Litvin F.V. (1861-1936), singer

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
LITVIN Felia Vasilievna (real name Francoise-Jeanne Schutz, married name Litvinova) (1861, or 1863 according to other data, St. Petersburg - 1936), opera singer (lyric-dramatic soprano), chamber singer, teacher, soloist to His Imperial Majesty (1903). Spent her childhood in her grandfather's residence in St. Petersburg, which was situated on the premises of the Conservatory. She took singing lessons in Paris under Bart-Banderalli, then under P. Viardot-Garcia. Made her professional debut at a Paris hall by the name of Playel when she was 16, then performed at theatres in Europe and America. In 1890 she appeared for the first time on the stage of the Moscow Bolshoy Theatre. During the 1891/1892 season, she was a soloist at the Mariinsky Theatre. She then worked in Milan, Monte Carlo and New York until 1898. Upon her return to St. Petersburg, as the cast-member of a German opera company, she sang various parts in operas by R. Wagner staged for the first time in Russia. In 1899-1904 and 1912 she worked for the Mariinsky Theatre, where she enjoyed particular success for her performance in Wagner's operas: Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), Kundry (Parsifal), and Brunnhilde. The Wagner productions that featured Litvin and I.V. Ershov went down in world opera history. Litvin's voice stunned audiences with its beauty, intensity and range; she used all sorts of vocal techniques to convey an image. She was especially good at heroic parts. In 1907 she took part in S.P. Diaghilev's first Saison Russe in Paris, where she sang the part of Yaroslavna in the concert performance of A.P. Borodin's Prince Igor, which she performed with F.I. Chaliapin. She also performed at concerts given by the Russian Musical Society. Litvin left the stage in 1915, but continued to perform as a chamber singer until 1924. She was a professor at the Fontainebleau Conservatory. Her memoirs were published in Russian under the title My Life and My Art (Leningrad, 1967).

References: Старк Э. А. Петербургская опера и ее мастера, 1890-1910. Л.; М., 1940; Гозенпуд А. А. Русский оперный театр между двух революций, 1905-1917. Л., 1975. Bart-Banderalli
Borodin Alexander Porfirievich
Chaliapin Fedor Ivanovich
Dyagilev Sergey Pavlovich
Ershov Ivan Vasilievich
Litvin Felia Vasilievna (real name Schutz Francoise-Jeanne)
Viardot-Garcia Michele Pauline Fernanda
Wagner Richard
Гозенпуд А. А. Русский оперный театр между двух революций, 1905–1917. Л., 1975
Старк Э. А. Петербургская опера и ее мастера, 1890–1910. Л.; М., 1940 Mariinsky Theatre
Musical Society, The Russian