Vladimir Grigorievich Shushlin (Russian: Владимир Григорьевич Шушлин; 26 July 1896 – 23 October 1978) was a Russian opera singer. He is called "the founder of Chinese vocal singing" and was the first foreign singer in China to perform Chinese songs in the original language. Shushlin was known for his rich, bass singing voice and to his use of the traditional

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ope ...

style. Shushlin was born in

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

in 1896 and attended the

St. Petersburg State Academic Capella The St. Petersburg State Academic Capella () (also: Glinka State Academic Capella), is the oldest active Russian professional musical institution with a history dating back to 1479. It is based in the city of Saint Petersburg. It has had various ...

in the early 1900s. Here he studied under

Mikhail Klimov Mikhail Mikhailovich Klimov (Russian: Михаил Михайлович Климов; November 20, 1880July 9, 1942) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1937). From 1909 to 1940 he was a leading actor of ...

. Shushlin took up piano and violin before settling on operatic singing. He later joined the

Mariinsky Theater The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

, where he performed with

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 ...

and sang in the opera ''

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 ...

''. The two became good friends and continued to perform together, including in ''

The Golden Cockerel ''The Golden Cockerel'' ( ) is an opera in three acts, with a short prologue and an even shorter epilogue, composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his last complete opera, before his death in 1908. Its libretto written by Vladimir Belsky, is derive ...

''. Shushlin graduated from the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty member ...

in 1920. Between 1922 and 1924, he performed with the

Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a symphony orchestra based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Their home venue is the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia. History The roots of th ...

. His last performance with them was of ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

'' on 16 April 1924. Fleeing Russia after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, Shushlin moved to

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

in 1924. Here he taught music and performed, going by the name Su Shi Lin. In 1927, he left to perform a tour of Japan and the Philippines. Shushlin returned to China in 1929 and moved to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. At the behest of Xiao Youmei, Shushlin joined the

Shanghai Conservatory of Music The Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCMusic) is a municipal public college in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the City of Shanghai and is part of the Double First-Class Construction. The college was founded on November 27, 1927. The Sh ...

in September 1930.

Ding Shande Ding Shande (; November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1995) was a Chinese composer, pianist, and music teacher. Biography Ding was born in Kunshan, Jiangsu. He studied music with teachers including Huang Tzu at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. D ...

considered Shushlin a teacher of 'first rank'. Shushlin returned to Russia in 1956 and became a professor at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

. He died in Moscow in 1978.

References

20th-century Russian male singers 1896 births 1978 deaths Academic staff of Moscow Conservatory Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni {{Russia-singer-stub

Further reading

References