What was unusual about the German born vocalist Ivan Rebroff (pictured)?

Ivan Rebroff (1931-2008) had a massive vocal range of four and a half octaves, and could sing both bass and soprano - though the latter using falsetto.

He was a relatively early example of someone creating their own image. The records show that he was born in Berlin to German parents, but insisted he was of Russian and Jewish descent, and first made his name singing Russian folk songs. He had a strong stage presence and great stores of energy - performing in 12 shows in 14 days on an Australian tour when well into his seventies.

His performances and recordings have by no means been universally acclaimed, and there was particular controversy concerning his performance as Prince Orlofsky in Carlos Kleiber's recording of Strauss's "Die Fledermaus" - this is normally sung as a britches role by a woman, but he performed it in a falsetto soprano voice which divided opinion!

Not a man averse to blowing his own trumpet, he described himself as a bridge between East and West, and late in life took Greek citizenship.

It may interest readers that, although this is unproven, his older brother claimed to have shot down the legendary French author, Antoine de Sainte Exupery.