Arnold Azrikan

Arnold Grigorevich Azrikan (Russian: Арнольд Григорьевич Азрикан; Ukrainian: Арнольд Григорович Азрікан) (February 23, 1906, Odessa – July 19, 1976, Moscow) was a Ukrainian and Russian operatic dramatic tenor.

Arnold Azrikan (1906-1976). Russian and Ukrainian opera singer

Biography and career

He began to sing at the age of twelve in a chorus of the city church in Odessa. Between 1926-1929, he studied at the Odessa Conservatory where he was coached by the singers Menner-Kanevskaya and Julia Reider. Later, in Kharkov, he would perfect his mastery of voice with Carlo Barrero, the renowned Italian tenor and teacher. He began first as a chorister at the Odessa Opera theater in 1926, and in 1928 he made his debut there as Nathanael in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann.

In 1930, he was invited to the opera theater in Kharkov (the capital of Ukraine at that time) where he sang in the Ukrainian, Russian and Italian repertoires. In 1934 both the capital and the opera theatre's best soloists, including Azrikan, moved to Kiev.

In 1939, Azrikan first sang the title role in Giuseppe Verdi's Otello which later became his signature role. He was awarded the prestigious title of Honored Artist of Ukraine in 1940,[1] and along with his friendly rival Yuri Kiporenko-Domansky, Azrikan was the leading tenor at the Kiev Opera and Ballet Theatre until 1943. The same year he joined the Yekaterinburg (then called Sverdlovsk) Opera Theatre where he achieved his greatest recognition as a dramatic tenor in Otello.[2] For this performance he was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1946.[3] He remained with this theatre until 1951. Later, he toured extensively all over the Soviet Union while having long time engagements with the Odessa Opera and Ballet theater and the Baku Opera and Ballet Theatre. He retired from stage in 1964 during his engagement with the Moldova Opera Theater but returned to the same theater for his farewell performance in Otello in 1968.

In addition to his remarkable singing, Azrikan also appeared as a stage director of several opera productions where he sang the leading parts. He was also known as an outstanding teacher while working at the Chişinău Conservatory after his retirement from stage.

Repertoire

Russian tenor Arnold Azrikan in Verdi's Otello. Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg) State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater
Arnold Azrikan as Herman in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades

Stage director

Discography

Two Ukrainian romances - Arnold Azrikan - Gramplast, No.5230/5232, 1937.

Sound samples

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Entsyklopediia sychasnoi Ukrainy [Contemporary Ukrainian encyclopedia], Kiev: NAU, 2001. T.1. 229. ISBN 966-02-2075-8
  2. ↑ Belza, I. (April 17, 1946)."Otello" v Sverdlovskom opernom teatre ["Otello" at the Sverdlovsk Opera Theater], Izvestia.
  3. ↑ Matafonova, Y. (April 27, 2007). "Vertinskii pisal o nem tak…" [Vertinsky wrote about him these words…], Uralskii rabochii [The Urals Worker].

Sources

English

Russian

Ukrainian

Czech

Romanian

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