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Vasilij Sevastyanov was very well known in Russia, but not in the West. He was born on January 1st, 1875 at Tambov in central Russia. His family later moved to Kharkiv, where Sevastyanov studied at a technical school. His voice was discovered and he was sent to Milan to study singing. Sevastyanov took lessons from E. Rossi and P. Vidal. After returning to Russia in 1900, Vasilij Sevastyanov made his debut at Kharkiv. He did not deceive the hopes of the patrons of the art, and for one year staid in Kharkiv. In 1901, Vasilij Sevastyanov became a member of the Bolshoj at Moscow, where he staid until 1905. However, he started to tour because of the large fees that were paid. Vasilij Sevastyanov was active in Baku (1902), at the Zimin Opera at Moscow (1906/07), Riga, Tiflis, Kazan (1908), Samara (1909). In 1907 and in 1910/11, Sevastyanov sang at the Mariinskij at St. Petersburg. His repertory included: Grigorij, German, Radames, Canio, Samson, José, Tannhäuser, and Tristan. After 1917, Sevastyanov left Russia. He sang mainly in Romania and Yugoslavia and put opera performances together. In Ljubljana, he presented "Boris Godunov", starring Shaljapin. Vasilij Sevastyanov died penniless in Paris on October 21st, 1929. He recorded very little during his best period (1908–10). There are 15 records made for Gramophone, Zonophone, and Syrena.
I wish to thank Vladimir Efimenko for the recordings and biographical notes. |
