Mark Reizen at 90 singing Prince Gremin (film)

Mark Reizen at 90 singing Prince Gremin
Seeing is believing. Eternal art lived in the magnificent bass Mark Reizen, the embodiment of nobility in art.
This is a gala for his 90th birthday.
Thanks to baritone Igor Morosow for his reminiscences of his teacher Mark Reizen:

"Mark Reizen was my first teacher at Moscow's conservatory. He used to be one or maybe the best Russian bass of his generation, but as it was the time of Stalin, he was unable to become famous also outside of the Soviet Union. This problem was the same for many other singers of that time. He had an enormously long career thanks to his unique technique of singing. You know, his teacher used to be an Italian (Bugomelli) singer who left him alone after the Russian revolution, but Mark noted all he was taught and continued his studies alone. It's the same technique he taught afterward to his own student. I'm the only student Mark had. Unfortunately Reizen had some problems at the conservatory and left it when I was his student, so that I had to change to another singer, David Gamrekeli, who was also a great personality and a very kind person and fantastic singer. So, I was lucky, however. Gamrekeli, maybe the best Georgian baritone, also respected Mark Reizen a lot.
The last years of Mark Reizen's life weren't very pleasant, however. He became a widower, which was very hard for him as he was extremely attached to his Rachel, who was also his doctor. At his 90th birthday he received a parcel every month by the government. This was normal at the time, and many other singers also received but in those parcels were only a sausage, a pound of flour, tea, some cans and butter. The old singers got this because it was hard for them to queue up in the shops and at the time of Perestroika most shops used to be rather empty. So, Mark Reizen told me when I visited him: "Have a look, Igor, that's all I earned in my life! But still, he stayed an optimist. Sometimes, when I visited him, he already over 90, drank some drinks with me and started singing funny folk songs from Odessa and danced to them. I almost burst from laughing: what an unique artist! There was the same talent in these songs as in his Gremin or Godunov. This was a totally different Mark Reizen. It was also he who suggested that I leave Russia for Western Europe."

Category:

Music

Tags:

• mark reizen
• 90
• prince gremin
• tchaikovsky
• queen of spades
• morosow

[vhan2007]

Correction, I do not know the rest of the story but certainly Mark Reizen was never a widower. Rachel Anatolievna Reizen, his beloved wife, survived him by only six months. She rests with him under the same stone in the Vvedenskoe Cemetery. Her years are marked 1898-1993.

This can be seen clarly at website : m-necropol.narod.ru/reyzen-mar­k.html

[vstasov]

@vhan2007 Respectfully thank you for the correct information.

[rvronsky]

"Artists" half his age could never sing so well. This version shall live with me for the rest of my life. BRAVO!

[paldrich1]

I sang with Jerome Hines in his last opera performance. He played the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo. He was 80!! The video can be seen here on youtube.

This Mark Reisen recording is equally, if not more, amazing. An example of absolutely perfect technique in a beautifully preserved voice. This voice does not have any of the customary wobble of an older voice. It is rock solid and interpretive. WONDERFUL!

[SuperLuckydream]

A voice of sublime artistic quality despite the age.

[TheNattella]

Это просто невероятно!!!Брависсимо!!!!!!!­

[Gala020471]

Bravo! It's a great work - Reizen's performance is elegant and noble, although he's 90. Real Prince Gremin. Thank you for posting!

[Sieglinde84]

90? That alone makes it awesome, but he still has his his voice and power - Badass Grandpa indeed!

[bodiloto]

Sublime Reizen Grazie!***********************

[clytemnestre1]

C'est fou une telle voix à cet âge... Exceptionnel! En plus il chante si musical....

[76Basso]

Absolutely unbelievable!!! There are no words for this...I am speechless. Thank you for sharing this wonderful video!

[NewHopeNashFan]

What a treasure this is! I just recently came across this fine singer's work. It's an inspiration to us all - his interpretation is so convincing you feel as if you're sitting at a master's feet drinking it all in as one can in no other way.

[cattleman6420012000]

Absolutely amazing. Such wonderful quality.