Helge Rosvaenge (born Helge Anton Rosenvinge Hansen, 29 August 1897 – 17 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).[1]

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

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Repertorio operistico
Ruolo Titolo Autore
Chapelou Le postillon de Lonjumeau Adam
Fra Diavolo
Lorenzo
Fra Diavolo Auber
Florestan Fidelio Beethoven
Énée Les Troyens Berlioz
Don José Carmen Bizet
Georges Brown La dame blanche Boieldieu
Vladimir Igorevich Prince Igor Borodin
Don Manuel Don Gil Braunfels
Julien Louise Charpentier
Nureddin Der Barbier von Bagdad Cornelius
Nando Tiefland d'Albert
Shepherd Die toten Augen d'Albert
Pelléas Pelléas et Mélisande Debussy
Nemorino L'elisir d'amore Donizetti
Tonio La fille du régiment Donizetti
Lionel Martha Flotow
Don Martin Don Gil Futterer
Andrea Chénier Andrea Chénier Giordano
Count Loris Ipanov Fedora Giordano
Bogdan Sobinin A Life for the Tsar Glinka
Ali La rencontre imprévue Gluck
Admeto Alceste Gluck
Baron von Kayserling Adrienne Goetze
Faust Faust Gounod
Prince Léopold La Juive Halévy
The courtier Cardillac Hindemith
Števa Jenůfa Janáček
Felix Rendez-vous um Mitternacht Kattnigg
Hein Der Fremde Kaun
Primus Thaller Der Kuhreigen Kienzl
Italian tenor Yolimba Killmayer
Georg Spuk im Schloss Křička
Schrenk Die große Sünderin Künneke
Prince Sou-Chong The Land of Smiles Lehár
Canio Pagliacci Leoncavallo
Marquis de Chateauneuf Zar und Zimmermann Lortzing
Kronthal Der Wildschütz Lortzing
Sylvain Les dragons de Villars Maillart
Turiddu Cavalleria rusticana Mascagni
Raoul de Nangis Les Huguenots Meyerbeer
Vasco de Gama L'Africaine Meyerbeer
Symon Rymanowicz Der Bettelstudent Millöcker
Bastien Bastien und Bastienne Mozart
Contino Belfiore La finta giardiniera Mozart
Idomeneo Idomeneo Mozart
Belmonte Die Entführung aus dem Serail Mozart
Kappelmeister Der Schauspieldirektor Mozart
Don Ottavio Don Giovanni Mozart
Ferrando Così fan tutte Mozart
Tamino The Magic Flute Mozart
Fenton The Merry Wives of Windsor Nicolai
Orphée Orpheus in the Underworld Offenbach
Pâris La belle Hélène Offenbach
Falsacappa Les brigands Offenbach
Hoffmann Les contes d'Hoffmann Offenbach
Abdisu Palestrina Pfitzner
Chevalier Renato des Grieux Manon Lescaut Puccini
Rodolfo La bohème Puccini
Mario Cavaradossi Tosca Puccini
Dick Johnson La fanciulla del West Puccini
B. F. Pinkerton Madama Butterfly Puccini
Pang
Calaf
Turandot Puccini
Count Almaviva The Barber of Seville Rossini
Arnold Melchtal William Tell Rossini
Fedja Iwan Tarassenko Salmhofer
Astolf Die Weiberverschwörung Schubert
Alfred Die Fledermaus J. Strauss II
Guido Eine Nacht in Venedig J. Strauss II
Sándor Barinkay
Conte Carnero
The Gypsy Baron J. Strauss II
Suleiman Tausendundeine Nacht J. Strauss II
An Italian singer Der Rosenkavalier Strauss
The tenor (Bacchus) Ariadne auf Naxos Strauss
The Apparition of a Youth Die Frau ohne Schatten Strauss
Da-Ud Die ägyptische Helena Strauss
Matteo Arabella Strauss
Wilhelm Meister Mignon Thomas
Duke of Mantua Rigoletto Verdi
Manrico Il trovatore Verdi
Alfredo Germont La traviata Verdi
Arrigo I vespri siciliani Verdi
Gabriele Adorno Simon Boccanegra Verdi
Gustavo Un ballo in maschera Verdi
Don Alvaro La forza del destino Verdi
Don Carlo Don Carlo Verdi
Radames Aida Verdi
Otello Otello Verdi
Walther von der Vogelweide Tannhäuser Wagner
A young sailor Tristan und Isolde Wagner
Balthasar Zorn
Kunz Vogelgesang
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Wagner
Froh Das Rheingold Wagner
Parsifal Parsifal Wagner
Abu Hassan Abu Hassan Weber
Max Der Freischütz Weber
Oberon
Hüon
Oberon Weber
Harald Königsballade Wille
Roderick The Mine Foreman Zeller

Recordings

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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.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Helge Roswaenge(1897-1972) ImDb [user-generated source]
  2. ^ "Explore the Complete Classics Today Musical Review Digest Archives".
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