Rossini: La Calunnia - Mark Reizen (in Italian and in Russian)

[operafan0anegnd]

Great performance by a great singer.  Bravo. Thanks for posting.

Talk about his nationality and nationalism in general is completely irrelevant.

Enjoy the music! Forget politics, race and nationalism!

[MisterPapageno]

The expressione is typically Slavonic, that is harsh and neat . But what a wonderful voice timbre and weight! :)

[growsonwalls]

It's so strange to hear this kind of voice singing Rossini. But what a grand voice!

[bodiloto]

bravo !

[IVANKOVALE]

Gmyria is for sure Ukrainian singer, and positioned himself as such, but this don't make him provincial even in comparison with Reizen.

[blichilde]

Wow... So good

[mariasarda]

On dirait Boris Christoff !!! Belle clarté dans les graves, très homogène !!!!

[arzace]

Бедный Марк Осипович!У "ханакончака" он украинско-еврейский бас,а тут просто украинский бас....Думаю его очень удивил бы такой провинциальный статус,интересно,а А.В.Нежданова и Е.К.Катульская тоже украинские певицы?

[CzarDodon]

If I understand correctly, using google translator (not the best way of understanding a comment), you are making a point based on your personal nationalist religious convictions. Starting from my info where I say Reizen is Ukrainian: you see that as a somewhat provincial way of specifing Reizen's origins, am I correct?

[vlp92]

yes, u R right. Russians are typically obsessed with their "greatness", anything Ukrainian for them is like of lower standing. Many wonderful singers came from Ukraine, but they label them Russian :)

[CzarDodon]

I detest generalisations of any sort likewise I destest labels

[vlp92]

so do i :)

[cachocerebro]

Good for you.

[khankonchak]

Yes, this arzace balks at references to Reizen as Ukrainian, or a Ukrainian-born Jew (though he improperly translates the latter classification, which was my own). "Poor Mark Ossipovich", he says, "...I think he would be astonished by such a provincial status.". Well, vlp92 is correct. There are a number of Russian nationalists on YT who insist on calling musicians like Reizen great "Soviet" or "Russian" artists. It's an "honor" bestowed on a select few, regardless of the artist's origins.

[khankonchak]

These same nationalists, however, won't hesitate to vilify "ordinary" Jews- meaning those who haven't attained Reizen's level of fame and prestige. I too find this labeling despicable in its hypocrisy and have no patience for individuals who make such statements. Once in a while they'll post similar comments on my videos as well. I no longer waste my time arguing and just delete their remarks as soon as I see them.

[CzarDodon]

Thanks for the clarifications. I won't delete the comment since it is probably more useful for people to see what your response was referred to. Nationalists, like all extremists and fundamentalists always base their beliefs on a basic error: nothing comes from nowhere; the greatest achievements have been made through the mixing and meeting of cultures and ideas. Instead they close themselves in their self-referential straitjacket, castrating any greatness they wish to celebrate.

[khankonchak]

Very well put. I couldn't agree more.

[vlp92]

@CzarDodon

Nothing is wrong with Nationalism. And only a small fraction of nationalists belongs to extremists.

[CzarDodon]

@vlp92 Too broad, should I have said extreme nationalists? Unfortunately nationalisms very often set themselves up in opposition to some 'other', (evil, inferior, a natural enemy), despising cultural, ethnic or racial differences and very often claim 'god-given' or 'inherent' rights or supremacies. Such attitudes have been responsible for persistent problems in history and are a huge obstacle to necessary dialogue and civilized solutions. Worst of all when 2 nationalisms are at loggerheads

[vlp92]

@CzarDodon Yes, i think that would be the right statement. Because "nationalism" is the belief that a nation has a right to statehood.

[CzarDodon]

@vlp92 So once statehood has been achieved and is recognised by the 'international community', nationalisms have little need to continue to be, unless their aim is to oppress the rights of 'other' minorities and that's perhaps where the trouble begins

[vlp92]

@CzarDodon I'd love to see this idea to come to realization. But in real life, nations do not coexist in harmony and everywhere you can see people running a strong nationalistic agenda: in Russia, USA, Europe, China...Everywhere. I think it's often a way to protect some interests of a group. Of course, there are different levels of nationalism and I think that being proud of your culture is fine, but anything further like arrogance toward other nationalities and countries is just stupid. 

[belshep]

@arzace Это те же господа, что зачисляют Бродского в еврейские поэты (Бродский просто ржал над таким определением) , а Рихтера (тем более!) в украинские пианисты. Глухие к языку, музыке и национальным традициям убогие русофобы.

[patukott]

I guess these heavily stressed consonants are his way to manage his accent - and he IS superclear, that's fact. Whereas, the Russian pronunciation being very, er, different, there have been singers who, f.ex.actually sang «lasciate» almost like «loshad'» (horse). (I don't want to be wicked, honest !)

[operamor]

his voice and techinque is similar to Boris Christoff. But Christoff's Italian was much better.

[CzarDodon]

I think Reizen got more from mother nature than Christoff did, in Christoff the technique is more audible; they were both superlative singers. Christoff sang a large part of his career in Italy which was no doubt a great advantage in his Italian, and of course he spoke Italian though he always had a Slavic accent. Reizen on the other hand sang almost exclusively in the USSR. In the Russian version you can hear that Reizen is enjoying his words more.

[hologramlink108]

Yes a lot more!

[Elgranfisico]

Thank you very much for saying this!! I realise he was in his 50´s, and still sounds great!!!tks!

[Elgranbajo]

Wonderful, amazing!!! Many thanks, sir for these remarkable recordings. May I ask where did you get them? I like very much this bass who lived 97 years and he still sang at 90y/o.When did he record them?

[CzarDodon]

The Russian claunnia was recorded in 1953 as part of a complete recording with with Ivan Kozlovsky and Yelizaveta Shumskaya, while the Italian version is from 1951. Both versions were conducted by Samuel Samosud. Thanks to Khankonchak for this info.