Vladimir Viktorovich Ivanovskij was born on June 8th (21st), 1912 in Kursk.
After high school, he became an electrician, and a projectionist at
the railway club in Kursk.
However, he wanted to sing.
He met a pianist at the club. They spent many hours at the piano together!
Vladimir does not yet know music theory, but he has a
receptive ear for melody. Once, he was overheard by the famous singer
Nikolaj Shevelev who immediately noticed him.
But at 16 years old, you cannot begin at a vocational school.
Soon, Ivanovskij moved to Moscow. And here, continuing to work as a senior
electrician and projectionist, he never stopped singing.
Ivanovskij was acquainted with relatives of a professor at the Moscow conservatory,
N. Ladukhina, who introduced him to Ippolitov-Ivanov.
It would seem that the fate of the artist was solved.
He would receive lessons in the conservatory. But, alas, combining work with vocal
lessons was not been possible. Ivanovskij had to postpone his dreams to better times.
And yet, while continuing to work during the day, Ivanovskij took part in amateur
performances at the club of the river transport employees.
In the All-Union Olympiad, he received a prize and was sent to study at
at the Moscow Glazunov music school, in the class of D. Beljavskaja.
Ivanovskij finished the Glazunov school in 1940.
The talented singer had crossed the threshold of the long-awaited stage career:
Ivanovskij was accepted by the Kirov.
The war dramatically changed his fate. He was assigned
as a soloist to the song and dance ensemble that served the coastal defense of
the Baltic Fleet.
Ivanovskij sang with the jazz orchestra of the Baltic Fleet. He went to
military units, submarine bases and other places to sing.
He gave about thousand concerts for the
soldiers protecting Leningrad. He was full of enthusiasm, and inexhaustible energy.
After being evacuated, he returned to the Kirov, where he created many fine interpretations from José Raoul, Grigorij,
German to Pavel in Kabalevskij's Semja Tarasa/The Taras family.
Gradually, the name of
Vladimir Viktorovich Ivanovskij gained wide popularity, and in 1952 he received an invitation
to the Bolshoj.
In those post-war recovery years, the Bolshoj enriched its repertoire with
remarkable performances, and on its stage, it had Kozlovskyj, Lemeshev,
Rejzen, Pirogov, Maksakova, Barsova, Davydova, and many others singing.
The world-famous orchestra was conducted by people like Golovanov,
Melik-Pashaev or Nebolsin, and among the stage directors were Baratov, and a very young
Pokrovskij.
One of Ivanovskij's biggest parts was German, he is said to have sung it about
two hundred times. As German, he was slender, elegant, refined
and from the first minute of his
appearance on stage, he riveted the attention of the audience.
Ivanovskij toured many cities in the USSR and
the most remote areas of the country. He
was often abroad. His performances in Italy on the stage of La Scala as
Grigorij and German were a resounding success.
When it was time to retire, the ebullient nature of Ivanovskij did not allow him to stay away from the beloved theater, and from
music. In 1969, Ivanovskij became head of the opera troupe of the Bolshoj (until 1974).
Then, he was a senior inspector for organizing concerts of the
collective (1975–2002).
On his 90th anniversary, Ivanovskij was honored on June 25th, 2002 by
a performance of Pikovaja dama at the Bolshoj.
Vladimir Viktorovich Ivanovskij died on March 26th, 2004.
Partial repertory
Pavka (Semja Tarasa/The Taras family by Kabalevskij), creator, 1950, Kirov
Znobov (Nikita Vershinin by Kabalevskij, 1955)
Bánk bán (Bánk bán by Erkel, 1959)
Masalskij (Octjabr by Muradeli, 1964)
German
Prince (Charodejka/The enchantress)
Grigorij
Raoul
Andrej Khovanskij and Golitsin
José
Florestan
Prince (Rusalka by Dargomyzhskyij)
Vsevolod (Skazanie o nevidimom grade Kitezhe i deve Fevronii)
Partial discography
Skazanie o nevidimom grade Kitezhe i deve Fevronii/The legend of the invisible city of Kitezh and the maiden Fevronia, as Prince
Vsevolod, choir and orchestra of the Bolshoj conducted by Nebolsin, 1956,
with Rozhdestvenskij, I. Petrov, I. Bogdanov, D. Tarkhov, M. Zvezdina, N. Kulagina and others
Skazka o tsare Saltane/The tale of tsar Saltan, as Gvidon, chorus and orchestra of the Bolshoj conducted by Nebolsin, 1958,
with E. Smolenskaja, I. Petrov, G. Olejnichenko, P. Chekin, L. A. Nikitina, Al. Ivanov, E. Verbitskaja, E. Shumilov, and others
Boris Godunov, as Grigorij, chorus and orchestra of the Bolshoj conducted by Melik-Pashaev, 1962,
with Petrov, G. Shulpina, M. Reshetin, I. Arkhipova, E. Verbitskaja, V. Borisenko, A. Grigoryev, N. Arkhipov and others
Solo LP V. Ivanovskij in the series "200 years of the Bolshoj Theatre", including German's arias, Szumią jodły, Vesti
la giubba, Celeste Aida, Huguenots duet with N. Serval, and Florestan's aria.
Reference 1 for biographical notes, pictures and additional recordings
Reference 2 for biographical notes