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Feigelson Israel Iosifovich (1921-1991)

Personal data
SurnameFeigelson
NameIsrael
PatronymIosifovich
Birth year1921
Birth month2
Birth day8
Birth placeRiga
Death year1991
Death month8
Death day18
Death placeTel Aviv
SexM

Feigelson (Feigelsohn) Israel Iosifovich (8 February 1921, Riga — 18 August 1991, Tel Aviv) — dramatic tenor, opera and chamber singer.

Iosif Feigelson possessed a voice of beautiful timbre, freely flowing and technically flexible. On 14 June 1941, he was deported together with his parents to the Krasnoyarsk region. During World War II, he worked on collective farms and in construction in Krasnoyarsk.

In 1946, he enrolled in the Krasnoyarsk Music College. In 1947, he returned to Riga. He studied at the Latvian State Conservatory, in the vocal department, under R. Bērziņš, then Margarita Mediņa, and later A. Viļumanis. He graduated with distinction in 1952.

For the next 10 years, he worked at the Latvian Opera and Ballet Theatre. His roles included: Alfred (La Traviata, performed about 70 times), José (Carmen), Gérald (Lakmé), Heinrich (Tannhäuser), the Duke (Rigoletto), Hoffmann, Lohengrin, Faust, Vaudémont (Iolanta), the Prince (Rusalka), the Pretender (Boris Godunov), Andrei (Mazeppa), Prince Guidon (The Tale of Tsar Saltan), and Burvis (Banjuta).

From 1963, he was a soloist of the State Philharmonic of the Latvian SSR. He had an extensive chamber repertoire, gave solo concerts, and participated in philharmonic chamber programs as well as concerts at the Dome Cathedral.

In Riga, Moscow, and Leningrad, he took part in performances of 15 large-scale works, including:

  • George Frideric Handel — Messiah 
  • Ludwig van Beethoven — Finale of the 9th Symphony 
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Requiem (performed more than 100 times) 
  • Giuseppe Verdi — Requiem 
  • Franz Liszt — Requiem 
  • Franz Schubert — Great Mass, Mass in G major 
  • Antonín Dvořák — Stabat Mater 

He performed under conductors such as Kirill Kondrashin, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Nathan Rakhlin, Boris Khaikin, Lev Vigner, Arvīds Jansons, as well as Kurt Sanderling, Herbert Kegel, Gottlob Frick, and others. In total, he performed with 36 orchestras and 60 conductors.

In 1979, he emigrated to Israel, where he continued to perform actively, including on Israeli radio and television. He was also engaged in public activity and wrote articles for newspapers.

In 1989, he gave concerts in Riga and Daugavpils.