t h e r o s a t r o u p e
Lucy Franklein
The contralto, Lucy Franklein, was Lucy Mary Powell, the
daughter of James and Lucy Powell, born in the Clerkenwell district of London in
April 1843.Her father was a tailor and her mother a dressmaker. Musical
influences are uncertain but Lucy’s vocal potential was certainly recognized as
by the early 1860s she was studying under Thomas Wallworth and initially
appeared as Powell in concerts by his pupils. She first appeared on the London
musical scene as Franklein in 1865 singing in concerts and oratorio with the
National Choral Society at Exeter Hall. These early engagements were made
through Wallworth indicating an arrangement between teacher and pupil. He
combined teaching at the Royal Academy with composition and Lucy made her stage
debut in his operetta Kevin’s Choice on 2 December 1867 at Saint
George’s Hall. Later in the month she returned to the same stage to create the
role of Inez in The Contrabandista, a new comic opera by a young Arthur
Sullivan with words by F.C. Burnand. It ran for two months before Lucy returned
to concert and oratorio, until the stage beckoned again in the 1870s. She
appeared at the Royal Court Theatre in April 1871 as the fairy in Creatures
of Impulse, a play by W.S.Gilbert with music by Albert Randegger. Sullivan
without Gilbert was followed by Gilbert without Sullivan!
Opera was now on the horizon. Lucy began at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin in a
season promoted locally by the Gunn brothers which included Rosa artists from
America, suggesting input from Carl and Parepa. They were seeking a contralto
for their first British season as Zelda Seguin had declined to cross the
Atlantic. The Irish season gave the operatically inexperienced Lucy a chance to
fill the breach and she did not waste it. She made her debut as Azucena in
Trovatore on 17 February 1873; when the season ended on 15 March she had
acquired both repertoire and experience in a rapid learning curve with nine
roles in twenty well received performances. She was ready for the Rosa!
Lucy made her Rosa debut with the company’s first British performance at the
Theatre Royal Manchester on 1 September 1873 with Carl Rosa as musical director
and manager in the absence of a pregnant Parepa. She began as Lazarillo (Maritana),
and Orsini (Lucrezia Borgia), Azucena (Trovatore), Gipsy Queen
(Bohemian Girl), Siebel (Faust), and Donna Elvira (Don
Giovanni) quickly followed. Her singing and impassioned acting pleased both
critics and public but her success was unfortunately overshadowed by the sudden
death of Parepa in February 1874 and a temporary company disbandment. Lucy and
other Rosa artists sang in opera at the Crystal Palace until Carl was able to
revive the company and take to the road again.
They opened their second season at Liverpool on 7 September 1874 with Lucy as
the inevitable Lazarillo. She added Diana (Crown Diamonds) and Mrs
Cregan (Lily of Killarney) at Liverpool. Drama and comedy followed at
Bradford with Ulrica (Ballo in Maschera) and Lady Allcash (Fra
Diavolo). The following seasons brought Nancy (Martha) and Ritta (Zampa),
Mary (Flying Dutchman) and occasionally as a goatherd in Meyerbeer’s
Dinorah, making a total of fourteen roles. She said farewell after 331
appearances on 12 May 1877 at the Theatre Royal, Wolverhampton in Bohemian
Girl.
Lucy remained a busy lady with concerts, occasional returns to oratorio, and
even Christmas pantomime. But opera at the Crystal and Alexandra Palaces and
tours with opera bouffe and English opera companies – frequently with former
Rosa colleagues - remained the constant thread. She sang, amongst others, with
the Frederic Archer and Turner companies and whilst with the Royal English Opera
Company she met theatrical manager John O’Connor and they married in 1886. He
managed indoor amusements at the Agricultural Hall in Islington and in from 1891
ran the Grand National Opera Company. Both failed. O’Connor was eventually
declared bankrupt and in 1896 they emigrated to Canada where O’Connor died in
Toronto after a long illness. Lucy returned home two years later to focus upon
acting roles but an engagement with Frank Benson’s Shakespeare company
surprisingly provided a vocal opportunity.
The Benson company, with Lucy in supporting roles, played the Gaiety Theatre
Dublin in October 1901 amidst Irish national and cultural revival. The
playwright George Moore and the poet William Butler Yeats contributed Grania
and Diarmid, a play in ‘poetic prose’ derived from Celtic legends with
incidental music composed by Edward Elgar. The Benson company, probably because
of their verse speaking facility, gave the world première at the Gaiety on 21
October 1901. Lucy played Laban, a druidess who sang whilst at her spinning
wheel in the death scene in the third act. Her last song was the first
performance of ‘There were seven that pulled the thread’ with the music of Elgar
and words of Yeats.* It was an appropriate vocal finale in the theatre where she
had sung in opera almost thirty years earlier. The ultimate finale came two
years later. She died of stomach cancer at Portsmouth on 10 September 1903
whilst touring with Beerbohm Tree’s drama company.
Lucy’s place in Rosa history is secure: she sang in the first British
performance and was a leading artist in the formative years. She described
herself in the 1901 census as ‘Vocalist and actress’. She was. These gifts
served her well in oratorio, opera, and latterly drama. It was a solid career
but this gifted lady should have had something more.
The Carl Rosa Trust wishes to thank historian Kurt Gänzl for his assistance in
the preparation of this note.
* The incidental music and the song are available on commercial recordings.
© 2024 John Ward
