Theodore Kittay - Pearl Fishers

Theodore Kittay (1887-1965) was born into a Jewish family in a tiny village near St. Petersburg. At eighteen, Kittay, now living with his family in St. Petersburg, enrolled in the conservatory there. Encouraged by a vocal coach, the young man decided to embark upon a musical career and convinced his family to immigrate to the U. S. Landing in New York in November of 1912, Kittay eagerly awaited the lucrative operatic engagements that he believed would soon come his way. Sadly, not a single engagement materialized and Kittay’s money ran out in just a few months. By January of 1913, he was starving and had to resort to singing in the streets where he was discovered by socialite Mrs. Edward Breitung. Taking pity on the impoverished young tenor, Mrs. Breitung offered financial support and introduced Kittay to New York musical society. Among that society was the famed baritone Pasquale Amato, who took Kittay to Italy for a period of study. His debut seems to have been as the Duke in Rigoletto for the Zuro Company at the People’s Theatre in New York in April of 1914. He later toured with The La Scala Grand Opera Company, frequently singing Pinkerton to the Butterfly of Japanese soprano Tamaki Miura. Also known as Tobia Kittay and Theodore Kittay-Vito, he sang with the Bracale Touring Company in Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Peru and also performed in Paris, London and a number of cities in Italy. Apart from a few appearances with Boston Opera and Chicago Grand Opera, Kittay’s operatic career never really got off the ground. The tenor spent much of his time singing concerts, recitals and after dinner shows, including a business convention in Elkhart, Indiana in 1926. This may not have represented the stellar stage career the young man had envisioned when he left Russia, but it was certainly preferable to starving in the streets of New York. By 1925, Kittay had settled in Chicago where he accepted a position as cantor at Congregation Rodfei Zedek in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Chazzan Kittay remained at the synagogue for over a quarter century and passed away in 1965.