 Euphrosyne
Parepa Rosa
Singer
Euphrosyne Parepa Rosa was born
in Edinburgh , Scotland on May 7, 1836 to Baron
Georgiades de Boyesku, of Bucharest , a
Wallachian nobleman. Her father died when Parepa
was only a baby, leaving her mother a widow at
twenty-one and in great poverty. Her mother took
to singing in public and trained her for the
same profession. Epuphrosyne made great progress
in her musical studies and at the same time
learned to speak fluent English, Italian,
French, German, and Spanish.
When she was sixteen years old,
Epuphrosyne appeared in public for the first
time in the city of Malta ; then at Naples ,
Genoa , Rome , Florence , Madrid , and Lisbon .
Wherever she sang, she became a great favorite
of the public.
In 1857, Parepa appeared in
London and was well received. Because of her
initial popularity and the fact that she was
able to sustain her reputation as a singer, she
continued in England for nine years. During this
time in England she met and married a British
officer, Captain Carvell of the East India
service, but he died shortly after their
marriage.
In 1866, Epuphrosyne came to
America and made a tour of the country with
Levy, the noted cornetist, and Carl Rosa, a
violinist. The tour began with concert work in
New York , but afterwards she took up the opera.
In 1867 Epuphrosyne became the wife of Carl Rosa
and between the years of 1869-1872 she organized
an English Opera Company with her husband. The
company toured the large cities of the U.S. ,
with her as the star.
Mrs. Rosa's voice was a pure
soprano. She sang with great power and compass.
She was thoroughly trained in the technical
parts of music and she sang beautifully.
Euphrosyne Parepa Rosa died in
London , England , on January 21, 1874 at a
young age. She died just four months before her
38th birthday.
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