Boris Timofeyevich Shtokolov (; March 19, 1930 – January 6, 2005), was a famous

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n singer, one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. Boris Shtokolov was born in the settlement of Kuzedeyevo in Gorno-Shorsky District of Kuznetsk Okrug in

Siberian Krai Siberian Krai (, Sibirsky Kray) was a krai of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Russian SFSR. It existed from 1925 to 1930. The krai's administrative center was the city of Novosibirsk. History Siberian Krai was formed on May 25, 1 ...

(now in

Novokuznetsky District Novokuznetsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Kemerovo Oblast, nineteen in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia.Law #215-OZ As a subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions, municipal division, it is ...

Kemerovo Oblast Kemerovo Oblast (, ), also known as Kuzbass (, ), after the Kuznetsk Basin, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Kemerovo is the administrative center and largest city of the oblast. Kemerovo Oblast is one of Rus ...

). In 1949, he entered the Ural State Conservatory in Sverdlovsk (now

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

), but wanted to become a military pilot.

Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...

, having heard his singing, said: ''There are many guys like you in aviation, but in opera singing you are unique''. In 1950 and 1951, he was singing at the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Society before he became a soloist at the Sverdlovsk Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1959, he was invited to the Kirov Theater in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) where he gained world fame as a leading soloist from 1959 to 1989. At the Kirov Theater he sang a great number of roles, such as Ruslan, Don Basilio,

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 ...

Ivan Susanin Ivan Susanin ( rus, Иван Сусанин, p=ɪˈvan sʊˈsanʲɪn; died 1613) was a Russian national hero and martyr of the early-17th-century Time of Troubles. According to the popular legend, Polish troops seeking to kill Tsar Mikhail hire ...

, the title role in

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein, who founded the Moscow Conservatory. As a pianist, Rubinstein ran ...

's '' The Demon'', Prince Gremin,

Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was lib ...

, and many others. He died on 6 January 2005 in St. Petersburg, and was buried at the Literatorskie Mostki of the

Volkovo Cemetery The Volkovo Cemetery (also Volkovskoe) ( or Во́лково кла́дбище) is one of the largest and oldest non- Orthodox cemeteries in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Until the early 20th century it was one of the main burial grounds for Lutheran ...

. Boris Shtokolov was also a prominent theorist of opera singing and breathing techniques. In 1995, he published a book ''Burn, Burn, My Star: How to Sing''.

Honors

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 ...

(1966) *

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

(1981) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

(1980) *

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...

(1983) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labor The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

(twice) *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...

(2nd class) *Honorary Member of the Slavic Academy * Honorary Citizen of the

(2002)Памяти великого русского певца Бориса Тимофеевича Штоколова
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References

External links

Article on Shtokolov in Neva NewsBoris Shtokolov on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shtokolov, Boris Timofeyevich 1930 births 2005 deaths Soviet male opera singers Honored Artists of the RSFSR Operatic basses People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR People from Kemerovo Oblast Recipients of the USSR State Prize Recipients of the Order of Lenin Russian basses Burials at Volkovo Cemetery