The Official Website of the Great Bass Baritone Alexander Kipnis, 1891-1978
Welcome to The Official Website of The Alexander Kipnis Society
The Alexander Kipnis Society
Co-Founders
Falk Struckmann – Leading International bass-baritone, Kammersänger, Vienna State Opera.
Barry Lenson – Former singer, Editor in Chief Classical Archives, Kipnis biographer.
Carolina Kipnis
Officers
Ludwig Brunner – Retired Executive Director of the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University, former longtime manager of opera singers.
Daniel Gundlach –International countertenor. His popular Countermelody podcast, dedicated to great singers and singing, is now in its sixth year.
Jochen Kowalski – Leading international countertenor. His biographyhas been published by Bärenreiter Henschel.
Joseph LoSchiavo – President and CEO, SDG Music Foundation, arts administrator, former director, The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University.
Emily Rawlins – International soprano.
Michael Seil – Baritone, collector and authority on historical recordings, editor of many historical CDs, author, lecturer, and instructor.
The work of the Alexander Kipnis Society is dedicated to the memory of Alexander, Mildred, Igor, Judy, and Jeremy Kipnis.
For information, contact info@alexanderkipnis.org
Comprehensive Kipnis Discography Now Available Here!
The Alexander Kipnis Society is honored to publish an authoritative list of Kipnis recordings made between 1917 and 1946. This list was compiled by researchers Michael Seil and Oliver Wurl; Click just below on this page.
Alexander Kipnis Discography by Michael Seil and Oliver Wurl
Alexander Kipnis Discographie by Michael Seil and Oliver Wurl (docx)
DownloadVideo
A 1967 Interview of the great historical singer Alexander Kipnis with Francis Robinson
About Alexander Kipnis
Alexander Kipnis: Brief Biography
More complete biographical information can be found in the documents that we have made available on this Website. However, here is an abbreviated biography of this remarkable artist.
Early Life
Alexander Kipnis, who one day would become one of the great singers of Bayreuth, the Met and the world, was born on February 13, 1891) in Zhitomir, part of the Volhynian Governorate in the Russian Empire (now part of Ukraine). His family was poor and lived in an unheated hut in the Jewish ghetto. Alexander’s father had a cart and sold feathers and other commodities and after his father’s death from tuberculosis, Alexander supported his mother and sisters by working as a carpenter’s apprentice and singing soprano in local synagogues.
Move to Poland and then Berlin
Singing in a troupe that performed Yiddish operettas, Alexander traveled as far as Poland, where his talents were noticed. He was able to study at the Warsaw Conservatory, where he first trained to become a bandmaster and was encouraged to study singing. Encouraged by a German music-lover, Alexander moved to Berlin, where he studied singing with Ernst Grenzebach, a renowned teacher who also taught Meta Seinemeyer, Lauritz Melchior and other notable singers.
Operatic Career in Europe
Kipnis made his operatic debut in 1915 in Weisbaden, singing the cameo role of a guest in Die Fledermaus. He gained valuable stage experience at the Wiesbaden Opera and later joined the Berlin Staatsoper, where he quickly rose to leading roles.
Lieder Singer
As early as 1917, Alexander Kipnis began to record German art songs with Deutsche Grammophon. Many of these recordings, as well as those he made through his life, have established him as the greatest interpreter of German Lieder of his time.
American Career
In 1923, Kipnis toured the United States with The Wagnerian Opera Company, a traveling company. In Chicago, he met Mildred Levy, the daughter of the legendary piano teacher Henriot Levy. He and Mildred married in 1925 Alexander spent nine seasons with the Chicago Civic Opera.
Escape to Vienna
Kipnis was under contract with the Berlin Opera until 1935, but he managed to break the contract and flee Nazi Germany. He performed as a guest artist with the Vienna State Opera before leaving to settle in the United States.
German Performances in Germany at Bayreuth and Elsewhere. Because he was married to an American, Alexander was able to perform in Germany until as late as 1938, especially at Bayreuth, where he was an esteemed and valued artist. During those years, he also performed concerts there for German audiences under the auspices of Jewish organizations, especially the famous Kulturbund.
Metropolitan Opera Debut
In 1940, Kipnis made his belated debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. By then, he had already appeared in major opera houses worldwide. He remained a mainstay at the Met until his self-imposed retirement.
Teaching and Later Life
After he retired from the Met and opera, Alexander moved with his wife to Westport, Connecticut, where he lived until his death in 1978. During those years he taught singing in New York, toured America and concertized, and even ran a small opera company and workshop in New England.
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Alexander Kipnis Society
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