Jan Kiepura

Picture of  Jan Kiepura

Picture of Jan Kiepura

Picture of Jan Kiepura
I wish to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the pictures.
Picture of Kiepura
I wish to thank Vladimir Efimenko for the picture.
Jan Kiepura sings Turandot: Nessun dorma 1

Jan Kiepura sings Turandot: Nessun dorma 2
Rare live recording, slightly truncated at both start and end.
In RA format

Jan Kiepura singsMein Herz ruft immer nur nach dir (film): Mein Herz ruft immer nur nach dir, o Marita (Stolz)

Jan Kiepura singsRigoletto: La donna é mobile

Jan Kiepura singsCarmen: La fleur que tu m'avais jetée

Jan Kiepura singsIl trovatore: Di quella pira 1

Jan Kiepura singsIl trovatore: Di quella pira 2 (Korngold's version)
In RA format
I would like to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the recordings.
Jan Kiepura was born on May 16th, 1902 in Sosnowiec, Poland. Kiepura first studied law, then voice in Warsaw. His teachers were Wacław Brzeziński and Tadeusz Leliwa. Later, Kiepura studied with Garbin in Milano. After singing in the chorus at the Wielki, Kiepura made his debut in Lwów/Lviv in 1924 as Faust.

After singing in Warsaw and Poznań, he auditioned for Franz Schalk, director of the Vienna Staatsoper, which led to his debut at the Staatsoper on September 21st, 1926 in Tosca with Jeritza and Duhan. Kiepura had tremendous success, and Schalk entrusted him with Calaf for the second premiere of Turandot on October 15th, 1926 with Németh and later with Jeritza. Out of 33 performances of Turandot in Vienna during its first season, Kiepura sang Calaf 11 times. Kiepura remained a guest artist and never became a member of the Staatsoper. On October 29th, 1927 Kiepura created the main male role in Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane, in which Lotte Lehmann was his partner.

After Vienna, Kiepura sang in Milano (Tosca, Manon, Turandot, Le preziose ridicole and so on at La Scala), Paris (Opéra and Opéra-Comique), Berlin, Buenos Aires, London, Brussels, Budapest, Prague, Havana, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Chicago (American debut in 1931). In the 1930s, Kiepura turned more and more to movies, which made him very popular. Kiepura appeared in a total of 19 movies. Kiepura often sang with his wife, the soprano Marta Eggerth, whom he married in 1936.

From 1938 to 1942, Kiepura sang at the Met, where he made his debut as Rodolfo on February 19th, 1938. At the Met, Kiepura sang also in Carmen, Manon, Tosca, and Rigoletto. Following that, Kiepura sang at many different American opera houses, appeared in movies, and performed in a Broadway production of Lehár's Lustige Witwe for three years.

After an absence of almost 20 years, Kiepura returned to Vienna to appear in Lehár's Zarewitsch. Kiepura died suddenly from a heart attack on August 15th, 1966 in Harrison (NY). His songs were specially written for him by composers such as Robert Stolz, Bronisław Kaper/Walter Jurmann and Mischa Spoliansky. His success in movies created cult-like followings.

I wish to thank Marjan Kiepura for his help.

Go Home