The archive now occupies about 70 yards of shelving in state-of-the-art archiving conditions in Liverpool Public Library, but it’s had a chequered history. It contains many items which precede the establishment of the Carl Rosa Opera Company….we’re not sure, exactly, how some of the items came to be in the collection (!) but some probably relate to acquisitions from other touring opera companies when resources were sold and the Rosa company spotted a moment of opportunity (notably Harrison Frewin, Pyne & Harrison and J. W. Turner – all of which are stamped onto some of the music now in the Rosa archive). The main constituent of the archive is undoubtedly orchestral performing parts and other vocal music.
Many decades ago, parts of the collection suffered some water damage, but the the Trust was extremely fortunate to obtain a significant grant from the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust to conserve them and prevent further deterioration.
Consequently, the collection contains many unique items such as:
- band parts for the first performance of Balfe’s opera The Maid of Artois (originally written for the famous Maria Malibran and actually used when she sang the piece (also used for the more recent recording)
- Band parts for the first performance of The Bohemian Girl and Satanella
- Perhaps most intriguingly, the collection holds the manuscript parts for the first performance in English (and in England) of Mozart’s Seraglio performed at Covent Garden (some band parts are dated 1826)
We cannot lend material but we welcome genuine researchers who wish to consult specific items and can enable access (please make contact for more details; some band sets may be incomplete). Materials have recently been used to facilitate recordings of operas where this would not, previously, have been possible
Future plans -subject to funding – include digitising parts of the collection to make them more readily accessible; but to provide a flavour – and ignoring printed music in the collection – the following are present in whole or in part as MS hand-copied orchestral parts:
| Adam, Adolphe | Le Postillon von Lonjumeau |
| Balfe, William | The Siege of Rochelle, The Painter of Antwerp, The Rose of Castille, The Bohemian Girl, Bondman, The Daughter of St Mark, Il Talismano, The Maid of Artois, The Puritan’s Daughter, Satanella |
| Benedict, Julius | The Lily of Killarney |
| Cognoni | The Porter of Havre |
| Cowen | Pauline, Thorgrim |
| Lloyd, George | Jon Socman |
| Loder | The Night Dancers |
| MacFarren | Robin Hood, She Stoops to Conquer |
| Philpott | Nigel |
| Somerville | Antoine, David Garrick |
| Goring Thomas | Esmeralda, Nadeshda, The Golden Web, The Poets Dream |
| Wallace, William | Maritana, The Amber Witch, Lurline |
Sadly, the Archive contains very little of what might be termed day-to-day business correspondence from the years when the opera company was active.
The Archive is administered by the Carl Rosa Opera Trust. The Carl Rosa Trust Ltd was established in May 1953 through an agreement made between Annette Phillips (then Artistic and Managing Director of the Carl Rosa Company) and the Arts Council of Great Britain. From 1953 to 1960 the Trust was responsible for the running and administration of the Company.
Since 1960, when the Carl Rosa Opera Company gave its last performance, the Carl Rosa Trust has used its resources to support opera singers by awarding grants. The Carl Rosa Trust is active today in its role as sole custodian of the Carl Rosa Archive.