Christina Rahm
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Christina Rahm (1763–1837)[1] was a Swedish opera singer and stage actress. She was active in the Stenborg Company at the Eriksberg Theatre in Stockholm in 1780-84 and at the Stenborg Theatre in 1784-99, and thereafter in travelling theatres. In 1785, she became the first Swedish artist to play Rosina in The Barber of Seville.[2]
Christina Rahm arrived in Stockholm in 1782 as the spouse of the wigmaker of the Royal Swedish Opera, Jacob Rahm. She was engaged by Carl Stenborg of the Stenborg Company the same year, which was housed in the Eriksberg Theatre until 1784 and then at the Stenborg Theatre.
The Stenborg theater was a very popular theater normally frequented by the public in Stockholm rather than the upper classes, and where Rahm was to become a celebrated prima donna. As she was both an opera singer and a dramatic actress, she could act in both opera performances and theater plays, and was described as "one of the theatre's most useful actresses." She was described as a good singer and was often given main parts when the theater offered opera and other lyrical performances. Several benefit performances were given to Christina Rahm, illustrating her status as one of the theater's most valuable members.
She was often used in the role of soubrette. On 11 December 1785, she was the first Swedish artist to play Rosina in The Barber of Seville. She is noted to have played the role pregnant with her daughter: she had five children.
After the 1798-99 season, the Stenborg theater was closed after the introduction of the Stockholm monopoly of the royal theaters. Rahm toured with the travelling theatre of Johan Anton Lindqvist, where she performed in Gothenburg. In 1800, her husband died in poverty. In 1804–09, she was active as a member in the travelling theatre of Carl Stenborg, and as such performed in Linköping, Karlskrona Kalmar and Gothenburg.
