t h e r o s a t r o u p e
Elizabeth Burgess
Elizabeth Burgess as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Burgess, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann Burgess, was
born on 27 June 1867 at Ashton-under-Lyne as the fifth child of a family
associated with the textile industry. Appearances as a child vocalist at
local concerts were followed as a chorister at her local Methodist church
and in her teens she was singing in churches and chapels in and beyond
Ashton. She also made concert appearances, studied with Madame Farrar-Hyde,
a local soprano and teacher, and eventually sang major roles with the Ashton
Philharmonic Society. Her growing reputation brought an offer of a soprano
engagement from Carl Rosa which must have been before his sudden death in
April 1889. She was recruited about a year later following an agreement with
Rosa’s successors.
Elizabeth made her début as a replacement Arline in The Bohemian Girl
at a
Boxing Day matinée at Saint George’s Hall, Bradford, when, during the 1890
Christmas season, Zelie de Lussan’s illness necessitated cast changes. The
Bradford Daily Telegraph reported ‘a most successful first appearance’ and
she was placed with the new Carmen company, a subordinate company created as
a farewell vehicle for the famous Carmen, Marie Roze. They opened on 9
February 1891 at Leicester and closed at Blackpool on 30 May with Lizzie, as
she was sometimes announced, having sung almost forty Michaelas to Roze’s
Carmen together with a few Arlines and Maritanas.
This good start was undermined by an unsuccessful marriage which halted her
operatic activities but fortunately she was able to continue to enhance her
reputation as a concert artist. Her operatic exile ended in 1899 when she
was recruited by Fanny Moody and Charles Manners, both former Rosa artists,
for their recently formed opera company. She repeated her previous Rosa
roles, added Puritan’s Daughter and Lily of Killarney to her repertoire, and
ventured into Wagner with Venus in Tannhäuser. This successful return
heralded the busiest period of Elizabeth’s career. She studied stage
technique with Signor Morretti in London and sang in concert, oratorio,
variety, opera with the Rosa and occasionally with other companies.
Elizabeth’s return to the Rosa as Michaela in Carmen at Yarmouth in August
1900 was followed by the familiar roles of Arline, Maritana and Venus. She
sang her first Marguerite in Faust at Belfast in September. Two unusual
roles in British English-language premières followed. She was Marion in
Gounod’s Cinq Mars at the Grand Theatre Leeds on 26 October and May in
Goldmark’s Cricket on the Hearth at the Brixton Theatre on 23 November. The
season had been a success and Elizabeth became a Rosa regular artist with an
expanding repertoire. She added Elsa (Lohengrin), Elizabeth (Tannhäuser),
and Woodbird (Siegfried) to her Wagner roles, embraced Mozart with Donna
Elvira (Don Giovanni), Susanna (Marriage of Figaro), Pamina (Magic Flute),
and Verdi with Leonora (Trovatore) and Gilda (Rigoletto). Other roles
included the title role in Goring Thomas’s Esmeralda, Nedda in Leoncavallo’s
Pagliacci, Mrs Ford in Nicolai’s Merry Wives of Windsor, Filina in Thomas’s
Mignon, Giulietta in Tales of Hoffmann, and a surprising Laine in Sullivan’s
Beauty Stone. The illustration shows this most versatile lady in one of her
Wagnerian roles as Elizabeth in Tannhäuser.
Theodore Sverdloff, leader of the Carl Rosa Co orchestra
The gaps in twentieth-century performance records makes it difficult to
chart all her Rosa activities but she gave twenty-two roles in at least four
hundred performances in a lengthy Rosa career which began and ended in the
1890-91 season, resumed in 1900 and finally ended in 1916 with the first
world war. The Rosa also introduced her to Theodore Sverdloff, her second
husband, who led the Rosa orchestra. The illustration depicts him complete
with violin.
Elizabeth’s later career consisted of the concert platform, music hall, and
abridged operas with smaller companies. She moved to teaching in the 1920s,
returned to Ashton, and is credited with advising Eva Turner, a young
soprano from nearby Oldham who would have an international career via the
Rosa. Elizabeth died in 1934 at her son’s home in London after a busy
musical life. She was active in the recording era and there are family
recollections of recordings, which have been lost. The Carl Rosa Archive
Trust would appreciate any information about these commercially published
discs or private recordings.
The Trust wishes to thank Peter Smith for photographs and information about
his great grandmother which facilitated the preparation of this note.
© 2024 John Ward
