Vedernikov, Aleksandr Filippovich

Born Dec. 23, 1927, in the village of Mokino, Kirov Oblast. Soviet Russian singer (bass). People’s Artist of the USSR (1976). Member of the CPSU since 1964.

Vedernikov studied voice under R. Ia. Al’pert-Khasina at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating in 1955. That year he made his debut at the Leningrad Kirov Theater of Opera and Ballet, and in 1958 he became a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater. He has been most successful in the classical Russian repertoire, notably in the title roles in Glinka’s Ivan Susanin, Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tale of the Tsar Saltan and as the Miller in Dargomyzhskii’s The Mermaid, Konchak in Borodin’s Prince Igor; Philip II in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Kutuzov in Prokofiev’s War and Peace, and the Commander in Molchanov’s The Unknown Soldier. Vedernikov also created a number of roles in works by G. V. Sviridov. He has toured abroad.

Vedernikov won first prize at the R. Schumann Competition in Berlin in 1956. He received the State Prize of the USSR in 1969. He has been awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.