Fedor Ignatevich Stravinskii

Born June 8 (20), 1843, in Rechitsa District, Minsk Province; died Nov. 21 (Dec. 4), 1902, in St. Petersburg. Russian bass.

In 1869, Stravinskii graduated from the Nezhin Law Lycée, and in 1873, from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied with C. Everardi. He sang in Kiev from 1873 to 1876 and at the Mariinskii Theater from 1876.

Stravinskii played an important role in the development of realism in the Russian performing arts. He opposed rigidity in opera and was noted for his dramatic interpretations of opera roles, emphasizing mime, gestures, stage presence, makeup, and costume. He created a variety of roles, including that of Eremka and Holofernes in Serov’s The Power of Evil and Judith, the Miller in Dargomyzhskii’s The Mermaid, Farlaf in Glinka’s Rustan and Liudmila, the Mayor in Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night, Mamy-rov in Tchaikovsky’s The Enchantress, and Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust and Boito’s Mefistofele. Stravinskii was a master of minor character roles. He also gave concerts.