Fyodor Ignatyevich Stravinsky () (, estate Novy Dvor (Aleksichi), Rechitsky Uyezd,

Minsk Governorate Minsk Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Minsk. It was created from the land acquired in the partitions of Poland and existed from 1793 until 1921. Its territory covered th ...

) was a Russian

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

opera 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 ...

singer and actor. He was the father of

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

and the grandfather of Théodore Strawinsky and Soulima Stravinsky.

Life and career

His father Ignacy was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and came from a noble Polish family of Sulima- Strawiński; his mother, Alexandra Ivanovna Skorokhodova, was a daughter of a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

small landowner. Fyodor was baptised in accordance with the Orthodox rite due to Imperial Law which stated that children born of mixed Catholic–Orthodox marriages had to be brought up in the Russian Orthodox faith.Igor Stravinsky, Robert Craft,
Memories and Commentaries
', University of California Press, 1981, p. 17 In 1869 he completed his education at the Nezhin Lyceum, where he sang in the church choir. He studied voice at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory from 1869 to 1873. He later studied with Camille Everardi in

Kiev 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, ...

. Stravinsky started his solo singing career in Kiev,

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire (1796–1917), Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–18; 1918–1921), Ukrainian State (1918), and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–19 ...

(1873–76) before moving to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where he 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 ...

for 26 years, from 1876 to 1902. He was hailed as the successor to Osip Petrov, he was renowned for his outstanding dramatic talent as an actor, and he was considered the leading bass at the Imperial Opera. He was admired for the depths of his psychological insights and his mastery of stagecraft. Stravinsky created a number of roles in operas by

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 ...

: * His Royal Highness in '' Vakula the Smith'' in 1876 * Dunois in '' The Maid of Orleans'' in 1881 * Mamirov in '' The Enchantress'' in 1887. He also appeared in the premiere performance of Nikolai Soloviev's ''Cordelia'' (24 November 1880, St. Petersburg), and created the role of Moroz (King Frost) in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera '' The Snow Maiden'' (1882; his son Igor studied under Rimsky-Korsakov). Stravinsky was also known as an active advocate of the music by Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko, often performing the role of Mykola in the opera '' Natalka Poltavka''. Fyodor also posed as a Ukrainian Cossack for

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is today Ukraine. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russian Empire, Russia in the 19th century. His major works include ''Barge Haulers on the Volga' ...

's famous painting '' Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire''. He was a devotee of Ukrainian poet

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

and collected his books and publications, many of which he knew by heart. He had a large book collection of other Ukrainian writers such as G. Kvitka-Osnovianenko, I. Kotliarevsky, and P. Kulish. Among his great successors were Feodor Chaliapin and Lev Sibiriakov. Fyodor Stravinsky died in 1902 and was buried in the Artist's Cemetery in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Saint Petersburg. His memoirs are said to be invaluable. He also had a unique library which was very popular among bibliophiles.

Notes

References

*Lysenko, I. A, ''Dictionary of Ukrainian singers''. Kyiv, 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stravinsky, Fyodor 1843 births 1902 deaths People from Gomel district People from Rechitsky Uyezd Male actors from the Russian Empire Male singers from the Russian Empire People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent Russian male opera singers Operatic basses Igor Stravinsky Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery 19th-century American male musicians Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni