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 premiered many operas in the UK, employing a mix of established opera stars and young singers, reaching new opera audiences with popularly priced tickets. It survived Rosa's death in 1889, and continued to present opera in English on tour until 1960, when it was obliged to close for lack of funds. The company was revived in 1997, presenting mostly lighter operatic works including those by Gilbert and Sullivan. The company "was arguably the most influential opera company ever in the UK".

Background

Jeremiah Gurney - Photograph of Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa

Carl Rosa was born Karl August Nikolaus Rose in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany, the son of a local businessman. A child violin prodigy, Rosa studied at the Conservatorium at

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

and in Paris. In 1863 he was appointed Konzertmeister at Hamburg, where he had occasional opportunities to conduct.Legge, R. H., rev. John Rosselli
"Rosa, Carl August Nicholas (1842–1889)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 14 October 2009 He soon had considerable success as a conductor both in England and the United States. During an American tour in 1866–67 as conductor of a concert troupe that included the Scottish operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa, Rosa and Parepa were married. From 1869 to 1872, Rosa and his wife toured their own opera company through America, with Parepa as the star and Rosa as the conductor. It brought opera to places that had never seen any, performing Italian operas in English, which made them more accessible to American audiences."American and British History"
www.carlrosaopera.co.uk, 2009

Early years

In 1872, the Rosas returned to England and also visited Europe and Egypt. In September the next year, they inaugurated the "Carl Rosa Opera" with a performance of William Vincent Wallace's ''

Maritana ''Maritana'' is a three-act opera including both spoken dialogue and some recitatives, composed by William Vincent Wallace, with a libretto by Edward Fitzball (1792–1873). The opera is based on the 1844 French play ''Don César de Bazan'' by ...

'' in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, on 1 September,Rosen, Carol
Carl Rosa Opera Company
Grove Music Online (subscription required), accessed 14 October 2009 and then toured England and Ireland. Rosa's policy was to present operas in English, and that remained the company's practice."Mr. Carl Rosa and English Opera", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 21 June 1889, p. 7 Parepa fell ill and died in January 1874, and Rosa married a second time in 1881, to Josephine (d. 1927), with whom he had four children. In November 1874, Carl Rosa Opera made its first of many visits to Scotland with a two-week season at

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

's Prince of Wales Theatre. The company's first London season opened at the

Princess's Theatre The Princess's Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street, London. The building opened in 1828 as the "Queen's Bazaar" and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts. It was converted into a theatre and opened in 1 ...

in September 1875, playing Mozart's '' The Marriage of Figaro'', with

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 ...

as Figaro and

Rose Hersee Rose Hersee (13 December 1845 – 26 November 1924) was an English operatic soprano. She was a founder-member of the Carl Rosa Opera Company and later formed and performed in the Rose Hersee Opera Company. Biography Hersee was the daughter of Hen ...

as Susanna. In 1876, Rosa staged a second London season, which featured the first performance in English of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''

The Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dut ...

'', with Santley in the title role. For the next fifteen years, the company prospered and earned good notices, with provincial tours and London seasons, frequently in conjunction with

Augustus Harris Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris (18 March 1852 – 22 June 1896) was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist, a dominant figure in the West End theatre, West End theatre of the 1880s and 1890s. Born into a theatrical family, Harris briefl ...

at the

Drury Lane Theatre 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 Drur ...

. Such was the success of the company that at one point three Carl Rosa touring troupes were set up. In October 1892, Rosa's Grand Opera Company received the royal accolade, with a command performance of

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera style duri ...

's ''

La fille du régiment ' (''The Daughter of the Regiment'') is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti, set to a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard. It was first performed on 11 February 1840 by the Paris Opéra ...

