Swedish opera singers that fit Christine's description

Sigrid Arnoldson

Sigrid Arnoldson (20 March 1861 – 7 February 1943) was a Swedish opera singer with an active international career at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th. Possessing a fine coloratura soprano voice with a range of three octaves, music critics believed she was Jenny Lind's successor and dubbed her "the new Swedish Nightingale". Her voice is preserved on several recordings made in Berlin for the Gramophone Company between 1906 and 1910.

Olga Björkegren

Olga Augusta Christina Björkegren, (8 September 1857 - 30 April 1950), was a Swedish opera singer.

Daughter of the Sommelier Per Björkegren and Anna Söderberg. She was a student at Dramatens elevskola in 1873, and active at Swedish Theatre (Stockholm) in 1875-79 and the Royal Swedish Opera in 1879-87. She was described as dignified and classic and well suited for parts of great dignity.

She married the art collector and writer Klas Fåhraeus in 1887. In 1909, the couple used their villa as a combined art gallery, and their home became a center of artists: many young artists were also allowed to live there free of costs to develop their talent.

Ellen Gulbranson

Ellen Gulbranson (4 Mar 1863 - 2 January 1947) was a Swedish operatic soprano. She was a leading figure among the second generation of Bayreuth singers, whose fame was largely due to the Wagner festivals there. Her voice is preserved on a few recordings made with Edison Records and Pathé Records during the early part of the 20th century.

There are more, but this one,

Margareta Sofia Lagerqvist, caught my attention.

Margareta Sofia Lagerqvist (1771 - 6 June 1800 in Norrköping), was a noted Swedish opera singer and stage actor.

She was emplyed as an opera singer at the Royal Swedish Opera, and as an actor at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, in 1788-99, and additionally as both an actor and a singer at the Stenborg Theatre in Stockholm in 1784-99.

Her father worked as a caretaker. She debuted at the Eriksberg Theatre in Stockholm in January 1784. The same year, she became a student at the Royal Opera, but she was not contracted there until 1788. She was the student of Carl Stenborg.

The memoirist Gjörwell wrote about her: " She lived with her mother and lived a modest life. She was a fairly beautiful girl, sang beautifully but acted with coldness and spoke monotoniously".

At her performance in Norrköping 1800, she was given the critic: "Mrs Brooman have given the part to our complete pleasure. We can only regret, that an illness to the chest deny her voice the strength". She died soon after.

She married her colleague Jan Erik Brooman in 1798.

Very, very Christine-ish, although in the wrong era.


Also, remember that if the book is set in 1880-1881, then Christine must've been born 20 years before that, 1860-1861.