Miroslav Čangalović ( sr-Cyrl, Мирослав Чангаловић; 3 March 1921 – 1 October 1999) was a

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

and concert singer and is considered to be one of the greatest

basses Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the b ...

in Yugoslav history. Čangalović was born in the small Bosnian town of

Glamoč Glamoč ( sr-cyrl, Гламоч) is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Glamoč in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the fo ...

. Due to his friendship with the family of Dušan Trbojević, a distinguished Serbian pianist and composer, he familiarized himself with the art of opera as well as operatic and concerto performing. His operatic debut took place in 1946 in Belgrade National Theater Opera House, with the role of jailer in

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

's opera ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

''. Between 1946 and 1954 he took singing lessons by Zdenka Zikova, a well-known operatic singer and a pedagogue. His operatic repertoire included more than 90 roles which he interpreted with his rich voice and his dramatic strength. His most successful creation is considered to be that of ''

Boris Godunov Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...

'', from the

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

's opera of the same name. Right next to it is the role of Dosifey, from the opera ''Khovanschina'' of the same composer. By many music historians and critics he is regarded as the greatest ever Boris Godunov, right after

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

. His other roles include those of Don Quichotte (

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 ...

's ''Don Quichotte''), Galitsky and Konchak (

Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as " The Five", a group dedicated to prod ...

's ''Prince Igor''), Mephistopheles (

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 ...

's ''Faust''), Phillip The Second (

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

's ''Don Carlos''), Figaro (

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''The Marriage of Figaro''), Kuchobey ( Tschaikovsky's ''Mazeppa''), Ivan The Terrible (

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

's ''The Maid of Pskov''), Mitke ( Konjović's ''Koštana''), and others. His concert repertoire consisted of 520 pieces that included solo songs, song-cycles, cantatas and oratorios. A great deal of these were pieces written and composed by numerous Serbian and Yugoslav composers, most of which had its premiere thanks to Čangalović. His concert career lasted more than 40 years during which he gave over 300 concerts held across former Yugoslavia as well as more than 160 worldwide. His outstanding achievements were awarded on various occasions both at home and abroad. He was awarded twice by International Jury of Critics in France as the best singer of the season at the Festival Theatre of Nations in Paris, in 1959 (for the role of Mephistopheles) and in 1961 (for that of Boris Godunov). He was also awarded by the French government as the

Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant co ...

, for his contribution to promoting the French culture. He died in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cangalovic, Miroslav 1921 births 1999 deaths People from Glamoč Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Operatic basses 20th-century Serbian male opera singers Yugoslav male opera singers Members of the Central Committee of the 10th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia