Kravtsov was born on July 29, 1926 in Kamensk, Rostov region.
He was a soldier during the Second World War: in the Red Army since February 1944, he began
service in the 96th reserve regiment, then he was sent to the 1st Belorussian Front.
He was a machine gunner.
He took part in the penetration of the German defense in the Vistula region, in the liberation of the cities Skierniewice,
Łovicz,
Bydgoszcz, and fought in Pomerania. He went to the battle front on the Oder in Kostrzyn and then took part in the capture of Berlin.
On April 29, 1945, he was injured at the East Berlin train station and was sent for treatment
to Łódź. He continued his service in the Red Army in Halle (Germany) and Rjazan. He was demobilized
in October 1946.
In 1947, Kravtsov began to work in the chorus of the opera theater of Baku,
simultaneously he studied in the vocal department of a music school, then at the Baku conservatory.
In 1955, Kravtsov sang at the Stanislavskij and
Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater in Moscow, while continuing his studies at the Chajkovskij Conservatory.
From 1958 to 1980, he was a leading soloist at the Kirov/Mariinskij.
His repertory included Duca, Werther, Simpleton, Lohengrin, Manrico, Faust, Almaviva, Lenskij, Lykov,
Aleksej (Optimisticheskaja tragedija by Kholminov), Wandering folk singer (Rafaehl),
Alfredo, des Grieux, Dubrovskij, Sinodal, Vladimir, Bajan, Tamino, ...
Among his few recordings, there is a complete 1956 "Rafaehl" on Melodija, conducted by Vladimir Smirnov, with the chorus and orchestra of the Soviet radio.
The cast is: Rafaehl – Vladimir Kaluga, Fornarina – Zara Dolukhanova, Cardinal – Aleksej Koroljov, and Wandering singer – Vladimir Kravtsov.
There is also a live recording of Il trovatore from the Kirov, sung in Russian, with
Leonora – Galina Kovaljova, Manrico – Vladimir Kravtsov, Conte di Luna – Vladimir Kinjaev and
Azucena – Irina Bogachjova.
Reference 1
Reference 2