{"id":5454,"date":"2019-03-09T15:26:37","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T13:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/janis-zabers\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T10:52:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T08:52:35","slug":"janis-zabers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/en\/janis-zabers\/","title":{"rendered":"J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-av_section-5bbd711dd7e6229bc4193316f3373749\">\n.avia-section.av-av_section-5bbd711dd7e6229bc4193316f3373749 .av-section-color-overlay{\nopacity:0.7;\nbackground-color:#eeeeee;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div id='izdziedi-vasaru-header'  class='avia-section av-av_section-5bbd711dd7e6229bc4193316f3373749 main_color avia-section-small avia-no-border-styling  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first  avia-bg-style-parallax av-section-color-overlay-active container_wrap fullsize'  ><div class=\"av-section-color-overlay-wrap\"><div class=\"av-section-color-overlay\"><\/div><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><main  role=\"main\" itemprop=\"mainContentOfPage\"  class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-5454'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'><\/div><\/div><\/main><!-- close content main element --><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id='after_section_1'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap fullsize'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-5454'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-av_textblock-2bd894dbf2e4bf2c4acf98ce4fbf94aa '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>J\u0101nis Uldis Z\u0101bers was born on August 11, 1935, in Madona district Meir\u0101ni parish in a peasant\u2019s family, and already since childhood was familiar with the everyday life of peasants. For all his lifespan he preserved a real peasant\u2019s strength, inexhaustible joy for the gifts of life, and did only what he himself considered the right thing, and could not imagine his life without his native home \u2013 \u201cVecais ceplis\u201d (The Old Kiln), where on the initiative of his friends the Memorial Museum of J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers was established, and is still maintained by the efforts of his nearest relatives.<\/p>\n<p>In 1954, Z\u0101bers as a baritone was enrolled in the Vocal Department of J\u0101zeps Medi\u0146\u0161 Music Secondary School. The inborn musicality and diligence lets the singer in 1957, already after the third year of studies, to enter the Vocal Department of Latvian State Conservatoire (now the Academy of Music) and to graduate from it as a tenor, again, one year earlier than his course-mates. The unusually vivid vocal talents of the singer suggested, in the framework of the trainees\u2019 exchange, to promote him, in 1961, as a postgraduate for studies in Italy.<\/p>\n<p>First of all, at the end of 1962, J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers started his studies at Santa Cecilia Conservatoire in Rome, under the direction of Professor Giorgio Favaretto, teacher of Renate Tebaldi. Whereas in March 1963, while visiting La Scala Opera Theatre of Milan, he received the invitation of the director Antonio Giringelli and the conductor Enrico Piazza to train in Milan and become a student of Genaro Barra, vocal coach of the Neapolitan school.<\/p>\n<p>During the two years in Italy Z\u0101bers\u2019 voice became more sonorous, more metallic. His singing \u2013 captivating, crystal clear, logical as to phrasing, with clear diction and technically excellent performance in the sonority of all registers obtained the designation \u201cgolden timbre\u201d. Mutual sympathy linked J\u0101nis with the outstanding Italian tenor Giuseppe di Stefano, who highly appreciated the vocal talent of Z\u0101bers.<\/p>\n<p>His study mate Muslim Magomayev at some point said: \u201cIt is hard to find another singer with such a peculiar timbre, such velvety modulations and a silky style of performance. J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers introduced baritone force to tenor parts. Powerful free lower key, impeccably nice flow of middle section, and saturated high notes! The sounding of his voice in all its richness of timbres and registers pours into the souls of the audience, making it enjoy his singing .. and to fall in love with his beautiful clear personality. He was a man of wide culture, always just in his judgments. Envy of other people\u2019s success was alien to him. Quite the contrary, he enjoyed the success of each his colleague with peaceful harmonious benevolence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the spring of 1964, director Giringelli offered Z\u0101bers to stay in Milan for one more year, because he was sure he was training the new soloist of \u201cLa Scala\u201d. However, Z\u0101bers could not reconcile with the long absence from his native land. On April 28, 1964, he wrote: \u201cAn artist cannot create, if he is just being a guest, not in his real home. How I long to be at my home in the springtime, to fish and to listen to nightingales. I would never change violets, familiar with the silence of the forest, for the Italian roses.