Ivan Yershov

Ivan Vasiliyevitch Yershov or Ershov ( _ru. Иван Васильевич Ершов), born November 8, 1863 - died November 21, 1943, was a great Russian opera singer. He became famous for his tremendously impressive performances of some of the most demanding roles ever written for the dramatic tenor voice.

Career

Yershov was born in Novocherkassk and came from a humble background. He entered the Aleksandrovsk railroad school in 1884, remaining there for three years and training as a mechanic. The outstanding quality of his voice was noticed, however, and he received singing lessons in Moscow. At the age of 21, he was awarded a scholarship to the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and assigned to the class of of S. I. Habel. He gained further vocal training at the conservatory and according to the "Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera", performed the part of Gounod's Faust on stage in Saint Petersburg in 1893.

The young tenor travelled to Italy the following year to complete his studies in Milan. While in Italy, he performed in Turin and Reggio Emilia. Don Jose in "Carmen" and Canio in "Pagliacci" were two of the parts which he sang prior to returning to Russia in 1894. During the 1894-95 season, he appeared at the Kharkov opera in such diverse roles as Romeo in "Roméo et Juliette", Arturo in "I puritani", Samson in "Samson and Delilah", Vladimir in "Prince Igor" and Ernani in "Ernani".

Yershov proved to be an enormous success at Kharkov. On the strength of this he was offered a contract by Russia's leading opera house, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. He duly made his Mariinsky debut in the title role of "Faust" in January 1895. Yershov went on to appear regularly in a large number of other operas at the theatre, including Peter Tchaikovsky's masterpiece "Eugene Onegin", in which he sang the part of Lenski. He also sang the title roles in "Tannhäuser" and "Lohengrin" and appeared as Faust in "Mefistofele". The part of Roland in "Esclarmonde" was added to his repertoire in 1897.

In 1900, he appeared as Tristan in "Tristan und Isolde" and Raoul in "Les Huguenots". He sang the title role in "Otello" the next year, and that of Siegfried in "Siegfried" in 1902. He appeared, too, as Radames in "Aida" and Paolo in "Francesca da Rimini" in 1904. Other roles which he undertook at the Mariinsky and elsewhere included John of Leyden, Florestan, Grishka, Sobinin, Tsar Berendey, Sadko, Finn, Gvidan and Golitsyn. He also gave concerts featuring vocal music by German composers such as J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel and Robert Schumann and by Russian composers such as Modest Mussorgsky.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he concentrated most of his activities on staging operas and teaching voice at the Leningrad Conservatory, although, in February 1919, he sang the leading role in a revival of "Kashchey the Deathless". He also sang Truffaldino in "The Love for Three Oranges", which received its premiere Russian performance in February 1926 at the Mariinsky (or the "Leningrad State Academic Theatre for Opera and Ballet" as it had been renamed by the Soviet authorities).

Yershov retired from the stage in 1929. During the German army's invasion of Russia in World War Two, he was evacuated to Tashkent in Uzbekistan. He died there in 1943 at the age of 76.

Assessment

Yershov is considered to be one of the world's finest tenors of the past 125 years. His high reputation is confirmed by a handful of recordings which he made in 1903 and which are now available on CD reissues. These recordings consist of Russian songs and operatic arias by Giacomo Meyerbeer, Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi. They show that Yershov possessed a powerful, wide-ranging voice characterised by gleaming tone, rock-steady intonation and exceptional technical control. He was acclaimed, too, by audiences for the the intensity of his acting which was said to be on a par with that of the celebrated bass Feodor Chaliapin.

References

* [http://lit.lib.ru/k/kriwosheina_ksenija_igorewna/ivanerchov-7.shtml Calendar events from life of Ivan Yershov (in Russian)]
*"The Record of Singing", Volume 1, by Michael Scott; Duckworth, London, 1977.
*"The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera" (second edition), by Harold Rosenthal and John Warrack; Oxford University Press, London, 1980.
*"The Grand Tradition", by John Steane; Duckworth, London, 1974.
* Liner notes to "Tenors of Imperial Russia - Volume 1", produced by Keith Hardwick and Roger Beardsley, Pearl CD, GEM 0217, 2004.