Maxim Dormidontovich Mikhailov (; – 30 March 1971) was a Soviet and Russian bass singer. His son, Igor Mikhailov (1920-1983) was the bass of the Bolshoi for several decades. His grandson Maxim Mikhailov (1962–2018) was also a bass singer.Maxim Mikhailov (grandson) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York
/ref> Mikhailov was born in Koltsovka,

Kazan Governorate Kazan Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR from 1708 to 1920, with its capital in Kazan. History Kazan Governorate, together with seven other ...

. He had no musical training beyond that as an archdeacon in the Russian Orthodox Church, but was a physical phenomenon with enormous depth and volume. He was directly recruited as a singer by the Soviet authorities, his beard was shaved but he did not abdicate his

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are ass ...

, and sent to study in preparation for the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...

. He became

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's favorite singer and most famous interpreter of the role of Ivan Susanin in the reworked "patriotic" Soviet version of the opera of that name, formerly and since better known as

Mikhail Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka ( rus, links=no, Михаил Иванович Глинка, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, mʲɪxɐˈil ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲinkə, Ru-Mikhail-Ivanovich-Glinka.ogg; ) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognit ...

's '' A Life for the Tsar''. Mikhailov sang Susanin nearly 400 times from his first performance of the role in 1939 to his last stage appearance in 1957. He also was frequently invited by Stalin to sing and drink with him late at night in Moscow Kremlin. In addition to Susanin, Mikhailov was a renowned interpreter of other bass and

basso profondo Basso profondo (, "deep bass"), sometimes basso profundo or contrabass, is the lowest bass voice type. While '' The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' defines a typical bass as having a range that extends downward to the second E below middle C ( ...

roles in Russian opera: Pimen in '' Boris Godunov'', the miller in Dargomyzhsky's ''

Rusalka In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalki; , plural: русалки; , plural: ''rusałki'') is a female entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water. It has counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as th ...

'', Khan Konchak in '' Prince Igor'', the Viking merchant in '' Sadko'', Gremin in ''

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' (, Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: Евгеній Онѣгинъ, романъ въ стихахъ, ) is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. ''Onegin'' is considered a classic of ...

''. Mikhailov recorded many of his trademark arias under the conductors Nikolai Golovanov, Aleksandr Melik-Pashayev, Aleksander Orlov, and Samuil Samosud. Among his recordings of songs, particularly well known with the pianists Nikolai Korolykov and Naum Walter are "O gentle autumn night" by Glinka, argomyzhsky's "The Civil Servant", Viktor Kalinnikov's "On the Old Burial Mound", "The Blacksmith" by Yuri Sakhnovsky (1866–1930) and "The Seafarers" by Konstantin Vilboa (1817–1882). Mikhailov also performed and recorded famous folk songs, such as "The Song of the Volga Boatmen", in Sergei Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninoff's arrangement for solo singer and piano, and "The sun rises and the sun sets" and "Through the wild mysterious Taiga" with the Russian Folk Orchestra conducted by Dmitri Osipov.

Filmography

Awards and honors

* Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1937) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour 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 ...

(1937) *

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 ...

(1940) * Two Stalin Prizes, 1st class (1941, 1942) *

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 ...

(1951) * Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" * Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikhailov, Maxim 1893 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Russian male actors 20th-century Russian male opera singers People from Chuvashia People from Yadrinsky Uyezd Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Stalin Prize Deacons of the Russian Orthodox Church Operatic basses Russian basses Russian male film actors Soviet male film actors Soviet male opera singers Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery