Dear Gentlemen,

In this blog I have tried to assemble a list of prominent Soviet tenors – tenors behind the Iron Curtain – singers the careers of which went largely obscure from the Western public because of the political realities of the era they were part of – realities which dictated the detachment of the Soviet opera from its Western counterpart.
It just so happened that these times were the Golden Era of the Russian Opera, and the voices that were hidden behind the Iron Curtain were of a remarkable quality.
In addition to that, the revival of these voices in the West is also of much interest because of the unique character and the idiosyncratic nature of the Soviet school of operatic singing, which was different from the Western in many aspects.
By “voices behind the Iron Curtain” I mean those artists whose entire career or a significant part of it developed during the most ideologically radical years of the Soviet rule and the Soviet Union’s disconnection from the West, and not those who had already established a name for themselves in an earlier period, or those who have only started their way in Soviet Union’s very last days or are singing well into the present – both are more familiar to the Western public.
In cases of some of the singers the information and the recordings presented here is all that is left of them, and in some cases appears for the first time in the internet, or in English and for the Western public.

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Hendrik Krumm (1934) 





Born on December 21st on Saaremaa island, Leisi region. People's Artist of the USSR (1980).
Started his studies in Leisi, then graduated from Tallinn musical school in 1953, where he first sang as a baritone. In 1963 he graduated from Tallinn conservatory, where he was in the class of A.K.Arder, being one of the last students he taught.
Was the first Estonian singer to go study in La-Scala with maestro Barra (1965-68), alongside with such singers as Vladimir Atlantov, Vagan Mirakyan and Virgilius Noreika.
From 1957 - chorist, in 1961-89 - soloist of the "Estonia" Opera Theater.
Traveled through USSR, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, USA, Japan, Canada, and other countries.
Among his best roles: Gustav the III, Don Jose, Rudolf, Rhadames, Alfred, Duke, Manrico, Enrico, Vodemon.
His repertoire included works by Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Donizetti and Rossini as well as Tchaikovsky, Mussorgski, Aava and many other composers.
Had a very dramatic, powerful style of singing.
Received a diploma of the all-USSR Glinka Vocal Competition (1962).
Also gave concerts.
Was also an opera director (Giuseppe Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" and Georges Bizet's "Carmen" were among his works).
In 1976 - started teaching in Talinn conservatory.
Died on 12 of April 1989 in Talinn.