Ippolit Petrovich Prianishnikov

Born Aug. 14 (26), 1847, in Kerch’; died Nov. 11, 1921, in Moscow. Russian baritone, stage director, and teacher.

Prianishnikov studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1873 and 1874 and continued his studies in Italy, where from 1875 to 1877 he sang in various theaters. From 1878 to 1886 he was a soloist at the Mariinskii Theater, and from 1886 to 1889 at the Tbilisi Opera Theater, where he also staged a number of productions. Prianishnikov organized and directed Russia’s first opera society from 1889 to 1892 in Kiev and in 1892 and 1893 in Moscow. His roles included the title roles in Rubinstein’s The Demon and in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Mazeppa, and Mizgir’ in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden. Among his operatic productions were Borodin’s Prince Igor and Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night. Prianishnikov’s students included G. A. Baklanov, E. K. Katul’skaia, E. K. Mravina, M. A. Slavina, and N. N. Figner.