On theatrical slang, fanatical fans of the stars are called “cheeses, ” and why - few people know. But this word came from the name of the store, which fifty years ago was located on the corner of Gorky and Kamergersky lanes, not far from the apartment of Sergei Yakovlevich Lemeshev. In “Cheese”, “Lemeschists”, who were on duty around the clock at the entrance of their idol, ran in turn to bask, for which they received a nickname, which later spread to all theater fans. Although as many “cheeses” as Lemeshev had, probably no one had in the entire history of the theater
In Russia, Sergei Yakovlevich Lemeshev (1902-1977), along with Fedor Chaliapin, is perhaps the most beloved opera singer in recent history.
Childhood and career start
He was born in a very poor peasant family, in a small village, and sang from early childhood. He was always surrounded by good singers, including his parents and other villagers, since in those days peasant Russia was a “singing country”. His father died when Sergei was 10 years old, and after four years in a parish school, he began to repair shoes, as the family had no other chance to escape from poverty. In 1918, he met with the architect and opera lover Nikolai Kvashnin, who persuaded Sergei to seriously study his voice. It was the revolution that helped him realize the dream of an opera career, since the Bolsheviks granted the poorest peasants and proletarians the pre-emptive right to free education. Sergei goes to study at the Moscow Conservatory, where he was accepted for the course. (This determined his political views, for, as he said many times, “the advice gave me everything.”)
His teachers were tenor N. Rajsky (a student of the city of Nouvelli), N. Kardyan and L. Zvyagina (leading a large contralto.) In 1926, Lemeshev made his debut as Lensky in the Stanislavsky opera studio, and since 1927 he performed in theaters in Sverdlovsk, Harbin (Manchuria) and Tbilisi. In 1931, he became the leading tenor of the Bolshoi Theater, where he sang for the next 34 years, gaining worldwide recognition. His audience grew along with his fame, and he soon gained a real army of fans called “Lemeshevists”. His repertoire included the Duke of Mantua, Lensky, Alfredo, Tsar Berendey (from Snegurochka), Indian Guest ("Sadko"), Faust, Ziebel, Almaviva, holy fool ("Boris Godunov"), Rudolph ("Bohemia") Astrologer (Golden Cockerel)), Nadir de Greiux (Manon), Gerald (Lacme), Romeo (Gounod (Romeo and Juliet), Fra Devilo, and Werther.
Peak career
His vocal and artistic qualities, obvious to every listener, are the beauty of the timbre, musicality, ease of vocal production, expressiveness and very clear diction, qualities that are perhaps most often found in bel canto singers. An interesting commentary on Lemeshev’s singing was made by tenor A. Orfenov: "he had a mixed voice of incomparable beauty, which allowed him to take the highest notes with such beautiful wealth that even experts could not explain how this was done technically …. His high soprano … sounds courageous and full of strength … his manner of lowering his larynx on high notes allowed him to analyze the parts that we, simple lyrical tenors, do not sing, [the role of] Rodolfo in the “Bohemia”, Levko in May night, Dubrovsky Fra Devilo
Emotionality, acting and the beauty of Lemeshev very quickly made him an idol. In addition to the Duke of Mantua, who was his main role before the war, he brilliantly performed romantic, melancholy and tragic roles, such as Werther, Romeo and Lensky. Unfortunately, like every Soviet star in the 1930s, he had problems obtaining permission to record full operas. Several roles in which he was very successful were not recorded at all. Lensky finally became his most famous role, which he honed throughout his life. His duet with Galina Vishnevskaya in 1955 on the recording of Eugene Onegin, became quite popular abroad.
The best years of his opera career were 1931-1942. He was also an outstanding concert singer and a brilliant performer of folk songs. In 1938, he became the first artist to sing all 100 Tchaikovsky’s romances in 5 concerts. Folk songs broadcast on the radio made him a truly “national” singer. In addition, the film “Musical History” of 1941, in which he played the main role, brought him the Stalin Prize and called Lemeshev-mania throughout the USSR. that his personality was a significant part of his success. He is remembered as a very friendly and cheerful person who was also a close-minded colleague. He was also a very amorous man. Six marriages and numerous intrigues focused the attention of fans on his personal life.
