Mark Osipovich Reizen, also Reisen or Reyzen (Russian: Марк Осипович Рейзен, 3 July [O.S. 21 June] 1895 – November 25, 1992) was a leading Soviet opera singer with a beautiful and expansive bass voice.
Reizen was born into a Jewish family of mine workers in 1895 at Zaitsevo village in Ekaterinoslav province. He had four brothers and a sister, and all were trained in music, playing mandolin, guitar, balalaika and accordion. He served as a soldier in the First World War. He studied engineering at the Kharkiv Politechnic, and also voice at the Kharkiv Conservatory with the Italian professor Federico Bugamelli in 1919-1920. He debuted at the Kharkiv Opera in 1921 as Pimen in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, and in 1925 moved to the Mariinsky Theatre in Leningrad. Reizen toured Europe performing in Paris, Berlin, Monte Carlo and London in 1929-1930.A tall man commanding a strong stage presence, he joined the Bolshoi Theatre in 1930, remaining there as a principal bass until his retirement in 1954. Among his roles were: Ivan Susanin and Ruslan from the Glinka's operas, Don Basilio (The Barber of Seville by Rossini), Mephistopheles (Faust by Gounod), Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky), Salieri (Mozart and Salieri), the Viking merchant (Sadko) in operas by Rimsky-Korsakov, the old Gypsy (Aleko by Rachmaninov), Wotan in Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs, Konchak (Prince Igor by Borodin), Philip II and Procida in Verdi's operas, and so on. He became a particularly memorable interpreter of Boris and Dosifey in the operas of Mussorgsky (Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, respectively).Reizen was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1941, 1949, and 1951.In 1967, he began teaching, and became a professor at the Moscow Gnessin Institute. He gave an important recital for his 80th anniversary, and for his 90th sang Prince Gremin (in Eugene Onegin) at the Bolshoi in Moscow in July 1985. On both occasions his voice proved to be in a remarkable state of preservation.Reizen died of a stroke in 1992 in Moscow at the age of 97. He is considered to have been the most illustrious Russian bass since the days of Lev Sibiriakov (1869-1942) and Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938), and the possessor of one of the very finest voices of its type heard anywhere in the world during the past 100 years. A number of recordings are available on CD and verify his greatness. Film clips of him performing also exist.
Mark Osipovich Reizen, also Reisen or Reyzen (Russian: Марк Осипович Рейзен, 3 July [O.S. 21 June] 1895 – November 25, 1992) was a leading Soviet opera singer with a beautiful and expansive bass voice.
Reizen was born into a Jewish family of mine workers in 1895 at Zaitsevo village in Ekaterinoslav province. He had four brothers and a sister, and all were trained in music, playing mandolin, guitar, balalaika and accordion. He served as a soldier in the First World War. He studied engineering at the Kharkiv Politechnic, and also voice at the Kharkiv Conservatory with the Italian professor Federico Bugamelli in 1919-1920. He debuted at the Kharkiv Opera in 1921 as Pimen in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, and in 1925 moved to the Mariinsky Theatre in Leningrad. Reizen toured Europe performing in Paris, Berlin, Monte Carlo and London in 1929-1930.A tall man commanding a strong stage presence, he joined the Bolshoi Theatre in 1930, remaining there as a principal bass until his retirement in 1954. Among his roles were: Ivan Susanin and Ruslan from the Glinka's operas, Don Basilio (The Barber of Seville by Rossini), Mephistopheles (Faust by Gounod), Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky), Salieri (Mozart and Salieri), the Viking merchant (Sadko) in operas by Rimsky-Korsakov, the old Gypsy (Aleko by Rachmaninov), Wotan in Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs, Konchak (Prince Igor by Borodin), Philip II and Procida in Verdi's operas, and so on. He became a particularly memorable interpreter of Boris and Dosifey in the operas of Mussorgsky (Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, respectively).Reizen was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1941, 1949, and 1951.In 1967, he began teaching, and became a professor at the Moscow Gnessin Institute. He gave an important recital for his 80th anniversary, and for his 90th sang Prince Gremin (in Eugene Onegin) at the Bolshoi in Moscow in July 1985. On both occasions his voice proved to be in a remarkable state of preservation.Reizen died of a stroke in 1992 in Moscow at the age of 97. He is considered to have been the most illustrious Russian bass since the days of Lev Sibiriakov (1869-1942) and Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938), and the possessor of one of the very finest voices of its type heard anywhere in the world during the past 100 years. A number of recordings are available on CD and verify his greatness. Film clips of him performing also exist.
川公网安备 51019002004889号
