Although he was born abroad and retained the distinctiveness of his own original cultural background, without doubt Albert Rosen was an honourary Irishman, choosing to make his home in Dublin for many years. His death in Dublin on May 23 1997 at 73 years of age marked the end of another era in the musical life of the Irish capital. For those who were privileged to have worked with him over the 23 years he was associated with the DGOS, his loss was all the more heartfelt.
Born in Vienna on 14 February 1924 Albert studied music there with Hans Swarowsky. He moved to Prague in 1960 as resident conductor at the National Theatre, later becoming director of the Smetana Theatre (now the State Opera). His first visit to Ireland was to conduct Massenet’s DON QUICHOTTE at the 1965 Wexford Festival, returning there regularly until 1994 during which time he conducted 76 performances of 18 operas. He also appeared in the USA, Canada and the UK, where he worked with ENO, Scottish Opera and WNO.
Dublin audiences first experienced Albert in the Gaiety pit in Winter 1969 for DIE FLEDERMAUS and he was to be seen there each year until 1989 in an unbroken sequence of 21 consecutive years. Over those years he brought us many memorable performances of an incredible range of operas covering works by Gluck , Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Puccini, Bizet, Massenet, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Smetana and Janacek. In all he conducted for DGOS/Opera Ireland 165 performances: 37 productions of 23 operas in 6 languages – English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Czech. DGOS visits to Cork account for 25 of these performances, all the rest were in the Gaiety. In addition he conducted a number of concerts and galas for the company in both the Gaiety and NCH.
Having been involved as a chorister in virtually all of these performances, I have many vivid memories of Albert’s dynamic approach and his remarkable capacity to wring the best out of performers. Instances that spring to mind include Pedro Lavirgen as Don Jose in CARMEN in 1970, the Japanese soprano Atzuko Azuma in MADAMA BUTTERFLY with Giuseppe Giacomini 1971 and a TOSCA in CORK in 1979 with Lorenza Canepa, Ernesto Veronelli and Attilio D’Orazi, the 2nd Act of which ranks alongside the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world.
Winter 1971 saw THE BARTERED BRIDE sung in Czech with principals, Producer and costumes from Prague all arranged and set up by Albert who was the inspiration and driving force behind the whole project. Chorus Master John Brady performed a minor miracle in teaching the strange and unfamiliar Czech accents to the chorus throughout summer and autumn of ’71. All the sceptics were confounded and a glorious triumph ensued. Gabriella Benackova as Marenka stole the show with her bright pure effortless soprano allied to a charming stage presence – she was irresistible.
The following year Tchaikovsky’s QUEEN OF SPADES was performed in Russian with JENUFA by Janacek produced in ’73 in the original Czech, both with Prague Opera input again organised by Albert.
Mentioning JENUFA brings to mind another aspect of the man’s total involvement and commitment as well as his understanding of the psychology of performers. In the 3rd Act, the village girls perform a short wedding dance which had been causing problems throughout the rehearsals. On the first night , during the 2nd interval, chorus ladies were summoned to see Maestro Rosen in the Green Room and given a glass of brandy and told to knock it back and go and enjoy their dance. Needless to remark this had the desired effect confirmed by the Maestro’s beaming smile from the pit!
Albert Rosen’s last work with DGOS /Opera Ireland was in Winter ‘92 when he once again conducted DIE FLEDERMAUS. The editor of Opera Magazine , Rodney Milnes, reviewing the production in March ’93 wrote – “ chief architect of the success was Albert Rosen. As always, if the conductor is right, nothing serious can go wrong. Rosen has FLEDERMAUS in his bones-real [as opposed to fake, which is much more common] Viennese rubato , irresistible, almost Offenbachian elan. The music, and the audience’s spirits, danced with him ……’’
That last line say’s it all.
