Pavel Ivanovich Chekin was born in 1912 in Zlatoust in the Cheljabinsk region. He worked first
as a turner, then as a loader, in the peat and in the fish industries. Since 1929, Chekin was an indispensable
member of a blue-collar music ensemble.
He finished his musical studies at the Moscow conservatory in 1936.
He made his debut as Tamino at the concert hall of the House of the Union.
Since 1936, he sang at the Leningrad Small (Malij) Opera Theater.
During the war, he sang in army collectives and hospitals. During the blockade, he
gave 220 concerts. As a result, he was awarded the Red Star,
and the medals "For services during battle", "For the defense of Leningrad",
and "For the defense of the polar region".
From 1942 to 1958, Chekin was a soloist at the Bolshoj where he
sang 25 parts such as: Lenskij, Levko, Duca, Alfredo, Fenton, Almaviva, Vladimir Igorevich and Vašek. He gave solo concerts behind
the polar circle for the participants of an Arctic expedition "North pole-4".
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