Mikhail Vasilyevich Bocharov (russian: link=no, Михаил Васильевич Бочаров, 2 November 187229 April 1936) was a Russian opera singer. Vocally speaking, he is best described as a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

. He graduated from Kyiv University as a lawyer. He then studied singing with Everardi and Petza at the Kyiv Music College, and graduated in 1898. He continued his education in Italy. Bocharov sang in Kiev opera since 1900, then sang in Moscow ( Zimin Opera), St. Petersburg,

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

and other cities. He was awarded the honorary title

Meritorious Artist Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...

of Russia in 1925. From 1932 onwards he sang mostly in concerts. He had a voice of a great range and cultivation. His roles include: Escamillo in ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'', Figaro in ''

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 ...

'', Beckmesser in ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'', Gryaznoi in ''

The Tsar's Bride ''The Tsar's Bride'' (russian: Царская невеста, translit=Tsarskaja nevesta) is an historical verse drama in four acts by Lev Mei from 1849.Golub (1998, 951). Fifty years later Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov used the play as the basis for h ...

'', Ivan-Korolevich in ''

Kashchey the Immortal ''Kashchey the Immortal'' (subtitle: A Little Autumn Fairy Tale) ( rus, Кащей бессмертный, Kashchéy bessmértny , ''Kashchey the Immortal'') is a one-act opera in three scenes by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written ...

'', Kochubey in '' Mazeppa'', Onegin, Demon, and Rigoletto, as well as various others.

Bibliography

* Shampanier A. (Шампаньер А. – editor and publisher), ''Russian Theater'' iev, 1905 pp. 53–54. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bocharov, Mikhail Vasilyevich 1872 births 1936 deaths Musicians from Saint Petersburg Russian operatic baritones 20th-century Russian male opera singers University of Kyiv, Law faculty alumni R. Glier Kyiv Institute of Music alumni