heroic fire and tenderness are there – it's a complete piece of work". (Conrad L. Osborne discussing the 1938 recording of Ruslan and Lyudmila, in which Reizen performs the role of Ruslan, in the Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera) “In 1930, Reizen went on a tour of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, sang Mephistopheles (Faust) and was immediately noticed by Stalin, who was a music and opera lover. He described a somewhat comical scene as he was invited to the official government box during the intermission, where, dressed as the Devil, he was introduced to Stalin. The dialogue went something like this: –You sing very well. –Thank you. –Why don't you come here more often? –You see, I sing in Leningrad and only visit here. –Why not move here and visit there? –You see, I have a contract there, and an apartment too… –Perhaps we can do something and find you an apartment here. The following day and in typical Soviet style, he was surprised by the unannounced visit of an official car with an NKVD agent, who was under orders to take him hunting for an apartment. This is how Mark Reizen was engaged at the Bolshoi.” (Anecdote, Opera Gems) (Mark Reizen – Autobiography [Autobiograficheskie Zapisky, Stati i Vospominanya) 2nd edition 1986 pp. 135) Recordings and discography Lebendige Vergangenheit - Mark Reizen CD 0717281890595 Label: Preiser 1997, Time: 76 minutes (with biographical liner notes). "Mark Reizen - Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, Kabelevsky" AQVR 308-2 (Aquarius Classics) "Mark Reizen - Romances by Tchaikovsky AQVR 309-2 (Aquarius Classics) "Mark Reizen - Dargomyzhsky's Rusalka" AQVR 390-2 (Aquarius Classics)*"Mark Reizen - Romances and songs " AQVR305-2 (Aquarius classics) "Mark Reizen in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Maid of Pskov AQVR 352-2 (Aquarius classics) Detailed discography: , . References Bibliography Piotr Kaminski: article in Guide de L'Opera, Fayard, France, 1992, p. 690 Steane, J B: "Reyzen, Mark" in the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) External links Mark Reizen on Russia in US site Opera Gems Musical Tales: Great Basses Basse noble On YouTube (audio only) singing the "Song of the Viking Guest" from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Sadko. 1895 births 1992 deaths Soviet male opera singers Operatic basses Stalin Prize winners Ukrainian Jews Russian basses 20th-century Russian male opera singers