'' at Balmoral Castle. The French-American soprano

Zélie de Lussan Zélie de Lussan (21 December 1861 – 18 December 1949) was an American opera singer of French descent who was successful in her native country but made most of her career in England. The wide range of her voice allowed her to sing both mezzo-s ...

sang the heroine, Marie, and Aynsley Cook "vastly amused

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

as Sergeant Sulpice". In 1880,

George Grove Sir George Grove (13 August 182028 May 1900) was an English engineer and writer on music, known as the founding editor of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Grove was trained as a civil engineer, and successful in that profession, b ...

, editor of the authoritative musical reference work, ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', wrote: "The careful way in which the pieces are put on the stage, the number of rehearsals, the eminence of the performers and the excellence of the performers have begun to bear their legitimate fruit, and the Carl Rosa Opera Company bids fair to become a permanent English institution." The company introduced many works of important opera repertoire to England for the first time, performing some 150 different operas over the years. Besides Santley and Hersee,

Blanche Cole Blanche Cole (1851 – 31 August 1888) was an English soprano. Showing promise as a child, Cole went on to have a successful operatic career, during which she sang 21 roles in English versions of operas in London and the British provinces. She d ...

, Minnie Hauk, Alice Esty, Alice Barth, Georgina Burns,

Joseph Maas Joseph Maas (30 January 1847 in Dartford, England – 16 January 1886 in London) was an English tenor singer. He became a chorister in Rochester Cathedral. At first studying under J. C. Hopkins and Madame Bodda-Pyne, he went to study in Milan i ...

, Barton McGuckin,

Giulia Warwick Giulia Warwick (15 January 1857 – 13 July 1904) was an English opera and concert singer and professor of music in the last quarter of the 19th century. She is best known for roles with Richard D'Oyly Carte's Comedy Opera Company and with the Carl ...

and

William Ludwig William Ludwig may refer to: * William Ludwig (screenwriter) * William Ludwig (baritone) William Ludwig (born William Ledwidge) (15 July 1847 – 25 December 1923) was an Irish operatic baritone who rose to fame in the second half of the ninete ...

were some of the famous singers associated with the company during its early years. Its successes included productions of Cherubini's '' Les deux journées'' (1875); ''The Flying Dutchman'' (1876), with Santley in the title role; the first English-language production of '' Carmen'' (1879), starring

Selina Dolaro Selina Simmons Belasco Dolaro (20 August 1849 – 23 January 1889) was an English singer, actress, theatre manager and writer of the late Victorian era. During her career in operetta and other forms of musical theatre, she managed several of ...

in the title role and

Durward Lely Durward Lely (2 September 1852 – 29 February 1944) was a Scottish opera singer and actor. Although he had an extensive opera, concert and acting career, he is primarily remembered as the creator of five tenor roles in Gilbert and Sullivan's comi ...

as Don José; ''

Rienzi ' (''Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to ''Rie ...

'' (1879); ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

'' (1880); ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...

'' (1882); and the first British staging of Puccini's ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

'' (1897).

Alberto Randegger Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely used textbook o ...

served as musical director of the company from 1879 to 1885, and Gustave Slapoffski was principal conductor from 1897 to 1900. Nita Carritte, Musical Courier, 27 July 1895

Nita Carritte, Musical Courier, 27 July 1895

The company also encouraged and supported new works by English composers. '' Pauline'' in 1876 (

Frederic Hymen Cowen Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen (29 January 1852 – 6 October 1935), was an English composer, conductor and pianist. Early years and musical education Cowen was born Hymen Frederick Cohen at 90 Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica, the fifth and last c ...

), '' Esmeralda'' in 1883 ( Arthur Goring Thomas), ''Colomba'' in 1883 and ''The Troubabour'' ( Alexander Mackenzie), and ''The Canterbury Pilgrims'' in 1884 (

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the ...

) were five of the operas commissioned by the company. Earlier English operas by Wallace,

Michael Balfe Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially ''The Bohemian Girl''. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to co ...

and Julius Benedict were also included in the company's repertoire – not just standard works like ''

The Bohemian Girl ''The Bohemian Girl'' is an Irish Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, ''La Gitanilla''. The best-known aria from the piece is " I Dreamt I Dwe ...

