Leonid Zinovieff (Litva, Vilnius 1876 - Belgrade, Serbia 1927)

The real name of this totally forgotten tenor is Lev Gips and he was born to a jewish family. He studied singing in Odessa, later perfected his vocal technique in Italy. Then appeared with great success in Kiev, Irkutsk (1906-1907), Kharkov (1907), Madrid, Italy (1910) and USA (1919). In the 1921-1926 seasons he was a soloist of the Belgrade Opera. Among his best roles were Radames in ''Aida'' and Eleasar in ''La Juive''.

Chronology of some appearances

 1910 Torino Teatro Regio Erodiade (Giovanni Battista)

1910 Torino Teatro Regio Edmea (Oberto)

1919 USA Brooklyn Academy of Music Aida (Radames)

RECORDINGS FOR SALE

Artistopia

The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky): Forgive me, celestial creature 317

Tosca (Puccini): E lucevan le stelle 318

Rigoletto (Verdi): Bella figlia dell'amore with
Fainberg-Gorskaya, Burskaya and Polyaev 605

Luigi Marletta (Tenor) (Alexandria, Egypt 1895 - Italy ?)

                      Leon Laffitte, Leon Laffitte, Richard Kubla, Luigi Marletta, William Miller


First he was a pupil of maestro Vallaro in Casale Monferrato,  then studied singing at the Conservatorio di Milano under Vincenzo Pintorno. In 1923 he made his debut as Manrico in ''Il Trovatore'' at  the Teatro  Carcano in Milano. Then during many years he appeared at the famous italian opera houses: Torino (Teatro Regio), Venezia (Teatro La Fenice), Napoli (Teatro San Carlo), Genova (Teatro Carlo Felice) and at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. He achieved his great success at guest performances in South America, particularly in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. He also made guest appearances  at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, at the Royal Opera House in Malta and took part in the tours of the traveling opera Carro di Tespi Lirico through Italy. Conductors like Arturo Toscanini and Tullio Serafin highly appreciated his interpretations. His repertoire included (Radames in ''Aida'', Manrico in ''Il Trovatore'', Alvaro in ''La forza del destino'', Arnoldo in G. Rossini's ''Guglielmo Tell'', Vasco in G. Meyerbeer's ''L'Africana''). Since 1927 he was married the contralto Camilla Rota (1899-1977). He made two records for Columbia.

Chronology of some appearances

1923 Milano Teatro Carcano Trovatore (Manrico)
1924 Parma Teatro Regio La forza del destino (Alvaro)
1935 Como Teatro Sociale Guglielmo Ratcliff (Guglielmo)
1942 Cagliari Politeama Regina Trovatore (Manrico)

RECORDING FOR SALE 

Columbia, Milano 1925/1926
Trovatore (Verdi): Deserto sulla terra D5267 B867 

Umberto di Lelio (Bass) (Roma 1890 † 1946 Milano)

He was a pupil of Antonio Cotogni in Rome. He began his career in the smaller towns opera houses and already in 1916 sang at the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari in U. Giordano’s ’’Fedora’’ and ‘’Ernani’’ of  G. Verdi. He had his first big success in 1920 at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. In 1921 he sang at La Scala in Milan the part of Pistol in G. Verdi’s  ‘’Falstaff’’ and had there till 1941 a long and successful career. In 1923 he sang  at  La Scala in the premiere of the opera ‘’Debora e Jaele’’ by I. Pizzetti. In 1927 he appeared there in ‘’Ariane et Barbe-Bleue’’ by Dukas. in 1929 again at La Scala he performed in the première of N. Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘’The Tale of Tsar Saltan’’. At La Scala his repertoire included Klingsor in ‘’Parsifal’’, Sparafucile in ‘’Rigoletto’’, Warlaam in ‘’Boris Godunov’’, Lodovico in ‘’Othello’’, Sulpice in ‘’La Fille du régiment’’, Count in ‘’Nozze di Figaro’’, Traveller in ‘’Siegfried’’ and Orest in ‘’Elektra’’, he sang this part at La Scala under the management of composer Richard Strauss. In the 1924-1925 season he took part in the guest performance tour through Australia under the management of prima donna Nellie Melba. In 1923 he appeared at the Arena di Verona. In 1935 he made guest appearance in Rio de Janeiro. In 1936 he sang at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova in the Italian première of Richard Strauss’s opera ‘’Arabella’’. He achieved his biggest success as an interpreter of Buffo parts, however, he also appeared with great success as Ramphis in ‘’Aida’’ and King Heinrich in ‘’Lohengrin’’. His daughter, Loretta di Lelio, became a known soprano; she married tenor Franco Corelli.

