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Igor Gorin (1904 - 1982)Note by Alan Bilgora |
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From the middle of the 19th Century Americans have been inordinately proud of their
native-born singers, and in particular of their baritones. From the concert platform to
oratorio, opera, operetta, musical comedy, countless movies and Broadway musicals,
the American baritone, with his persuasive and virile vocal tone no doubt the result of
the great cultural and ethnic mix that makes up the United States, has been a mainstay
of musical America. All the more unlikely then that a young baritone from the Ukraine
would became one of the most recognised and loved voices on record and radio, in
opera and recital.
Igor Gorin was born Ignatz Grünberg on 26th October 1904 (not 1908 as variously reported) in Grodek Ukraine, the son of a rabbi who did not support his interest in music. Ignatz studied in a Talmudic school and committed much of the Orthodox liturgy to memory. This was to serve him well in later life, when he acted as Cantor first in Europe and then in the U.S.A. Ignatz’s mother died when he was seven and together with his younger brother Ephraim and sister Blima he was taken into care by an aunt. Political unrest and anti-Semitism were rife and the family eventually fled to Vienna, where Ignatz earned money cleaned, delivering milk and occasionally tutoring Ukrainian refugees in their cultural heritage. Any spare time he spent at the library and attending lectures at the free night school. In Vienna he was introduced to Victor Fuchs, a former singer and faculty member of the Vienna Conservatory. Fuchs was impressed and arranged for Ignatz to take lesson from his assistant Robert Traniewsky. Long hours working and studying weakened his health and after collapsing in the street he was found to be suffering from acute tuberculosis – not a promising diagnosis for an illegal alien. However, Victor Fuchs averted deportation by standing as Ignatz’s sponsor, and also provided money for his convalescence at the spa Bad Gleichenberg. On his return to Vienna he was declared free of the infection. Fuchs next arranged a scholarship to the Vienna Conservatory where a strict regime of breathing exercises, scales and vocalises were imposed. At the Opera Ignatz heard the famous singers of the day; one abiding memory (which spurred him to adopt a bel-canto style) was of the veteran baritone Mattia Battistini (1856-1928) in concert. He also got practical experience by singing at weddings, funerals and civic services and in local synagogues. He became an associate cantor at the Leopoldstrasse synagogue and took services at the High Holydays eventually being appointed as Oberkantor (chief cantor). His reputation grew and once again it was Fuchs who arranged for Ignatz to join a small but very active Czech touring opera company, where he sang the principal baritone roles: Tonio, Germont, Figaro, Rigoletto, Renato, Wolfram, Escamillo and Valentin. In 1929 he ‘sang’ for Al Jolson at a large cinema where the Jazz Singer was being shown. Not all theatres in Vienna had sound equipment, and Ignatz sang the songs into a microphone from the wings. Ignatz next attracted the attention of the famous Wagnerian baritone Hans Hermann Nissen (1896-1980) who organised an audition with his agent Gunter Gunbrau. Gunbrau suggested a change of name to improve his chances of an international career and thus Ignatz became Igor and together they deconstructed Grünberg into Gorin. The agent presented him to Fritz Bush and the eminent conductor arranged a contract with the Teplitz-Shoenau in Czechoslovakia, which also gave him the opportunity to sing at the Vienna Volksoper. In 1930 rabbi Jacob Sonderling from the Temple Beth-Israel in Providence Rhode Island USA was in Vienna and heard Igor at the Leopoldstrasse Synagogue. He was impressed and (with Fuchs blessing) arranged with the wardens of his synagogue for Igor to conduct services for the High Holydays, with the suggestion that he perhaps sing at a couple of concerts. Igor visited America twice in the early 30’s, he was admired for his recitals as well as his performances in the synagogue and following his second recital at the Chopin Club, Dr. Louis Chapman of the Providence Journal wrote: "Mr Gorin’s work ensured and strengthened the opinion acquired at his former appearance as to his splendid vocal equipment and natural gifts. The richness of his voice, the firmness of his forte, the fineness of his pianissimo, his ample range and breath control and the clarity of his diction are all remarkable." Back in Vienna some of Igor’s friends were already making plans to leave and he also seriously considered emigrating. When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany Igor tried to obtain a visa for himself and his family, but being still officially illegal aliens, and without an official sponsor in America, he finally had to resort to forged exit documents for himself alone. America who had so recently welcomed him as a guest artist now saw him as just another refugee, taking menial jobs to survive. Rabbi Sonderling arranged for him to have a roof over his head, but was unable to help with auditions. It was at a party given by his host family that he sang for David Bandler, a successful furniture manufacturer. Bandler immediately decided to give the running of his business over to his son and became Igor’s manager. He knew the colourful Samuel L. Rothenfield, known as ‘Roxy’, who was the director of New York Radio City Music Hall and he offered him a ten-week contract. He was introduced as the Viennese baritone Charles Gorin. Radio was considered then the greatest medium for gaining national fame, and Igor was featured on the Fleischman