Mikhail Epelbaum ( ''Mikhail Iosifovich Epel'baum'', ''Mikhl Epelboym'', 1894-1957) was a well-known Yiddish

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

singer from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during the first half of the twentieth century. In 1937 he was appointed a

Merited Artist of the Russian Federation Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also known as Honored Artist of Russia, is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is awarded to actors, directors, filmmakers, writers, d ...

Biography

Early life

Epelbaum's birthplace is disputed; according to Soviet sources he was born in 1894 in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, whereas the ''

Leksikon fun yidishn teater ''Leksikon fun yidishn teater'' ( ''Lexicon of Yiddish Theatre'' or ''Encyclopedia of the Yiddish Theatre'') is a Yiddish language reference encyclopedia compiled by Zalmen Zylbercweig, assisted by Jacob Mestel on two volumes. The six-volume 3,0 ...

'' states instead that he was born in

Brest-Litovsk Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the admini ...

and moved to

at age 11. Most biographies agree that he was born into a family of tailors, but the same ''Leksikon'' reports that in Odessa his parents opened a tailoring equipment shop. After studying in a

Cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

, Epelbaum studied in a private Gymnasium in Odessa.

Music and theatre career

In 1910, at age sixteen, Epelbaum started performing in numerous

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satire, satiric or nostalgic revues; melodr ...

wandering troupes, predominantly

Operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

: Meyer Mishurat's, Ilya Korik's and A. Weinstein's in 1910 and 1912, Moisey Genfer's in 1911, Lazar Rappel's in 1913 and 1915–16, A. Fishzon's in 1914–15, N. Lipovsky's in 1916–17 and many others. During his early years in theatre he met Roza Weinstein, a fellow actor, whom he would later marry. Because of his well-documented performance schedule during these years, the claims that he studied at the Warsaw Institute of Music, had a successful career in Russian opera or took part in the 1911 An-Sky Expedition, which were repeated in Russian-language Jewish encyclopedias and some other editions, seem to be fabricated. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he apparently enlisted as a soldier but was wounded in combat, and was released from service and immediately returned to acting in Yiddish troupes in Ukraine. During the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

he started touring with a solo singing programme of Yiddish songs. He seems to have narrowly escaped a

Pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...

by supporters of

Nykyfor Hryhoriv Nykyfor Oleksandrovych Hryhoriv (or Grigoryev, real surname Servetnyk; – 27 July 1919) was a Ukrainian military leader noted for repeatedly switching sides during the Ukrainian War of Independence and Soviet-Ukrainian war. He is today con ...

Cherkasy Cherkasy (, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy serves as the administrative centre of Cherkasy Oblast as well as Cherkasy Raion within the oblast. The city has a population of Cherkasy is the cultural, educational and industrial centre ...

in 1919. His popularity as a singer grew, and he had very successful performances in Moscow and

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

in 1922 and 1923. In the mid-1920s, he also occasionally performed in some

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

operettas. During the period of 1926 to 1929, Epelbaum left the Soviet Union for an extended period to tour in a number of countries in Europe and the Americas. He spent several months performing in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

as well as a short time in New York. He made his first recording during this time as well (with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in 1927). After he finished that round of tours, he returned to the USSR, first to Kiev, then moved to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. During the 1930s he successfully toured with concert programs of Yiddish folk songs throughout the Soviet Union. In 1937 he was named

. As with

Zinovy Shulman Zinovy Shulman ( ''Zinoviy Borukhovich Shul'man'' 1904–1977), was a Soviet Jewish singer (tenor) known for singing Yiddish art songs. He was the son of the cantor Borukh Leib Shulman (1870-1963) and was great-grandson of the writer Kalman Schul ...

and other Soviet Yiddish singers, the Jewish content of his material was highly censored. It was in the 1930s that he recorded the majority of his

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

discs for Soviet record labels such as SovSong, Gramplasttrest,

Leningrad LRK Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and Muztrest, consisting of Yiddish folk or theatrical songs. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Epelbaum was evacuated to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, but continued to give concerts, mostly in Russian, in various Soviet cities as well as in frontline hospitals. During the war period, he also starred in the feature film The Invasion (1945) as a Nazi officer. After the war ended, he returned to Leningrad and also resumed his Yiddish concert performances all over the USSR.

Arrest and deportation

In 1949, in the midst of a crackdown on Jewish culture in the Soviet Union, Epelbaum was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in labour camps.

Release and final years

A year after Stalin's death, in 1954, Epelbaum was released from labour camps and returned to

. Officially, this was done "for medical reasons." He was rehabilitated in late 1956 only. But already since March 1955 he resumed his concert schedule on a permanent basis and until the end of his days toured widely throughout the USSR with concerts of Yiddish songs, returning joy and hope to the intimidated Jewish population of the country. Epelbaum died of

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in Leningrad on 15 April 1957.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epelbaum, Mikhail 1894 births 1957 deaths Musicians from Odesa Yiddish-language singers of Russia Soviet singers Jewish singers Odesa Jews Soviet Jews