Kung Karls jakt (English: King Charles' Hunt; Finnish: Kaarle-kuninkaan metsästys) is an opera with music by
Fredrik Pacius and a libretto by Zacharias Topelius. It was the first opera to be composed in Finland. Kung Karls jakt was first performed in Helsinki on 24 March 1852. Although the text is in Swedish (Swedish and Finnish are both official languages in Finland) it concerns an event from Finnish history when Finland was a province of Sweden in the 17th century. The work takes the form of a Singspiel with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers (the king himself does not sing). The music is heavily influenced by contemporary German and Italian opera, with a few Finnish elements such as the use of a kantele in one scene.
The plot concerns the visit of the young King Charles XI to the Åland Islands to go hunting. Leonora, the daughter of a local fisherman, learns of a plot against the king's life and saves him. In return, the king spares the life of her fiancé Jonathan, who has been condemned to death for killing one of the royal elks.
