Ivan Semyonovich Kozlovsky (russian: Ива́н Семё́нович Козло́вский, uk, Іван Семенович Козловський; also referred to as Kozlovskiy or Kozlovskij; 21 December 1993) was a Soviet

lyric tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is widel ...

and one of the most well known stars of Russian opera, as well a producer and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of his own opera company, and longtime teacher at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

(1940) and

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

(1980).

Biography

Ivan Kozlovsky was born in the village of Marianivka near

Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( uk, Бі́ла Це́рква ; ) is a city in the center of Ukraine, the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (after Kyiv, which is the administrative center, but not part of the oblast), and part of the Right Bank. It serves as the admi ...

, the

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate, r=Kievskaya guberniya; uk, Київська губернія, Kyivska huberniia (, ) was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It wa ...

, the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), and began to sing at the age of seven in the choir of the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery. He went on to study drama, piano and singing (with the famous

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Olena Muravyova) at the

Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Theatre, Cinema and Television University
- official websi ...

. He also sang with his brother in

Alexander Koshetz Alexander Koshetz (12 September 1875 – 21 September 1944) was a Ukrainian choral conductor, arranger, composer, ethnographer, writer, musicologist, and lecturer. He helped popularize Ukrainian music around the world. His name is sometimes ...

's choir in Kyiv. This instruction was cut short after two years, due to the outbreak of the civil war in the aftermath of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

. Kozlovsky sang in a vocal quartet under the direction of O. Sveshnikov. His voice enabled him to join the army engineers, as a lead singer in a military band. He made his operatic début in 1920 as ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

'' at the

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...

theatre, where he sang until 1923. He followed this with engagements at the

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

(then called Sverdlovsk) opera theatre in 1924-6, before becoming one of the leading tenors at the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...

in Moscow from 1926 to 1954. He had a memorable audition at the Bolshoi in 1924, reportedly reaching the highest notes of the register with ease (throughout his career, he developed a reputation for singing the highest note possible and hanging onto it for the added adulation). At the Bolshoi, he came under the mentorship of

Leonid Sobinov Leonid Vitalyevich Sobinov (russian: Леони́д Вита́льевич Со́бинов, 7 June S 26 May1872 – 14 October 1934) was an Imperial Russian operatic tenor. His fame continued unabated into the Soviet era, and he was made a Peop ...

, the leading Russian tenor at the time. Kozlovsky went on to sing in over 50 operas as the leading tenor of the Bolshoi. In 1938, Kozlovsky organized and directed a concert ensemble of opera singers, VTO Soviet Opera Ensemble, directing himself in ''

Werther ''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...

'' by

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) ...

and ''

Orfeo ed Euridice ' (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on Orpheus, the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the ''azione teatrale'', mea ...

'' by

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the ...

, among other productions. He was awarded the prestigious designation of

in 1940. Kozlovsky was well known to be a favorite singer of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

. Kozlovsky gained great renown throughout the Soviet Union, but was never allowed to leave its borders. Kozlovsky had a friendly rivalry with

Sergei Lemeshev Sergei Yakovlevich Lemeshev (russian: Серге́й Я́ковлевич Ле́мешев; – 27 June 1977) was a Soviet and Russian opera singer and director. People's Artist of the USSR (1950). Biography Early life and career Lemeshev was ...

, another opera singer immensely popular in Russia. They both often sang the same roles, and Russian opera lovers were divided into supporters of one or the other. The theatre lobby was a venue for scuffles between fans jokingly called the "lemeshistki" and the "kozlovityanki

Kozlovsky married the popular actress Alexandra Herzig (1886–1964), who was 14 years older than he and much better known, causing the public to refer to him as "Herzig's husband". Later, when he attained greater fame, Herzig became known as "Kozlovsky’s wife". After his first marriage ended in divorce, Kozlovsky remarried, this time to an actress 14 years ''younger'' than he,

Galina Sergeyeva Galina Yermolaevna Sergeyeva (russian: Гали́на Ермола́евна Серге́ева; February 1, 1914 – August 1, 2000) was a Soviet and Russian actress. Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1935). From 1930, she was an actress at the Th ...

