Anne Roselle


Anne Roselle, born Gyenge Anna, was a Hungarian-American opera singer and actress.

Early life

Gyenge Anna was born in Târgu Secuiesc, Romania, part of the city's large population of Székely Hungarians. She moved to the United States in childhood, with her mother and stepfather. Roselle acted in Budapest and studied acting with Szidi Rákosi as a young woman.

Career

Roselle sang in New York, with the Metropolitan Opera in 1920, as Musetta in La bohème. She sang for two years with the San Carlo Opera Company, was a guest soloist with the Minneapolis Orchestra, toured in the central United States in the 1922-1923 season, then moved back to Europe. She joined the Dresden Opera in 1925 to sing the title role in the first German performance of Puccinis's Turandot. She sang in Budapest, Milan, Vienna, London, Paris and Berlin, and was part of a radio broadcast of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, with Maria Olszewska. She was also known for singing the title role in Verdi's Aïda and Leonora in Il trovatore, among others.
Roselle returned to the United States late in 1929, and sang at Carnegie Hall. The New York Times reported that "her higher tones are usually produced with fine resonance and color and absolute fidelity to the pitch". In 1931, she starred in the first United States performance of Wozzeck, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. In 1934, she was back at Carnegie Hall, in Orfeo ed Euridice. and went to London to sing Turandot. In 1946, she sang in a diverse 'pop' concert at Carnegie Hall, sharing the program with Hungarian pianist Ernö Balogh, Huddie Ledbetter, Mary Lou Williams, Tom Scott, Susan Reed, and others. She gave a recital in 1948 at New York's Town Hall performance space.
After she retired from the stage, Roselle taught voice in Philadelphia. She was artist-in-residence at Florida Southern College in her later years, until she retired from teaching in 1967.
Roselle made several recordings in Berlin in the 1920s. In 1934, she gave an interview decrying the effect of recorded music on live music. In 1971, she gave another interview, grateful to revisit the past through recordings.

Personal life

In 1912, Roselle married an American banker, David Rosner; they had a son, George. She was widowed when Rosner died in 1956; she lived in a nursing home in Lakeland, Florida in her later years. She died in 1989, aged 95 years.