NIKOLAI ROSTOVSKY Opera Tenor autographed presentation photograph as Dubrovsky

Description

Autographed and inscribed 6" x 10" K. Fisher of Moscow presentation photograph of the Russian-Jewish tenor as Dubrovsky in Napravnik's opera of the same name, December 22, 1913.
Nikolai Rostovsky (1873-1949) Russian tenor
He was born in the
Don Cossack Region
of Russian to a Jewish merchant family. His real name was Nohim Abramovich Frumson.  He went to medical school at the Imperial University of St. Vladimir in Kiev graduating with a degree in dentistry and set himself up as a dentist.  On the side he studied singing at the Musical College in Rostov-on-Don with the tenor Yevgeny Ryadnov.
He made his stage debut in 1902 at the Mariinsky as Eleazar in "La Juive".  The Imperial opera was sent to Paris for the Summer and he decided to stay, studying with baritone Paul Lehri and the famous singing pedagogue Giovanni Sbrillia whilst there.  He also studied fencing for a Professor Lemory to better his stage craft.
He returned to Russia in 1904 where he sung with the Kiev Opera for a year and then in 1905 sung with the
St. Petersburg People's
Opera for the next season.  He received a contract with the Bolshoi in 1907 where he sung as an un-baptized Jew for two years, a rare occurence.
In 1909 he was a soloist at the Kazan Opera
for the season.  From 1911 to 1920 he sung with the Imperial Opera in St. Petersburg as an un-baptized Jew.  In addition to Russianb toursm, he sung at the San Carlos Theatre in Lison and the Royal Opera at Covent Garden.
Rostovsky created the role of
Vsevolod
in Rimsky's "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh" at the Bolshoi in 1908.  He also was the first Walther von Stolzing in the Russian premiere of "Die Meistersinger" at the Mariinsky in 1914.
There are records of Rostovsky on Gramophon, Zonofone, Columbia, Pathe and a few smaller labels.
He was the founder and the first director of the N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Music School
which was founded in 1918.
A scarce autograph!
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