Rozanov (real surname Rozenof) was born approximately in 1870 and died in 1912.
Very young Rozanov sang
in a chorus, then went to Milan to study with E. Brogi.
Starting in 1895, Rozanov began to sing in Kiev, Kharkiv (impresario
Tsereteli), Tiflis (1899, 1900, 1902), Moscow (1899/1900, Private Opera, impresario Maksakov), Vilnius, Kazan (1901),
Petersburg (at the Akvarium), again in Kiev (1903), in Novgorod (1904) and Saratov (1905/06).
1903 to 1905, he was a soloist at the Bolshoj Theater (there, he sang Sobinin,
Grigorij,
German, Manrico, José, Raoul, and Turiddu).
In 1905, Rozanov made his debut as Radames at the Mariinskij; in 1908, he sang at the St. Petersburg conservatory; in 1909/10
at the Sergievskij Narodnyj Dom in Moscow; and in 1910–12 at the Odessa opera (impresario Bagrov).
Rozanov went on
tour: Helsinki, Berlin (1907), Milano (2 seasons), Florence (one season), Genova (one season), Trieste (one season),
Lisbon (1909 – Teatro São Carlos: Un ballo in maschera with Elvira Magliulo – Giuseppina Sanz – Tina Di Angelo
– Mario Ancona – José Mardones – Ugo Canetti), London, the USA and Buenos Aires (1909, Teatro Coliseo: Pagliacci
with Germana Grazioli – Domenico Viglione Borghese
– Giuseppe La Puma – Angelo Algos; 1909, Teatro Colón: Pagliacci with Hariclea Darclée –
Titta Ruffo – Giovanni Novelli – Cesare
Spadoni; and Tannhäuser with Hariclea Darclée – Maria Claessens – Giuseppe De Luca – Mansueto Gaudio
– Antonio Vettori).
Rozanov possessed a pleasant and strong voice (tenore di forza).
His sound was full with some metal, and easily and freely produced, with a shade of throatiness at the top –
I emphasize: a shade, not a squeezed tone; this did not impede his success. (S. Levik)
Rozanov had a lot of temperament on stage, close to excessive. He was considered one of the best
interpreters of the Wagner repertoire.
His roles included: Sobinin (in 1904, he took part in the performance celebrating the 100th anniversary of Glinka's birth), Tannhäuser,
Bajan, Finn, Prince, Shujskij, Rodolfo, Sinodal,
Vjazminskij (Oprichnik – normally sung by a baritone!!), Lenskij,
Éléazar, Samson, Énée, Alfredo, Otello, Duca,
Riccardo, Ernani, Enzo, Lohengrin, Siegmund,
Siegfried, Jontek, Sadko, Jean de Leyde, Andrej (Mazepa), Canio, Radames...
Reference: A. M. Pruzhanskij: Otechestvennye pevtsy 1750–1917, vol. 2, Moscow 2000