This is a list of

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 ...

singers from

Russian Federation 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 ...

Soviet Union 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

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

including both ethnic

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

and people of other ethnicities. This list includes those, who were born in the Russian Federation/Soviet Union/Russian Empire but later emigrated, and those, who were born elsewhere but immigrated to the country and performed there for a long time. Opera came to Russia in the 18th century. At first there were mostly Italian language operas presented by

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ope ...

troupes. Later some foreign composers serving to the Russian Imperial Court began to write Russian-language operas, while some Russian composers were involved into writing of the operas in Italian and French. Only at the beginning of the 1770s the first modest attempts of the composers of Russian origin to compose operas to the Russian

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

s were made. The 19th century was the

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

of Russian opera, with such prominent composers 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 ...

Alexander Dargomyzhsky Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky ( rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич Даргомыжский, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Dargomyzhskiy, ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪdʑ dərɡɐˈmɨʂskʲɪj, Ru-Aleksandr-Sergeevich- ...

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 ...

Pyotr 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 ...

Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as " The Five", a group dedicated to prod ...

and

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

. Their traditions were carried on to the 20th century by

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 ...

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

and

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

. Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres continue to be the main opera and ballet scenes of Russia and one of the most prominent in the world. A number of Russian opera singers rose to fame already in the 18th century, but it was the late 19th and the 20th centuries that saw the appearance of many world-renown, well-remembered and still popular soloists, including

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 ...

Galina Vishnevskaya Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (, Ivanova, Иванова; 25 October 1926 – 11 December 2012) was a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966. She was the wife of cellist Mstislav Rostropo ...

and, of course,

Feodor Chaliapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɨˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; 12 April 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass voic ...

, the greatest

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 ...

of all time. Contemporary Russia is represented at the world scene with such singers as

Dmitri Hvorostovsky Dmitri Aleksandrovich Hvorostovsky (, ; 16 October 1962 – 22 November 2017) was a Russian operatic baritone. Early life and education Hvorostovsky was born in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia during a time when the city was mostly closed to foreigner ...

Anna Netrebko Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (; born 18 September 1971) is a Russian and Austrian operatic soprano who has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera and La Scala. Netrebko is one of the few Russian p ...

and

Alexander Anisimov Alexander Mikhailovich Anissimov (Анисимов, Александр Михайлович; born 8 October 1947) is a Russian conductor. Anissimov was born in Moscow. In 1995 he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the National Symphony ...

Alphabetical list

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B

C

D

F

G

H

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

V

Y

Z

{{Lists of Russians, state=uncollapsed

Opera singers 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 ...

Russian opera singers This is a list of opera singers from Russian Federation, Soviet Union and Russian Empire including both ethnic Russians and people of other ethnicities. This list includes those, who were born in the Russian Federation/Soviet Union/Russian Empir ...

Opera Singers, Russian Opera Singers, Russian