\u201d His love for nature manifested also in music, when he sang folk-songs, chamber music and later also the Neapolitan songs.<\/p>\n<p>The creative life of J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers was short, but very vivid. God had granted to him all that a singer would like. He fascinated any spectator not only with his splendid vocal technique and stage temperament, but also with cordiality, charm, sensuality, tall height and masculine attraction. Women called him one of the most beautiful men of his time, the tenderness and strength of which is integral part of the performance. He could turn even the smallest song into a unique masterpiece. Z\u0101bers loved music and singing so much that each time he came on the stage was a festivity for him. His splendid voice and vigorous appearance would fit the stages of the best opera theatres of the world, however, he was given just eleven years between his first and last appearance on the stage of Latvian National Opera (1959\u20131970).<\/p>\n<p>No doubt \u2013 among all generations of Latvian opera artists as to his vocal talent J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers will remain the most brilliant, most gifted. During the years of his short, but very vivid stage career, he has participated in the performances of 27 operas, where he mostly was given leading roles. Unfortunately, not everything Z\u0101bers sang on the stage was recorded and not everything that can be listened in recordings was performed on the opera stage.<\/p>\n<p>Although Z\u0101bers\u2019 heart and soul undoubtedly belonged to opera music and 300 opera performances in which he sang, alongside with stage performances during his short creative life he also participated in the concerts of various music genres, the total number of which exceeds one thousand and a half. Especially popular in the whole former Soviet Union were Z\u0101bers\u2019 performances of Neapolitan songs, in which he shined not only with his excellent Italian language, but also with his voice which radiated warmth. These songs also were recorded and published on discs.<\/p>\n<p>The inhumanly intensive working regime damaged the singer\u2019s health and at the end of the 60-ties serious health problems appeared \u2013 loss of voice, vertigo, headache, which obstructed his creative activities. In 1971 he was diagnosed with brain tumor. An operation was carried out and depraved Z\u0101bers of his incredible vocal capabilities. The next two years the artist literally was fighting with death, although he hid his true state of health from everybody till the very last moment.<br \/>\nThe role of Andrei Khovansky in the opera \u201cKhovanshchina\u201d by Modest Mussorgsky, which is fully recorded, became not only the last role performed by J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers on the opera stage, but also the opera itself \u2013 his last performance. On December 20, 1970, J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers as Andrei last time appeared on the opera stage. At the end of the performance, the fanatic Marfa draws him with her on the bonfire built by Old Believers. A new day breaks, but Andrei does not see it, engulfed by flames. A strange, inexplicable feeling invades, thinking about the last performance of J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers. The end of the opera seems like a symbolic end of the actor\u2019s life, which came to the end on March 25, 1973. The funeral of the nation\u2019s favourite artist was attended by so many people that the traffic had to be stopped in the centre of Riga.<\/p>\n<p>In Latvia, the vocal achievement of J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers in the widest range of music genres is still not surpassed. He has sung the opera arias not only in the major opera houses of the world (\u201cLa Scala\u201d in Italy, \u201cBolshoi Theatre\u201d in Moscow, \u201cMarinsky Opera Theatre\u201d in St. Petersburgh etc.), but also chamber music, Neapolitan songs and children songs both on the stage and studio recordings. The vocal heritage of this artist is so wide and many-sided, that makes any singer want to bear a resemblance to him.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore the program of the competition is rooted in the creative biography of J\u0101nis Z\u0101bers and the participants are given the task to perform the vocal music formerly performed by our outstanding countryman \u2013 folk-songs acapella, to appraise the components of participants\u2019 hearing quality, chamber music, romances, Neapolitan songs, opera arias, popular and children\u2019s songs. Consequently, the music material of the competition is wide and interesting enough.<\/p>\n<p>www.janiszaber.com<br \/>\nwww.zaberscompetition.lv<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5454","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5454"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12527,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5454\/revisions\/12527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zaberscompetition.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}