Vera Rózsa
Encyclopedia
Vera Rózsa OBE (16 May 1917 - 15 October 2010), was a Hungarian singer, voice teacher and vocal consultant
. She had been living in Great Britain since 1954.
After graduating from secondary school at the age of fifteen (much earlier than normal), Vera Rózsa began her musical studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
in Budapest. She studied conducting
first, but later she switched to vocal studies. The composer and conductor Zoltán Kodály
was one of her instructors.
's Judas Maccabaeus and Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
, which she performed with OMIKE
, the Budapest Jewish community's professional music and theatre group, in 1943. With a voice that covered both mezzo-soprano and alto, she adopted different singing styles and genres with a wide repertoire that ranged from the standard works of German and Italian opera, through Baroque cantatas and lieder to 20th century works and Yiddish folk songs.
As she belonged to the Jewish minority of her homeland, she witnessed the tragedy of losing many talented colleagues and other prominent cultural figures in the Holocaust, included her first husband, the composer and conductor László Weiner
, who was deported by the Nazis to a forced labour camp in Slovakia and murdered there. She tried to save his life with the help of Zoltán Kodály
, who had also taught Weiner and was one of the witnesses at their wedding, but to no avail. She went into hiding herself, living with a false identity as a Christian: her talent as an actress allowed her to walk unharmed out of two Gestapo
interrogations. She also worked at the Swedish delegation in Budapest with Raoul Wallenberg
who tried to save the lives of as many Jews as possible.
After the Second World War Vera Rózsa was a soloist of the Budapest Opera (1945-1946) and later of the Vienna State Opera
(1946-1951), where her singing career was disrupted by the partial loss of the use of one lung, the result of pneumonia sustained while she was in hiding from the Nazis. She visited a specialist in Brussels, who told her that she would never be able to sing more than nine or ten minutes at a time: as a result, she developed expertise in breathing technique that not only enabled her to continue singing, although not in demanding opera roles, but to make singing easier for many future students.
Ms. Rózsa married the Briton Ralph Nordell, whom she had originally met in Budapest when he was serving there with British military intelligence at the end of World War II, in Rome and they moved to Britain in 1954, and she gave birth to a son, David, on August 2 of that year. Vera and Ralph had almost forty years of marriage together, until his death in 1991. In the UK, she began teaching privately in addition to continuing to perform in song recitals for several years. Following an acclaimed performance of Schoenberg
's Pierrot Lunaire
at the Leeds Festival, she was invited to teach at the Royal Manchester College of Music, which she did for about ten years. Later she was asked to teach at the London Opera Centre, the Opera Studio in Paris, and subsequently at the Guildhall School of Music in London, although she always taught mainly at her home in London.
As her career developed, she was invited to give master classes all over the world, including in Israel, France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Finland, the USA, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. She was also a judge in many international singing competitions, including Cardiff, the Queen Elizabeth in Brussels, Athens, and a competition established in her honour in Jerusalem.
As a teacher, she stressed artistry and interpretation rather than vocal pyrotechnics. She was noted for refusing to impose her own style or technique on her students, but insisted on helping them to develop their own musical style, to the extent that judges at singing competitions would comment that if they couldn't pin down the identity of the teacher from a singer's style, then it was probably Vera Rózsa.
She married Ralph Nordell who died in 1991.
, Ileana Cotrubas
, Agathe Martel, Karita Mattila
, Dorothea Röschmann
, Tom Krause
, Martina Bovet, Anne Sofie von Otter, Anne Howells, Anthony Rolfe Johnson
, François Le Roux
, Nora Gubisch, Marie Te Hapuku, Ildikó Komlósi
and many others. Maria Callas
intended to work with Rózsa in order to make a career comeback, but died shortly before she could do so. Participation in her classes and courses is mentioned in many modern day classical music singers' CVs. Several of her own students, such as Noelle Barker, Enid Hartle
and Jessica Cash, also became successful singing teachers in their own right.
In 1992 she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.
In 1999 she was named a Freeman of the City of London
.
She has also been made a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and of the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music, and an honorary member of the Royal College of Music.
- A documentary film directed by Tiina-Maija Lehtonen, produced by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) in 1997. Duration: 50 minutes.
