List of Russian opera singers
This a list of opera singers from Russian Federation, Soviet Union and Russian Empire including both ethnic Russians and people of other ethnicities. This list includes those, who were born in the Russian Federation/Soviet Union/Russian Empire but later emigrated, and those, who were born elsewhere but immigrated to the country and performed there for a long time.
Opera came to Russia in the 18th century. At first there were mostly Italian language operas presented by Italian opera troupes. Later some foreign composers serving to the Russian Imperial Court began to write Russian-language operas, while some Russian composers were involved into writing of the operas in Italian and French. Only at the beginning of the 1770s the first modest attempts of the composers of Russian origin to compose operas to the Russian librettos were made. The 19th century was the golden age of Russian opera, with such prominent composers as Mikhail Glinka, Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Modest Mussorgsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Alexander Borodin and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Their traditions were carried on to the 20th century by Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich. Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres continue to be the main opera and ballet scenes of Russia and one of the most prominent in the world.
A number of Russian opera singers rose to fame already in the 18th century, but it was the late 19th and the 20th centuries that saw the appearance of many world-renown, well-remembered and still popular soloists, including Leonid Sobinov, Galina Vishnevskaya and, of course, Feodor Chaliapin, the greatest bass of all time. Contemporary Russia is represented at the world scene with such singers as Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Anna Netrebko.
Alphabetical list
A
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ğäziz Älmöxämmädev | |||
| Irina Arkhipova | |||
| Olga Averino | |||
| Arnold Azrikan |
B
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nikolay Baskov | |||
| Olga Borodina |
C
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) |
Feodor Chaliapin (1873–1938) Russian Empire France bass |
The most famous Russian opera singer of the 20th century. The possessor of a large and expressive bass voice, he is often credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in his chosen art form.
Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Boito's Mefistofele, Ivan the Terrible in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Maid of Pskov, Massenet's Don Quichotte, Philip II in Verdi's Don Carlos, Glinka's Ivan Susanin, Khan Konchak in Borodin's Prince Igor |
_1916_as_%E2%80%9CMefistofele%E2%80%9D.jpg) Chaliapin as Boito's Mefistofele, 1916 |
F
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nikolay and Medea Figner |
G
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hibla Gerzmava | |||
| Yuri Aleksandrovich Gulyayev |
H
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dmitri Hvorostovsky |
K
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria Karasyova | Ended her career in 2009 due to health problems | ||
| Ljubov Kazarnovskaya | |||
| Bogomir Korsov | |||
| Praskovia Kovalyova-Zhemchugova | |||
| Ivan Kozlovsky | |||
| Maria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova |
L
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sergej Larin | |||
| Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya | |||
| Sergei Lemeshev | |||
| Julia Lezhneva |
M
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gavrilo Martsenkovich | |||
| Ivan Melnikov |
N
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yevgeny Nesterenko | |||
| Anna Netrebko | |||
| Antonina Nezhdanova |
O
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elena Obraztsova |
P
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osip Petrov | |||
| Vyacheslav Polozov | |||
| Marina Poplavskaya |
R
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Reizen | |||
| Nadezhda Repina | |||
| Vladimir Rosing |
S
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sara Sadíqova | |||
| Tamara Sinyavskaya | |||
| Leonid Sobinov | |||
| Pyotr Slovtsov | |||
| Fyodor Stravinsky |
V
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgi Pavlovich Vinogradov | |||
| Galina Vishnevskaya |
Y
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivan Yershov |
Z
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel | |||
| Elena Zoubareva |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
