Helge Rosvaenge

Helge Rosvaenge (born Helge Anton Rosenvinge Hansen, 29 August 189717 June 1972) was a Danish-born operatic tenor whose career was centred on Germany and Austria, before, during and after World War II. His last name is sometimes spelled Roswaenge or Rosvænge.

Rosvaenge was born in Copenhagen. However, his life was spent in Germany, and he made his debut at Neustrelitz as Don Jose in Carmen in 1921. Engagements followed at Altenburg, Basel, Cologne (1927–30) and the Berlin State Opera, where he was leading tenor from 1930 to 1944, being especially distinguished in the Italian repertory. He also sang regularly at the Vienna State Opera from 1936, and in Munich. Rosvaenge also appeared at the Salzburg Festival, making his debut there in Der Rosenkavalier. Other roles which he performed at Salzburg between 1933 and 1939 were Tamino in The Magic Flute, Huon in Oberon and Florestan in Fidelio. His London debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, occurred in 1938, as Florestan.

He sang Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival in 1934 and 1936, but otherwise the Wagnerian repertory was mostly on recordings.

He also appeared in films, such as Verlieb' dich nicht am Bodensee (1935) and Last Rose (1936).

After World War II, Rosvaenge divided his time between Berlin and Vienna. He continued to sing until 30 May 1959 (when he gave what was billed as his farewell concert at Vienna's Great Musikvereinssaal), singing arias from Turandot as Calàf, Aida as Radamès and Il trovatore as Manrico. His voice showed little sign of age; it was still warm and sonorous throughout its range, and brilliant and lustrous in its upper register. Indeed, he could produce an easy and full-blooded high D during his vocal prime. This can be heard in one of his most celebrated recordings, the Postillon's Song ("Mes amis, écoutez l'histoire") from Le postillon de Lonjumeau by Adolphe Adam.

Rosvaenge appeared in a wide spectrum of roles ranging from Mozart to Weber, from Verdi to Puccini. He sang with "a steely voice, brilliant high notes and insistent declamation throughout its scale" which was "brilliant and lustrous in its top register", according to Luiz Eduardo Goncalves Gabarra. He was equally impressive as Andrea Chénier and was also an acclaimed and exciting Radamès and Otello, in which latter role he was often heard on German radio.

He toured the US before retiring, and died in Munich at 74.

Repertoire Repertorio operisticoRuolo TitoloAutore Chapelou Le postillon de Lonjumeau AdamFra DiavoloLorenzo Fra Diavolo AuberFlorestan Fidelio BeethovenÉnée Les Troyens BerliozDon José Carmen BizetGeorges Brown La dame blanche BoieldieuVladimir Igorevich Prince Igor BorodinDon Manuel Don Gil BraunfelsJulien Louise CharpentierNureddin Der Barbier von Bagdad CorneliusNando Tiefland d'AlbertShepherd Die toten Augen d'AlbertPelléas Pelléas et Mélisande DebussyNemorino L'elisir d'amore DonizettiTonio La fille du régiment DonizettiLionel Martha FlotowDon Martin Don Gil FuttererAndrea Chénier Andrea Chénier GiordanoCount Loris Ipanov Fedora GiordanoBogdan Sobinin A Life for the Tsar GlinkaAli La rencontre imprévue GluckAdmeto Alceste GluckBaron von Kayserling Adrienne GoetzeFaust Faust GounodPrince Léopold La Juive HalévyThe courtier Cardillac HindemithŠteva Jenůfa JanáčekFelix Rendez-vous um Mitternacht KattniggHein Der Fremde KaunPrimus Thaller Der Kuhreigen KienzlItalian tenor Yolimba KillmayerGeorg Spuk im Schloss KřičkaSchrenk Die große Sünderin KünnekePrince Sou-Chong The Land of Smiles LehárCanio Pagliacci LeoncavalloMarquis de Chateauneuf Zar und Zimmermann LortzingKronthal Der Wildschütz LortzingSylvain Les dragons de Villars MaillartTuriddu Cavalleria rusticana MascagniRaoul de Nangis Les Huguenots MeyerbeerVasco de Gama L'Africaine MeyerbeerSymon Rymanowicz Der Bettelstudent MillöckerBastien Bastien und Bastienne MozartContino Belfiore La finta giardiniera MozartIdomeneo Idomeneo MozartBelmonte Die Entführung aus dem Serail MozartKappelmeister Der Schauspieldirektor MozartDon Ottavio Don Giovanni MozartFerrando Così fan tutte MozartTamino The Magic Flute MozartFenton The Merry Wives of Windsor NicolaiOrphée Orpheus in the Underworld OffenbachPâris La belle Hélène OffenbachFalsacappa Les brigands OffenbachHoffmann Les contes d'Hoffmann OffenbachAbdisu Palestrina PfitznerChevalier Renato des Grieux Manon Lescaut PucciniRodolfo La bohème PucciniMario Cavaradossi Tosca PucciniDick Johnson La fanciulla del West PucciniB. F. Pinkerton Madama Butterfly PucciniPangCalaf Turandot PucciniCount Almaviva The Barber of Seville RossiniArnold Melchtal William Tell RossiniFedja Iwan Tarassenko SalmhoferAstolf Die Weiberverschwörung SchubertAlfred Die Fledermaus J. Strauss IIGuido Eine Nacht in Venedig J. Strauss IISándor BarinkayConte Carnero The Gypsy Baron J. Strauss IISuleiman Tausendundeine Nacht J. Strauss IIAn Italian singer Der Rosenkavalier StraussThe tenor (Bacchus) Ariadne auf Naxos StraussThe Apparition of a Youth Die Frau ohne Schatten StraussDa-Ud Die ägyptische Helena StraussMatteo Arabella StraussWilhelm Meister Mignon ThomasDuke of Mantua Rigoletto VerdiManrico Il trovatore VerdiAlfredo Germont La traviata VerdiArrigo I vespri siciliani VerdiGabriele Adorno Simon Boccanegra VerdiGustavo Un ballo in maschera VerdiDon Alvaro La forza del destino VerdiDon Carlo Don Carlo VerdiRadames Aida VerdiOtello Otello Verdi Walther von der Vogelweide Tannhäuser Wagner A young sailor Tristan und Isolde Wagner Balthasar ZornKunz Vogelgesang Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg WagnerFroh Das Rheingold WagnerParsifal Parsifal WagnerAbu Hassan Abu Hassan WeberMax Der Freischütz WeberOberonHüon Oberon WeberHarald Königsballade WilleRoderick The Mine Foreman Zeller

Recordings Rosvaenge was a prolific recording artist starting as early as 1927, first for the Gramophone Company (now EMI) and later on the Telefunken, Parlophone and Odeon labels. Many of these recordings have been reissued on CD. The finest of them were made in the 1930s and early 1940s.

A recording of his solo tenor singing in a 1938 performance of Verdi's Requiem with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini has been released on CD as well.