Davydova, Vera

(married name Mchedlidze). Born Sept. 17 (30), 1906, in Nizhny Novgorod, now Gorky. Soviet Russian mezzo-soprano and teacher. People’s artist of the RSFSR (1951) and honored artist of the Georgian SSR (1944). Member of the CPSU since 1951.

Davydova graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory from the class of E. V. Devos-Soboleva in 1930. She made her debut in 1929 at the Leningrad Theater of Opera and Ballet. From 1932 to 1956 she was a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR. In 1959 she began teaching at the Tbilisi Conservatory, becoming a professor in 1964.

Davydova is a brilliant representative of the Soviet vocal school and has created realistic and truthful characters. Her roles include Liubava in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko (State Prize of the USSR, 1950), Marfa in Mussorgsky’s Khovan-shchina (State Prize of the USSR, 1951), the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, Amneris in Verdi’s Aida, Aksin’ia in Dzer-zhinskii’s The Quiet Don, Nilovna in Zhelobinskii’s The Mother, and Grunia in Chishko’s The Battleship Potemkin. Davydova has performed abroad. A deputy to the second and third convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, she has received the State Prize of the USSR for concert performances (1946) and has been awarded two orders and various medals.