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
. She had been living in Great Britain since 1954.
Education
She started her music education at the age of five. Her parents were teachers and having no baby-sitter at home, they simply took her along to school. Her parents, especially her father, were very musical (he played the violin). Vera Rózsa started to learn music also at an early age, her first instructor being her own father. She started to learn how to play the piano somewhat later.After graduating from secondary school at the age of fifteen (much earlier than normal), Vera Rózsa began her musical studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
Franz Liszt Academy of Music
The Franz Liszt Academy of Music is a concert hall and music conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875...
in Budapest. She studied conducting
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
first, but later she switched to vocal studies. The composer and conductor Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
was one of her instructors.
Personal life and career
Among Vera Rózsa's first roles as a singer were the part of a Jewish lady in HandelHANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's Judas Maccabaeus and Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, which she performed with OMIKE
OMIKE
OMIKE Hungarian Jewish Educational Association 1910–1944 .-Beginning :Founded in 1910 by Budapest chief rabbi, Simon Hevesi, with the purpose to present to people living in modern ideas and values the traditional values of Judaism. The association stimulated the Hungarian ways and religious life’s...
, the Budapest Jewish community's professional music and theatre group, in 1943. With a voice that covered both mezzo-soprano and alto, she adopted different singing styles and genres with a wide repertoire that ranged from the standard works of German and Italian opera, through Baroque cantatas and lieder to 20th century works and Yiddish folk songs.
As she belonged to the Jewish minority of her homeland, she witnessed the tragedy of losing many talented colleagues and other prominent cultural figures in the Holocaust, included her first husband, the composer and conductor László Weiner
László Weiner
László Weiner was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor who perished in the Holocaust....
, who was deported by the Nazis to a forced labour camp in Slovakia and murdered there. She tried to save his life with the help of Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
, who had also taught Weiner and was one of the witnesses at their wedding, but to no avail. She went into hiding herself, living with a false identity as a Christian: her talent as an actress allowed her to walk unharmed out of two Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
interrogations. She also worked at the Swedish delegation in Budapest with Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
who tried to save the lives of as many Jews as possible.
After the Second World War Vera Rózsa was a soloist of the Budapest Opera (1945-1946) and later of the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
(1946-1951), where her singing career was disrupted by the partial loss of the use of one lung, the result of pneumonia sustained while she was in hiding from the Nazis. She visited a specialist in Brussels, who told her that she would never be able to sing more than nine or ten minutes at a time: as a result, she developed expertise in breathing technique that not only enabled her to continue singing, although not in demanding opera roles, but to make singing easier for many future students.
Ms. Rózsa married the Briton Ralph Nordell, whom she had originally met in Budapest when he was serving there with British military intelligence at the end of World War II, in Rome and they moved to Britain in 1954, and she gave birth to a son, David, on August 2 of that year. Vera and Ralph had almost forty years of marriage together, until his death in 1991. In the UK, she began teaching privately in addition to continuing to perform in song recitals for several years. Following an acclaimed performance of Schoenberg
Schoenberg
Schoenberg is the surname of several persons:* Arnold Schoenberg , Austrian-American composer* Claude-Michel Schoenberg , French record producer, actor, singer, popular songwriter, and musical theatre composer...
's Pierrot Lunaire
Pierrot Lunaire
Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds 'Pierrot lunaire' , commonly known simply as Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 , is a melodrama by Arnold Schoenberg...
at the Leeds Festival, she was invited to teach at the Royal Manchester College of Music, which she did for about ten years. Later she was asked to teach at the London Opera Centre, the Opera Studio in Paris, and subsequently at the Guildhall School of Music in London, although she always taught mainly at her home in London.
As her career developed, she was invited to give master classes all over the world, including in Israel, France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Finland, the USA, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. She was also a judge in many international singing competitions, including Cardiff, the Queen Elizabeth in Brussels, Athens, and a competition established in her honour in Jerusalem.
As a teacher, she stressed artistry and interpretation rather than vocal pyrotechnics. She was noted for refusing to impose her own style or technique on her students, but insisted on helping them to develop their own musical style, to the extent that judges at singing competitions would comment that if they couldn't pin down the identity of the teacher from a singer's style, then it was probably Vera Rózsa.
