Mark Reyzen
also Mark Reizen, Mark Osipovich Reyzen, Марк Осипович Рейзен
Birthplace: Zaitsevo, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Mark Reyzen was born into a Jewish mining family and studied engineering at Kharkiv alongside singing at the conservatory there, debuting with the Kharkiv Opera in 1921 as Pimen in Boris Godunov. He moved to Leningrad in 1925, singing his first Boris in 1928, and was a principal bass at the Bolshoy in Moscow from 1930 until he retired in 1954. A tall man of commanding stage presence, he was a celebrated Boris and Dosifey, and taught at the Gnesin Institute from 1967. His voice was so well preserved that he sang Gremin at the Bolshoy on his ninetieth birthday.
Creations
- Boris Godunov — Boris Godunov (Original version, 1869)
Written from
- Wikipedia (2026) Mark Reizen. (Accessed: 27 August 2026).
- Steane, J. B. (1992) 'Reyzen [Reisen], Mark (Osipovich)', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 3, p. 1303.