Georgij Vinogradov was born in Kazan in 1908. He first studied the violin and viola at the Kazan school
of music, and later was a student at the Military Academy of Communications. In 1937, he studied at the Tatar Opera
Studio in Kazan, and then completed his studies at the Moscow conservatory and was engaged as a soloist with the
Soviet National Radio.
In 1943, Vinogradov became a soloist with the Soviet Army Song and Dance Ensemble, and as
such sang at the front during World War II. He continued as a soloist with that group until 1951, when he became a
permanent soloist with Moscow Radio, and also embarked on very successful concert tours.
Although he appears never to have performed on stage, he did participate in many radio performances of opera,
among them Manon, Don Giovanni, Mignon and a number of Russian operas.
Although Soviet sources claim his career
continued until 1963, Mikhail Alexandrovich, who knew him well, tells another
story. According to Alexandrovich,
Vinogradov got into a drunken brawl with some Polish officials soon after the war and so embarrassed the government
that his career was effectively ended. Apparently Vinogradov hit the Polish officials and Stalin had to officially apologize!
This is borne out by the fact that a number of Soviet musical references published
during the fifties and sixties don't mention him at all, although he was one of the most famous singers in Russia.
In any case, there is little doubt that Vinogradov was one of the finest tenors in Russia in his time.
He died in Moscow in 1980.
