Benjamin Gurney CDV of Rose Hersee at 872 Broadway NYC -2

Rose Hersee (13 December 1845 – 26 November 1924) was an English

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

tic soprano. She was a founder-member of the

Carl Rosa Opera Company The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, and his wife, British operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company premiere ...

and later formed and performed in the Rose Hersee Opera Company.

Biography

Hersee was the daughter of Henry Hersee (1820–1896), a teacher, critic for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'', librettist of Cowen's ''Pauline'' (1876), and translator of operas including ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'', ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...

'' and ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...

''.Rosenthal, Harold. "Hersee, Rose", ''Grove Music Online'

accessed 25 May 2009 She studied with her father and made her début at the age of 11 at the St. James's Hall, London. After singing small roles at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...

and Drury Lane in the early 1860s, including Adina in ''

L'elisir d'amore ''L'elisir d'amore'' (''The Elixir of Love'', ) is a ' ( opera buffa) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's ' (1831). The opera pre ...

'', she toured the U.S. with the Parepa-Rosa Opera Company from 1865 to 1871. After her return to England, she was a founder-member of the Carl Rosa Opera Company, singing Susanna in its opening performance of ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It prem ...

'' at the Princess's Theatre in London, in September 1875, opposite

Charles Santley Sir Charles Santley (28 February 1834 – 22 September 1922) was an English opera and oratorio singer with a ''bravura''From the Italian verb ''bravare'', to show off. A florid, ostentatious style or a passage of music requiring technical skill ...

. With the Crystal Palace company she repeated her Susanna opposite Blanche Cole as the Countess. In 1877, with her own company, Hersee repeated the role opposite Richard Temple, with Florence St. John as Cherubino.''The Observer'', 5 August 1877, p. 3 ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'', wrote in 1924 that her performance as Susanna in ''Figaro'' was still recalled as the best ever heard in the English language. Rose Hersee

Hersee toured Australia in 1879, performing the title role in Carmen every night for three weeks in the opera's first Australian production. In 1884 she appeared in a season of opera in English at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. In addition to opera, Hersee played in lighter musical shows, taking the title role in

Hervé Hervé is a French masculine given name of Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinization was ''Charivius''. Anglicized ...

's ''Frivoli'' at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto ...

in 1886."Drury Lane Theatre", ''

'', 30 June 1886, p. 11 She also appeared frequently at the Covent Garden promenade concerts and at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. After retiring from the stage, she became a successful voice teacher.

References

External links

Picture History

Carl Rosa Opera Company

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hersee, Rose English operatic sopranos 19th-century British women opera singers 1845 births 1924 deaths Singers from London