. Sergeyeva played the female lead in the films ''Pyshka (Пышкa)'' (" Boule de Suif," 1934), ''Lyubov Alyony (Любoвь Aлёны)'' ("Alyona’s Love", 1934), and ''Vesennie dni (Весенние дни)'' ("Spring Days", 1934). Although she bore him two daughters, the marriage with Kozlovsky did not last long.

Kozlovsky and solo performances

Kozlovsky gave many concerts throughout the Soviet Union, singing Russian and Ukrainian songs and romances, as well as German

lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

, and

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

. He taught singing at the

from 1956 to 1980. After 1954, Kozlovsky continued to appear occasionally at the Bolshoi, giving his final appearance in 1970 in the role of

Yurodivy Foolishness for Christ ( el, διά Χριστόν σαλότητα, cu, оуродъ, юродъ) refers to behavior such as giving up all one's worldly possessions upon joining an ascetic order or religious life, or deliberately flouting socie ...

(the Simpleton) in ''Boris Godunov''. He continued to appear frequently in public and even sang on 4 July 1985 at

Mark Reizen Mark Osipovich Reizen, also Reisen or Reyzen (russian: Марк Осипович Рейзен, – November 25, 1992), PAU, was a leading Soviet opera basso singer. Life and career Reizen was born into a Jewish family of mine workers i ...

's 90th birthday at the Bolshoi. The last concert given by Kozlovsky took place in 1989 at the Central House of Writers in Moscow. He died in Moscow at the age of 93.

Kozlovsky and Ukrainian music

Kozlovsky throughout his life was an active proponent of Ukrainian music, and performed works by Ukrainian composers such as

Mykola Lysenko Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko ( uk, Мико́ла Віта́лійович Ли́сенко; 22 March 1842 – 6 November 1912) was a List of Ukrainian composers, Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist of the late Romantic mus ...

Yakiv Stepovy Yakiv Stepanovich Stepovy ( uk, Яків Степовий) (October 20, 1883 – November 4, 1921) was a Ukrainian composer, music teacher, and music critic. Stepovy was born Yakiv Yakymenko (Akimenko) in Kharkiv, in the Russian Empire (in presen ...

Kyrylo Stetsenko Kyrylo Hryhorovych Stetsenko ( ua, Кирило Григорович Стеценко; May 12, 1882 – April 29, 1922) was a prolific Ukrainian composer, conductor, critic, and teacher. Late in his life he became a Ukrainian Orthodox Priest an ...

, and

Mykola Arkas Mykola ( uk, Мико́ла, Mykóla, ) is a Slavic name, Slavic variant, more specifically a Ukrainian name, Ukrainian variant, of the masculine name "Nicholas", meaning "victory of the people". It may refer to: People *Mykola Arkas (1853–190 ...

. In 1924, he sang the role of Yontek in Moniuszko's "Halka" in Ukrainian. In 1940, he directed the first performance of the Ukrainian opera '' Kateryna'' by Mykola Arkas, and in 1954 Mykola Lysenko's '' Natalka Poltavka''. In 1970, he funded the construction of a music school in his home village of Marianivka. He recorded 22 records of Ukrainian folk songs, romances and arias in Ukrainian. Kozlovsky was also the author of numerous Memoirs about Ukrainian singers O. Petrusevych, Mykhailo Donets, M. Mykysh, Borys Hmyria and others.

Legacy

Kozlovsky sang more than 50 operatic roles, and was especially famous as Lensky in ''Eugene Onegin'', Berendey in ''

The Snow Maiden ''The Snow Maiden'' (subtitle: A Spring Fairy Tale) ( rus, Снегурочка–весенняя сказка, Snegúrochka–vesénnyaya skázka, italic=yes ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composed ...

'', Levko in ''

May Night ''May Night'' ( rus, Майская ночь, Mayskaya noch ) is a comic opera in three acts, four scenes, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov from a libretto by the composer and is based on Nikolai Gogol's story " May Night, or the Drowned Maiden", from hi ...

'', the Indian Guest in ''

Sadko Sadko (russian: Садко) is the principal character in a Russian medieval epic '' bylina''. He was an adventurer, merchant, and '' gusli'' musician from Novgorod. Textual notes "Sadko" is a version of the tale translated by Arthur Ransome ...

