Forgotten Opera Singers

Forgotten Opera Singers

Aug 4, 2024

LATVIAN TENOR MIKHAIL ALEXANDROVICH (1914-2002) CDR


MIKHAIL ALEXANDROVICH (23 JULY 1914, BĒRZPILS, VITEBSK GOVERNORATE - 3 JULY 2002, MUNICH)

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Alexandrovich was born on the 23 of July 1914, in the village of Bērzpils, Vitebsk Governorate (now part of Balvi Municipality, Latvia), in the family of Jewish peasants. His father, an amateur musician, taught his young children to sing, and at the age of five, Mischa was able to sing folk melodies with the seriousness of an adult. At the age of seven, Mischa made his first studies of the theory of music and piano at the Riga Conservatory and started learning a concert repertoire based on folk tunes and the works of composers like Schubert, Gounod, Grieg, Schumann and Rimsky-Korsakov. with which, at the age of nine, he made a three-year tour of European cities. He prided himself on being the first child singer to be accepted as a serious artist on the concert stage. In his teens, when his voice changed to that of a lyric tenor, he studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. To finance further studies in Italy (1934-36) he accepted a position as cantor in Manchester, England. He spent several years singing in England, and made concert tours in France, Austria and Poland. Although basically a concert singer, he did sing the roles of Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore, the Duke in Rigoletto, and Alfred in La Traviata on several opera stages, but recognizing that his voice was fragile, he refused to compete with louder-voiced, operatically trained singers and limited such appearances. Returning to Latvia, in 1936, Alexandrovitch sang as a cantor in Riga, but also continued to give concerts and to sing in a few operatic performances. After Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, Mischa was sent to entertain the military forces, and even sang aboard warships of the Baltic fleet during the seige of Leningrad. In July 1943, Mischa gave his first concert in Moscow and became an immediate success. Besides singing a serious repertoire, he introduced many Neapolitan songs he learned in Italy into his recitals and became known as the Russian Tito Schipa. He sang in every corner of the Soviet Union, and his recordings were ea gerly awaited by the Russian public. However, Alexandrovich was never happy under the Soviet regime, and made numerous attempts to get out of Russia. He finally succeeded in 1971, thanks in part to the efforts of Cantor Louis Danto, then cantor at the Park Synagogue in Cleveland. Alexandrovitch first went to Israel, but stayed there only a short time before coming to the United States. In 1972, out of gratitude to Cantor Danto, he gave a recital in Cleveland, four selections from which are found on this disc. When Danto moved on to Toronto, Canada, he found a postion there for the already elderly singer as a cantor at the Beth David Synagogue. Alexandrovitch remained in Toronto for several years, and finally moved to Germany, where he is living in Munich at the present time. At the age of 80, Alexandrovitch was still giving concerts and singing on the radio.

 

 

TRACKLIST


1. Mamma Mia Che Vo' Sapè (Nutile)

2. Torna a Surriento (De Curtis)

3. Tiritomba (Italian Folk Song)

4. Amapola (Lacalle)

5. Carme (De Curtis)

6. Mandulinata a Napule (Tagliaferri)

7. Piscatore 'e Pusilleco (Tagliaferri)

8. Mal d'Amore (Buzzi-Peccia)

9. Der Gefangene im Kaukasus (Cui) Aria

10. La Juive (Halevy) Rachel, quand du Seigneur

11. Werther (Massenet) Pourquoi me reveiller

12. L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti) Una furtiva lagrima

13. Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Vesti la giubba

14. Don Juan Serenade (Napravnik)

15. Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod)

16. O sole mio (De Curtis)

17. Sérénade française ("Au clair de la lune, mon gentil Pierrot") (Leoncavallo)

18. Sei miei sospiri (Fetis)

19. Ein Augenblick ist mein gewesen (Glinka)

20. Glaub nicht, mein Kind (Petrov)


LATVIAN TENOR MIKHAIL ALEXANDROVICH (1914-2002) CDR

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