Alexander Kipnis (Ukrainian: Олександр Кіпнiс) (born February 13, [February 1, Julian Calendar] 1891 in Zhytomyr, the capital of the government of Volhynia, in the Russian Empire, [now Ukraine] – died May 14, 1978 in Westport, Connecticut), was an operatic bass of great artistry and vocal endowment.
Having initially established his artistic reputation in Europe, Kipnis became an American citizen in 1931, following his marriage to an American. He ...
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Alexander Kipnis (Ukrainian: Олександр Кіпнiс) (born February 13, [February 1, Julian Calendar] 1891 in Zhytomyr, the capital of the government of Volhynia, in the Russian Empire, [now Ukraine] – died May 14, 1978 in Westport, Connecticut), was an operatic bass of great artistry and vocal endowment.
Having initially established his artistic reputation in Europe, Kipnis became an American citizen in 1931, following his marriage to an American. He appeared often at the Chicago Opera before making his belated début at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1940.
Kipnis' impoverished family of seven lived in a Jewish ghetto. After his father died, when he was aged 12, he helped support the family as a carpenter's apprentice and by singing soprano in local synagogues and in Bessarabia (now Moldova) until his voice changed. As a teenager he took part in a Yiddish theatrical group, until he left for employment at a synagogue in Siedlce, Poland. About this time he entered the Warsaw...
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