Anatoliy Borysovych Solovianenko (; ; 25 September 1932 – 29 July 1999) was a Ukrainian operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...

(1975), People's Artist of Ukraine, and Shevchenko National Prize winner. He was born into a mining family in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

and graduated from Donetsk Polytechnic Institute in 1954. He also studied singing with Alexander Korobeichenko from 1950. Solovianenko began his career in Donetsk, where there is now a monument in his memory. He made twelve performances at the Metropolitan Opera in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, then graduated from Kyiv Conservatory in 1978. For 30 years, he was soloist at the Taras Shevchenko National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Kyiv, and performed at

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. During the 1977–78 season, Solovianenko performed as a soloist at the New York Metropolitan Opera. He also performed as soloist for the Alexandrov Ensemble during its UK tour 1988, singing " Kalinka" and other songs. He recorded 18 LPs of arias, romances and songs. Coin of Ukraine Solovianenko R

Life and career

Anatoliy Solovianenko was born in

( Stalino at that time) on 25 September 1932 into a miner's family. In 1954, he graduated from Donetsk Technical University, after which he taught there in the engineering graphics department. He began taking singing lessons in 1950 from Alexander Korobeychenko, Honoured Artist of the Russian Soviet Republic. Success in a popular talent show of 1962 led to an invitation to sing at the National Opera of Ukraine. But before starting work in the National Opera, Solovyanenko won the young singers' contest at Milan's

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

, and studied there for three years (1963–1965). He became the first Soviet singer to receive an invitation to perform at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Starting from 1965, Solovyanenko performed with the National Opera of Ukraine. In 1967, he was awarded the rank of Honoured Artist of Ukraine, and in 1975, the rank of

. He graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory in 1978. Being the soloist of the National Opera, Anatoliy Solovyanenko sang 18 parts, among them: ''Duke'' (

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

), ''Alfredo'' ( La Traviata), ''Tenor'' ( Requiem), ''Edgardo'' ( Lucia di Lammermoor), ''Rodolfo'' ( La Boheme), ''Kavarosen'' (

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 ...

), ''Faust'' (

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

), ''Lenskiy'' ( Yevgeniy Onegin), ''Pretender'' ( Boris Godunov), ''Andriy'' ( Zaporozhec across the Danube) and many others. Anatoliy Solovyanenko was married and had two sons, Andrii and Anatoliy. Anatoliy Solovyanenko died suddenly from a heart attack on 29 July 1999. Among various government officials who attended his funeral was President

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

, and several months later, in December 1999, the Donetsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre was renamed in his honor by the Ukrainian Cabinet. In 2001, a statue of the singer was installed at Kozyn (within the

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

), where he is buried.

Awards

* 1967 – Honoured Artist of Ukraine * 1975 –

* 1980 –

Lenin Prize The Lenin Prize (, ) was one of the most prestigious awards of the Soviet Union for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was originally created on June 23, 1925, and awarded until 1934. During ...

, money prize was transferred by A.Solovyanenko to the Peace Committee * 1982 – Miner's Glory Medal,

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples () was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in s ...

* 1993 – Badge of Honour from President of Ukraine * 1997 – Taras Shevchenko National Prize

Recognition

* Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theater was named in honor of Anatoly Solovyanenko. The monument to him was installed near the theatre. * Another monument was installed in

at 16 Institutska Street; the house is marked by a memorial plaque. * A musical named "Vyzov Sud'be" (eng. – Defy the odds) featuring A. Solovyanenko was filmed at the Dovzhenko Film Studios * In 1982, a book by A.K. Tereshchenko "A. Solovyanenko" was published, and reprinted in 1988.

Notes

References

External links

*
Persons , Національна опера України
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solovianenko, Anatoliy 20th-century Ukrainian male opera singers Recipients of the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine Ukrainian operatic tenors Recipients of the Shevchenko National Prize Musicians from Donetsk Soviet tenors Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine 1932 births 1999 deaths Recipients of the National Legend of Ukraine Kyiv Conservatory alumni