Pikok was born in Krasnojarsk into the family of a physician who
lived there in exile. He finished grammar school in
Krasnojarsk, then completed his military service in Irkutsk.
In 1903, he began to take singing lessons in St. Petersburg
with I. P. Prjanishnikov, then in Milan with Podesti.
The first time he appeared in a concert was for the 100th
birthday of Mikhail Glinka in Krasnojarsk in 1904.
1905/06, he sang at the Irkutsk opera,
then he was hired, on recommendation of M. Ippolitov-Ivanov,
by the Zimin opera in Moscow, where he sang
from October 1907 to 1916.
From 1916 to 1928, he sang at the Bolshoj,
where he appeared especially in character roles, but also
in principal roles such as José, Pinkerton, Faust, Don Ottavio
and Osaka.
The reference states that in 1911, he sang Pinkerton
at the Opéra-Comique. This is completely
wrong..
In 1912 he sang in Saratov, Simbirsk, Novgorod and Kiev.
He sang in the following world premieres:
Zolotoj petushok/The golden cockerel by Rimskij-Korsakov as Astrologer (1909)
Sestra Beatrisa/Sister Beatrice by Grechaninov as Belidor (1910)
Syn zemli/The son of the earth by Anatolij Kankarovich as The thin neighbor (1916)
Izmena/The treachery by Ippolitov-Ivanov as Erekle (1910)
He was Moscow's first Nero in Nouguès' opera "Quo vadis" in 1910, and first Pinkerton in 1911;
finally, the Bolshoj's first Kashchej in "Kashchej bessmertnyj/Kashchej the immortal" by Rimskij-Korsakov and Russia's
first Fritellini in Audran's "La mascotte".
He appeared also in operettas like "Luna park" by N. Strelnikov in 1928 and "Der Zigeunerbaron" by J. Strauß.
His repertory further included: Scribe (Khovanshchina),
Bomelij, Karl VII (Orleanskaja deva),
Vagoa (Judif/Judith by Serov), José, Shujskij, Sinodal, Berendej,
Mozart, Paisij (Charodejka/The sorceress), Triquet,
Chekalinskij, Ottavio, Faust, Tavannes,
Don Gomez (Henry VIII by Saint-Saëns), Cassio, Osaka...
On April 21st, 1908 he sang in the Moscow premiere of the two romances "V slepe/In the mortuary" and "Solvej" by Sergej Vasilenko
(1872–1956), accompanied by the composer at the piano.
He made 20 records in Moscow (Pathe 1907, Zonophone 1908, Gramophone Co. 1909 und 1910, RAOG 1912). His records are very rare.
He died on March 1st, 1943 in Moscow.
Reference: A. M. Pruzhanskij, Otechestvennye pevtsy 1750–1917, vol. 1, Moscow 1991