Arnold A. Georgievskij

He was born on 26 December 1889 (or, perhaps more probably with regard to his 1910 debut, 1882) in Chişinău, which was part of Tsarist Russia at the time, and where almost 50 percent of the population were Jewish. So was Aron Itzhak Steinberg, who later chose an Ukrainian stage name: "Arnold A. Georgievskij".

He studied singing with Professor K. Kotzebue and later with Giuseppe Anselmi in Milan.

He made his debut at the Odessa opera (then called Sibirjakov Theater) in 1910, sang in Saint Petersburg (Luna Park, 1912), Vilnius (1912), and then throughout Italy for many years, mostly at smaller theaters, but also at La Scala or the Teatro Costanzi. In Italy, his appeared as Arnoldo Georgevsky. He was the first Prunier at the world premiere of La rondine in Monte Carlo. His career lasted into the 1930s. The 1929/30 season found him in Bucharest.

He is said to have lived in Romania towards or after the end of his career, but the assertion that he died there in 1935 is wrong: before WWII, he emigrated to New York City, where his elder brother David Moshe Steinberg was a successful cantor. While David Moshe died in 1941, Aron Itzhak (i.e. Georgievskij) lived on – obviously as a voice teacher, verifiably in Philadelphia in 1955 – until 1960, when he died on December 12th in extreme poverty, in or near New York. He is buried on Cedar Park/Beth El Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey.

His repertory included: Faust, Lenskij, Edgardo, Duca, Alfredo, Cavaradossi, ...

His partners included: E. Bobrova, V. A. Seljavin, M. Sokolskij, P. I. Tsesevich, A. P. Chaleeva, Romano Ciaroff-Ciarini, ...

Reference 1
Reference 2
Reference 3

Discography

Zonophone/Gramophone, Vilnius, September 1910
1459ae		Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini): V skoro vostok zolotoju (Ecco ridente       X-2-62626
                in cielo), pt 1
1462ae		Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini): V skoro vostok zolotoju (Ecco ridente       X-2-62629
                in cielo), pt 2
1465ae		Solntse moe (Di Capua) ('O sole mio)                                           X-2-62631
1469ae		Rigoletto (Verdi): Serdtse krasavitsy (La donna è mobile)                      X-2-62632, 62320
1470ae		Pagliacci (Leoncavallo): Serenada Arlekina                                     4-22519, X-2-62633, P135
1480ae		Solntse moe (Di Capua) ('O sole mio)                                           X-2-62571
1480½ae		I budu tebja ja laskat (Steinberg) (And I shall caress you)                    X-2-62572

Zonophone/Gramophone, Vilnius, June 1911
2322ae		Les pêcheurs de perles (Bizet): Romans Nadira (Je crois entendre encore)       X-2-62836
2323ae		Daj, milyj drug, na schastye ruku (Luchich) (Give me your hand, my friend)     X-2-62860
2324ae		Khochu byt derzkim (Nikiforov) (I will be larking)                             X-2-62942
2325ae		Werther (Massenet): Arija Vertera                                              X-2-62835
2326ae		Zigeunerliebe (Lehár): Shipovnik (Wild rose)                                   X-2-62754
2327ae		I budu tebja ja laskat (Steinberg) (And I shall caress you)                    X-2-62961
2328ae		Zigeunerliebe (Lehár): Zorika, Zorika                                          X-2-62755
2334½ae		Ladost ljubvi (Fonzo) (The sweetness of love)                                  X-2-62948
2335ae		No ja vas vse-taki ljublju (Klimov) (But I love you nevertheless)              X-2-62861
2336ae		Ideal (Tosti)                                                                  4-22520, X-2-62962, P135
2343ae		Maria Marì (Di Capua)                                  			       X-2-62757
2344ae		Karmela (De Curtis)                                                            X-2-62744
2345ae		Pesnja Siona (Godbetter) (Song of Zion)                                        X-2-62881

Columbia, Milano, about 1921
70210           Tosca (Puccini): O dolci mani (w. Bartolomasi)				       D 9370
70211           Il re di Chez Maxim (Costa): Duetto del tu (w. Talamo)			       D 9374
70214           Tosca (Puccini): Amaro sol per te  (w. Bartolomasi)	                       D 9370
70266           Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini): All'idea di quel metallo (w. Formichi)      D 4810
70267           Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini): Voi dovreste travestirvi (w. Formichi)      D 4810

Vox, Berlin, September 1926 	  	 
814             Mefistofele (Boito): Aria                                                      03607
819             Madama Butterfly (Puccini): Dovunque al mondo                                  03607

Columbia, Bucureşti, 1927
H 1316-1	A lied fun Palestina							       D 8610
H 1317-1	Der Filosof								       D 8610
								
Odeon, Bucureşti, about 1928
Jo 1853		Mandulinata 'a Napule (Tagliaferri)					       A 199702a
Jo 1896		Kol nidre (Lewandowski), pt. 1	(as Aron Steinberg)			       A 199701a, O-4103a
Jo 1897		Kol nidre (Lewandowski), pt. 2	(as Aron Steinberg)			       A 199701b, O-4103b
Jo 1899		Occhi turchini (Denza)							       A 199702b
Jo 1997         Tosca (Puccini): E lucevan le stelle                                           A 199704a
Jo 1998		El trust de los tenorios (Serrano): Te quiero                                  A 199704b

Odeon, Berlin, spring 1929
Jo 3008		Paganini (Lehár): Gern hab' ich die Frauen geküsst (in Romanian)	       A 199712a
Jo 3012		Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame (Erwin) (in Romanian)			       A 199712b

Source for the chronology: the website of Roberto Marcocci.

Source for the Rigoletto recording: Russian Records, incredible website owned by Yuri Bernikov

Source for the Kol nidre recording