'' and ''Maritana'', but less-familiar operas such as Balfe's ''Satanella'' (1858) and Wallace's ''Lurline'' (1860).

Rosa's death; survival of the company

Carl Rosa died suddenly in Paris, on 30 April 1889, and was buried in

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

, London. Two years before his death, Rosa had turned his opera enterprise into a limited company, and it was in good financial and artistic shape at the time of his death.

Hamilton Clarke James Hamilton Siree Clarke (25 January 1840 – 9 July 1912), better known as Hamilton Clarke, was an English conductor, composer and organist. Although Clarke was a prolific composer, he is best remembered as an associate of Arthur Sullivan, ...

was appointed conductor of the company in 1893. In 1897, the company gave the first British performance of

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

's ''

'' in Manchester under the supervision of the composer. The company then gave a season at Covent Garden, at reduced prices, aimed at attracting "the masses" to opera. By 1900 the company was facing financial problems from which it was rescued by the conductor Walter van Noorden and his brother Alfred, who took over and restored financial and artistic standards. The company presented two seasons at Covent Garden in 1907–08 and 1909, including new productions of ''Tannhäuser'' and ''

Tristan and Isolde Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...

'' conducted by Eugène Goossens II. The company survived

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the sudden death of Walter van Noorden in 1916, touring the British provinces. Many young British singers joined the company, including

Olive Gilbert Olive Sarah Gilbert (22 November 1898 – 19 February 1981) was a British singer and actress, who, in a career spanning seven decades, performed first in opera and then in many of Ivor Novello's musicals in London's West End. After the First Wor ...

, Parry Jones, and Eva Turner, who sang Cio-Cio-San and Santuzza when the company presented three postwar seasons at Covent Garden. In 1924, after another financial crisis, H. B. Phillips became the company's owner and director, and placed it once more on a sound financial footing. Regular London seasons alternated with large-scale provincial tours during the 1920s and 1930s. Although some productions had to be curtailed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the company nevertheless presented seasons in London and the provinces. Singers of the 1930s and 1940s included

Dora Labbette Dora Labbette (4 March 1898 – 3 September 1984) was an English soprano. Her career spanned the concert hall and the opera house. She conspired with Sir Thomas Beecham to appear at the Royal Opera House masquerading as an Italian singer by the ...

Joan Hammond Dame Joan Hilda Hood Hammond, (24 May 191226 November 1996) was an Australian operatic soprano, singing coach and champion golfer. Early life Joan Hilda Hood Hammond was born and baptised in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her father, Samuel Hood, w ...

, Heddle Nash, Norman Allin,

Marina de Gabaráin Marina de Gabaráin (191713 June 1972) was a Spanish mezzo-soprano. Her international career began at Glyndebourne in 1952, where she appeared in Rossini's ''La Cenerentola'' as Angelina (Cinderella), which became her signature role. Life Born ...

and Otakar Kraus. Conductors included the refugees

Walter Susskind Jan Walter Susskind (1 May 1913 – 25 March 1980) was a Czech-born British conductor, teacher and pianist. He began his career in his native Prague, and fled to Britain when Germany invaded the city in 1939. He worked for substantial periods in ...

(1942–44)

Vilém Tauský Vilém Tauský CBE (20 July 1910, Přerov, Moravia – 16 March 2004, London) was a Czech conductor and composer who, from the advent of the Second World War, lived and worked in the UK, one of a significant group of émigré composers and musici ...

(1945–49) and

Peter Gellhorn Peter Gellhorn (born Hans Fritz Gellhorn, October 24, 1912 – February 13, 2004) was a German conductor, composer, pianist and teacher who settled in London and made a career in Britain that lasted unbroken until his death. Life Gellhorn, the ...

, as well as

Harold Gray Harold Lincoln Gray (January 20, 1894 – May 9, 1968) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the newspaper comic strip ''Little Orphan Annie''. Early life Harold Gray was born in Kankakee, Illinois on January 20, 1894, to Este ...

(1943–1946).

