Isak Albert Berg

Last updated April 10, 2019

Isak Albert Berg (22 September 1803, Stockholm - 1 December 1886), was a Swedish opera tenor, composer and singing pedagogue. He was a Hovsångare and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (1831).

Tenor is a male voice type in classical music whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C₅. The low extreme for tenors is roughly A♭₂ (two A♭s below middle C). At the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to the second F above middle C (F₅). The tenor voice type is generally divided into the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or spieltenor.

The titles Hovsångare for men and Hovsångerska for women are awarded by the Swedish monarch to a singer who, by their vocal art, has contributed to the international standing of Swedish singing. The formal title was introduced by King Gustav III of Sweden in 1773, with the first recipients being Elisabeth Olin and Carl Stenborg. The position as such, however, dates back to the 17th century, when Anne Chabanceau de La Barre and Joseph Chabanceau de La Barre were singers at the court of Queen Christina of Sweden.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Music or Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien, founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. The Academy is an independent organization, which acts to promote the artistic, scientific, educational and cultural development of music.

Isak Albert Berg graduated from Uppsala University in 1824. He was a student of Giuseppe Siboni in Copenhagen, and toured Germany and Italy in the 1820s. He was the song master of the Royal Swedish Opera in 1831-1850 and in 1861-1870. Berg was one of the most famed music pedagogues in contemporary Sweden and the teacher of many later famed artists. Among his students were Jenny Lind, Oscar Arnoldson and Mathilda Gelhaar.

Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Sweden and all of the Nordic countries still in operation, founded in 1477. It ranks among the world's 100 best universities in several high-profile international rankings. The university uses "Gratiae veritas naturae" as its motto and embraces natural sciences.

Giuseppe Siboni was an Italian operatic tenor, opera director, choir conductor, and voice teacher. He began his career in his native country in 1797 and actively performed in major Italian opera houses up through 1818. From 1806 to 1809 he performed successfully in London, and from 1810 to 1814 he was active in Vienna, where he enjoyed the friendship of Ludwig van Beethoven. He played a critical role in Danish musical life from 1819 until his death in 1839. In 1819 he joined the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, where he worked first as a singer and later as director of the opera chorus and head director. In 1827 he founded the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. He was married three times during his life, including his second marriage to the sister of poet Franz von Schober. His third marriage produced a son, the composer and pianist Erik Siboni (1828–1892).

Royal Swedish Opera building in Stockholm Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden

Royal Swedish Opera is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.

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References

Sohlmans musiklexikon: nordiskt och allmänt uppslagsverk för tonkonst, musikliv och dans. Stockholm: Sohlman. 1948-1952. Sid. 438-439. Libris 8198860
Svensk uppslagsbok. Malmö 1939.

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