This is an alphabetical list of the basso profondo, bass, bass-baritone and tenor soloists who have performed with the Alexandrov Ensemble (under its various titles) since its establishment in 1928. It is difficult to differentiate between regular and guest soloists, since many have alternated between the one category and the other during their careers, so they are all listed together. Soloists of whom no recordings have yet been found have been listed below as "other soloists".
Introduction In 2004, Max Loppert said of Georgy Vinogradov: "How is it possible for any singer of this caliber to have been (outside Russia) this unknown?". One could say the same of the whole group. Before April 2009, almost all online resources on this subject were in Russian and Japanese, and even these were limited in content, so far as the biographies of most soloists were concerned. As of 2009, there was almost no online information about the tenor Victor Nikitin, who made a 78 rpm recording of Cold Waves Lapping in the 1940s, and his last traceable recording appears to have been made in 1951, the same year as the rumours of a bar-room brawl and the end of Georgy Vinogradov's career.
Status of soloists Apart from guest soloists, there are two ways of contracting a soloist in the Alexandrov Ensemble: A soloist of the choir is a constant member of the choir and only sometimes has one or two solo performances with certain songs specially selected for their personal vocal capabilities. Soloist of the ensemble is a higher grade, meaning that the singer is a soloist on a constant basis and never – or no longer – takes part in the choir.Information from Leonid Kharitonov who was a member of the ensemble from 1953 to 1972
A to Z list of soloists
Georgi Andreyevich Abramov Born in Moscow 12 April 1903; died in Georgia 1 November 1966 (Russian: Георгий Андреевич Абрамов). Bass soloist. Honoured Artist of Russia (1944). From 1918 to 1928 he worked as a mechanic or plumber in Moscow State University. In 1930 he entered an operatic singing competition on All-Union Radio. As a result of this, from 1931 to 1966 he was soloist of the All-Union Radio and television, taking part in opera productions. He was a concert singer, promoting the works of Soviet composers, and became the definitive singer of songs such as Roads (by Novikov), Treasured Stone, Single Accordion (by Mokrousov), and especially Bryansk Forest (by Katz).CD: Melodiya: Sacred War (in Russian), MELCD60-00938/1: "Bryansk Forest". From 1954 to 1958 he was a music teacher at Gnessin State Musical College. He toured in Poland, Hungary, Romania and East Germany.Translated narod.ru webpage: biography of G. Abramov
With Georgy Vinogradov and Vladimir Zakharov he recorded For those who are in Transit (S. Katz – A. Fatyanov), and the folksong Already as the Sea.Translated narod.ru webpage: G. Abramov biog and songlist: "Already as the Sea" With the Alexandrov Ensemble he recorded A Bryansk Forest (recorded 1948) for the All-Union Radio Committee.
Nikolai Afanasyevich Abramov (Russian: Николай Афанасьевич. Абрамов), tenor soloist (1914–2001). He was in the ensemble as early as 1941. He became a founding member of the ensembles octet, founded in 1947, and was active as a soloist, winning first prize in the 1958 All-Union Competition for Soviet Song Singers. In 1958 he was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist of the Republic of the Russian Federation. He left the ensemble in September 1967 due to retirement. With the Alexandrov Ensemble he recorded: Smuglyanka duet with Ivan Savchuk (music: Novikov; lyrics: Ya Shvedov), unknown duet with A. Kusleev, Praying, unknown duet with L. M. Kharitonov, Here's the Deal (1963), Black Crow duet with A. Eisen (1956), Nut Brown Maiden duet with I. Savchuk (1953, 1956),CD: EMI Classics: Red Army Ensemble, 0946-3-92030-2-4, "Nut Brown Maiden". The Little Bells (1956)CD: EMI Classics: Red Army Ensemble, 0946-3-92030-2-4, "The Little Bells" Unfortunately, Nikolai Abramov's name was frequently incorrectly attributed on recordings, notably on the Kultur video of 1965 that is available in the West.DVD: Kultur: Soviet Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble, D1106: "Listen": the singer credited with the performance of "Listen" on this DVD is Vasily Eliseev (identified by Leonid Kharitonov, who sang in the Alexandrov Ensemble with both singers)
Vadim Petrovich Ananyev (Вадим Петрович Ананьев)
Born on 21 March 1959, Ananyev was a soloist of the ensemble in 2024. He was one of few soloists of the ensemble who did not board the plane to Syria, later lost in the 2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash. He stayed to care for his recently born child.
