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Leonid Sobinov
Leonid Vitalyevich Sobinov (Russian: Леони́д Вита́льевич Со́бинов), born 7 June [O.S. 26 May] 1872 and died 14 October 1934) was a Russian operatic tenor. In 1923, he was made a People's Artist of the RSFSR.
Leonid Sobinov was born in Yaroslavl, into the family of the lower middle-class trade officer Vitaly Vasilyevich Sobinov. Sobinov's mother, who died early, was a keen singer. Leonid, inspired by her, began singing himself. In 1881, he entered a boys' school at the age of nine, graduating in 1890 with a silver medal. As a schoolboy, he played the guitar and participated in a local choir.
He attended university in Moscow, receiving a degree in law in 1894. After university, Sobinov completed his military service and began practicing law. At the same time, he studied singing in Moscow under professors Alexander Dodonov and Alexandra Santagano Gorchakova. In 1897, his professors suggested that he attend an audition at the city's Bolshoi Theatre. Following his audition, he was offered a two-year contract at the company.
Sobinov debuted at the Bolshoi as the lead in Rubinstein's The Demon, and would go on to appear in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in operas such as Ruslan and Ludmila, Faust, Manon, Prince Igor, Eugene Onegin, Halka, Rigoletto, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser (as Walter von der Vogelweide) and Mikhail Ivanov's Zabava Putyatishna (as Solovey Budimirovich).
While working at the Bolshoi, Sobinov appeared onstage with operatic bass Feodor Chaliapin in 1899. In that same year, he added the parts of Andrei (Mazeppa), Gérald (Lakmé) and Alfredo Germont (La traviata) to his repertoire. After going through the score of Carmen, he declined to take on the role of Don José, insisting that its dramatic nature would be too taxing for his voice.
In order to enlarge his operatic repertoire (having already added to it the tenor leads in Martha, Werther, Mignon and Roméo et Juliette), Sobinov decided to travel to Italy, so that he could experience Italian opera directly.
From 1904 to 1906 and again in 1911 he appeared at Italy's premier opera house, La Scala, Milan. The first opera he performed in here was Rigoletto. As well as the Bolshoi and La Scala, he sang at the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg; Palais Garnier, Paris; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo; and Teatro Real, Madrid.
Contemporary critics noted that Sobinov was one of several prominent Russian tenors active at the time, alongside Dmitri Smirnov, Andrey Labinsky, Lev Klementiev, and Ivan Yershov.
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Leonid Sobinov
Leonid Vitalyevich Sobinov (Russian: Леони́д Вита́льевич Со́бинов), born 7 June [O.S. 26 May] 1872 and died 14 October 1934) was a Russian operatic tenor. In 1923, he was made a People's Artist of the RSFSR.
Leonid Sobinov was born in Yaroslavl, into the family of the lower middle-class trade officer Vitaly Vasilyevich Sobinov. Sobinov's mother, who died early, was a keen singer. Leonid, inspired by her, began singing himself. In 1881, he entered a boys' school at the age of nine, graduating in 1890 with a silver medal. As a schoolboy, he played the guitar and participated in a local choir.
He attended university in Moscow, receiving a degree in law in 1894. After university, Sobinov completed his military service and began practicing law. At the same time, he studied singing in Moscow under professors Alexander Dodonov and Alexandra Santagano Gorchakova. In 1897, his professors suggested that he attend an audition at the city's Bolshoi Theatre. Following his audition, he was offered a two-year contract at the company.
Sobinov debuted at the Bolshoi as the lead in Rubinstein's The Demon, and would go on to appear in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in operas such as Ruslan and Ludmila, Faust, Manon, Prince Igor, Eugene Onegin, Halka, Rigoletto, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser (as Walter von der Vogelweide) and Mikhail Ivanov's Zabava Putyatishna (as Solovey Budimirovich).
While working at the Bolshoi, Sobinov appeared onstage with operatic bass Feodor Chaliapin in 1899. In that same year, he added the parts of Andrei (Mazeppa), Gérald (Lakmé) and Alfredo Germont (La traviata) to his repertoire. After going through the score of Carmen, he declined to take on the role of Don José, insisting that its dramatic nature would be too taxing for his voice.
In order to enlarge his operatic repertoire (having already added to it the tenor leads in Martha, Werther, Mignon and Roméo et Juliette), Sobinov decided to travel to Italy, so that he could experience Italian opera directly.
From 1904 to 1906 and again in 1911 he appeared at Italy's premier opera house, La Scala, Milan. The first opera he performed in here was Rigoletto. As well as the Bolshoi and La Scala, he sang at the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg; Palais Garnier, Paris; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo; and Teatro Real, Madrid.
Contemporary critics noted that Sobinov was one of several prominent Russian tenors active at the time, alongside Dmitri Smirnov, Andrey Labinsky, Lev Klementiev, and Ivan Yershov.