Vladimir Arkadevich Kandelaki

Born Mar. 16 (29), 1908, in Tbilisi. Soviet Russian singer (bass-baritone) and director; People’s Artist of the USSR (1971). Member of the CPSU since 1952.

Kandelaki graduated from the Tbilisi Conservatory in 1928 and from the State Institute of Theatrical Art (Moscow) in 1933. Since 1929 he has been a soloist at the V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theater (since 1941 called the K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theater); from 1954 to 1964, he was also chief director and actor for the Moscow Musical Comedy Theater.

Performing both comic and dramatic roles, Kandelaki hascreated expressive stage portraits, including Stefan in The GypsyBaron by Offenbach, Ollendorf in The Poor Student by Mil-locker, Sultanbek in Arshin mal alan by Gadzhibekov, Salieri in Mozart and Salieri by Rimsky-Korsakov, Taras in The Familyof Taras by Kabalevskii (State Prize of the USSR, 1952), andMagara in Virineia by Slonimskii. He has worked as a directorsince 1943 and has appeared in films.