Mikhail Sariotti (; 1839 (or 1830, or 1831),ru: Большая биографическая энциклопедия // Сариотти, Михаил Иванович
/ref>ru: Пружанский А. М. Отечественные певцы. 1750—1917: Словарь. — Изд. 2-е испр. и доп., электронное. — М., 2008. Сариотти Михаил Иванович
near of Vyborg (near

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 ...

) – 30 January (11 February) 1878, in Saint Petersburg) was a famous

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n opera singer (bass-baritone) and music critic. He was a member of the Saint Petersburg Imperial troupe.

Childhood

He was an illegitimate son of an influential family and he was given for adoption. When he grew up he went to Saint Petersburg to study medicine.

Music career

However, his love of music and ability changed his initial plans. In 1859, he began taking singing lessons with the singer Pietr Ivanovich Gumbin. A few months later, he went to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to study with the famous teacher Pietro Repetto. In Milan, he began his singing career and achieved significant success. He changed his name to Sariotti. Mikhail Sariotti returned to Russia in 1863 as an experienced singer and was admitted to the St. Petersburg Imperial troupe of Opera soloists. He soon married dramatic actress of Petersburg Imperial troupe Valentina Lyadova, sister of composer Anatoly Lyadov. He became one of the most outstanding Russian Opera singers of the 1860 - 1870s. Music critic and composer Alexander Serov dedicated to Sariotti creativity several articles and called him not only a great Opera singer, but also a great actor. Mikhail Sariotti became the first performer in operas of Alexander Serov: Olofern – opera '' Judith'', 1863; Vladimir Krasnoye Solnyshko – opera '' Rogneda'', 1865; Yeryomka – opera '' The Power of the Fiend'', 1871. Mikhail Sariotti worked as a vocalist on the stage and simultaneously he did a lot of musicological work. He wrote many articles about Opera performances. He wrote an important article about the opera '' Boris Godunov'' in 1874 (he played himself ''Police Officer Nikitich''). He wrote articles about the works of different composers and singers:

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, Angelo Masini, César Cui,

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

etc. Mikhail Sariotti headed in the 1870s the Music department of the magazine '' Vsemirnaya Illyustratsiya''. He served in the Saint Petersburg Imperial troupe until his death in 1878.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sariotti, Mikhail 19th-century male opera singers from the Russian Empire Operatic bass-baritones 1830s births Year of birth uncertain 1878 deaths Russian music critics Russian bass-baritones 19th-century journalists from the Russian Empire Russian male journalists 19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire People from Vyborg District