Chronology of some appearances

1922 Milano Teatro alla Scala Debora e Jaele (Hever)

1926 Parma Teatro Regio Norma (Oroveso)

1926 Parma Teatro Regio La Leggenda di Natale (Badro)

1930 Roma Teatro Reale dell'Opera Don Pasquale (Don Pasquale)

1933 Venezia Teatro La Fenice Don Pasquale (Don Pasquale)

1933 Venezia Teatro La Fenice Crepuscolo degli Dei (Hagen)

1934 Venezia Teatro La Fenice Don Pasquale (Don Pasquale)

1934 Venezia Teatro La Fenice Aida (Ramfis)

1938 Venezia Teatro La Fenice Elisir d'amore (Dulcamara)

RECORDINGS FOR SALE

HMV, Milano 1919
Complete Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) with Edoardo Taliani, Malvina Pereira, Ernesto Badini and Davide Carnevali

Columbia, Milano 1927-11
Sonnambula (Bellini): Vi ravviso D5749 WB1696
Sonnambula (Bellini): Tu non sai D5749 WB1698

Helge Rosvaenge (Tenor) (29. 8. 1897 Copenhagen, † 17. 6. 1972 Munich)

His real name was Helge Anton Rosenvinge Hansen. First he wanted to become a chemist and studied at the technical college of Copenhagen. His voice was discovered when he sang in a circle of friends in Schwerin. His later wife, Hungarian soprano Ilonka Holndonner, exerted herself for the education of his voice and gave together with him in Schwerin a concert. He received his vocal education in Copenhagen and Berlin. After his concert appearances in Denmark, he made his stage debut in 1921 at the Landestheater in Neustrelitz as José in ‘’Carmen’’. He guested in London, Milan, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Brussels,  Amsterdam, Munich, Hamburg and Dresden and with special success in 1933 in Cairo (as Radames in ‘’Aida’’).  Since 1932 he appeared almost annually at the Salzburg Festival. At the Bayreuth Festival he appeared in 1934 and 1936 as Parsifal. He also sang with success in operettas and sang among other things on 31. 12. 1935 at the Berlin Staatsoper in the premiere of E. Künnecke’s operetta "Die große Sünderin". In 1941 he made guest appearance at the Paris Grand Opéra as Belmonte in "Entführung aus dem Serail".  Since 1955 he appeared again at the Berlin Staatsoper, whose honorary member he was appointed. In 1963 and 1964 with great success he sang at the Carnegie Hall and in Madison Square Garden in New York. Later he devoted himself to teaching in Munich. His autobiography appeared under the title ‘’Skratte Pajazzo’’ (Copenhagen, 1945; in German as ‘’Lache Bajazzo’’, Berlin, 1963).

