''Rosina'' is a 1782

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

William Shield William Shield (5 March 1748 – 25 January 1829) was an English composer, violinist and violist. His music earned the respect of Haydn and Beethoven. Life and musical career Shield was born in Swalwell near Gateshead, County Durham, the so ...

to an English-language libretto by

Frances Brooke Frances Brooke ( Moore; 12 January 1724 – 23 January 1789) was an English novelist, essayist, playwright and translator. Hers was the first English novel known to have been written in Canada. Biography Frances Moore was born in Claypole, ...

. The opera was written in 1771/72 but first performed at the

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal O ...

, on 31 December 1782. It was intended to be used as a light afterpiece to a more "serious" work sung in Italian. Such works were common at the time, although Rosina is the only one that has survived in the form of a complete score. ''Rosina'' has a number of features associated with later English comic opera, and even modern

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

– including the use of English, spoken dialogue, lightness of theme, and the use of folk and popular melodies. At least to that degree, it may be regarded as one of the ancestors of the musical, and Shield as one of the first composers of musicals. It was popular at the time. On 27 January 1808 the opening performance of the Sunderland Theatre featured ''The Cure for the Heart '' and ''Rosina'' in a benefit performance for sailors from Tyne and Wear held prisoners of war in France."SHIP NEWS", ''Morning Chronicle'' (London, England), Tuesday, January 19, 1808; Issue 12068.

Recordings

*''Rosina'' – complete recording with original

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

but on modern instruments. With Margreta Elkins (Rosina),

Elizabeth Harwood Elizabeth Harwood (27 May 1938 – 22 June 1990) was an English lyric soprano. After a music school, she enjoyed an operatic career lasting for over two decades and worked with such conductors as Colin Davis and Herbert von Karajan. She was ...

(Phoebe), Monica Sinclair (William),

Robert Tear Robert Tear (pronounced to rhyme with "beer"), CBE (8 March 1939 – 29 March 2011) was a Welsh tenor singer, teacher and conductor. He first became known singing in the operas of Benjamin Britten in the mid-1960s. From the 1970s until his ...

(Mr. Belville), Kenneth MacDonald (Captain Belville), Ambrosian Singers and

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

, Richard Bonynge conducting. Decca 1966, 50 minutes.

References

1782 operas Operas English-language operas Opera world premieres at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden {{English-opera-stub