Dear Gentlemen,

In this blog I have tried to assemble a list of prominent Soviet tenors – tenors behind the Iron Curtain – singers the careers of which went largely obscure from the Western public because of the political realities of the era they were part of – realities which dictated the detachment of the Soviet opera from its Western counterpart.
It just so happened that these times were the Golden Era of the Russian Opera, and the voices that were hidden behind the Iron Curtain were of a remarkable quality.
In addition to that, the revival of these voices in the West is also of much interest because of the unique character and the idiosyncratic nature of the Soviet school of operatic singing, which was different from the Western in many aspects.
By “voices behind the Iron Curtain” I mean those artists whose entire career or a significant part of it developed during the most ideologically radical years of the Soviet rule and the Soviet Union’s disconnection from the West, and not those who had already established a name for themselves in an earlier period, or those who have only started their way in Soviet Union’s very last days or are singing well into the present – both are more familiar to the Western public.
In cases of some of the singers the information and the recordings presented here is all that is left of them, and in some cases appears for the first time in the internet, or in English and for the Western public.

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Zurab Sotkilava (1937)






Born on March 12ve in Sukhumi, Georgia. Lyric-dramatic tenor. People’s artist of the USSR (1979).
From a very young age was a gifted football player and the captain of the Georgian Soviet Socialistic Republic under-20 football team. Played in the football team“Dinamo Tbilissi”. Retired from active play due to severe injuries.
Studied in Tbilissi Technical Institute, and then Tbilisi conservatory, finishing it in 1965.
In 1965-1974 – soloist of the Georgian Theater of Opera and Ballet.
In 1966-68 perfected his skills in La-Scala.
In 1973 makes his debut at the Bolshoi Opera Theater in the role of Jose. In 1974 he is received to the opera troupe of the Theater, where he would be the leading soloist for the next decades.
Among his roles: Vodemon, Hovanskiy, Manrico, Jose, Rhadames, Othello, Turridu, Richard, Absalom, Arzakan (“Pohishenie Luny” by Taktakishvili).
Also gave concerts.
In 1976-1988 taught in the Moscow Conservatory, from 1987 – as professor in the vocal department. In 2002 returned to teach there.
Among his students: V.Bogachev, V.Red’kin, A.Fedin.
Received The Red Banner of Labor (1976) and countless other high awards.
Received the first prize in the festival “Golden Orpheus” (Bulgaria, 1968). Laureate of the International Tchaikovsky competition (2nd prize, 1970), laureate of the International Vinas Vocalist Competition in Barcelona (1st prize, 1970).