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Antonina Nezhdanova
Note by Boris Semeonoff |
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| Mention has been made in booklets accompanying previous Prima Voce issues of Nezhdanova's outstanding pre-eminence among Russian singers of the first half of the twentieth century.
Suffice it here to say that the veneration accorded to her in her native country during that period, and since, has been matched by the esteem in which she is held by record collectors world-wide.
Writing in The Grand Tradition, John Steane goes so far as to say "One of the loveliest sopranos of the early period of the gramophone, she seems also to approximate more nearly than others to the mythical condition of the singer without faults".
A further general point worth noting at this stage is that in her recorded repertoire Nezhdanova would appear to transcend the traditional classification of the soprano voice into the threefold division of coloratura, lyric and dramatic (or the same with intermediate categories). I have always felt that such a classification is more appropriate to roles rather than to voices, since many outstanding singers, not only Nezhdanova, have excelled in roles associated with more than one of these 'voices'. Kutsch and Riemens in the 1969 English edition of their Concise Biographical Dictionary of Singers describe Nezhdanova as an "esteemed coloratura soprano of the Bolshoi Opera", and a correspondent of mine has suggested she could be regarded as "the Russian Galli-Curci". Such an attribution is hardly appropriate, particularly if, as noted in the entry on 'Sopranos' in the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, one concedes that admiration for coloratura or 'florid' singing is something from which 'serious' musicians tend to dissociate themselves. And Nezhdanova herself can, as will emerge later, be regarded as having been a 'serious musician'. Yet, by her own admission, it was the coloratura repertoire that appealed to her most. Antonina Nezhdanova was born in he village of Krivaya Balka, now an outer suburb of Odessa, into a cultivated professional family. Her musical talent was evident from a very early age; she had her first lessons in singing from her father, and by the age of seven was singing as soloist in local children's choirs. While still at secondary school she simultaneously enrolled in piano classes at a college of music, but the early death of her father while she was still at school made commitment to a musical career impracticable and she spent several years as a teacher of foreign languages at a girls' school in Odessa. During that period, however, she had frequent opportunities to hear the greatest opera singers of the time, the Figners, Michailova, Alexander Davidov, and foreign visitors such as Tetrazzini, Anselmi and Battistini. Inspired by this experience, in 1899 - at the relatively advanced age of 26 - she entered the Moscow Conservatoire, where she studied under Umberto Masetti, who, then and subsequently, played a major part in fostering her musical development. It was to avoid breaking her association with Masetti that Nezhdanova declined an invitation to audition at the Mariinsky, a decision that was justified when in 1902 an opportunity occurred to make a debut at the Bolshoi, albeit an informal one as a last-minute replacement, as Antonida in A Life for the Tsar, in a cast that included Klement'yev, Zbruyeva and the veteran bass Stepan Vlasov in the title role. Her performance was received with enthusiastic acclaim and - although following some initial delay - she was offered a contract, marking the start of an association that was to last for 32 years. She received many invitations, to New York, Milan, Berlin, Vienna and other cities, but preferred to remain at the Bolshoi - "the best theatre in the world" - according to her own statement. A notable exception was a one-and-a-half months' engagement at the Paris Opera in 1912, the highlight of which was a series of appearances in Rigoletto, with Caruso and Ruffo. This was, however, by no means her only trip abroad; she loved travel, was fluent in French, German and Italian and, as she puts it in her Reminiscences, "Having become an artist, I had the opportunity to satisfy my intellectual curiosity". Nezhdanova's repertoire was extensive, covering 37 roles - 16 Russian and 21 'foreign'. Creator roles were those of Zabava Putyatichna (Dobrinya Nikitich), Francesca da Rimini (in Rakhmaninov's opera of that name), Gerda (Ippolitov-Ivanov's Ole from the Northland) and Parasya (Fair at Sorochintsi in Sakhnovsky's completion). In Bolshoi premieres she appeared as the Queen of Shemakhan (Golden Cockerel), Volkhova (Sadko), Marfa (Tsar's Bride, which she considered her best role), Swan Princess (Tale of Tsar Saltan), Princess (Kaschey the Deathless), Ninetta (Love for Three Oranges), Leila (Pearl Fishers) and Manon. Other Russian roles at other times included Lyudmila, Snowmaiden, Olga (Rusalka), Tatiana and Iolanta. Her preparation for the last of these included a visit to an asylum for the blind, so that she might study movements characteristic of those thus afflicted. She exercised equal care in the study of many of her other roles, working with leading personalities in straight drama and ballet, or with her senior colleagues Sobinov and Chaliapin. Particularly noteworthy was her partnership with Sobinov in Lohengrin, which was described as having "opened a new epoch in Wagnerian characterisation". Nezhdanova's other 'foreign' roles comprised Violetta, Gilda, Queen of the Night, Constanze, Lakme, Micaela, Juliette, Marguerite de Valois, Ophelia, Filina, Mimi, Zerlina (Fra Diavolo) and Rosina, the assumption of which she postponed until she felt she could do it justice. Parts she was offered but declined as unsuited to her voice were Grunya (Serov's Power of Evil - actually a mezzo role) and Venus (Tannhäuser). Following the Revolution, Nezhdanova welcomed the opportunity it gave her to bring her art to wider and more popular audiences. Along with the conductor Nikolay Golovanov she undertook a number of concert tours throughout the Soviet Union. And in 1922, again with Golovanov, she was the first Soviet singer to tour western Europe, presenting operatic arias and a wide range of traditional and contemporary Russian songs, as well as the standard concert repertoire. Throughout her career Nezhdanova was extremely active on the concert platform and in recital. Among the conductors with whom she worked were Koussevitsky, Siloti and Sergei Vasilenko, composer and founder of the important 'Historic Concerts'. Accompanists at her recitals included the composer Taneyev, Rakhmaninov (who dedicated his Vocalise to her) and in concerts of 'early music' - another of her enthusiasms - Wanda Landowska. On 6 May 1933 a celebration of Nezhdanova's 30 years in the theatre took the form of a two-hour radio broadcast in the morning, followed in he evening by a gala performance at the Bolshoi, consisting of a last act of The Tsar's Bride and the third and fourth acts of La Traviata. Singers taking part included Sobinov, Obukhova, Derzhinskaya, Katulskaya (a friend since childhood days), Kozlovsky, Reizen, Pirogov and others equally eminent in Russia at the time although not so well known in the west. Nezhdanova continued to sing at the Bolshoi until 1935. Thereafter she still made concert appearances, but mainly devoted herself to administration and teaching, her appointments including a professorship at the Moscow Conservatoire between 1943 and 1950, the year of her death. During her long career Nezhdanova was awarded just about every honour available to the relevant authorities, culminating in an honorary degree ('Doctor of the History of Art') in 1944. To list all the famous people - musicians and others - who have expressed their admiration of Nezhdanova in glowing terms would be a formidable task. One such tribute was that of Bernard Shaw, who wrote: "I understand now why God allowed me to live to the age of 70: it was so that I should have the chance to hear his greatest creation - Nezhdanova". All records courtesy of The Director and Staff of St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music. The St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music was opened in 1918, replacing the former Directorate of the Imperial Theatres. At present the Museum's holdings amount to about 420,000 items, of which about a third are related to music theatre. The collection of theatrical costumes is probably the greatest in the world. Among them are those of Chaliapin in Boris Godunov, of Zabela Vrubel as Snow Maiden and Volkhova (Sadko) and many others. The important section of manuscripts includes autograph letters and scores by Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Diaghilev, Shostakovich, Stanislavsky... Facilities are available to hear recordings of the voices of leading actors of the past, and to see video presentations of world-wide theatrical design. More than 100,000 people visit the museum and its branches every year. In recent years the Museum has organised many highly acclaimed exhibitions, both in Russia and abroad, among them 'Images of the Russian Ballet' (USA), 'Wagner on the Russian Stage' (Germany) and 'The Russian Imperial Ballet' (France). |
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