Yeast Hour hosted by the famous crooner and film star Rudy Vallee. On the strength of this Bandler was able to secure for his protégée a contract to sing on the Standard Hour National Broadcasting Company’s Hollywood programme. In 1935 (the year Igor applied for US citizenship) Bandler secured two lucrative contracts; he was booked to be the star singer on the Hollywood Hotel programme which itself led to invitations to appear on radio programmes hosted by the soprano Grace Moore (1901-1947) and the glamorous mezzo-soprano Gladys Swarthout (1904-1069). By this route doors were opened to all the major musical radio programmes of the 30’s including the Bell Telephone Hour, the Kraft Music Hall and Treasury Star Parade. Igor also signed a contract with RCA Victor, recording for them in 1937. The discs were released on their budget series, but were so successful that all subsequent records were issued on the prestigious Red Seal label. Bandler died unexpectedly in 1937 and Igor was rescued from a difficult contractual situation with Bandler’s widow by the intervention of Louis B Mayer who signed him for a movie The Broadway Melody of 1938 in which Igor plays a Greek barber named Nicki Papaloosas. Igor was unhappy about his part in the film and his contract with MGM was not renewed. Igor was successful and tried again to bring his family to America. Unfortunately he did not succeed, and would have to wait until 1945 to learn that his brother and sister had survived, but his father and uncle had perished in the camps. He did manage to arrange a visa for his former mentor Victor Fuchs who became a noted voice teacher in Los Angeles. In 1939 Igor met Mary Smith, a radio actress, and they married whilst he was on tour in Chicago on the 9th June that year. In July he finally became an American citizen. He and his wife set up home in New York but vacations were spent at Emerald Valley in the ‘Rockies’ where Igor could indulge his love of horse-riding. Igor was also an accomplished composer (a member of the American Society of Composers and Publishers and the first performing artist to be awarded the Society’s Gold Medal) and was to publish many songs, some of which he featured in his recitals. In 1941 Igor Gorin gave his New York Town Hall debut to an enthusiastic audience and the New York Times review critic wrote: "Gorin’s phrasing intonation and diction were alike admirable ... moreover he possessed a valuable sense of showmanship which enabled him to interest his large and demonstrative audience, regardless of the music under consideration". On the 13th December 1941 Igor sang Giorgio Germont in La Traviata with the Chicago Civic Opera with Helen Jepson as Violetta and the lyric tenor and film star Michael Bartlett as Alfredo. When America entered the war Igor was asked to join USO, the organization which sent performers to entertain the troops. After six months he was dubbed Number One Singer, having sung at more concerts than any other artist. He was also invited to sing on the radio for a Treasury Department sponsored programme designed to get people to buy War Bonds. Throughout the war years he was busy performing for a variety of charitable organizations. On 22nd July 1942 Igor made his debut with Cincinatti Opera in Faust with the Czech soprano Jarmilla Novotna as Marguerite, Eugene Conley as Faust and Nicola Moscona as Mefistofele. A week later on July 29th he sang Canio in Pagliacci with Giovanni Martinelli (1885-1969) as Canio and Marita Farrel as Nedda. During the 1943/44 season he undertook an exhaustive concert tour of the States including Cuba where he was greatly féted. And in April of 1945 he was given a contract to sing on the nationally popular and prestigious Voice of Firestone programme. Igor’s regular recitals in the Western States led to his performing as Brigham Young in the historical pageant All Faces West. This production celebrated the Mormon sect and was so successful that he made the role his own over eighteen seasons, with excerpts being issued by Par-Go records in 1961. In honour of his contribution to this event, he was given an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Brigham Young University and there is a bust of Igor placed at the entrance to the Pioneer Village Museum in Salt Lake City. In 1954 he sang Rigoletto, in English, on one of televisions first opera transmissions, and the public response was enormous. Further opera performances followed as Rigoletto in New Orleans and as Renato in Ballo in Maschera in Philadelphia. In 1959 he gave over sixty concerts in the Antipodes where the Australian and New Zealand audiences and music critics alike, gave him some of the most enthusiastic receptions he ever received. Further concert tours in the United States were followed by another television performance, this time as Germont père in La Traviata, which in turn generated requests to sing Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Tonio in Pagliacci for New Orleans and Germont in Vancouver where the music critic of the Vancouver Sun wrote: "Gorin was superb, With magnetic personality and vocal eloquence he not acted the part but lived it ... his singing of Di Provenza brought the house down." The Chicago Lyric Opera were mounting a series of performances of Borodin’s Prince Igor and on October 12th 1962 Igor sang the title role opposite the great Bulgarian bass Boris Christoff, who sang both the roles of Khan Konchak and Prince Galitsky, with Consuelo Rubio as Jaroslavna. The brilliant American tenor singing Vladimir was David Poleri, who tragically died in an accident aged 46. Igor’s concert season started that year at the Hollywood Bowl, after which he performed Rigoletto in Buffalo and in Milwaukee. In 1963 was offered a contract to appear with the New York City Centre Opera where he made his debut on October 5th in Rigoletto and on October 20th he sang what might now be considered to be his signature role, (Germont père in La Traviata), to the dynamic Violetta of Beverley Sills. And finally Igor Gorin was offered a contract to sing at the New York Metropolitan Opera; his debut was in La Traviata on 10th February 1964 as Germont with Mary Costa singing Violetta and John Alexander as Alfredo. But this was his only appearance at the Met. When asked why he did not sing there again he would say, "there were too many politics involved". In 1964 Igor went to Europe to take part in a television production of Nicolai’s Lustigen Weiber von Windsor with an all-star continental cast. But once back in America he began to pay the price of his hectic schedule; he developed glaucoma which eventually required the removal of his right eye, and in order to ease his asthma was told to find a drier climate. He took the post of Professor of music at the University of Arizona in Tucson where he and Mary settled. There he integrated into the Jewish community and conducted High Holyday services at the Anshei Israel Temple. He was happy with his days as a teacher and mounted successful productions with his students. But a melanoma in his leg, which he had long ignored, spread into his body weakening him so greatly that he was forced to resign his University post. His last months were painful in the extreme and he died on 24th March 1982 with his wife and close friend David Fillman at his bedside. Fillman, who became custodian of all Igor’s publicity and personal papers, was once asked what was so unique about Igor’s singing. He said "When Igor sang, it was his unbelievable warmth at that moment that made you feel as though he was singing directly to you". It is obvious from his recordings, that he certainly possessed a voice of blessed individuality, which made it so readily identifiable, and that is something that not all singers can claim. Igor Gorin’s recorded legacy is as fascinating as his life and career. He recorded in fine style standard arias like the Prologue from Pagliacci which is full if character and where the un-written, (but now customary) sustained top A flat is quite stunning. The ‘Largo al Factotum’ from Il Barbiere di Siviglia is mercurial with clear diction, informed phrasing and easy high notes. Both interpretations stand comparison with those of the greatest baritones on record. Evidently Gorin’s popularity in the 40’s was sufficient to enable him to dictate repertoire to Victor. Certainly in choosing to sing more esoteric arias he gave opera fans the opportunity to hear music that had rarely if ever been recorded. A case in point is his performance of ‘Dagli immortal vertici’ from Verdi’s Attila which is unique in the 78 rpm era. The recitative is delivered with fire and authority, the aria sung with superb vocal line and offering some thrilling high notes. Of special distinction is his facile singing of the florid divisions in the final cadenza - a technique no doubt honed by his Cantorial experience. His singing of this whole scena is a tour de force. The baritone Pierrotlied ‘My Longing, My Yearning’ from Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt is one of the composer’s most haunting melodies, although not given to the principal male character in the opera. It is sung in clear excellently articulated English with just a hint of an accent which seems to lend the performance extra charm. It was never releases commercially - why not is a mystery. Also in English the lovely ‘Lift thine eyes’ from Goldmark’s Queen of Sheba is beautifully realised and again is unique in the 78 rpm catalogue. The reflective aria ‘All is quiet in the camp’ from Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina is sung by the character of Shaklovity. It is also in English and one cannot fail to register Gorin’s dramatic and very pointed delivery of the line ‘thy people enslaved by the barbaric Germans’. Possibly the situation in Germany, and the plight of Gorin’s family in Europe, explains the choice of language in this extracts. The ‘Reverie of the young peasant’ from the same composer’s opera Sarochintsky Fair, recorded some three years earlier, is performed in the original Russian. This mournful and reflective aria is usually the province of a tenor, yet Gorin’s version loses nothing of the wistful, romantic feeling normally evoked by the higher voice. In both arias he demonstrates his very effective and controlled mezza-voce. Individual songs from Mussorgsky’s colourful cycle Songs and Dances of Death have often been recorded, but to have the complete cycle of all four songs is unusual in the 78 rpm era. In Gorin’s performances each song has its due weight and colour, in a manner only a native Russian speaker can deliver. Mattei’s melodious and once popular Victorian ballad ‘Non e ver’ was often recorded by top singers in the first decades of the century, and Gorin’s version is among the most charming of them. As are the remaining songs on this CD by Tchaikovsky, Grechaninov, and Mussorgsky which all benefit from sensitive interpretations and show to best advantage Gorin’s highly individual, virile and beautiful vocal tone. © 2006, Alan Bilgora Bibliography: Opera in Chicago. Ronal L. Davis. Appleton-Century. New York, 1966 Metropolitan Opera Annals. W.H.Seltsam H.W.Wilson Co. New York, 1968 Mille Voci una Stella. Luciano di Cave. Corrucci Editori. Roma, 1985 Groses Sängerlexicon. Kutch/Riemans. Francke Vrelag. Bern, 1987 Igor Gorin. E.H Pearson. Record Collector. Chelmsford, 1995 Cincinatti Opera. E.A Thierstein. Deerstone Books. Michigan, 1995 Opera on Film. K. Wlaschin. Yale University Press. New Haven, 2004 |
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