James Robertson

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(17 June 1912 – 18 May 1991) was an English conductor, best known as musical director of

Sadler's Wells Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

. Robertson was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, before studying music at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...

and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

in London.Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 29 May 1991, p. 12 He joined the music staff of

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

in 1937 and became chorus master and repetiteur of the

Carl Rosa Opera The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, and his wife, British operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company premiere ...

in 1938.Loveland, Kenneth
"Robertson, James"
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, accessed 2 June 2011 After the Second World War, in which he served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, he was appointed musical director of the

in 1946, serving in the post until 1954. Together with the conductor Michael Mudie and the administrator Norman Tucker, he formed a triumvirate that ran the company. In 1954 Robertson left to become conductor of the New Zealand National Orchestra (now the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

), succeeding

Michael Bowles Michael Andrew Bowles (; 30 November 1909 – 6 April 1998) was an Irish conductor and composer, who was also active in New Zealand, the US, and England. Life Bowles was born in Riverstown, County Sligo, and grew up in Boyle, County Roscommon, ...

. He returned to Britain in 1958, conducting the Carl Rosa company and as a regular guest conductor at Sadler's Wells. Robertson was opera adviser to the Théâtre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels in 1960, followed by a further spell in New Zealand, where he was artistic director of the National Opera (1962–3). In 1964 he became director of the London Opera Centre, where he encouraged many young singers who later achieved success on the operatic stage. He retired as director in 1977, though remaining a consultant. He returned once more to New Zealand, conducting there from 1978 to 1981. Robertson died in

Ruabon Ruabon (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. I ...

, North

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, aged 79.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, James (conductor) 1912 births 1991 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English male conductors (music) Music directors (opera) Alumni of the Royal College of Music Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Musicians from Liverpool Conductors of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra 20th-century English conductors (music) 20th-century English male musicians