Marian KOUBA (1920 – 2014)

(Photo Credit: Grazyna Wyszomirska Copyright Poznan Opera Archive Courtesy Liliana Osses Adams)

Marian Kouba, a longtime distinguished soloist of Teatre Wielki – the Grand Theater in Poznań, died on September 2, 2014 in Poznan aged 94. He was born on March 21, 1920, in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine).
He began to study singing with the legendary Adam Didur in Lwów and then continued in Kraków Opera Studio under Czesław Zaremba and Aniela Szlemińska.
In 1948 he débuted in Kraków Opera as Jontek in Moniuszko’s Halka.
In 1953 he was invited by Director Walerjan Bierdiajew to the Poznań Opera and quickly established himself as the leading tenor in Poznań operatic scene.
He was also associated with opera theatres in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Bytom, Kraków, and in the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden. For many years he held a post to the vocal faculty at the Academy of Music in Poznań.
While his repertoire included more than sixty roles, he was mostly admired as Mario Cavaradossi, Radamès, Pinkerton, Lohengrin, Otello, Faust, Leński, Don José, Canio, and Calàf, and in the Moniuszko operas as Stefan in The Haunted Manor, and as Jontek in Halka. During the successful artistic tours of Moniuszko’s Halka in Japan, the Soviet Union, Cuba, Ukraine, and United States of America, he was applauded as Jontek in the incomparable stage direction by Maria Fołtyn, widely recognized for her portrayal as Halka. Marian Kouba is survived by his daughter, her children and grandchildren.The funeral ceremony takes place in Poznan Junikowo Cemetery, Monday, September 8.

We Pray for the Eternal Repose of His Soul.

Listen please to video clips of Marian Kouba sung in Polish:

Vesti la giubba & Intermezzo CLICK HERE
Conductor Mieczysław Dondajewski with Poznań Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Nessun dorma CLICK HERE
Conductor Mieczysław Dondajewski with Poznań Opera Orchestra and Chorus, 1983

Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor – Aria z kurantem (Stefan's aria with Chimes) CLICK HERE

Verdi's Di quella pira Conductor Robert Satanowski with Poznań Opera Orchestra and Chorus, 1965 CLICK HERE

Marian Kouba as Stefan in Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor
Photo Credit: Grażyna Wyszomirska
© Copyright Poznań Opera Archive