Alexander Baturin is an opera singer. The owner of the bass-baritone voice was the winner of the Stalin Prize of the first degree for his part in the opera "Wilhelm Tel". Honored and People's Artist of the RSFSR was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Order of the Badge of Honor.
The voice of Alexander Iosifovich Baturin, bass-baritone, was very rare: the singer performed the parts of a low baritone, a high bass, and a bass-profundo.
An uneasy path to a vocation
The biography of the future celebrity began in 1904. The child was born on June 17 in the town of Ashmyany near Vilnius in the family of a village teacher. Father died early. The mother raised four children alone.
In 1911 the Baturins moved to Odessa. A few years later, the future soloist went to study at auto mechanics courses. He set to work in the garage. A teenager from the age of fifteen was trusted to drive cars.
While working, Alexander often sang. Everyone around him admired his voice, but the young man himself did not dare to show his skill in public. Friends still managed to persuade Baturin to speak at an amateur art fan held in the garage.
The vocalist's success was so deafening that professional singers auditioned for him the next evening. After their highest marks in the direction of Alexander went to the conservatory in Petrograd.
The applicant was auditioned by Alexander Glazunov, the rector. He was struck by the outstanding beauty of the voice, the richness and warmth of its timbre coloring. The student was enrolled in the class of Professor Tartakov. The talented young man received a personal Borodino scholarship.
Formation time
At the final exam, Baturin was awarded the highest mark of skill. After completing his education with honors at the conservatory in 1924, on the recommendation of the famous composer and rector Glazunov, Alexander Iosifovich was sent to Rome to improve his vocals at the Santa Cecilia Academy of Music. The famous maestro Mattia Battistini studied with a talented student.
At the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Baturin performed the roles of Philip II and Don Basilio in Don Carlos, sang in Gluck's Knee and Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne. The singer visited other Italian cities. He took part in the performance of Verdi's Requiem in Palermo and performed in symphony concerts.
After completing his internship, the vocalist toured Europe. Baturin returned to his homeland in 1927. Upon arrival, the young singer became the soloist of the Bolshoi Theater.
He made his debut in the role of Miller in the metropolitan production of Dargomyzhsky's The Mermaid. The audience was shocked by the voice of the tragedy of the father who lost his beloved daughter because of the prince's betrayal. Alexander Iosifovich sang a lot of parts. He was trusted with both bass and baritone roles. His range turned out to be so wide that he brilliantly coped with the parts of Prince Igor, Gremin, sang superbly Ruslan, Escamillo, Mephitstopheles and the Demon.
The singer reached the highest level thanks to the constant work on the production of the voice. Also, the result was given by the excellent vocal training that the soloist received, and the acquired ability to use various vocal registers, and knowledge of sound science techniques.
Success
The work on Russian opera classics was especially intense. The roles of Pimen in Boris Godunov and Tomsky in The Queen of Spades received particularly high marks from both critics and listeners. Dramatic skill was demonstrated along with vocal by the singer in the part of Dositheus in "Khovanshchina".
The soloist's repertoire was supplemented by Russian folk songs. Critics were delighted with his performance of "Along St. Petersburg …" and "Hey, hoo!".
On stage, Alexander Iosifovich embodied the image of the courageous defender of his homeland from the oppression of Wilhelm Tell in the opera of the same name in the opera of the same name by Rossini. While working on the part, the singer carefully studied the material, imbued with the spirit of the era. As a result, the image turned out to be truly folk.
The soloist performed with pleasure the works of his contemporaries. He was the first to include six of Shostakovich's romances in his repertoire. All of them were dedicated to Baturin. They spoke enthusiastically about his interpretation of solo parts in Shaporin's symphonic cantata On the Kulikovo Field and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
New facets of talent
Artistic talent did not remain without filming filmmakers. Baturin starred in three films. His first work was the silent film A Simple Case in 1930. In the film, the singer played the main character, Langovoy.
The red commander returns home after the civil war. Together with his fellow front-line soldiers Zheltikov and Uncle Sasha, he works at the military headquarters. Often, everyone gathers together in Langovoy's apartment, furnished by his wife Mashenka. Especially clearly her tender attitude towards her husband is manifested during the illness of the protagonist.
When the spouse recovers, the tired wife goes to rest with her relatives. During her absence, her husband begins an affair. Mashenka learns about the betrayal after her return. She is going through very hard. As a result, the decision to keep the family overpowered, Langovoy is forgiven.
The singer took part in the films "Earth" and "Concert Waltz".
Educator
In addition to creativity, Baturin was also engaged in teaching. After the war, he taught a solo singing class at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his pupils is the famous vocalist Giaurov.
Baturin developed a scientific and methodological work "School of Singing". It systematizes the richest experience of the soloist and gives techniques for teaching vocal.
Alexander Iosifovich took part in the work on a special educational film. For a long time, Baturin held the position of a consultant-mentor for young soloists at the Bolshoi Theater.
Arranged singer and personal life. Vera Dulova became his wife. The chosen one was a harpist. Then she also took up teaching. The famous singer passed away in 1983, on the last day of January.
