Natalia Stepanovna Ermolenko-Yuzhina (russian: Наталия Степановна Ермоленко-Южина; 1881,

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

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. ...

– 1937,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

) was a Russian

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

singer ( soprano).Macy, Laura Williams. ''The Grove Book of Opera Singers'' p. 542. Oxford University Press: New York, 2008

Early years

Ermolenko-Yuzhina was born, and received her first lessons, in Kyiv. She continued her studies in St. Petersburg, then in Paris and Italy.ru: Music Encyclopedia
/ref>

Career

Ermolenko-Yuzhina made her debut in Kyiv as Lisa in '' The Queen of Spades'' in 1900. She then joined Aleksey Tsereteli's opera company in St. Petersburg, before becoming a soloist at the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

in 1901. She remained at the Mariinsky until 1905, when she joined the Bolshoi Theatre, performing there until 1906. While performing at the Bolshoi, she met her husband, opera singer David Khristoforovich Yuzhin. Ermolenko-Yuzhina and her husband left the Bolshoi in 1908, and joined Sergei Zimin's opera company, remaining for two seasons. In 1910, Ermolenko-Yuzhina returned to the Mariinsky, where she performed from 1910 to 1913, and again, from 1915 to 1920. She performed at the Bolshoi in 1913, 1916, and 1919, and she also with

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...

’s enterprise, and in various European opera houses, before the First World War. For her performance in the Marina Mnizhek (opera '' Boris Godunov''; 1908, Paris,

Opéra national de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

) she was presented with the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. Ermolenko-Yuzhina was considered to be the leading Russian lyric-dramatic soprano of her day, with a repertoire of more than thirty roles, including Brunnhilde, Norma, Violette and Carmen.

Exile

Her husband, David Yuzhin, died on December 28, 1923, after a lengthy illness. A few months later, in early 1924, Ermolenko-Yuzhina fled the Soviet Union and settled in Paris. During the working troupe of Russian opera of Aleksey Tsereteli. She appeared for a time with Aleksey Tsereteli's opera company and at the

; she also gave private concerts. She faded from the public eye and little is known about her final years in exile. There is some dispute over the date of her death. Some sources claim that Ermolenko-Yuzhina died in Paris in 1937; other sources claim that she died in Paris in 194

Real name

Ermolenko-Yuzhina's was born Natalia Stepanovna Plugovskaya (Плуговская), she later adopted Ermolenko as her stage name, and after her marriage to opera singer David Yuzhin (his real last name was Pisitko / ru: Писитько), combined both pseudonyms and became Ermolenko-Yuzhina.

References

* *
To play: Natalia Ermolenko-Yuzhina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ermolenko-Yuzhina, Natalia 1881 births 1937 deaths 19th-century women opera singers from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian women opera singers Sopranos from the Russian Empire White Russian emigrants to France Russian operatic sopranos Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France