Georgy Yakovlevich Andryushchenko Georgy Yakovlevich Andryushchenko (Aravan, Kyrgyzstan, 1933 – 12 January 2011).Translated Russian webpage: birth date of Georgy Andryushchenko. (Russian: Георгий Яковлевич Андрющенко); also spelled "Andryushenko"; tenor soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre, People's Artist of Russia (1973). He studied at Gnessin State Musical College, and joined the Alexandrov Ensemble as a soloist in 1958. He performed at the Bolshoi Theatre 1963–1979,Russian Wikipedia: Bolshoi Opera Company page: list of performers with dates of service. had a wide repertoire and was one of the leading tenors in a troupe which toured the world. From 1974 to 1976 he was the supervisor of the trainee group of Bolshoi Theatre soloists. From 1979 he was director of the Moscow Ice Ballet Ensemble. In the late 1980s he worked as general director of GosTsirk; he was the head of all circuses in Russia, and he published an article in Dei/Disillusionist magazine about a circus tour to the Vatican in 1982.
Within the Bolshoi Theatre his recorded operatic arias include the following: as Prince Andrei Khovansky in Modest Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina (1979); as Mikhailo Tucha in Pskovityanka (or A Girl from Pskov); as Alexey in Optimistic Tragedy by Kholminov; as Masalsky in October by Muradeli; as Marquise in The Gambler by Sergei Prokofiev from the story by Dostoyevsky; as Semyon in Semyon Kotko by Sergei Prokofiev.
Valentin Ivanovich Anisimov Valentin Ivanovich Anisimov (1937 – 26 August 2002). (Russian: В. И. Анисимов), bass soloist (of the Odessa Opera House). People's Artist of Ukraine and Honoured Artist of Russia (1973). In 1962 he graduated from the Urals State Conservatory. From 1962 he was a soloist at Sverdlovsk, Ukraine and from 1967 at the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre. He gave 40 performances at the Bolshoi Theatre and gained a fine reputation throughout the USSR for singing in Verdi's opera Rigoletto. From 1980 he was soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic. He also taught at the Institute of Contemporary Art in the USSR.Translated narod.ru webpage: biography of V.I. Anisimov.
With the Alexandrov Ensemble he recorded Veterans (music: Boris Alexandrov; lyrics S. Bencken).
Georgiy Ivanovich Babaev (Russian: Г.И. Бабаев; also translated George Babayev),
Baritone soloist, Stalin Prize Laureate.
With the Alexandrov Ensemble he recorded Song of the Young Soldiers duet with V. Puchkov (music: P. Akulenko; lyrics: Ya Shvedov), Song about Klim Voroshilov duet with Yuseph Laute (music: Alexander Alexandrov; lyrics: O. Kolychev), Aside Native (music: A. Alexandrov; lyrics: S. Mikhalkov), Seasoned Cook (music: Z. Компанеец; lyrics: I. Lakshin), Song about Blyukher duet with V. Pankov (music: Alexander Alexandrov; lyrics: S. Alymov), I Myself (Slovak song).
Kim Ivanovich Bazarsadaev (Russian: Ким Иванович Базарсадаев) (1937–2002) Bass soloist. Took part in the 1965 concert in the Tchaikovsky hall. Graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory (1963), worked as a soloist of the All-Russian touring association, the Red Banner Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army named after A.V. Aleksandrov. Alexander Alexandrov. Since 1966 – soloist of the Buryat State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.
In the repertoire more than 30 roles, including Mephistopheles (“Faust” by Sh. Gounod), Attila in the opera of the same name by J. Verdi, Boris and Dositheus (“Boris Godunov” and “Khovanshchina” by M. Musorgsky), Melnik (“Rusalka” by A. Dargomyzhsky), Vladimir Galitsky (“Prince Igor” by A. Borodin) and others. Outstanding performer of bass parts in national operas (“Enlightenment” by B. Yampilov, “Enkhe-Bulat-Bator” by M. Frolov, etc.). In the concert repertoire – more than 300 works of Russian and European classics, romances, songs of different nations. He toured abroad (Mongolia, Czechoslovakia, England, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Japan, France, etc.). Prez. International Association of opera and ballet theaters of the Asian-Siberian region (1989). Chairman of the Board of the Buryat Respubl. Musical Society (1996).
People's Artist of the USSR (1981). Winner of the All-Union Glinka Vocalist Competition (1962). The TV film “Light over Baikal” (1986) is dedicated to B.'s creativity. The K.I. Bazarsadaev Cultural Foundation was established in the Republic of Buryatia (2006).
Evgeny Mikhailovich Belyaev
Soloist of the Ensemble. (Russian: Евгений Михайлович Беляев). Outside the USSR, one of the most celebrated tenor soloists under Boris Alexandrov was Evgeny Belyaev or Evgeny Mikhailovich Belyaev (1926–1994) . He was born 11 September 1926 in the Bryansk Oblast, and served in the subdivision of zenith troops during World War II. He then graduated from Gnessin State Musical College. In 1947 he was a soloist of the Ensemble of Song and Dance of the Carpathian military district, and in 1952 a Member of CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union). In 1955 he was a soloist of the Ensemble of Song and Dance of the Soviet Army of Alexandrov. In 1967 he was made People's Artist of the USSR, and in 1978 he won the State Prize of the USSR. He died in 1994 (21 or 22 February).
Two of his most famous performances are Oh the Rye and Nightingale. The lyric of Nightingale asks the nightingale to be quiet as the soldiers are sleeping; i.e. they have died. One of his most popular recordings with The Alexandrov Ensemble is Kalinka.DVD: Kultur: Soviet Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble, D1106: Oh the Rye; Kalinka.CD: Melodiya: Sacred War (in Russian), MELCD60-00938/1: Nightingales
Pyotr Dmitrievich Bogachev (Russian: Петр Дмитриевич Богачёв), bass-baritone soloist. Honoured Artist of Russia. With the Alexandrov Ensemble he recorded In the Ocean Gave duet with S. Ivanov (music: B. Korostylev; lyrics: B. Bezhaev), It's a Long Time Since We Were Home duet with S. Ivanov (music: V.Solovev-Sedoy; lyrics: A. Fatyanov), We, the Army People duet with S. Ivanov (music: G. Movsesyan; lyrics: Robert Rozhdestvensky), Listen, Beauty duet with S. Ivanov (music: E. Martin; lyrics: M. Plyatskovsky), Your Soldiers duet with S. Ivanov (music: B. Gamal; lyrics: A. Sofronov), We go, We Go Into the Army duet with Ivan Bukreev (music: B. Aleksandrov; lyrics: V. Tatarinov), Smuglianka, duet with S. Ivanov (music: A. Novikov; lyrics: Y. Chvedov),The Samovars duet with S. Ivanov (music A. Novikov; lyrics: S. Alimov) (1982/92) ,CD: Silva Classics, The Best of the Red Army Choir, SILKD6034, "Smuglianka", "The Samovars" Nut Brown Girl duet with S. Ivanov (1989/92, 2003), Endless Sea duet with S. Ivanov, We Protect the Country duet with S. Ivanov, Afield duet with S. Ivanov (1992), Evening on the Roads duet with S. Ivanov (1992), Distant Northern Town trio with V.S. Buzurov and S. Ivanov (1992), Dixie duet with S. Ivanov 1992, Greetings from the Troops duet with S. Ivanov, Our Army duet with S. Ivanov (1984).
Ivan Semionovich Bukreev