Josef Richard Rozkošný

Czech composer and pianist (1833–1913)

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)
Mikuláš [cs] (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 St. Johannes Stromschnellen
Záviš z Falkenštejna [cs] (about Záviš of Falkenstein, 1250–1290) 1877
Mladí pytláci (The Young Poachers) 1877, libretto by Jindřich Hanuš Böhm [cs], unperformed, lost
Alchymista (The Alchemist) 1880, libretto also by Böhm, also unperformed, lost
Popelka [cs] (Cinderella) 1885
Krakonoš [cs] (The Rübezahl Spirit) 1889
Stoja [cs] 1894
Satanela [cs], also Satanella 1898
Černé jezero [cs] (Black Lake, the Černé jezero) also Šumavská víla (The Spirit of the Šumava Forest [Bohemian 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 Vít Micka [ru]

References

^ "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.")
^ 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).