Turning the pages back... October 22, 1810 (10/20/96)

Turning the pages back...

October 22, 1810

Mykola Ivanov was renowned as one of Europe's great operatic tenors in the mid-19th century. Born on October 22, 1810, in Voronizh (not the Belarusian city), in the Kharkiv gubernia, about 30 miles east of Hlukhiv, he was taken to sing at the Imperial Court Kapelle in St. Petersburg at the age of 10.

Ivanov became the protégé of the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka, who took him to Italy to continue his musical training in 1830. Two years later, known as Nicolai Ivanoff, he made his debut in Naples, as Percy in Gaetano Donizetti's "Anna Bolena," then sang in Paris, London and Milan.

In 1842, Ivanov appeared in the world premiere of Gioacchino Rossini's arrangement of the poem "Stabat Mater Dolorosa," under Donizetti's baton.

Ivanov gained fame as one of the best representatives of the Halican School of bel canto. The better known roles in Ivanov's repertoire included Edgardo in Donizetti's "Lucia de Lammermoor" and Rodrigo in Rossini's "Othello."

Ivanov's rendition of Ukrainian folk songs reportedly made a great impression on the modern French composer Hector Berlioz.

Ivanov retired in 1852, and lived in Bologna, Italy. He died in Bologna on July 19, 1880.

Source: "Ivanov, Mykola," Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Vol. 2 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988).