End of the old company and birth of the new

Phillips died in 1950. In 1953 the Carl Rosa Trust was formed in association with the Arts Council, who agreed to subsidise the company, now directed by Phillips's widow, Annette. The company gave seasons at

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

in 1955 and 1956. In the 1950s, the musical director was Arthur Hammond. Singers during this period included the dramatic soprano

Ruth Packer Ruth Packer (22 October 1910 – 12 January 2005) was an English operatic soprano. Packer was born in London. In 1939, she made her operatic debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in ''Die Walküre''. During World War Two, she appeared f ...

, the tenor Charles Craig and the baritone

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

. The productions were traditional, but the repertory included some operatic rarities such as

's ''

Manon Lescaut ''The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut'' ( ) is a novel by Antoine François Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of ''Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité'' (''Memoirs and Adventures of a Ma ...

'' and Berlioz's '' Benvenuto Cellini''. Annette Phillips retired as director of the company in 1957 and was replaced by Professor

Humphrey Procter-Gregg Humphrey Procter-Gregg (31 July 1895 – 13 April 1980) was an English composer and academic. Career He was born in Kirkby Lonsdale and educated at King William's College on the Isle of Man and at Peterhouse Cambridge, where he was organ scholar. ...

. At the same time, the board of

Sadler's Wells Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English. ...

made an approach to merge the two opera companies. This approach caused outrage in some operatic quarters, and Sadler's Wells's musical director ( Alexander Gibson) and administrative heads (

Norman Tucker Norman Walter Gwynn Tucker (24 April 1910 – 10 August 1978) was an English musician, administrator and translator. Trained as a concert pianist, he was invited to join English National Opera, Sadler's Wells Opera in 1947 in an administrative role ...

and

Stephen Arlen Stephen Arlen (31 October 1913 – 19 January 1972) was an English theatre manager and operatic administrator. Originally an actor, he took up backstage work as a stage manager, and in the years after the Second World War was in charge of stage ...

) resigned in protest. In response to the outcry, the board of the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

also made an attempt to merge with Carl Rosa Opera. In the ensuing furore, Procter-Gregg resigned, as did the chairman of the Carl Rosa Trust,

Sir Donald Wolfit Sir Donald Wolfit, KBE (born Donald Woolfitt; Harwood, Ronald"Wolfit, Sir Donald (1902–1968)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008; accessed 14 July 2009 20 April 1902 ...

, and trustees

Astra Desmond Astra Desmond (10 April 1893 – 16 August 1973) was a British contralto of the early and middle twentieth century. Biography Early years Astra Desmond was born Gwendoline Mary Thomson (she would later modify the spelling of her first nam ...

and Norman Allin. The Arts Council, which was accused in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

of "doing their level best to kill he Carl Rosa companyoff altogether", withdrew its grant. The Carl Rosa Trust raised money privately, and promoted a month's season at the

Prince's Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was d ...

in 1960, but the company's final curtain descended after '' Don Giovanni'' on 17 September 1960. Sadler's Wells took over some of the company's members and many of its touring dates. The new Carl Rosa Opera Limited was revived in 1997 under the artistic direction of Peter Mulloy. Since then, it has performed West End seasons and toured in the UK and internationally, offering a new repertoire of Gilbert and Sullivan,Shepherd, Marc
Carl Rosa
at ''A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography'', accessed 14 October 2009 continental operettas and a few serious operas such as ''

'', often performed in the original languages. Recent conductors have included David Russell Hulme and Martin Handley. Directors include

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carte ...

References

Notes Sources * *

External links

New Carl Rosa website
of ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

''
Photos of the Rosas
at the G&S Archive {{authority control British opera companies Gilbert and Sullivan performing groups Opera in London Musical groups established in 1873 1873 establishments in England Musical groups established in 1997 1997 establishments in England Musical groups disestablished in 1960 1960 disestablishments in England Arts organizations established in the 1870s

Background

Early years

Rosa's death; survival of the company

End of the old company and birth of the new

References

Further reading

External links