Fyodor Ignatievich Stravinsky (russian: Фёдор Игнатьевич Страви́нский), , estate Novy Dvor (Aleksichi),

Rechitsky Uyezd Rechitsky Uyezd (russian: Речицкий уезд) was one of the Uyezds of Minsk Governorate and the Governorate-General of Minsk of the Russian Empire and then of Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic with its center in Rechytsa from 1793 until ...

Minsk Governorate The Minsk Governorate (russian: Минская губерния, Belarusian: ) or Government of Minsk was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. The seat was in Minsk. It was created in 1793 from the land acquired in the partition ...

) was a Russian bass

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 librett ...

singer and actor. He was the father of

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

and the grandfather of Théodore Strawinsky and

Soulima Stravinsky Sviatoslav Soulima Stravinsky () (23 September 191028 November 1994) was a Swiss-American pianist, composer, and musicologist. As a pianist, he was considered an important interpreter of the works of his father, Igor Stravinsky, but as a composer ...

Life and career

His father Ignacy was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and came from a noble Polish family of Sulima- Strawiński; his mother, Alexandra Ivanovna Skorokhodova, was a daughter of a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

small landowner. Fyodor was baptised in accordance with the Orthodox rite due to

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

Law which stated that children born of mixed Catholic-Orthodox marriages had to be brought up in the Russian Orthodox faith.Igor Stravinsky, Robert Craft,
Memories and Commentaries
', University of California Press, 1981, p. 17 In 1869 he completed his education at the Nezhin Lyceum, where he sang in the church choir. He studied voice at the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...

from 1869–73. He later studied with

Camille Everardi Camille Everardi (1824–1899) was a Belgian operatic baritone who had an active international career during the 1850s through the 1870s. He particularly excelled in the works of Vincenzo Bellini and Gioachino Rossini. Several music critics of h ...

Kiev 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 ...

. Stravinsky started his solo singing career in Kiev,

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 ...

(1873–76) before moving to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where he sang 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 ...

for 26 years, from 1876 to 1902. He was hailed as the successor to

Osip Petrov Osip Afanasievich Petrov (russian: link=no, Осип Афанасиевич Петров, ) was a Russian operatic bass-baritone of great range and renown, whose career centred on St Petersburg. Biography Osip Petrov was born in Yelisavetgrad ...

, he was renowned for his outstanding dramatic talent as an actor, and he was considered the leading bass at the Imperial Opera. He was admired for the depths of his psychological insights and his mastery of stagecraft. Stravinsky created a number of roles in operas by

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 ...

: * His Royal Highness in ''

Vakula the Smith ''Vakula the Smith'' (russian: Кузнец Вакула, Kuznéts Vakúla, Smith Vakula ), Op. 14, is a Ukrainian-themed opera in 3 acts, 8 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Yakov Polonsky and is based on Nikolai G ...

'' in 1876 * Dunois in '' The Maid of Orleans'' in 1881 * Mamirov in '' The Enchantress'' in 1887. He also appeared in the premiere performance of Nikolai Soloviev's ''Cordelia'' (24 November 1880, St. Petersburg), and created the role of Moroz (King Frost) in

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

's opera ''

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 ...

'' (1882; his son Igor studied under Rimsky-Korsakov). Stravinsky was also known as an active advocate of the music by Ukrainian composer

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 ...

, often performing the role of Mykola in the opera '' Natalka Poltavka''. Fyodor also posed as a Ukrainian Cossack for

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin (russian: Илья Ефимович Репин, translit=Il'ya Yefimovich Repin, p=ˈrʲepʲɪn); fi, Ilja Jefimovitš Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is now Ukraine. He became one of the ...

's famous painting '' Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire''. He was a devotee of Ukrainian poet

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukraine, Ukrainian p ...

and collected his books and publications, many of which he knew by heart. He had a large book collection of other Ukrainian writers such as G. Kvitka-Osnovianenko, I. Kotliarevsky, and P. Kulish. Among his great successors were

Feodor Chaliapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...

and Lev Sibiriakov. Fyodor Stravinsky died in 1902 and was buried in the Artist's Cemetery in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Saint Petersburg. His memoirs are said to be invaluable. He also had a unique library which was very popular among bibliophiles.

Notes

''a.'' According to Igor Stravinsky, the name "Stravinsky" (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: Strawiński) originated from "Strava" (

: Strawa), a small river in eastern Poland, tributary to the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

References

*Lysenko, I. A, ''Dictionary of Ukrainian singers''. Kyiv, 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stravinsky, Fyodor 1843 births 1902 deaths People from Gomel District People from Rechitsky Uyezd Russian people of Polish descent Russian opera singers Operatic basses Igor Stravinsky Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery 19th-century American male musicians