Ivar Hallström (1826-1901) was one of the most important 19th-century Swedish 
composers, primarily of opera. Although Singspiel-type works had appeared in 
Sweden before, Duke Magnus and the Mermaid (1865) possesses a cohesion that 
makes it truly operatic, although its composer styled it an operetta and 
separated the numbers by spoken dialogue (excluded from this recording). Even a 
casual listen will dispel notions of Sullivan or Offenbach-like frivolity here; 
this is an opera on a nationalist subject in much the same way that The Bartered 
Bride is.

It is also very well put together musically and dramatically. Hallström and 
librettist Frans Hedberg combined folk tale with the traditional antagonism of 
aristocracy and peasantry, adding undisguised anti-Catholicism: the principal 
villain is the zealous, murderous Monk, a powerful vignette ably rendered by 
Marco Stella. Composer and librettist artfully teased audience expectations by 
introducing the characters in Acts 1 and 2 in ascending order of social status 
so that the title character of the Duke does not appear until the finales of 
each, his entrances almost cathartic as a consequence. Aware of European trends, 
Hallström's music paid more than a nod to Swedish folk tunes, though he seemed 
not to have actually used any. (However, one melody from Act 3 seems to have 
entered the folk repertory in reverse!)

The plot is delightfully convoluted, with long-lost ducal babies, love 
triangles, betrothals, threats of death and tragedy. Duke Magnus, lord of 
Vadstena Castle, is beset by dreams of a mermaid in the local lake and at the 
end of Act 1, believing he has seen her, dives in to possess her and has to be 
saved by the knight, Brynolf. Of course it is merely a local girl, Anna 
(beautifully sung by Ingela Bohlin), in a boat. She, as it happens, is in love 
with Brynolf but happens to be the daughter of a local fisherman, Peder, who has 
a grudge against the Duke and has fallen in with a rabid, counter-reformatory 
Monk out to convert the Duke back to Catholicism. There is insufficient room to 
detail the many plot twists before the wonderful denouement where all the 
protagonists stare at each other, declaiming: 'I am seized by horror and 
amazement!' A happy ending of sorts is achieved, but the work ends quietly, as 
the Duke realises his dream has eluded him.

Niklas Willén directs his relatively young cast with aplomb and the Norrköping 
orchestra play with great sureness. If the work has a fault it is that, amid all 
the lovely tunes Hallström composed, there is not one that is truly memorable. 
Splendidly performed, nonetheless - the recording was made after performances in 
the very castle in which it is partly set - and well, if slightly distantly, 
recorded.

  --Guy Rickards