The Opera Tenor Filippi - Myszuga — Myshuha: Who Was He?
The opera tenor Filippi (or, is it the tenor Myszuga?) was an opera singer, who brought down the house in the major capitals of Europe. In becoming an opera singer, Myschuha performed tenor opera parts in a variety of languages – Italian, Polish, German, Ukrainian… and under an assortment of names and spellings.
Initially, Filippi began his vocal training in Lviv, Ukraine – then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Afterwards, he travelled to Italy, the classical opera music capital of the world, to study opera.
At the end of his career, Filippi (Myszuga - Myschuha - Мишуга) engaged in the teaching of operatic singing to young singers in Kyiv, Lviv, Warsaw, Stockholm and Freiburg. Discover this incredible tenor with an amazing opera voice.
Listen to opera music online and the voice of this unique tenor.
Aleksandr Filippi-Myschuga performs “Vorrei morire” by Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846-1916). The archival audio recording is kindly provided by the Solomiya Krushelnytska Musical Memorial Museum in Lviv, Ukraine.
Who Was the Opera Tenor Filippi - Myszuga - Myshuha?
Aleksander Myshuha (Александер Мишуга) was born on... Wait! It appears that different sources provide different dates for opera tenor Myshuha’s birth. The well respected Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine states June 19, 1853 (a new window will open). Roman Sawycky, a well informed music historian claims June 20, 1853. And, there are even those who say June 7, 1853. Why?
Although we are still looking for confirmation, the discrepancy between June 19 and June 20 might be due to the custom of birth registration in Eastern Europe at the time. When the tenor Myshuha was born and in the town of Novyj Vitkiv mothers gave birth at home. Subsequently, the birth needed to be duly registered in the local church annals. Sometimes for various reasons, the actual date of birth and the date of birth registration would not coincide.
Some sources provide the date of June 7, 1853. Indeed, this is the date that is engraved on Myshuha’s gravestone in the village of Novyj Vitkiv. This difference in date might be related to the use of the Julian vs. Gregorian calendars in various parts of present-day Ukraine prior to the 20th C. In short, a mystery to be solved. Stay tuned!
Filippi - Myszuga - Myshuha passed away on March 9, 1922 in Freiburg, Germany — 4 months after his final performance on November 2, 1921 in the same city. According to his will, his remains were buried in the place of his birth — Novyj Vitkiv, Ukraine. The ceremony took place on September 29, 1922.
Tenor Oleksander Myshuha’s Grave in Novyj Vitkiv, Ukraine
Who was the Italian opera singer Alexander Filippi?
Alexander Filippi made his opera debut in Lviv. Afterwards, A.Filippi moved to Italy to continue his studies in opera performance.
Filippi was born Oleksander Myshuha. But, in Italy, as was the custom at the time, the young tenor took a stage name. According to his personal memoirs, Alexander chose the name Filippi as a tribute to his father, whose name was Filip (Pylyp) Mushyha.
Filippi made his Italian debut in 1882 at the theatre in Forli, Italy. Afterwards, he embarked on a tour of performances in Milan, Turin, Nice and Florence. Interestingly, Filippi’s Italian debut was in the opera “Marta” by Friederich von Flotow (1812-1883). This opera was originally composed to a German libretto by Friederich Wilhelm Riesse (1807-1879). The opera “Marta” was performed in Europe in a variety of languages — German, Hungarian, Czech, English and Italian. Filippi performed this German opera in Italian.
Why is Myszuga often referred to as a Polish opera tenor?
Aleksander Myszuga spoke and sang in Polish. Interestingly, some sources even claim that Aleksander Myszuga was a Polish opera tenor. This might be because Aleksander Myszuga frequently performed in Polish operas.
Aleksander Myszuga made his operatic debut in the Polish opera “The Haunted Manor” (Straszny dwór) on September 13, 1880 in Lviv (Lwów). The opera was composed by the Polish composer Stanisław Moniuzsko (1819-1972) to a Polish language libretto by Jan Chęciński (1826-1874).
Aleksander Myszuga’s first major opera contract was with the Warsaw Grand Theatre where he performed in all major productions from 1884 to 1892.
The tenor Myszyga performed the premiere performance of the Polish opera “Janek” by Władysław Żeleński (1837-1921) to a Polish language libretto by Ludomił German (1851-1920). The opera was written and composed for the grand opening of the newly constructed Lviv Opera House. Some sources claim that the tenor role of Janek was written especially for A. Myszuga. The Opening Night event took place on October 4, 1900.
Opera singer Myszuga was invited to perform the tenor role of Jontek for a special 700th performance of the opera “Halka” by Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1972). The performance took place in Warsaw in 1912. Following this performance Myszuga began teaching young singers (1911-1914) at Warsaw’s Chopin Institute of Music, which later went through various name changes and since 2008 is known as the Chopin University of Music. Myszuga’s employment was interrupted in 1914 with the outbreak of WWI.
Throughout his opera career, Aleksander Myszuga frequently performed in Polish operas in Warsaw and Lviv (Lwów).
Aleksander Myszuga From the archives of the S.Krushelnytska Memorial Museum
What operatic singing successes did Oleksander Myschuha have?
Oleskander Myschuha spoke and sang in German.
There is an interesting and unusual incident that occurred during Myschuha’s guest performance in February, 1885 at the Vienna Court Opera (Wiener Hofoper). At the time, the tenor O. Myschuha was under contact for 9 performances.
During the 19th C., opera houses in Europe stipulated the official language in which singers performed. At the Vienna Court Opera the official language was German. This meant that Myschuha was expected to sing in German.
On February 5, 1885, in the first of 9 contracted performances, Myschuha performed in the opera “La favorita” (Die Favoritin) by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) in German. The press response was extremely favourable and according to archival letters, the audience was enthusiastic.
But, Myschuha did not feel comfortable performing in German. And so, after the intial performance a decision was made by the directors of the Court Opera to allow for an exception to the official language policy. On February 10, 1885, Myschuha performed the tenor role of Edgar in the opera “Lucia di Lammermoor” by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) in the original Italian to a sold-out audience.
The remaining 7 performances of his contract Myschuha performed in Italian. It may be interesting to note that up to that point in the history of the Vienna Opera only the famous Italian soprano Adelina Patti (1843-1919) had been granted a similar excemption.
Олександр Мишуга (Myschuha) spoke and sang in Ukrainian — the language he first learned as a child and the one he considered to be his native tongue.
Although most of Myshyha’s performances were in Italian, Polish and a few times in German, he also performed in Ukrainian. Most notably the best record of his performances in Ukrainian were those Myshuha had with the female opera soprano Solomiya Krushelnytska (1872-1952).
In 1893, 1894, 1895 and 1897, Myshuha and Krushelnytska performed arias and duets from operas by Ukrainian composers at the annual Taras Shevchenko concerts that took place in the Narodnyj Dim in Lviv. During this period, they also performed together in concert productions of the Ukrainian opera “Zaporozhets Beyond the Danube” by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky (1813-1873).
There is an interesting addition to the cooperation between Krushelnytska and Myshuha in their attempt to promote their native Ukrainian language. On December 4, 1901 a document was printed in the Lviv newspaper “Dilo” in support of establishing a Ukrainian language university in the city. Both opera singers were signatories to the petition.
Known under different names (Filippi) and various spellings of his name (Myszuga, Myschuha), the opera tenor Oleksander Myshuha is remembered as a great tenor of Ukrainian heritage who performed in Italian, Polish, German and Ukrainian.