She married Ralph Nordell who died in 1991.
Students
Among Vera Rózsa's students were Sarah Walker, Kiri Te KanawaKiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
, Ileana Cotrubas
Ileana Cotrubas
Ileana Cotrubaş is a Romanian opera soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.-Biography:...
, Agathe Martel, Karita Mattila
Karita Mattila
Karita Marjatta Mattila is a leading opera soprano. She was born in Somero, Finland.Mattila appears regularly in the major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastille, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco...
, Dorothea Röschmann
Dorothea Röschmann
Dorothea Röschmann is a German opera soprano from Flensburg.-Education and early life:Röschmann studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, under Barbara Schlick at the Akademie für Alte Musik in Bremen, and subsequently in Los Angeles, New York, Tel Aviv, and under Vera Rózsa in London...
, Tom Krause
Tom Krause
Tom Krause is a Finnish operatic baritone particularly associated with Mozart roles.Born in Helsinki, he first studied medicine, while singing and...
, Martina Bovet, Anne Sofie von Otter, Anne Howells, Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Anthony Rolfe Johnson, CBE was an English operatic tenor.-Life and career:Born in Tackley in Oxfordshire, Rolfe Johnson studied with Ellis Keeler and Vera Rosza at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He first appeared in opera in the chorus and in small roles at the Glyndebourne Festival...
, François Le Roux
François le Roux
François le Roux is a French baritone. Le Roux began vocal studies at 19 with François Loup, winning prizes in Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro. He was a member of the Lyon Opera Company from 1980 to 1985, before appearing in many international houses, making his Paris Opéra debut in 1988 as Valentin...
, Nora Gubisch, Marie Te Hapuku, Ildikó Komlósi
Ildikó Komlósi
-Biography:Originary of Hungary from Békés County, she studied and was graduated at "Franz Liszt Academy of Music" in Budapest; improving her aptitudes for song at the "Scala" of Milan and at he "Guildhall School of Music and Drama" in London.-Career:...
and many others. Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
intended to work with Rózsa in order to make a career comeback, but died shortly before she could do so. Participation in her classes and courses is mentioned in many modern day classical music singers' CVs. Several of her own students, such as Noelle Barker, Enid Hartle
Enid Hartle
Enid Hartle was born in Sheffield in 1935 and studied singing first at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and after with Vera Rozsa, with whom she had a long and fruitful relationship.-Operatic career:...
and Jessica Cash, also became successful singing teachers in their own right.
Awards
In 1991 Ms Vera Rózsa was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire.In 1992 she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.
In 1999 she was named a Freeman of the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
.
She has also been made a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and of the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music, and an honorary member of the Royal College of Music.
Film on Vera Rózsa
Vera Rozsa - Mother of Stars- A documentary film directed by Tiina-Maija Lehtonen, produced by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) in 1997. Duration: 50 minutes.
See also
- Franz Liszt Academy of MusicFranz Liszt Academy of MusicThe Franz Liszt Academy of Music is a concert hall and music conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875...
- Hungarian State Opera HouseHungarian State Opera HouseThe Hungarian State Opera House is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. It is home to the Budapest Opera Ball, a society event dating back to 1886.-History:...
- Vienna State OperaVienna State OperaThe Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
- Guildhall School of Music and DramaGuildhall School of Music and DramaGuildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
- Royal Northern College of MusicRoyal Northern College of MusicThe Royal Northern College of Music is a music school in Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music...
- Sarah Walker
- Kiri te KanawaKiri Te KanawaDame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
- Marie Te Hapuku
- Karita MattilaKarita MattilaKarita Marjatta Mattila is a leading opera soprano. She was born in Somero, Finland.Mattila appears regularly in the major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastille, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco...
- Ileana CotrubasIleana CotrubasIleana Cotrubaş is a Romanian opera soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.-Biography:...
- Agathe Martel
- Music educationMusic educationMusic education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
- List of Hungarians
External links
- Royal Northern College of Music (Earlier: Royal Manchester College of Music)
- Interview in Hungarian (with some photos)
- Short info on the film (scroll down)
- Ms Vera Rózsa at work (photo)
- Obituary, The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, 21 Oct 2010.
