Alexander Kipnis

Alexander Kipnis ( _uk. Олександр Кіпнiс) born (February 13, (February 1 Julian calendar) 1891 in Zhytomyr, the capital of the government of Volhynia, in the Russian Empire, (now Ukraine) – died May 14, 1978 in Westport, Connecticut), was an operatic bass of great artistry and vocal endowment. Kipnis became an American citizen in 1931, having married an American and long appeared at the Chicago Opera before making his belated début at the Metropolitan Opera in 1940.

Early life

His impoverished family of seven lived in a Jewish ghetto. After his father died, when he was 12, he helped support the family as a carpenter's apprentice and by singing soprano in local synagogues and in Bessarabia (now Moldova) until his voice changed. As a teenager he took part in a Yiddish theatrical group, until he left for employment at a synagogue in Sedlice, Poland. About this time he entered the Warsaw Conservatory at age 19. The conservatory did not require a high-school diploma. His education included the study of the trombone, double bass and conducting. All the while he continued to sing in synagogues. On the recommendation of the choirmaster, he traveled to Berlin and studied voice with Ernst Grenzebach who was also a teacher of Lauritz Melchior, Meta Seinemeyer, and Max Lorenz. At the same time he sang second bass in Monti's Operetta Theater.

When the First World War started, Kipnis was interned as an alien in a German holding camp. While singing to himself he was overheard by an army captain whose brother was general manager of the Wiesbaden Opera. Kipnis was released from custody and he was engaged by the Hamburg Opera. He made his operatic debut in 1915, singing three Johann Strauss songs as a "guest" in the party scene of the operetta Die Fledermaus. In 1917, he moved from Hamburg to the Wiesbaden Opera, having gained invaluable stage experience. He sang in more than 300 performances at Wiesbaden until 1922, when he joined the Staatsoper in the German capital of Berlin.

International career

The following year Kipnis visited the United States with a touring Wagnerian company. For nine seasons, between 1923 and 1932, he was on the roster of the Civic Opera in Chicago. In 1927, at the Bayreuth Festival, he appeared as Gurnemanz in Richard Wagner's Parsifal under Karl Muck and recorded the Good Friday Music under Siegfried Wagner. (A purported live performance recording in 1933 under Richard Strauss has been generally discounted.) He also appeared at the Salzburg Festival.

Kipnis was under contract with the Berlin Opera until 1935, when he was able to break his contract and flee Nazi Germany. He appeared for three seasons as a guest performer with the Vienna State Opera in 1936-1938. Just after the Anschluss he left Europe and settled permanently in the United States.

By the time he was finally signed by the Metropolitan in 1940 he had appeared in most of the world's major opera houses. In addition to those European and American venues already mentioned in this article, he was heard at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden (in 1927 and 1929-1935) and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (1926-1936).

Kipnis was regarded throughout the inter-war years as being one of the greatest basses in the world. He was praised for the beauty of his voice and the excellence of his musicianship. As befitted his status, he was invited to appear with the top conductors of his day. They included Ansermet, Barbirolli, Beecham, Leo Blech, Busch, Coates, Elmendorff, Furtwängler, Heger, Karajan, Krips, Kleiber, Klemperer, Knappertsbusch, Koussevitsky, Leinsdorf, Mengelberg, Mitropoulos, Monteux, Muck, Nikisch, Ormandy, Pfitzner, Reiner, Rodzinski, Rosbaud, Scherchen, Richard Strauss, Szell, Toscanini, Walter and Weingartner.

Kipnis retired from the Met in 1946 and made his last concert appearance in 1951. Since his debut in 1915, he had sung at least 108 roles, often in more than one language, and his performances in opera and oratorio numbered more than 1600. His recordings of lieder by Brahms, Wolf and Schubert are highly prized today, as are his many operatic recordings. (Kipnis made his best records in the 1920s and '30s; recordings from the 1940s show some decline in vocal quality.)

Critical appreciation

Among Kipnis' most celebrated roles were the bass parts in operas by Mozart and Wagner, as well as the title role in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and the part of Rocco in Fidelio by Beethoven. In Germany he also was renowned as a Verdi singer. He was a distinguished interpreter of German lieder and Russian songs, too.

During the 1920s and '30s, Kipnis' chief bass rivals were the vibrant Italians Ezio Pinza and Tancredi Pasero in the Verdi repertoire, and the black-voiced Norwegian Ivar Andresen in the Wagner repertoire. None of these three rivals could match the breadth of Kipnis' musicianship although their voices were of splendid quality.

Family

Kipnis' son Igor Kipnis (1930-2002) was a celebrated harpsichordist, and much of this material is derived from a biography of his father written by him.

Following in similar creative footsteps, Kipnis's Grandson, Jeremy R. Kipnis (b. 1965) has become known as, among other things, a noted Photographer, Record Producer, Film Director, and recently creator of 'The Kipnis Studio Standard - The 21st Century Ultimate Screening Room Design', an evolution of George Lucas' and Tom Holman's THX Motion Picture & Sound StandardsFact|date=August 2008.

Recordings

The Best of Alexander Kipnis - Wagner, Mozart, Verdi, Gounod, Brahms, Meyerbeer, Wolf and Halevy recordings presented his Igor Kipnis, CD (compact disc) published by Pearl (Pavilion Records Ltd.) GEMM CD 9451.

The Austrian firm Preiser Records has also issued excellent CD recitals by Kipnis.

ources

*Shawe-Taylor, Desmond: "Kipnis, Alexander" in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
*Operastars.com (Igor Kipnis)

External links

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