Famous Russian Bass Yevgeny Nesterenko Turns 65

Well-known Russian opera singer, famous bass Yevgeny Nesterenko turns 65 on Wednesday, January 8th.

A graduate of the Leningrad conservatoire, Yevgeny Nesterenko worked in the 1960s in opera theaters of the northern capital and then continued his artistic career in the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

"The happiest day for me was June 22nd, 1972, the day of my debut in the Bolshoi," says Nesterenko. This was the opera 'Ruslan and Ludmila' by Glinka staged by outstanding opera director Boris Pokrovsky, whom I was lucky to work with many times." Nesterenko's repertoire includes bass parts in the operas of Russian and western composers. He sang over 50 leading parts and performed 21 operas in the language of the original. He performed the main parts in operas by Glinka, Mussorgsky, Chaikovsky, Borodin. Nesterenko was the first to perform many works by Shostakovich, Sviridov, Taktakishvili, which, in the singer's words, had been written specially for his voice.

Nesterenko performed on the world's best and most prestigious stages: Metropolitan-Opera, Covent-Garden, the Vienna Stats-Opera. "Yelena Obraztsova and me were lucky to become the first Russian singers to perform in the productions of the La-Scala Theatre," said Nesterenko. The singer has been awarded the highest Austrian, Italian, German, and naturally, Russian awards. Way back in the 1970s he became the winner of the gold medal at the fourth Chaikovsky international competition in Moscow. He is the winner of the Giovanni Zenatello prize "For an outstanding embodiment of the central character in the opera 'Attila' by Verdi". He is the winner of the Chaliapin prize of the Creativity Academy and the holder of many other titles and awards.

Nesterenko has recorded about 70 records and disks at Russian and foreign gramophone recording firms, including 20 operas in full.

He is also known as an outstanding teacher (he taught both at the Leningrad and Moscow conservatories) and is the author of over 200 printed works.