Josef Richard Rozkošný Explained

Josef Richard Rozkošný (21 September 1833 – 3 June 1913) was a Czech composer and pianist.^{[1] [2]} He was born and died in Prague, where he studied music.

Works

Operas

• Ave Maria, libretto by V. Trappl; unperformed, lost (1855 or 1856)
• (Saint Nicholas) 1870
• St John's Rapids (Czech: Svatojanské proudy) (about the St John's Rapids on the Vltava) also called Vltavská víla (The Spirit of the Vltava) 1871; performed in German as German: St. Johannes Stromschnellen
• (about Záviš of Falkenstein, 1250–1290) 1877
• Mladí pytláci (The Young Poachers) 1877, libretto by, unperformed, lost
• Alchymista (The Alchemist) 1880, libretto also by Böhm, also unperformed, lost
• (Cinderella) 1885
• (The Rübezahl Spirit) 1889
• 1894
• , also Satanella 1898
• (Black Lake, the Černé jezero) also Šumavská víla (The Spirit of the Šumava Forest) 1906
• Rusalka (unfinished)

Selected recordings

• Svatojanské proudy, scene from act 1 in Czech, Ivan Kusnjer as the count, 1987 for Czech Radio Plzeň; conductor

Notes and References

1. "Rozkozny, Josef Richard (1833–1913)" in The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and their Music, William H. Rehrig, Paul E. Bierley, 1991. ("Josef Richard Rozkosny was born on September 21, 1833, in Prague, Bohemia, and studied music and art in Prague. He was the composer of eight operas and numerous piano pieces.")
2. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 1996, p. 111, John Hamilton Warrack, Ewan West. ("Others who successfully built upon Smetana's example included Richard Rozkosny (1833–1913), Vilém Blodek (1834–74), Karel Bendl (1838–97), Josef Nešvera (1842–1914), Karel Šebor (1843–1903), and Karel Weiss (1862–1944).