Mikhail Alexandrovich

Latvian tenor Mikhail Alexandrovich (1914-2002) was another 20th century cantor who sang more than liturgical music. Some of the others were Yossele Rosenblatt, Joseph Schmidt, and Richard Tucker.

Born in Bērzpils, Vitebsk to a very poor family, his extraordinary vocal gifts were recognized when he was six years old. In 1920 he was enrolled in the conservatory in Riga. When he was nine he started touring professionally as a boy alto. When his voice broke he managed the transition to tenor with Reya Ratner at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

For a short time he had a part-time position at Manchester, England’s Central Synagogue. He then studied for a few years in Rome under Beniamino Gigli.

He toured throughout Europe as a concert performer. He returned to Riga where he worked as a cantor and appeared at the Lithuanian Opera. Only 5 feet 2 inches with an equally small voice, he limited his appearances to a handful of lyric roles.

After the Soviet Union took over the Baltic Republics, Alexandrovich became one of the most popular performers in the country, earning large fees and selling millions of records. For his wartime work he was awarded the Stalin Prize. But when he expressed a desire to sing abroad and applied for an exit visa, his fame and wealth evaporated. He was finally allowed to leave in 1971 at the behest of Golda Meir.

He officiated at Tel Aviv’s Ramat Gan Synagogue. He then toured the United States giving numerous concerts. He relocated to the US. In 1990 he made his last move to Munich, where he died in 2002 at the age of 88. His performing career had lasted more than 70 years.

As you can hear from the recording below, he had a very light tenor voice that was not noted for its vocal beauty, but rather was characterized by its exceptional vocal line and control. Its expressive powers were considerable. Alexandrovich sang a variety of popular, operatic, and religious music. It was in front of a microphone that he was at his best.

I’ll start with the recording that best shows his strengths and weaknesses. ‘Cielo e mar’ is from Ponchielli’s La Gioconda. Alexandrovich’s singing is exceptional in its expressiveness and for its bravura modulation of the vocal line from full voiced to a wisp of sound that never loses full support. But if an explosion of sound is needed, the tenor cannot fire a vocal cannon. Still, it’s a wonderful performance. The microphone is his friend. It’s a little jarring for a Westerner used to hearing standard operatic arias sung in Russian rather than Italian or French.

‘Rachel, quand du Seigneur’ from Halevy’s La Juive is the only music from the opera that is routinely performed. Having seen a complete staging of the opera at the Met, I can easily understand why the opera is aria is favored over the opera. Alexandrovich’s reading is sensitive and insightful.

The Bach/Gounod ‘Ave Maria’ is sung in Latin, though many of the words are hard to grasp. Doing the piece in Russian would have been a stretch. It’s a restrained version of the popular song.

This is how Google’s AI describes the Kaddish: A Jewish prayer, traditionally recited in Aramaic, that primarily focuses on praising and sanctifying God’s name, rather than directly mentioning death. It is most famously known as the Mourner’s Kaddish, recited by those grieving the loss of a loved one. While it doesn’t explicitly describe death, it is a central part of Jewish mourning rituals and is recited during various stages of grief and memorial services.

Alexandrovich must have recited the prayer countless times during his long career. This recording was made towards the end of that career. The effects of age can be heard; nevertheless, his performance is moving.

‘Pourquoi me réveiller’ from Massenet’s Werther is sung in Russian. Once you get by that incongruity, you can appreciate the beautiful phrasing.

‘Un furtiva lagrima’ is so often sung that it comes from the mouths of taxi cab drivers and auctioneers. The tenor’s voice and style are a perfect fit for the great aria.

‘Spirto gentil’ from the Italian version of Donizetti’s La Favorite is another aria just right for Alexandrovich’s lyric tenor.

Finally, a number called ‘Night Tango’. I know nothing about its provenance. As it’s in heavily accented Spanish, I assume it was made after he had left the Soviet Union.

Alexandrovich made many recordings, yet I can’t find a single one on Spotify or Amazon. The tenor deserves to be remembered. Perhaps some of his recordings will eventually be re-released.