Chronology of some appearances

1921 Neustrelitz Landestheater

1922-1924 Altenburg and Thüringen Landestheater

1924-1926 Basel Stadttheater

1926-1929 Köln Opernhaus

1927 Wien Staatsoper

1929-1945 Berliner Staatsoper

1930 Wien Staatsoper

1932-1933 Salzburg Festival

1934 Bayreuth Festival

1936 Bayreuth Festival

1937 Salzburg Festival

1938 Salzburg Festival

1939 Salzburg Festival

1941 Paris Grand Opéra

1949 Salzburg Festival

1949 Wien Staatsoper

1949 Wien Staatsoper

1955 Berlin Staatsoper

RECORDINGS FOR SALE 

HMV, Berlin 1942
Lohengrin (Wagner): In fernem Land DB5698 2RA5326
Lohengrin (Wagner): Mein lieber Schwan DB5698 2RA5327

Nikolai Karzhevin (Tenor) (? - ? 1947)

He appeared at the opera houses of Kamianets-Podilskyi and Zhytomyr (1901-1902), Vitebsk and Minsk (1902-1903), Moscow (Theatre ‘’Hermitage’’ 1903,  Summer Theatre ‘’Akvarium’’, (1906),  Zimin’s Opera House (1907-1908)), St. Petersburg (New Summer Theatre ‘’Olimpia’’ 1904-1905), Kazan (1906, 1909, 1913), Saratov (1906-1907), Rostov-on-Don (1907), Tbilisi (1908), Kiev (1909), Ekaterinoslav, Katerinodar (1910), Samara (1913), Perm and Ekaterinburg (1916-1918), Sverdlovsk (1922, 1927). His repertoire included Manrico in ‘’Trovatore’’, Jose in ‘’Carmen’’, Vasco in ‘’Africana’’, Duca in ‘’Rigoletto’’, Radames in ‘’Aida’’, Canio in ‘’Pagliacci’’. From 1925 to 1926 he taught singing in Kharkov, since 1927 in Sverdlovsk Music College. 

Chronology of some appearances

1901-1902  Kamianets-Podilskyi and Zhytomyr

1902-1903  Vitebsk and Minsk

1903 Moscow  Theatre ‘’Hermitage’’

1904-1905 St. Petersburg  New Summer Theatre ‘’Olimpia’’

1906 Moscow  Summer Theatre ‘’Akvarium’’

1906 Kazan

1907  Rostov-on-Don

1906-1907 Saratov

1907-1908 Moscow Zimin Opera House

1908 Tbilisi

1909 Kiev 

1909 Kazan

1910 Katerinodar

1913 Kazan

1913 Samara

1916-1918 Ekaterinburg

1922 Sverdlovsk

1927 Sverdlovsk

RECORDINGS FOR SALE 

Pathé cylinders & discs, Moscow 1904?
Askold's Tomb (Verstovsky): Near the city of Slavyansk 24124

Aida (Verdi): Celeste Aida 24127

Rudolf Laubenthal (Tenor) (March 10th, 1886 Düsseldorf - October 2nd, 1972 Pöcking/Bavaria)

First he studied medicine at the universities of Munich, Strasbourg and Berlin, however, besides took also singing lessons and was among other things a pupil of Lilli Lehmann in Berlin. First he appeared as a concert singer and in 1912 excited in Eisenach a sensation. When the manager of the Berlin German Opera House heard him, he decided to engaged him. Laubenthal made his debut at the Berlin German Opera House in 1913. There he worked with great success till 1918. He sang there among other things in 1916 in the premiere of the opera "Dame Kobold" by F. von Weingartner. At the MET he made his debut as Walther von Stolzing. Here he appeared in the following opera premieres:

1924 Jenufa (Laca Klemeň) L. Janáček

1928 Ägyptischen Helena (Menelas)  R. Strauss

1931 Schwanda der Dudelsackpfeifer (Babinski)  J. Weinberger

1932 Elektra (Ägisth) R. Strauss

At the Metropolitan Opera his repertoire included Florestan in ‘’Fidelio’’, Max in ‘’Freischütz’’ and Tamino in "Zauberflöte".

He was married the soprano Lulu Kaesser. His only pupil was known tenor Horst R. Laubenthal, whom he adopted as a son.

