Jan Kiepura - Ay! Ay! Ay! (Continental Records, 1961)

Jan Kiepura (1902-1966) was a Polish tenor and film star, who enjoyed immense popularity during his 40 year career. The son of a baker, Kiepura was born in Sosnowiec and began singing in the school choir from an early age. Following graduation, Kiepura briefly served in the Polish military, fighting in the First Silesian Uprising in August 1919. After completing his military duties, the young man enrolled as a law student at University of Warsaw. Unbeknownst to his father, however, Kiepura spent most of the money sent from home for voice lessons with Wacław Brzeziński and Tadeusz Leliva. To make ends meet, Kiepura worked as a salesman for a perfume company. Despite his father’s misgivings, Kiepura was already performing publicly before finishing college. After a few concerts and recitals, he was accepted into the chorus of Warsaw Opera. Impressed with Kiepura’s talent, company directors cast him as Góral in Moniuszko’s Halka in late 1924. Wanting to make the most of this small part, Kiepura ignored the conductor, luxuriating in the music and holding top notes far too long…and was soon back in the chorus. Kiepura’s official debut occurred in January 1925 as Gounod’s Faust with Lviv Opera. The not yet 23 year old tenor caused such a furor that he was soon engaged by Warsaw Opera as a principal artist. The following year, he was invited to sing in Paris but stopped first in Vienna to audition for the Staatsoper. So impressed were management that they cast him as Alfred in Die Fledermaus. Staatsoper director Franz Schalk invited Kiepura to sing Cavaradossi opposite the Tosca of Maria Jeritza…even though the tenor knew only the two principal arias in Italian and the rest of the opera in Polish! In the October 1926 Vienna premiere of Turandot (with Slezak as the opening night Calaf), Kiepura’s second night performance created a sensation. Critics hailed him as “The Polish Caruso” and predicted a stellar career for the young artist. Kiepura’s career took off rapidly at this point, with debuts at La Scala, Teatro Colón, the Opéra-Comique and the leading theatres of Budapest, Berlin, Stuttgart, Bern, Prague, Brussels, and London. His first overseas trip in 1929 saw performances in Rio, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Kiepura’s U.S. debut occurred as Cavaradossi with the Chicago Civic Opera on November 2, 1931. Kiepura, who had already made the first of his many musical films, impressed public and critics alike with his acting as well as his stellar vocals. On February 10, 1938 Kiepura made his Met debut as Rodolfo in La Bohème to glowing reviews. Critics almost universally praised the tenor’s performances, although Henry Pleasants of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, referencing Kiepura’s cinema style acting, stated, “one had come to wonder whether the tenor was not rather more in need of medical attention than Mimì.” During his three seasons with the Met, Kiepura sang 29 performances of five roles (Cavaradossi, Rodolfo, Duke of Mantua, Don José and des Grieux) as well as four concerts. During the 1940s, Kiepura and his wife, soprano Marta Eggerth (whom the tenor married in 1936), divided their time between Europe and the U.S. They appeared together on Broadway in over 800 performances of The Merry Widow and starred in the film Addio Mimì, a remake of their earlier film, Zauber der Boheme. In 1952, the tenor underwent surgery to remove a chronically infected lobe of the left lung. He made a full recovery and resumed his career, although he turned increasingly to concerts and operetta. In 1958, Kiepura returned to Poland for the first time in two decades to present a series of concerts with Eggerth. The two recorded a new studio album in 1961 and returned to Berlin for a successful run of The Merry Widow in March 1965. Even in his 60s, the tenor remained busy concertizing, giving freely of his time for the benefit of his countrymen. On August 13, 1966, Kiepura gave what would be his final performance at a Polish community function in Port Chester. Two days later, Kiepura suffered a heart attack and died at his home in Harrison, NY. He was 64. Jan Kiepura was that rare operatic artist who was equally at home on the stage or the movie screen. He possessed a remarkable lirico-spinto instrument of great range and flexibility, which he used with nuanced artistry. Kiepura appeared in nearly every major theatre on the planet in such operas and operettas as La Traviata, Gianni Schicchi, Cavalleria Rusticana, Der Zarewitsch, Die Csárdásfürstin, Das Land des Lächelns, Paganini, and such lesser known works as Bronislaw Kaper’s Polonaise, Lattuada’s Le Preziose Ridicole, Moniuszko’s Straszny Dwór and Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane. His legacy of 19 films and scores of studio recordings allow for very enjoyable listening and viewing. Here, Kiepura, still in good form at age 59, sings an English language version of Osmán Pérez-Freire’s “Ay! Ay! Ay!”. This was recorded in New York for the Continental label in late 1961.