Page "Carl Rosa Opera Company" Paragraph 6

For the next fifteen years, the company prospered and earned good notices, with provincial tours and London seasons, frequently in conjunction with Augustus Harris at the Drury Lane Theatre.

Such was the success of the company that at one point three Carl Rosa touring troupes were set up.

In October 1892, Rosa's Grand Opera Company received the royal accolade, with a command performance of Donizetti's La fille du régiment at Balmoral Castle.

The French-American soprano Zélie de Lussan sang the heroine, Marie, and Aynsley Cook " vastly amused Queen Victoria as Sergeant Sulpice ".

In 1880, George Grove, editor of the authoritative musical reference work, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, wrote: " The careful way in which the pieces are put on the stage, the number of rehearsals, the eminence of the performers and the excellence of the performers have begun to bear their legitimate fruit, and the Carl Rosa Opera Company bids fair to become a permanent English institution.