Carl Rosa - presentation by Iain Fraser

Member Iain Fraser’s passion for operatic matters is well known to his fellow Rotarians and at this week’s meeting he revealed many and varied interesting facts about the UK’s “Father of Opera”.

Curiously Carl Rosa was a German, born in Hamburg in 1842 but eventually settled in the UK and formed the Carl Rosa Opera Company which toured all over the country for many years bringing opera to the previously uninitiated.

How he arrive at that scenario is complicated indeed.

Born Carl Rosi – he disliked the name and changed it to Rosa later in life – he was a child prodigy on the violin, a talent which earned him the nickname “The Juvenile Paganini”.  He toured Germany, Denmark and England, although it sees most of his “English” concerts took place in Scotland,  He was to return to Caledonia many times.

He graduated to organising and conducting operas, with his main aim that operas should be sung in the English language therefore becoming understandable and enjoyable to all.  During an American tour in 1866-67 as conductor of concert troupe that include the Edinburgh-born Scottish operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa, Rosa and Parepa were married.

On their return, Liverpool became their base and the Carl Rosa Opera Company was formed there.

For years Rosa took the operas of Verdi, Mozart, Wagner and many others throughout Britain, putting on the astonishing total of some 280 performances each year.  Whether it was Aberdeen, Brechin, Glasgow or Ayr, Rosa’s performances certainly engaged a new and wide audience for opera.

One of the shows was in the 19^th century St Andrews Town Hall, where he had already appeared as a 13 year-old violinist in 1855 and two years later in a classical variety show.  On Rabbie Burns anniversary on January 25 1859, Rosa was back in Scotland, on this occasion at the recently-constructed Kinnaird Hall in Dundee.

Sadly, during his time in Liverpool, his Scottish wife died in childbirth.  Some time later he married Josephine, the lead dancer in his shows, and together they had four children.  Rosa himself died, aged only 47, in 1899, but his opera company continued successfully in several guises and under different leaders until 1960.

Iain Fraser’s research into the subject had clearly been exhaustive and he was also able to show his audience a slide of a 150-year-old programme from the St Andrews Town Hall performance.

Ewen Allan’s vote of thanks noted Iain’s deep knowledge and a most interesting presentation of it.