An initiative of The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) in conjunction with The University of Melbourne
Skip to contentRosina Raisbeck enjoyed a successful career in London and performed on the club circuit across Australia in the 1960s, before joining the Australian Opera in 1971. She was still singing with the company at the age of 72.
Raisbeck was born in Ballarat to English and Italian parents, and grew up in Maitland. After success on the club circuit in New South Wales, she entered the New South Wales Conservatorium in 1942. Raisbeck won the Sun Aria and ABC Concerto and Vocal competitions in 1946. She auditioned at Covent Garden, London, and performed her debut role as Maddalena in Rigoletto the following year.
Raisbeck was a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as part of the Queen's coronation celebrations in 1953. She sang with Sadler's Wells Opera in London, and with the Elizabethan Trust Opera Company at home in Sydney. In 1961, after her divorce from James Laurie, she returned to Sydney with her son, Jim. She joined the Australian Opera company ten years later. Raisbeck's last public appearance was at the 80th birthday concert of Dame Joan Sutherland, her friend and colleague, in October 2006.
Sources used to compile this entry: Tony Stephens, 'Mistress of stage, master of voice', Sydney Morning Herald, 8 January 2007. (Note: the National Library of Australia holds biographical cuttings on Rosina Raisbeck, Record ID: 2010171).
Barbara Lemon
Created: 18 January 2007, Last modified: 4 September 2008
http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE2264b.htm
