Fyodor Petrovich Komissarzhevsky

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Fyodor Petrovich Komissarzhevsky (1832 - 14 March 1905) was a Russian opera singer and teacher of voice and stagecraft. A leading tenor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, he created many roles in Russian operas, including the Pretender in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Vakula the Smith. He had a voice described in the Grove Book of Opera Singers as small but with a "velvety timbre" and as a singer was known for not only for his clear diction and beautiful phrasing but also for his skill as an actor. He was the father of the actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya and the director Theodore Komisarjevsky. Komissarzhevsky remained at the Mariinsky Theatre until 1880 and then moved to Moscow where he sang at the Bolshoi Theatre as well as directing several operas there, including The Magic Flute and Cherubini's The Water Carrier (an opera hitherto unknown in Moscow).