Alessandro Rota
Alessandro Rota is an Italian-born tenor
Contents
Biography
Alessandro Giuseppe Rota came to South Africa around 1931/1932 with the Gonzalez Italian Opera Company from Italy and decided to settle in South Africa.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
In 1939, he established the Cape Town Opera Company, performing full-length operas for more than five years. His next endeavour was the Labia Grand Opera Company, which presented five operas in two years. Along with William Pickerill and John Connell, Rota started the National Opera Company in 1940, which performed three opera seasons.
Rota also played a role in the performance of opera in Stellenbosch before being involved in the establishment of the National Opera Association in 1955 and joining the EOAN Group in 1956, when the group performed its first opera.
As producer/director
Rota produced a number of operas in South Africa. These include:
1938: Cavalleria Rusticana in English at the Cape Town City Hall
1940: Cavalleria Rusticanain Afrikaans in 1940 in Stellenbosch. Rota who also sang the tenor role of Turrido.
1948: Madama Butterfly at the Cape Town City Hall in March/April.
1953: Carmen and Il trovatore at the Labia Theatre in April.
1956: La Traviata for the EOAN Group at the Cape Town City Hall.
1965: Il trovatore and L’elisir d’amore for the EOAN Group.
Sources
Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.
Sjoerd Alkema. 2012. "Conductors of the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra, 1914-1965: a historical perspective". University of Cape Town. Unpublished PhD thesis.
Hilde Roos. 2010. 'Opera Production in the Western Cape: Strategies in Search of Indigenisation'. Unpublished PhD thesis. Stellenbosch University.
Hilde Roos. 2012. 'Indigenisation and history: how opera in South Africa became South African opera'. Acta Academica Supplementum. 2012(1).
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