Dmitri Alexeyevich Smirnov ( (also seen as Smirnoff), April 27, 1944) was a Russian

operatic 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 ...

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 ...

with a lyric voice and a

bravura In classical music a bravura is a style of both music and its performance intended to show off the skill of a performer. John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, ''A dictionary of music and musicians (A.D. 1450-1889)'p. 271-272/ref> Commonly, it is a vir ...

singing technique.

Biography

Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula KAl2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage y ...

, Smirnov was a student of Emiliya Pavlovskaya and

Alexander Dodonov Alexander Mikhailovich Dodonov (, February 24, S 121837 — February 1 S January 19 1914) was a Russian opera singer. Vocally, he is best described as a lyric or spinto (lyric dramatic) tenor. He was born in St Petersburg, and was a pupil of F ...

. He made his debut in St Petersburg in 1903 as Gigi in Eugenio Domenico Esposito's ''

La Camorra ''La Camorra'' is the name of a three-movement suite for tango ensemble composed by Ástor Piazzolla. It was inspired by the Neapolitan criminal organization Camorra and represents Piazzolla's most ambitious compositional statement in length and ...

''. The venue was the

Hermitage Theatre The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈat(ə)r) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Ri ...

. In 1904, Smirnov became a member of the Bolshoi company in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, singing there until 1910. He then sang at the

Mariinsky Theatre 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 ...

, St Petersburg, from 1911 to 1917. (He had first appeared at the Mariinsky in 1907.) Smirnov made his French début at the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

in 1907. His successful Parisian performances led to an invitation for him to appear at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

, where he sang in 1911–12. Competition from the celebrated international tenors

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

and John McCormack, who were also singing at the Met at that time, resulted in Smirnov's achieving limited success with New York audiences. In 1914, he performed in the "Russian Seasons" at London's Theatre Royal,

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

. He would not sing in the United States again except for two performances of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

's '' The Queen of Spades'' with the

Washington National Opera Washington National Opera (WNO) is an American opera company in Washington, D.C. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performance ...

—a semi-professional company not related to its present namesake—in 1926.McPherson, Jim, "Mr. Meek Goes to Washington: The Story of the Small-Potatoes Canadian Baritone Who Founded America’s 'National' Opera," ''The Opera Quarterly,'' volume 20, no. 2, Spring 2004 The tenor left his native land 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 ...

of 1917, preferring to continue his career in the West. Among the cities he visited were Berlin, Monte Carlo, Milan, Rome, Madrid and Buenos Aires. In 1929, he returned to the Soviet Union for a concert tour. Smirnov became a citizen of the Estonian Republic on 4 February 1932, and took an active part as a soloist in the opera theater "Estonia". He taught singing in London and Athens and later retired to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

(then

USSR 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 ...

, now

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

), where he died in 1944, aged 61. Smirnov was equally comfortable performing lyric roles in Russian, French or Italian opera. His voice was plaintive in tone with easy high notes, great breath control, and a distinctive vibrato. Smirnov's main tenor rivals in Moscow and St Petersburg prior to the 1917 Revolution had been

Leonid Sobinov Leonid Vitalyevich Sobinov (, 7 June S 26 May1872 – 14 October 1934) was an Imperial Russian operatic tenor. His fame continued unabated into the Soviet Union, Soviet era, and he was made a People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1923. Sobinov's vo ...

(1871–1934) and

Ivan Yershov Ivan Vasiliyevitch Yershov or Ershov () (November 8, 1867 – November 21, 1943), PAU, was a Soviet and Russian opera singer (Heldentenor). He earned renown for his brilliant performances at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, performing ...

(1867–1943). Yershov undertook heroic parts such as

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

and

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...

which Smirnov never attempted, but Sobinov's repertoire was similar to that of Smirnov.

Recordings

Smirnov left an estimated 90 recordings, the first made c. 1909 and the last around two decades later. Many of these recordings are available on CD reissues by various labels. They confirm his stature as one of the best Russian operatic tenors of the past 120 years—and perhaps the most imaginative artist among them.

Sources

*Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', 782 pages, *Holdridge, Lawrence F., (1996), Liner notes to ''Dmitri Smirnov'', Pearl compact disc, Gemm CD 9241

External links

Answers.com biography

History of the Tenor / Dmitri Smirnov / Sound Clips and Narration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smirnov, Dmitri 1882 births 1944 deaths Operatic tenors from the Russian Empire Singers from Moscow Soviet male opera singers Soviet tenors