| Personal data |
| Surname | Khozias |
|---|
| Name | Beola |
|---|
| Patronym | Yankelevna |
|---|
| Birth year | 1940 |
|---|
| Birth month | 1 |
|---|
| Birth day | 2 |
|---|
| birth_place | Jēkabpils |
|---|
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Shvarts Iosif (1880-1926)
| Personal data |
| Surname | Shvarts |
|---|
| Name | Iosif |
|---|
| Birth year | 1880 |
|---|
| Birth month | 10 |
|---|
| Birth day | 10 |
|---|
| birth_place | Riga |
|---|
| Death year | 1926 |
|---|
| death_month | 11 |
|---|
| death_day | 10 |
|---|
| Death place | Berlin |
|---|
| Sex | M |
|---|
Shvarts Iosif (Yozef) (10.10.1880, Riga ― 10.11.1926, Berlin) ― singer, lyric baritone. As a child he had a beautiful voice (alto).
From age 8 he sang in the choir under B.-L. Rozovsky at the Riga Great Choral Synagogue. Thanks to the financial support of the Riga patron Yu. Berkovits, he received his early education in Riga, and from age 16 studied abroad.
He studied in Berlin under A. Heineman and at the Vienna Conservatory under the Italian professor Robinson.
His operatic debut took place in 1900 in Linz (Austria-Hungary), in the opera “Aida” (the role of Amonasro).
In 1902―1903 he sang at theaters in Graz (Austria-Hungary) and St. Petersburg (at the Mariinsky Theater he performed the part of the Demon in A.G. Rubinstein's opera “The Demon”). In 1904―1906 he was a soloist at the Riga Municipal Theater, performing more than 20 opera roles, and also gave solo concerts.
He took part in charity concerts in support of Riga's Jewish societies.
From 1906 he sang at the Vienna Volksoper, and in 1909―1915 at the Berlin Court Opera. From 1921 he lived in the USA, and sang at the Chicago Opera. In 1922, with this company, he sang in New York, on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. In 1923 he toured Europe, performing at opera houses in Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and Paris; in 1925 ― at Covent Garden (London).
He toured Riga in January 1913 (a solo concert with orchestral accompaniment, singing opera arias); in September and October 1922 he gave 3 chamber concerts. In 1925 he sang at the Latvian National Opera (the role of Scarpia in “Tosca,” and chamber concerts), and in April 1926 took part in performances of “Rigoletto” and “Tales of Hoffmann.” One of Sh.'s most celebrated opera roles was Rigoletto. He performed the roles of Amonasro, Don Giovanni, the Count di Luna, Iago, Germont, Valentin, Escamillo, Wolfram (“Tannhäuser”), King Solomon (“The Queen of Sheba”), the King of the Alps (in the eponymous opera by L. Blech), Onegin, and Tomsky. He made recordings for the Polydor, Parlophone, and Pathé labels.
Lit.: Segodnya. 1926. No. 255.
M. Mikhailets
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