Sobinov L.V., (1872-1934), singer

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
SOBINOV Leonid Vitalievich (1872-1934), opera singer (lyric tenor), chamber singer, [theatre figure], People's Artist of the Republic (1923). In 1890-95 he studied at the Faculty of Law at Moscow University. He took joined Zankovetskaya's troupe as a member of the chorus, sang in the university choir, and participated in musical dramas put on by the Moscow Philharmonic Society School, where he started studying singing under A.M. Dodonova and finished under A.A. Santagano-Gorchakova. Until 1899 he had been involved in legal work though already in 1897 he debuted onto the stage of the Bolshoy Theatre playing a council member in The Demon by A.G. Rubinstein). In 1901 he debuted on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. He performed leading tenor roles in Russia and abroad, including Milan, London, Berlin, Madrid, and Paris. He gained world prominence as a master of bel canto and at the same time as an outstanding actor, who took great fuss over his make-up, special effects, and costume. Most of Sobinov's creative work appeared in Moscow, but being under contract with the administration of the Imperial Theatres, he sang regularly in St. Petersburg from 1902. A milestone in his career and in the history of Russian theatre is his performance of Orpheus in a play based on the opera by Ch. W. Gluck, staged at the Mariinsky Theatre by V.E. Meyerhold. His best-known roles include Lensky (Eugene Onegin by P.I. Tchaikovsky), Bayan (Ruslan and Lyudmila by M.I. Glinka), Vladimir Igorevich (Prince Igor by A.P. Borodin), Berendey (The Snow Maiden by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov), and the roles of Werter, Loengreen, Alfred, Romeo, des Grieux. He was famous for his performance in romances by Glinka, S.S. Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky. In 1917-18 he was the first elected director of the Bolshoy Theatre. In 1934 he became deputy art director of Stanislavsky's Opera Workshop. In 1915-29 he lived at 8 Tchaikovskogo Street (memorial plaque installed).

References: Старк Э. А. Петербургская опера и ее мастера, 1890-1910. Л.; М., 1940; Л. В. Собинов: В 2 т. М., 1970; Поплавский Г. В. Собинов в Петербурге - Петрограде - Ленинграде. Л., 1990.

E. V. Tretyakova. Borodin Alexander Porfirievich
Dodonov Alexander Mikhailovich
Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich
Gluck Christoph Willibald
Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilievich
Rachmaninov Sergey Vasilievich
Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolay Andreevich
Rubinstein Anton Grigorievich
Santagano-Gorchakova Alexandra Alexandrovna
Sobinov Leonid Vitalievich
Stanislavsky Konstantin Sergeevich
Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich
Zankovetskaya Maria Konstantinovna
Tchaikovskogo St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 8
Поплавский Г.В. Собинов в Петербурге - Петрограде - Ленинграде. Л., 1990
Л. В. Собинов: В 2 т. М., 1970
Старк Э. А. Петербургская опера и ее мастера, 1890–1910. Л.; М., 1940 Mariinsky Theatre
Imperial Theatres Board