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Leonid Sobinov | |
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| Born | Leonid Vitalyevich Sobinov (1872-06-07)7 June 1872 Yaroslavl, Russian Empire |
| Died | 14 October 1934(1934-10-14) (aged 62) Riga, Latvia |
| Burial place | Novodevichy Cemetery |
| Occupation | Opera singer |
| Years active | 1897–1933 |
Leonid Vitalyevich Sobinov (Russian:Леони́д Вита́льевич Со́бинов, 7 June [O.S. 26 May] 1872 – 14 October 1934) was a Russianoperatictenor. In 1923, he was made aPeople's Artist of the RSFSR—an honor granted toSoviet Union artists for their outstanding achievements in the arts.
Leonid Sobinov was born inYaroslavl,[1] into the family of the lower middle-class trade officer Vitaly Vasilyevich Sobinov.[2] Sobinov's mother, who died early, was a keen singer, and, inspired by her, he began singing himself. In 1881, at the age of nine, he entered a boys' school, graduating in 1890 with a silver medal. As a schoolboy, he played the guitar and participated in a local choir.
He attended a university inMoscow, receiving a degree in law in 1894. After university, Sobinov performed military service and then began to practice law. He also studied singing in Moscow with professorsAlexander Dodonov and Alexandra Santagano Gorchakova, who, in 1897, suggested that he attend an audition at the city'sBolshoi Theatre. This audition secured him a two year Bolshoi contract and ultimately laid the foundation for his singing career.
Sobinov debuted at the Bolshoi as the lead inRubinstein'sThe Demon[3], and would go on to appear in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in operas such asRuslan and Ludmila,Faust,Manon,Prince Igor,Eugene Onegin,Halka,Rigoletto,Lohengrin,Tannhäuser (as Walter von der Vogelweide) andMikhail Ivanov'sZabava Putyatishna (as Solovey Budimirovich).[4]
While working at the Bolshoi, Sobinov appeared onstage with up-and-coming operaticbassFeodor 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 ofCarmen, 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 inMartha,Werther,Mignon andRoméo et Juliette), Sobinov decided to travel to Italy, so that he could experience Italian opera directly.
In 1904-06 (and again in 1911) he appeared at Italy's premier opera house,La Scala,Milan. His first Italian opera was Rigoletto.[3] As well as the Bolshoi and La Scala, he sang at theMariinsky Theatre,Saint Petersburg;Palais Garnier,Paris;Royal Opera House,Covent Garden,London;Opéra de Monte-Carlo,Monte Carlo; andTeatro Real,Madrid.
Sobinov achieved fame despite facing strong competition for the Russian public's affection for a number of rival male singers. They included his fellow lyric tenorsDmitri Smirnov,Andrey Labinsky, thespinto tenor Lev Klementiev and the dramatic tenorIvan Yershov.
Sobinov married Maria Karzhavina, a Philharmonic Society schoolmate, and had two sons with her—Boris and George (Yuri) Sobinov. This marriage did not last. In 1915, he went on to marry Nina Mukhina, sister of the renowned Soviet sculptorVera Mukhina. Together they had one daughter, Svetlana.
In 1917, after theRussian Revolution, Sobinov became the first elected director of theBolshoi Theatre. He undertook a theatrical trip to Ukraine in 1918 and found himself cut off temporarily from Russia. In 1919, he was assigned to the role of chairman of the musical committee of the all-Ukrainian Division of Arts inKiev.
In 1920 he became a manager at the Division of Public Education inSevastopol. That same year, his son Yuri, who served in theWhite Army, was killed nearMelitopol. His other son, Boris (1895–1956), a music composer, emigrated to Germany.
After about a year, Sobinov returned to his job as director of the Bolshoi Theatre in 1921. Two years later he was selected to be a deputy of the Moscow City Council. He made his last stage appearance in 1933 at a Bolshoi gala held in his honour. The next year, he began work at the operatic studio ofKonstantin Stanislavski as the studio's artistic leader.
On October 14, 1934, Sobinov died in his sleep from a heart attack inRiga's Hotel Saint Petersburg. His body was transported back to Moscow by train. He was buried on October 19 at theNovodevichy Cemetery inMoscow.
Minor planet4449 Sobinov is named in his honor.[5]
Sobinov left a large legacy of recordings made prior to the 1917 Revolution. Many of them have been remastered and reissued onCompact disc by various firms. These reissues include:
