Arnold Rosé represented the final glory of the nineteenth-century Viennese string style, soon to be overthrown by Kreisler. He is principally remembered as leader of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, a post that he held for fifty-seven years from 1881 to 1938. During this time his reputation as an orchestral leader became legendary and he worked closely with many conductors: Richter, Strauss, Mahler, Toscanini, Schalk, Weingartner, Krauss, Knappertsbusch and Furtwängler. Boult considered him to be the greatest orchestral leader of his time.

Following graduation from Vienna Rosé auditioned for Joseph Massart at the Paris Conservatoire but was turned down in these words: ‘You play the violin very well, but your playing is like a beautiful flower without perfume. Rosé’s response was to tell Massart that he would not take lessons from him at any price and he promptly joined the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Bruno Walter noted ‘the magic of Rosé’s orchestral solos, particularly the sublime beauty of his violin solo in the Third Act of Tristan’, whilst Otto Strasser wrote:

‘With its crystal-clear tone, sparing use of vibrato, and faultless intonation, his briefest orchestral solo had something personal about it which made the audience sit up and listen…His influence on the whole string section was incredible. He had such a degree of authority that each of us gave our best, from the violins to the double basses.’

Rosé had two children: Alfred (1902–1975) became a pianist and conductor and Alma (1906– 1944), a very successful violinist. Alma recorded the Bach D minor Double Concerto with her father in 1928 in a performance that includes a cadenza by Joseph Hellmesberger in the finale. This recording, embodying elements of style typical of Rosé’s playing (including frequent and pronounced portamenti from both players, especially in the slow movement), is thoroughly representative of his solo work.

Interestingly, Rosé shows a marked difference in style between solo and chamber repertoire. His acoustic recordings of 1909–1910 reveal him to be still in his prime, with exquisite intonation in double-stopping, a very pure, vibrant tone and a species of quite unmistakable portamento: prominent, in the manner of the late nineteenth century, but also very fast and cleanly executed. Vibrato is contained but quite frequent in melodic passages, as in his performance of Ernst’s Otello Fantasy. The later Beethoven quartet recordings show a retention of much of this sound world (they are undoubtedly some of the most stylistically old-fashioned Beethoven quartet recordings) but are tempered with an element of austere restraint. Although Rosé was of a quite different Austro-German tradition from that of Joseph Joachim, it is understandable that many draw comparisons between his playing and that of the older violinist.

The Rosé Quartet, which Rosé founded in 1883, acquired an international reputation. It was unusual at the time in that it toured widely despite the fact that the players kept their orchestral jobs. Each season it gave six to eight subscription concerts in Vienna to capacity audiences. The quartet gave premières of works by Karl Goldmark, Robert Fuchs, Hans Pfitzner, Ewald Strässer, Karl Wiegl, Hans Gál, Higo Kauder, Franz Schmidt, Emil von Rezniček, Erich Korngold and Arnold Schoenberg. First performances of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (1902) and his first two quartets (1907–1908) were not without controversy. Rosé prepared this repertoire meticulously, giving the first quartet forty rehearsals. Arguably, the ensemble was at its peak between 1905 and 1920, when it comprised Rosé, Paul Fischer, Anton Ruzitska, and Felix Buxbaum.

For one whose musical existence was founded in and dedicated to the Germanic classical tradition, the annexing of Austria by the Nazis in 1938 brought tragedy and loneliness to Rosé’s final years. Although he and his family had converted to Christianity, Rosé was forced to leave his beloved Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and string quartet and move to England alone, his wife having died the same year. Alma, who had initially thought that her Czech passport (gained through her marriage to Váša Příhoda) would give her immunity, was arrested by the Nazis in 1939. Although she and around forty others escaped being gassed by forming a women’s orchestra in the Auschwitz concentration camp, Alma died of an undiagnosed illness in captivity.

© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Milsom (A–Z of String Players, Naxos 8.558081-84)