Albert Rosen

Albert Rosen (14 February 1924 – 23 May 1997), was an Austrian-born and Czech/Irish-naturalised conductor associated with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Wexford Festival, the National Theatre in Prague and J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň (Pilsen). He had a strong affinity with the works of Czech composers such as Smetana, Dvořák, Martinů and Janáček.

Albert Rosen was born in 1924 in Vienna. His mother was Czech, while his father's family was Austrian-Jewish. After Anschluss of Austria in 1938 they moved to Bratislava, and after the Slovak version of Nuremberg Laws came to force in September 1941, he escaped discrimination and genocide via the Danube and the sea to Israel (then Mandatory Palestine). There he worked in a kibbutz, manually and as an amateur chorus master, until 1945, when he returned to Bratislava.

In 1946–1947 he studied piano, composition and conducting at the Vienna Academy of Music with Joseph Marx and Hans Swarowsky, and continued to study conducting at the Prague Conservatory under Pavel Dědeček and Alois Klíma (1947–1948). He started his career in J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň (Pilsen) as a correpetiteur, assistant conductor and chorus master (1949–1952) and conductor (1953–1959), participating on the production of 11 operas, 19 ballets and, as the composer of stage music, 17 dramas. In 1960 he was engaged by National Theatre in Prague, to be appointed in 1964 the chief conductor of Smetana Theatre, the National Theatre's opera stage. He held this position until 1971, conducting 11 ballets and 9 opera productions.

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