Ivanov, Aleksei Petrovich

Born Sept. 9 (22), 1904, in the village of Chizhovo, in present-day Kalinin Oblast. Soviet Russian singer (baritone); People’s Artist of the USSR (1951).

Ivanov graduated in 1932 from the Leningrad Conservatory, where he had studied with G.A. Bosse. During 1932–36 he was a soloist at the Leningrad Malyi Opera Theater and from 1938 to 1967, at the Bol’shoi Theater of the USSR. He originated the parts of the Commissar in Kabalevskii’s Under Fire, (1943), Pomazov in Muradeli’s The Great Friendship (1947), and Ryleev in Shaporin’s Decembrists (1953). His performance of the title roles in Rubinstein’s Demon and Verdi’s Rigoletto and of the Devil in Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki earned him the State Prize of the USSR in 1946. His other roles included Prince Igor (Borodin’s Prince Igor ), Peter (Serov’s The Power of Evil; State Prize of the USSR, 1948), and Mazepa (Tchaikovsky’s Mazepa; State Prize of the USSR, 1950). Ivanov began touring abroad in 1945. He is the author of On the Art of Singing (1963) and The VocalImage (1968). He received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and various medals.