Vera Rózsa

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Vera Rózsa [ˈvɛrɒ ˈroːʒɒ] (also Vera Rozsa-Nordell, born May 16, 1917 in Budapest , Austria-Hungary ; died October 15, 2010 ) was a Hungarian-British singer with a mezzo-soprano vocal range and vocal teacher.

Life

Vera Rózsa studied music at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, initially with the professional goal of being a conductor. She also attended a composition course with Zoltán Kodály , who advised her to sing. She made her debut in 1943 at the OMIKE Chamber Opera in Budapest as Cherubino in Figaro's Wedding , where she appeared in other productions, as Hungarian anti-Semitic laws prevented her from appearing in public. In 1942 Rózsa married the musician László Weiner , who was drafted into forced labor as a Jew in 1943 and died in prison in 1944. She was able to save herself from the deportations to the Auschwitz concentration camp and the persecution by the Eichmann command and his Hungarian helpers, but suffered permanent health problems. In Budapest she worked for Raoul Wallenberg , who issued Swedish protective passports to some of the threatened Budapest Jews.

After the end of the war she sang at the Budapest National Opera in the 1945/46 season and was given the role of Hansel in the opera Hansel and Gretel . From 1946 Rózsa was engaged at the Vienna State Opera , where she made her debut as Rosina in the Barber of Seville and then received the medium and smaller parts, such as Giovanna in Rigoletto , as Annina in La Traviata and as Fedor in Boris Godunow . She gave up her permanent engagement in 1949 and began a career as a guest singer and above all as a concert singer . She married Ralph Nordell, a Brit, and they have a son. In 1953 she settled in London.

She ended her international concert career in 1975 and from then on devoted herself to vocal pedagogy, especially in individual coaching. From 1965 to 1970 she worked at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester , then at the Opera Studio Paris. Since 1980 she has been a Consultant Professor at the Guildhall School of Music in London. She has given master classes in many places in Europe, in the USA and in Australia and New Zealand.

Her students included Nancy Argenta , Nan Christie , Helena Döse , Anne Howells , Karita Mattila , Alan Opie , Anne-Sofie von Otter , Anthony Rolfe Johnson , Karita Mattila, Patrizia Rozario , Anna Steiger , Kiri Te Kanawa , Sarah Walker and Lillian Watson .

In 1989 she was appointed officer of the Order of the British Empire .

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personal data
SURNAME Rózsa, Vera
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rozsa-Nordell, Vera
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian-British singer and vocal teacher
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 2010