Ivan Rebroff
| Ivan Rebroff | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Hans-Rolf Rippert |
| Born |
31 July 1931 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | 27 February 2008 (aged 76) Frankfurt, Germany |
| Genres | International music, folk music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
Ivan Rebroff (31 July 1931 – 27 February 2008) was a German singer, allegedly of Russian ancestry, with an extraordinary vocal range of four and a half octaves, ranging from the soprano to bass registers.
Rebroff was born in Berlin as Hans-Rolf Rippert. He studied singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. Although his knowledge and pronunciation of Russian were not perfect, he became famous for singing Russian folk songs, but also performed opera, light classics and folk songs from many other countries. He was known on stage for his gusto. He performed over 6,000 concerts in his career, including a two-year seven-day-a-week stint at the French opera, singing and acting, among other greats, the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Rebroff still performed 12 shows in 14 days when he was well into his seventies, such as on an Australian tour.
Ivan Rebroff described himself as international, the "connection between East and West". He became a citizen of Greece and lived on the Greek island of Skopelos in the Sporades.
Rebroff was homosexual. He died in Frankfurt after a long illness. Four days after his death, his brother Horst Rippert, who is nine years his senior (and by his own unsubstantiated accounts shot down Antoine de Saint Exupéry during World War II), claimed part of Ivan's vast fortune.
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