His real surname was Vittings. He studied with his brother, who was an operetta singer. Later he received his education at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Gabel, but soon decided to leave Conservatory and studied privately with great russian tenor Lev Klementiev. In 1904 he moved to Milan to continue his education, where he studied with Del Fiume. He made his debut in 1906 in Piacenza as Edgardo in ‘’Lucia di Lammermoor’’. Then Vitting appeared in Milan and Parma. In the same year he returned to Russia and appeared at the St. Petersburg National House. From 1909 to 1918 Vitting was a soloist at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre, where he debuted as Sobinin in ‘’A life for the Tzar’’. In 1913 he guested in Kazan. From 1918 he lived in Riga where he helped to establish the National Opera Theatre and where he appeared up to 1940. Since 1920’s he always appeared in England, France (1924-26), Monaco, Spain (1924-26, 1932, 1934, Madrid, Barcelona), Italy (1924-26, 1932, La Scala), Berlin (1928), Belgrad (1929-31), Bucharest (1932), USA (1933-36, New York, Philadelphia), China (1929, Shanghai), Japan (1929), Czechoslovakia, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia. He also appeared in Odessa (1926), Sverdlovsk (1927-28), Tiflis (1927). Last time he appeared in 1946 as Eleazar in ‘’La Juive’’ of Halevy at the Riga Opera Theatre. Vitting possessed strong, equal in all registers (with the dense middle) voice of rare beauty and a wide range (freely overcame difficulties of the top register). His repertoire totaled over 35 parts. He was a friend of Titta Ruffo.
Chronology of some appearances
1906 Piacenza Opera House Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
1908 St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre A life for the Tzar (Sobinin)
Chronology of some appearances
1906 Piacenza Opera House Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
1908 St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre A life for the Tzar (Sobinin)
1927 Riga Opera Theatre La Juive (Eleazar)
RECORDINGS FOR SALE
Gramophone, St. Petersburg 23-9-10
Mefistofele (Boito): Se tu mi doni un ora with Lev Sibiryakov 024041 2037c
Gramophone, St. Petersburg 30-9-10
Nijegorodci (Napravnik): Kuratov's romance 022178 2048c
Carmen (Bizet): La fleur que tú m’avais jetée 022179 2049c
Gramophone, St. Petersburg 4-10-10
Don’t trust you baby (Petrov) 4-22179 14910b
No to byl son von (Lassen) 4-22181
You are my morning (Vrangel) 4-22182 14913
Gramophone, St. Petersburg 13-10-10
She was yours (Grechaninov) 4-22194 14968b
Gramophone, St. Petersburg 18-10-10
Mattinata (Leoncavallo) 4-22206 15010
Gramophone, St. Petersburg 2-10-11
Carmen (Bizet): C'est toi! c'est moi!... with Evgenija Zbrueva 024052 2455c
Carmen (Bizet): Mais moi, Carmen, je t'aime encore with Evgenija Zbrueva 024053 2456c
Gramophone, St. Petersburg 2-10-11
Aida: Ariya Radamesa - Milaya Aida Verdi 022303 2480c
Gramophone, St. Petersburg 1-10-12
The Sailors (Villebois) with Lev Sibiryakov 2-24040 16682½b
Gramophone, St. Petersburg 4-10-12
Te wedding (Dargomizhsky) 022307 2655c
Zhidovka: Ariya Eleazara, A4 - Rakhil, ty mne dana, Halévy 022304 2656c
Te wedding (Dargomizhsky) 022307 2655c
Zhidovka: Ariya Eleazara, A4 - Rakhil, ty mne dana, Halévy 022304 2656c
MOLTO BELLO!!! Thank you my Friend for sharing this Valuable Biographical information.
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