Chronology of some appearances

1913-1918 Berlin German Opera House

1919-1923 Munich Bavarian State Opera

1923-1933 New York Metropolitan Opera

1926-1930 London Covent Garden

1929 Berlin State Opera 

Walter von Stolzing 12/11/1923, Lohengrin 1/8/1924, Siegfried 3/17/1925, Walter von Stolzing 3/31/1925, Nureddin 12/8/1925, Tristan 2/2/1926, Tannhäuser 3/2/1926, Walter von Stolzing 3/16/1926, Tristan 3/22/1927, Walter von Stolzing 1/10/1928, Tristan 2/28/1928, Siegfried 3/27/1928, Siegmund 11/27/1928, Siegfried 2/19/1929, Siegmund 11/26/1929, Walter von Stolzing 12/17/1929, Tristan 2/11/1930, Florestan 3/18/1930, Siegmund 11/11/1930, Siegfried 1/13/1931, 2/10/1931, Parsifal 3/31/1931, Babinsky 11/10/1931, Riégo 1/5/1932, Siegfried 4/5/1932, Tannhäuser 12/20/1932, Siegfried 1/17/1933, Jeník 2/14/1933 (Filadelfia)

RECORDINGS FOR SALE 

Parlophon, Berlin 1919-10-30
Huguenots (Meyerbeer): Ihr Wangenpaar P1045  2-2503-2
Eugen Onegin (Tchaikovsky): Wohin, wohin, wohin seid ihr entschwunden P1069 2-2540
Trovatore (Verdi): Stretta P1060 2-2541
Trovatore (Verdi): Daß nur für mich dein Herz erbebt P1060 2-2542

Homocord, Berlin 1922-12-23
Pagliacci (Leoncavallo): Rezitativ und Arie des Canio 8135 50783

Homokord, Berlin 1922-12-25
Africaine (Meyerbeer): Land so wunderbar 8135 50780
Tosca (Puccini): Recondita armonia 8169  50784
Tosca (Puccini): E lucevan le stelle 8169 50779

Pietro De Pasquali (Tenor)

Probably he made his debut in Italy, where he andmet his wife, the soprano Bernice de Pasquali, they put together their own opera troupe, which included his wife as principal soprano. They toured the United States.

 

RECORDING FOR SALE

G&T, London 1902
Ruy Blas (Marchetti): Duo with Bernice de Pasquali 54010 2027b 

Constantin Stellakis (Tenor) (Athens, Greece 1901 - Friedrichshafen, Germany 1980)

His father was the main priest of the Athens cathedral. He studied at the Athens conservatoire. In 1932 Stellakis perfected his skills in Germany. During the World War II he remained in Germany. After 1945 he lived in Ludwigsburg. In 1960,  under the pseudonym Tito Martini,  he appeared in Athens concert.

Chronology of appearance

1960 Athens Concert

RECORDINGS FOR SALE 

Telefunken, Berlin 1932-10-07
Graefin Maritza (Kalman): Gruess mir mein A1210 18667

Telefunken, Berlin 1932-10-17
Les contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach): Querschnitt with Anni Frind and Hans Reinmar  E1238 018731
Les contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach): Querschnitt II with Anni Frind and Hans Reinmar  E1238 018732 

Telefunken, Berlin 1932
Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni): Querschnitt, pt I with Konetzni and Hüsch E1296 018832
Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni): Querschnitt, pt II with Konetzni and Frind E1296 018833

Pathe, Athens 1935 
Ideale (Tosti) X 80128 70264

Ines Lombardi (Soprano)

Probably she made her debut at the Teatro Garibaldi in Chioggia (1915). She retired from the stage in 1925. She made two records for Fonotipia.

Chronology of some appearances

1915 Chioggia Teatro Garibaldi  Trovatore (Leonora)
1919 Crema  Teatro Sociale  Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)
1921 Bari  Teatro Petruzzelli  Forza del destino (Leonora)
1923 Brescia  Teatro Grande Mefistofele (Elena)
1925 Bologna  Teatro Del Corso  Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

RECORDING FOR SALE

Fonotipia, Milano 1924-09
Nerone (Boito): Decurione! E invan mi danni! with Salvatore Pollicino B152595 Pho5449  

Agostino Gnaccarini (Baritone) (San Pietro Capofiume, Italia 1858 - ? 1916)

He made his debut in 1879 at the Teatro Rossi in Pisa in ''Barbiere di Siviglia''. He retired from the stage in 1912. He made two recordings.

