The unique voice of Leonid Vitalievich Sobinov appeared at the age of seventeen. His lyrical tenor captivated listeners of many countries. This was made possible thanks to talent, attractive appearance and enormous hard work of the performer, a combination of classical foundations and a personal approach to each image.
Childhood and youth
Leonid was born in 1872 in Yaroslavl. The family of the merchant Vitaly Vasilyevich Sobinov reigned in a patriarchal way. None of the children received a musical education, but Lenya, along with his elder brother Sergey, bought a guitar with their own money and slowly mastered it. The boys' enthusiasm was supported by their mother. She mentally sang folk songs and tried to teach the guys this.
At nine years old, the boy became a gymnasium student, and graduated with a silver medal. The first performance took place at a charity evening of the institution and immediately gained success. The young performer of an excerpt from the opera Volga robbers appeared on stage by chance - he replaced a sick comrade. Then Leonid did not think about the career of a singer and entered the University of Moscow at the faculty of jurisprudence. Having received a diploma, he began the practice of law as an assistant to a well-known specialist Plevako. In two years, the novice lawyer conducted about 70 civil cases, most of which were successful.
The first tenor of Russia
Music did not leave Sobinov all this time. While still a student, he sang in a university choir, attended a singing club and simultaneously began his studies at the Music and Drama School. The teacher Pyotr Shostakovsky saw talent in the youth and offered to get a second education for free. Lenya took up his studies so zealously that, having passed the exams for the first year, he was immediately enrolled in the third. Leading opera parties in student performances boldly trusted him. The result of five years of vocals was a performance in the Italian opera. At the exam, the graduate received the highest mark, among the examiners was the conductor of the Bolshoi Theater.
In 1897, Sobinov was accepted as a soloist in the main metropolitan temple of art. For the debut, he chose the part of Prince Synodal in Rubinstein’s opera Demon. Then followed the role in "Prince Igor" Borodin. Two years later, the vocalist made the final professional choice. He completed the activities of a lawyer, and gave all his strength to serving the scene. In jest, the artist said that he was "the best singer among lawyers or the best lawyer among singers." In 1989, Leonid came to the audience in the image of Lensky, the hero of Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin. His unusual style was criticized a lot, but after a while he was recognized as a classic of the performance of this work. A distinctive feature of the singer Sobinov was an unusually painstaking work to create each role. He studied literature, which gave an idea of the time of action, carefully analyzed the characters of the characters, got used to the image. Such "digging" gave the maximum result, the images were natural and reliable.
Over the next few years, a mature stage master has toured all the leading European theaters, shone on the best stages in Milan, London, Berlin, Paris. The Spanish tour of 1908 was especially remembered. Spectators applauded the performer of the arias from Mephistopheles and Manon Lesko. The leading part in the work of Gluck “Orpheus and Eurydice” acquired a new sound; before that, it was never performed by the tenor. Melodious words of sorrow, telling about the death of a beloved girl, touched the heart of each viewer. Leonid Vitalievich’s mastery reached that high artistic level when he became a model of performance for aspiring vocalists.
In 1910, Sobinov tried himself as a director. His first work was Giacomo's opera La Boheme. Puccini's Tosca was planned as the next work, but the administration did not allow the production, seeing in it a revolutionary subtext.
Patriot of his homeland
Leonid Vitalievich was distinguished by a kind heart and an infinitely generous soul. He considered it his duty to help students and beginner talents, giving necessary gifts to needy organizations and societies. Lieutenant Sobinov performed a lot in the First World War, and all collected funds from concerts, more than 200 thousand rubles, sent charity to help the wounded.
The artist more than once refused emigration. A true patriot, he believed in Russian art and was ready to serve him. Initially, he served as commissar of the Moscow City Council theater. Immediately after the revolution, he headed the Bolshoi Theater, this post was especially pleasant and significant for him. In the fall of 1920, the Soviet government sent him to Crimea to direct the direction of the culture of the department of public education in Sevastopol. Sobinov strongly supported the development of theatrical art; he is considered one of the founders of the Sevastopol Drama Theater. The dream to open a conservatory in the city remained unfulfilled.
