Ivan Pavlovich Rebrov (real name - Hans Rolf Rippert) is a German performer of Russian origin, who performed folk Russian songs, romances, ballads, and also actively popularized Russian culture in many countries of the world. He had a unique voice with a range of four octaves, and could also change the timbre in accordance with the repertoire. He is a well-known philanthropist, social activist, winner of many awards in the field of art, and also a holder of the Order of Merit for the Federal Republic of Germany.
Biography
Ivan Rebrov, whose biography is so interesting even to a sophisticated reader, lived a long creative life full of interesting events. Hans Rolf Rippert was born July 31, 1931 in Spandau, Germany in a poor family of workers. His father, Paul Rippert, worked as an engineer at a German factory, and his mother, Natalya Nelina, an immigrant from Russia, worked as a hired housewife.
The future world-famous singer grew up in a quiet and comfortable family environment, spent all his childhood in the small provincial town of Halle. It was here that little Hans first became interested in singing and began to practice vocals in the city choir. His mother, who personally knew Chaliapin and had a classical gymnasium education, strongly encouraged his son's desire for vocal art.
The youth of the singer also took place in Germany. While studying at school, the future world star Ivan Rebrov does not waste time in vain. Hans is engaged in singing on his own, looking for teachers and tutors, and also takes vocal lessons from the famous singer Alexander Kipnis.
Music career
In 1951, Hans entered the State Higher School of Music, located in Hamburg. To receive such an education, the young talent was helped by the fact that a year before that he had become a Fullbright scholarship winner.
From childhood, the young German was attracted by the culture of Russia, the country of which his mother was a native. Out of this interest a huge love and respect grew, not only for the culture and art of Russia, but also for what would become for many years the meaning of the singer’s life - the songs of this vast country.
That is why, soon after receiving a new passport, Hans takes on a name - Ivan Rebrov, which is a free translation of his German name into Russian. And in 1954, he applied for entry into the Black Sea Cossack Choir, the leader of which, Andrei Ivanovich Sholukh, gladly accepts the young talent in a team well-known in the USSR.
It is significant that it was Andrei Sholukh, who became not only a teacher, but also a close friend and mentor of Rebrov, helped him “create” his Russian name, and also advised Ivan to use it as a pseudonym for a solo career.
The year 1958 brought the young student victory in the institute's singing competition: Ivan becomes noticeable and stands out in the sphere of folk song performers.
Acquaintance with Andrei Sholukh leads Ivan Rebrov to collaborate with the Ural Cossack Choir, as well as with the Don Cossack Choir, which was headed by Sergey A. Zharov at that time.
It was from these vocal masters that Rebrov learned everything that would later make him a world-wide figure. He actively masters the ability to take high notes, and also trains the ligaments, trying to reach the lower timbral threshold, often used by Russian vocalists of the traditional genre.
The knowledge gained helped Ivan to win the Munich Competition for Young Talents, which led to the singer signing a contract with the Gelsinkirchen Opera House, where the singer had to work for the next three years.
It was during his active work in this theater that the biography of singer Ivan Rebrov changes dramatically, and he is found worldwide fame. He performed the parts of Boris Godunov, King Henry, Don Basilio, which did not leave indifferent both the audience and the leadership, and in 1967 Ivan was sent to work in the theater in Frankfurt am Main.
In 1967, inspired by the incredible success of his theatrical career, Rebrov plans to begin his career as an opera singer. However, in the fall, at the premiere of one of the next operettas, Ivan injures a tendon. Forced to give up a theatrical career for a while, Rebrov decides to record a collection of Russian songs and romances, which brings him even greater popularity.
Vinyl records with recordings of the singer, released between 1967 and 1975, not only strengthened his position in the art world. But they also brought considerable incomes, most of which the singer donated to charitable foundations.
World famous
By 1975, the popularity of Ivan Rebrov reached unprecedented proportions. The singer toured extensively in Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Finland and many other countries, and in each country where his concerts took place, after a while, disks with recordings of the artist were published.
Singer Ivan Rebrov, whose biography struck the public, was extremely modest and hardworking, preferring to record new compositions instead of an interview.
From 1980 to 1989, he worked and lived in a frantic rhythm, giving about three hundred concerts a year and releasing 2-3 albums, not counting collections and reprints of records.
In the spring of 1989, Rebrov visited his mother’s beloved homeland, Russia, where he also gave several concerts at the stadiums of Moscow and St. Petersburg accompanied by the Orchestra of Folk Instruments named after N.P. Osipova.
Personal life
Very little information is known about the singer’s personal life. He practically did not give an interview, appeared little in public, did not advertise his family problems. It is known that the singer was not married and spent little time with loved ones. Since 1975, Ivan lived in his own castle in the Taunus Mountains of Germany, and in the winter he came to rest and work in Greece, in a private villa located on the island of Skopelos.
It must be said that Ivan Rebrov, a biography whose personal life was incredibly interested in paparazzi, was always extremely reluctant to talk about himself, preferring to express his opinion exclusively with creativity. Soon after the acquisition of the villa, the singer was awarded the title "Honorary Citizen of Greece."
Throughout his conscious life, Rebrov idolized Russia. He devoted his life to this country without hesitation, calling himself with a smile "Russian bear." In the last years of his life, Ivan Rebrov suffered from diabetes mellitus, which he failed to cure.
Retirement and death
In the late 1990s, the singer revealed a severe form of diabetes mellitus, which leads to the forced restriction of concert activity. The singer is more and more interested in spiritual music, and in the last years of his life, Ivan almost does not record folk songs, paying attention only to the spiritual culture of Russia.
In December 2007, Ivan Rebrov gives his last concert at the Votivirkha Town Hall in Vienna, however, disks with his early recordings continue to be published. By agreement with the publishers, a certain percentage of sales are transferred to charity, namely to help people with diabetes.
Ivan Rebrov died in his house in Frankfurt on February 27, 2008, leaving behind a grandiose musical and cultural heritage.