Petrov, Ivan Ivanovich

(real surname, Krauze). Born Feb. 29, 1920, in Irkutsk. Soviet Russian bass. People’s Artist of the USSR (1959).

From 1938 to 1941, Petrov attended the Glazunov School of Music, where he studied in the class of A. K. Mineev. He gave concerts at the Moscow Philharmonic Society and performed in productions of the Opera Ensemble, which was directed by I. S. Kozlovskii. Between 1943 and 1970, Petrov was a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater.

Petrov’s powerful voice has a beautiful timbre and expressive projection. His roles have included Boris Godunov in Mussorgsky’s opera of the same name, Kochubei in Tchaikovsky’s Mazepa (State Prize of the USSR, 1950), Dositheus in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina (State Prize of the USSR, 1951), and Me-phistopheles in Gounod’s Faust.

Petrov, who has toured abroad, is an honorary member of the Paris Opera. He has been awarded the Order of Lenin and various medals.