Stuttgart, 1995)Google Scholar.

27 The National Archives (TNA), Archive Family Steengracht, inv.nr 181, List of subscribers 1820/21; KHA/AHC, inv.nr 14, List of subscribers, 1850/51; HGA/ASC, inv.nr 115, List of subscribers, 1855/56, undated (prob. 1857/58), 1858/59 and undated (prob. 1862/63); ibid., inv.nr 52, List of subscribers, 1863/64; ibid., inv.nr 53, List of subscribers, 1864/65; ibid., inv.nr 119, List of subscribers 1885/86 and 1886/87. In 1833/34 and 1866/67 the Opéra listed 128 resp. 206 subscribers. In 1850/51 the Théatre-Italien listed 122 subscribers. Huebner, S., ‘Opera audiences in Paris, 1830–1870’, Music and Letters, 70 (1989), 206–25, 208–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 HGA, Archive local council, 1816–50 (AS), inv. nr 861–71, Ticket sale registers, 1830–40; KHA/AHC, inv.nr 25, Ticket sale register, 1850/51; HGA/ASC, inv.nr 52, Ticket sale register, 1863/64.

29 See the sources mentioned in n. 27.

30 See n. 27. For the process of class formation in The Hague's gentlemen's clubs, see Furnée, J.H., ‘In good company: class, gender and politics in The Hague's gentlemen's clubs, 1750–1900’, in Morris, B., Morton, G. and de Vries, B. (eds.), Civil Society, Associations and Urban Places: Class, Nation and Culture in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Aldershot, 2006), 117–38Google Scholar; cf. Furnée, ‘Between resentment and emancipation’.

31 See the sources mentioned in n. 27. Groot adresboek van ‘s Gravenhage en Scheveningen voor het jaar 1880–1881 (The Hague, 1879).

32 HGA/ASC, inv.nr 33, Prospectuses, 1853–64; ibid., inv.nr 34, Prospectuses, 1865–90; ‘Haagsche sprokkelingen’, UPSD, 12 Apr. 1886; Charle, Théâtres en capitales, 258–61 and 274–6; Booth, M.R., Theatre in the Victorian Age (Cambridge, 1991), 40Google Scholar.

33 HGA/ASC, inv.nr 34, Prospectuses, 1870–90.

34 HGA/ASC, inv.nr 41, Rapport over den schouwburg, annex I and II; ibid., inv.nr 34, Prospectus, 1879–80; ibid., Archive Royal Theatre (AKS), inv.nr 7, Auditorium plan 1893; ‘Haagsche sprokkelingen, UPSD, 16 Jan. 1888.

35 HGA/ASC, inv.nr 33, Prospectuses, 1853–64; ibid., inv.nr 34, Prospectuses, 1865–90.

36 See the sources mentioned in n. 28.

37 Gram, ‘s Gravenhage, 218.

38 HGA, local council minutes, 30 Oct. 1872.

39 Ibid., 3 and 17 Jan. 1865.

40 Verslag over de toestand der gemeente over het jaar 1873, 83; ‘Haagsche brieven’, UPSD, 1 Nov. 1875; ‘Brieven uit de hofstad’, Arnheimsche Courant (AC), 11 Feb. 1877. With ‘very low middling class and workers’, this chronicler most probably referred to people like clerks, petit artisans, shop servants, house servants and soldiers.

41 KHA/AHC, inv.nr 14, List of subscribers, 1850/51.

42 Ibid.

43 HGA/ASC, inv.nr 52, List of subscribers, 1863/64.

44 KHA/AHC, inv.nr 9, List of subscribers, 1847/48; ibid., inv.nr 14, List of subscribers, 1850/51.

45 DZHG, 3 Sep. 1864; HGA, local council minutes, 17 Jan. 1865.

46 Gram, 's Gravenhage, 218.

47 GN, 2 Apr. 1852.

48 DZHG, 6 Nov. 1863 and 2 Sep. 1865.

49 HGA/ASC, inv.nr 119, List of subscribers, 1885–86.

50 DZHG, 17 Jan. 1871; HGA, local council minutes, 24 Jan. and 16 Feb. 1871.

51 ‘Haagsche brieven’, UPSD, 13 Jan. 1875; ‘Uit de Residentie’, UPSD, 7 Nov. 1880.

52 ‘Haagsche sprokkelingen’, UPSD, 19 Apr. 1886.

53 Couperus, L., Eline Vere (Amsterdam 1992; orig. publ. 1889), 55Google Scholar; ten Brink, J., De schoonzoon van Mevrouw De Roggeveen (Amsterdam 1872), vol. II, 143Google Scholar.

54 Het Vaderland, 10 Jan. 1880.

55 Boulangé, Théâtre Royal Français, 1825–1835; ibid., 1836–1849; ibid., 1850–1862; ibid., 1863–1878; ibid., 1879–1891.

56 See n. 28. This argument and method draws heavily on the work of Dutch theatre historian Henk Gras. See esp. Gras, H. and van Vliet, H., ‘Paradise lost nor regained: social composition of theatre audiences in the long nineteenth century’, Journal of Social History, 37 (2004), 471–512CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

57 GN, 2 May 1852.

58 See n. 28. Huebner, ‘Paris opera audiences’, 208; cf. Gras and Van Vliet, ‘Paradise lost nor regained’.

59 GN, 16 Jul. 1852.

60 HGA, local council minutes, 7 Jan. 1868.

61 Verslag over de toestand der gemeente over het jaar 1868, 50; ibid., 1877, 91; ibid., 1878, 86.

62 I. Matthey, ‘“Dit kan er wel in blijven”: toneel- en operacensuur in Amsterdam, 1827–1866’, Jaarboek Amstelodamum (2008), 84–135; ‘Brieven uit de hofstad’, AC, 8 Oct. 1888.

63 HGA/ASC, inv.nr 4, Reglement van orde en politie, 1819.

64 Caecilia, 35 (1878), 107.

65 HGA/AS, inv.nr 287, Annexes to the minutes, 19 and 28 May 1828; HGA/ASC, inv.nr 111, Reglement 6 May 1830; ibid., inv.nr 117, Reglement, Aug. 1865; ‘Haagsche sprokkelin-gen’, UPSD, 7 and 28 Sep. 1885 and 12 Sep. 1888; J.H. Furnée, ‘De Fransche Schouwburg in Den Haag als politieke oefenschool, 1815–1890’, paper presented at the seminar ‘Theater en Politiek in Nederland, 1800–1890’, Amsterdam, 26 Feb. 2009.

66 For a more elaborate account, see Furnée, J.H., Plaatsen van beschaafd vertier. Standsbesef en stedelijke cultuur in Den Haag, 1850–1890 (Amsterdam, 2012), ch. 6Google Scholar.