'', Vladimir in ''

Prince Igor ''Prince Igor'' ( rus, Князь Игорь, Knyáz Ígor ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the Ancient Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which re ...

'', Nero in the opera by Rubinstein, Dubrovsky in the opera by Napravnik, and so on. He also was outstanding in the western repertoire: ''Faust'' (

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

), ''

'', ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had cont ...

'', ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...

'', ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

'', ''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

'', ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

'', and so on. In September 1993, the belt asteroid 4944 Kozlovskij was named in honor of Ivan Kozlovsky's career (); his famous rival Sergey Lemeshev received the same honor with asteroid 4561 Lemeshev upon his death in 1978.

Quotations

"They say that Ivan Kozlovsky considered his voice as his one and only possession and prayed every morning thanking the Lord for the priceless gift He gave him..." (''Olga Fyodorova, Music portraits'', see the link below) "Lemeshev is a far more lyric and tender Gherman than those to whom we’ve become accustomed. He and Kozlovsky were long-time rivals; each sings Lensky’s aria, with quite different emphases." (''Stefan Zucker'') "31 October 2005, 17:31. Monument to known Ukrainian singer Ivan Kozlovsky to be erected in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. This decision was made by Kyiv City Hall. It was decided that Pechersk district state administration is to erect the monument at its expense." (''From the official news'')

Discography

* ''The Great Russian Tenor - Ivan Kozlovsky'': Pearl GEM0221, Released 7 February 2005 ADD * ''Russian Opera at the Bolshoi: The Vintage Years'': DVD Region 1 (playable worldwide) #FD2019, Russian, English subtitles. 112m. B& W/Color, Dolby Digital audio. *

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

, ''Eugene Onegin'' Aleksandr Ivanovich Orlov: Melodiya D 0253/60 (1952), D 09377/82(1962), Chant du Monde LDX 8088/90, Bruno 23001/3, Colosseum CRLP 10270, 80 and 90 *

Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

, ''Boris Godunov'', Melodiya D 0305/12 (1952), D 05836/43 (1959); Ultraphone 159/62; Bruno 23025/7; Colosseum 124/6; Period SPLP 554 (1952), 103
Also this link

Notes

References

In English: * (1992). ''Guide de L'Opéra'', Fayard. (page 427) * Ardoin, John (1995). "Ivan Kozlovsky, A Voice from Behind the Curtain", in ''Opera Quarterly 11''. (pages 95–102) In Russian: * Kuznetsova, A. ''(Кузнецова, А.)'' (1964). ''People's Artist (Народный артист)'', Art. * Sletov, V. ''(Слетов, В.)'' (1945). ''I. Kozlovsky (И. Козловский)'', Art. * Polianovsky, H. ''(Поляновский, Г.)'' (1945). ''Ivan Semyonovitch Kozlovsky (Иван Семёнович Козловский)'', Art. * Hroshyeva, E. ''(Грошева, Е.)'' (1960). ''40 Years on the Stage of the Opera (Сорок лет на оперной сцене)'', Soviet Music. In Ukrainian: * Bulat, T. ''(Булат, Т.)'' (1980). ''Ukrainian Folk Songs and Romances in the Repertoire of I.S. Kozlovsky (Українські народні пісні та романси в репертуарі І.С.Козловського)'', Folk Works and Ethnography ''(Народна творчість та етнографія)'' No. 3. * Lysenko, I. A dictionary of Ukrainian singers - Словник Співаків України - Kyiv, 1997

Ukrainian Wikipedia The Ukrainian Wikipedia ( uk, Українська Вікіпедія, ''Ukrainska Vikipediia'') is the Ukrainian language edition of the free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. The first article was written on January 30, 2004. the Ukrainian Wiki ...

On Galina Sergeyeva

History of the Tenor - Sound Clips and Narration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozlovsky, Ivan 1900 births 1993 deaths Soviet male opera singers People from Kyiv Oblast Heroes of Socialist Labour Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Shevchenko National Prize Recipients of the title of People's Artists of Ukraine Russian opera directors Soviet tenors 20th-century Ukrainian male opera singers Ukrainian operatic tenors Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery

Biography

Kozlovsky and solo performances

Kozlovsky and Ukrainian music

Legacy

Quotations

Discography

See also

Notes

References

External links