Mykysha was born on 25 May (6 June) 1885,
at Mirgorod, present-day
Poltava Oblast, into a poor peasant family.
In 1903, he graduated from an Art and Craft school in Mirgorod, where he had specialized in sculpting and drawing.
Mykysha participated in the revolutionary movement
(spreading illegal literature, drawing cartoons),
for which he was arrested in 1903.
Mykysha studied voice at the N. V. Lysenko Kiev Musical
Drama School from 1904 to 1910. From 1906, he was a pupil of
A. F. Myszuga.
During his studies, he met with writers Kotsjubinskyj, Ivan Franko,
Lesja Ukrainka, composer K. Stetsenko, actors
M. Zankovetska, P. Saksahanskyj, M. Sadovskyj,
and other well-known figures.
In 1910, Mykysha made his debut as Jontek in Kiev (Sadovskyj's theatre).
1910 to 1922, he was a soloist at the Kiev opera, making
his debut as Faust.
From
1919, Mykysha was director of a new Ukrainian theater called "Musical Drama".
1922 to 1931, Mykysha was a soloist at the Bolshoj, and from 1931 to 1942 in Kharkiv.
1942–44, he was again at the Opera and Ballet Theater
Kiev, which was evacuated to Irkutsk during that time.
Mykysha had a beautiful,
strong voice with a wide range, a sense of style and drama.
His easy sounding voice enabled the singer to sing lyrical roles in the early stage of his career.
From
1919, on the advice of Leonid Sobinov, he sang only dramatic
parts.
His repertoire included about 50 roles, among them: Uotter (Syn solntsa by Vasilenko), Herodes, Grigorij, Kuterma, José,
Radames, Raoul, Cavaradossi, Prince, Golitsyn, Aljosha Popovich
(Dobrynja Nikitich), Vakula, Petro, Levko ...
He retired from the stage in 1944. Mykysha taught at the
Kharkiv conservatory (from 1937) and the Kiev conservatory
(from 1944; professor from 1946). His students included:
V. Budnevych, Z. Gajdaj, A. Grigoryev, M. Rybalkin,
M. Stefanovych, and N. Chubenko.
In 1935, he was elected to the Dzerzhinskyj District Council
in Kharkiv.
Mykysha died on November 20, 1971 in Kiev.
Reference 1: M. Sheljubskyj M. V. Mykysha, Kiev, 1947.
Reference 2
Reference 3
Nadezhda Obukhova, the legendary Russian mezzosoprano, writes about Mykhajlo Mykysha in her memoirs:
Among the singers that came to the Bolshoj Theater already as fully developed masters was Mikhail Mikisha, today a highly respected
vocal teacher, who brought up several generations of wonderful young singers. Everything about this man was charming: his usual
kindness, respect to his colleagues, his fine sense of humor that is so characteristic of Ukrainian people (Mikisha was a
thoroughbred Ukrainian, born in Poltava region), and his genuine artistry. Prior to his joining the Bolshoj, he was already a famous
singer in Ukraine, a performer of the most demanding roles for a dramatic tenor – German, Canio, Radames, José, Turiddu
and others. Like always, from the very first performances, we started to examine our new colleague closely, trying to understand his
artistic individuality. I will be straightforward and say that Mikhail Mikisha had immediately won our sympathy. It was due to his
cheerful, sincere character, his sociability, and his infectious optimism. As а singer, Mikisha was no less charming. His beautiful,
powerful, dramatic tenor of wide diapason was light and even in all registers. The public was enchanted by the true dramatism of
his performances. He was drawn to extremely dramatic roles. It is not surprising that one of his most successful works on the Bolshoj
stage was the figure of Grishka Kuterma in the opera of Rimskij-Korsakov "The legend of the invisible city of Kitezh". In the nature
of that particular character, the vocal constituent, in a sense, plays a supportive role to the dramatic expressiveness. Mikisha was
perfect for that. With the same amazing power Mikisha performed in the role of the evil king Herod in the musical drama "Salome" by
Strauss, which was presented on the Bolshoj stage in the 1920s. It so happened that I very frequently sang alongside Mikisha, and all
the performances where we sang together brought me much creative delight, which is essential for great art. I sang alongside him in
"Sadko", "Boris Godunov", "Khovanshchina", "Aida". His great temperament, keenness for each and every role, infected his partners. It
was very easy to sing with Mikisha. As I have said, Mikisha came to the Bolshoj as a fully developed artist, and he did not have any
vocal difficulties. In fact, his vocal abilities were so great that he did not have any problems with creating extremely
realistic, life-like characters on stage.