Rosa Anna Charlotte Asmundsen (née Baldani; 29 December 1846 – 15 January 1911) was a Norwegian actress and singer.

Early life

Rosa Anna Charlotte Asmundsen was born on 29 December 1846 in Christiania (now

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

) to Italian plaster manufacturer Giovanni Baldani and Anna Eriksdatter. She married the actor Jacob Hveding Asmundsen (1841–1910) and together they were the parents of actor Sigurd Asmundsen (1871–1934).

Career

She excelled as a child actress and had several roles at the

Christiania Theatre Christiania Theatre, or ''Kristiania Theatre'', was Norway's finest stage for spoken drama from 4 October 1836 (opening date) to 1 September 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress, in central Christiania. It was the fir ...

, including the boy roles of Egil in ''

The Vikings at Helgeland ''The Vikings at Helgeland'' (''Hærmændene paa Helgeland'') is Henrik Ibsen's seventh play. It was written during 1857 and first performed at Christiania Norske Theater in Oslo on 24 November 1858. The story takes place during the time of Eri ...

'' (1858–1859) and the title role in ''

Ole Lukøje "Ole Lukøje" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen based upon a folk tale telling of a mysterious mythic creature of the Sandman who gently takes children to sleep and, depending on how good or bad they were, shows them various dre ...

'' (1860). She made her adult debut at the Christiania Theatre in the spring of 1865, as Thora in ''Et Enfoldigt Pigebarn''. From 1865 to 1867, she performed at the Folketeatret in Christiania and participated in the theatre's tour to Sweden, with performances in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in August 1866. From 1867 to 1868, she performed with Theodor Cortes' travelling company. At a performance of

Christian Monsen Christian Martin Monsen (18 June 1815 – 25 May 1852) was a Norwegian novelist, poet, journalist, newspaper editor and politician. Early and personal life Monsen was born in Larvik, a son of Johan Christian Monsen and Anne Johanne Sørensen. ...

's play ''Gudbrandsdølerne'' in Bergen in 1869, it was said that Asmundsen portrayed the role of Gudrun "with a grace and sincerity that one is not so often accustomed to seeing on our stage. The truth and naturalness with which she performed her part made one forget that it was a play that was only seen and heard by Gudrun herself". She continued touring with her husband as part of F. A. Cetti's company in 1871–1872, with performances in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, and

Tinn Tinn is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Aust-Telemark and Upper Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Rjukan. Some of the villages in Tinn include Atr� ...

. Then, from 1872 to 1874, they were with E. J. Hafgren at Møllergatens theatre and at Christiania Theatre from 1874 to 1876. It was there she distinguished herself through several singing roles, such as Zerlina in ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'' and as Cherubino in ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...

''. Asmundsen was employed by the

Den Nationale Scene Den Nationale Scene () is the largest theatre in Bergen, Norway. Den Nationale Scene is also one of the oldest permanent theatres in Norway. History Opened under the name '' Det Norske Theater'' in 1850, the theatre has roots dating back to its ...

in Bergen from its opening in 1876 until summer 1903. There she would often play the role of

soubrette A soubrette is a female minor stock character in opera and theatre, often a pert lady's maid. By extension, the term can refer generally to any saucy or flirtatious young woman. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means " ...

, the beautiful, mischievous and merry chambermaid. In 1903, she retired because she no longer had the physical capacity required to perform. She was financially supported by the theatre, becoming its first retiree.

Death

Asmundsen died on 15 January 1911 in Bergen, at the age of 64.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asmundsen, Rosa 1846 births 1911 deaths 19th-century Norwegian actresses 20th-century Norwegian actresses 19th-century Norwegian women singers 20th-century Norwegian women singers Actresses from Oslo Musicians from Oslo Norwegian people of Italian descent