Chronology of some appearances

1884 Turin Teatro Regio Le Villi (Guglielmo) (Premiere) with Elena Boronat (Anna) and Enrico Filippi-Bresciani (Roberto)

1890 Bologna Teatro Del Corso Faust (Valentin) with Emma Zilli, Emma Gardini, Maria Amadei and Rogerio Astillero
1889 Rosario di Santa Fè  Teatro Olimpo Otello (Jago) with Eugenio Galli (Otello) and Lina Cerne (Desdemona)

1900 Barcelona Gran Teatre del Liceu Siegfried (Der Wanderer) with Raffaele Grani (Siegfried), Luisa d'Ehrenstein (Brunnhilde), Erda (Wanda Borisova), Achille Moro (Alberich) and Dante Zucchi (Mime)

1907 Venezia Teatro La Fenice Cid (Conte di Gormas) with David Henederson (Rodrigo), Lucia Crestani (Chimene), Leonia Ogroska (Infante) and Angelo Riccieri (Don Diego)

RECORDING FOR SALE

Columbia, Milano
Amleto (Thomas): Come romito fior D 4286 10997

 

Michèle Tomako (Μιχάλης Θωμάκος) (Tenor) (Greece 1904 - ?)

He made his operatic debut in Greece (1922). Then went to Italy and had a brief career there. Here he made a few records for Fonotipia.
 
Chronology of some appearances

1929  Pistoia Politeama Mabellini  Barbiere di Siviglia (Almaviva)
1929 Merano Teatro Civico Barbiere di Siviglia (Almaviva)

RECORDING FOR SALE

Fonotipia, Milano 1928-05-31
Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti): Fra poco a me ricovero 120189 Pho6297 

Franz Egénieff (Baritone) (Niederwalluf, Walluf, Hesse, Germany 1874 - Tegernsee, Bavaria, Germany 1949)

He was a son of the prince  Emil zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. His mother was the baroness Camilla von Kleydorff (Camilla Stefánska). His real name was Franz Freiherr von Kleydorff. Till 1900 he was a Prussian officer in Merseburg, then he studied singing with Lilli Lehmann and Alfredo Cairati in Berlin as well as under Victor Maurel in Paris. He began his career under the name Franz Egenieff in the 1904-1906 seasons, as a member of the Savage Opera Company, during North American tour. He made guest appearances in Dresden (Hofoper),  Munich (Hofoper), Cologne, Leipzig and at the National Theater of Weinar (1926), also in Bucharest and Sofia. After the First World War he took part in vast tour through Japan, China, Korea and Balkans. He was married the niece of the American multimillionaire Adolphus Busch. In 1927 he sang at the Bayreuth Festival the part of Klingsor in ''Parsifal''. In the 1929-1931 seasons he travelled around North America with the German Opera Company, which he put together Johanna Gadski, and sang during this tour the parts of Klingsor, Gunther in ''Götterdämmerung'' and Kurwenal in ''Tristan und Isolde''.

Chronology of some appearances

1904-1906 North American tour

1907-1910 Berlin Komische Oper

1910-1911 Berlin Hofoper

1912-1913 Berlin Kurfürsten-Oper

1927 Bayreuth Festival

1929-1931 North American tour

RECORDINGS FOR SALE 

Odeon, Berlin 1909-10
Mignon (Thomas): Ihr Schwalben in den Lüften with Artôt de Padilla XX76050 xxB4706

Edison 4-min cylinders, Berlin 1910?
Tannhäuser (Wagner): O kehr' zurück BA 28154

Pathé, Berlin 1910/1911
Figaro's Hochzeit (Mozart): Duett with Minnie Nast 15780