[based on a Eulogy written by Paddy Brennan]
ALBERT ROSEN’S APPEARANCES WITH THE DGOS:
| No. | Season/Year | Gaiety | Cork | Opera |
| 1 | Winter 1969 | 4 | – | Die Fledermaus |
| 2 | Winter 1970 | 4 | – | Carmen |
| 3 | Winter 1970 | 4 | – | Fidelio |
| 4 | Spring 1971 | 4 | 3 | Lucia di Lammermoor |
| 5 | Spring 1971 | 3 | – | Madama Butterfly |
| 6 | Winter 1971 | 4 | – | The Bartered Bride |
| 7 | Winter 1972 | 4 | – | The Queen of Spades |
| 8 | Spring 1973 | 4 | 2 | Cavalleria Rusticana |
| 9 | Spring 1973 | 4 | 2 | I Pagliacci |
| 10 | Spring 1973 | 3 | – | The Marriage of Figaro |
| 11 | Winter 1973 | 4 | – | Jenufa |
| 12 | Spring 1974 | 4 | 2 | Rigoletto |
| 13 | Spring 1974 | 3 | – | Lucia di Lammermoor |
| 14 | Winter 1974 | 3 | – | Don Giovanni |
| 15 | Spring 1975 | 4 | 2 | La Traviata |
| 16 | Spring 1975 | 3 | – | Don Pasquale |
| 17 | Winter 1975 | 4 | – | Il Trovatore |
| 18 | Spring 1976 | 4 | 2 | La Boheme |
| 19 | Spring 1976 | 3 | 2 | L’Elisir d’Amore |
| 20 | Winter 1976 | 4 | 2 | The Bartered Bride |
| 21 | Winter 1977 | 4 | – | Werther |
| 22 | Spring 1978 | 3 | 2 | La Figlia del Reggimento |
| 23 | Winter 1978 | 5 | – | La Boheme |
| 24 | Spring 1979 | 5 | 2 | Tosca |
| 25 | Spring 1980 | 3 | 2 | Il Trovatore |
| 26 | Winter 1980 | 4 | – | Fidelio |
| 27 | Winter 1981 | 4 | – | Carmen |
| 28 | Winter 1982 | 5 | – | Il Trovatore |
| 29 | Winter 1983 | 3 | – | Cosi fan Tutte |
| 30 | Winter 1984 | 3 | – | Cosi fan Tutte |
| 31 | Winter 1985 | 2 | – | The Barber of Seville |
| 32 | Winter 1986 | 4 | – | Orfeo ed Euridice |
| 33 | Spring 1987 | 5 | 3 | La Boheme |
| 34 | Winter 1987 | 4 | – | Rigoletto |
| 35 | Spring 1988 | 4 | – | Tosca |
| 36 | Winter 1989 | 4 | – | Carmen |
| 37 | Winter 1992 | 4 | – | Die Fledermaus |
| CONCERTS: | ||||
| Sept 1971 | 1 | Gaiety Centenary Celebrations | ||
| Winter 1986 | 1 | Gala Concert | ||
| Spring 1989 | 2 | Viennese Evening (NCH) |
ALBERT ROSEN’S APPEARANCES IN WEXFORD:
| 1 | 1965 | Don Quichotte | 4 | J. Massenet |
| 2 | 1966 | Lucrezia Borgia | 4 | G. Donizetti |
| 3 | 1967 | Otello | 4 | G. Rossini |
| 4 | 1972 | Katya Kabanova | 3 | L. Janacek |
| 5 | 1973 | The Gambler | 3 | S. Prokofiev |
| 6 | 1974 | Der Barbier von Baghdad | 4 | P. Cornelius |
| 7 | 1976 | The Turn of the Screw | 4 | Benjamin Britten |
| 8 | 1978 | The Two Widows | 5 | B. Smetana |
| 9 | 1982 | Sakuntala | 4 | F. Alfano |
| 10 | 1983 | Hans Heiling | 4 | H. Marschner |
| 11 | 1984 | The Kiss | 4 | B. Smetana |
| 12 | 1985 | La Wally | 4 | A. Catalani |
| 13 | 1986 | Konigskinder | 4 | E. Humperdinck |
| 14 | 1987 | La Cena delle Beffe | 4 | U. Giordano |
| 15 | 1988 | The Devil & Kate | 4 | A. Dvorak |
| 16 | 1989 | Der Templar und die Judin | 5 | H. Marschner |
| 17 | 1992 | Il Piccolo Marat | 6 | P. Mascagni |
| 18 | 1994 | La Boheme | 6 | R. Leoncavallo |
Opera in Ireland 