Carl Rosa Opera Company - Rosa's Death; Survival of The Company

Rosa's Death; Survival of The Company

Carl Rosa died suddenly in Paris, on 30 April 1889, and was buried in Highgate Cemetery, 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 was appointed conductor of the company in 1893. In 1897, the company gave the first British performance of Puccini's La bohème 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 conducted by Eugène Goossens II. The company survived World War I and the sudden death of Walter van Noorden in 1916, touring the British provinces. Many young British singers joined the company, including Olive Gilbert, 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, the company nevertheless presented seasons in London and the provinces. Singers of the 1930s and 1940s included Dora Labbette, Joan Hammond, Heddle Nash, Norman Allin and Otakar Kraus. Conductors included the refugees Walter Susskind (1942–44) Vilém Tauský (1945–49) and Peter Gellhorn.