Ivanov, Nikolai (Kuzmich)
Ivanov, Nikolai (Kuzmich)
Ivanov, Nikolai (Kuzmich), Russian tenor; b. Voronezh, Oct. 22, 1810; d. Bologna, July 19, 1880. He sang as a child in the Imperial Court Chapel in St. Petersburg. In 1830 Glinka took him to Italy, where he studied with Bianchi in Milan and with Fodor-Mainvielle and Nozzari in Naples. In 1832 he made his operatic debut as Percy in Anna Bolena at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and then sang in Paris at the Théâtre-Italien from 1833 to 1837. On April 15, 1834, he made his London debut at the King’s Theatre, again as Percy. He sang for the first time at Milan’s La Scala in 1843 as Riccardo in Pacini’s Maria, regina d’Inghilterra. Following engagements in Vienna (1844), Rome (1845; 1847-48), Paris (1850), and Palermo (1852), he retired from the operatic stage. Ivanov was especially known for his elegant portrayals of roles in operas by Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti.
Bibliography
S. Smolensky, O tenore I: Soputstvovavshem Glinka ν Italiiu (The Tenor I.: Companion to Glinka in Italy; St. Petersburg, 1904).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire