Ivan Melnikov
also Ivan Aleksandrovich Melnikov, Иван Александрович Мельников
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
A Russian baritone who created leading roles across the Russian repertory of the 1870s and 1880s. Trained as a choirboy, he studied from 1861 with Gavriil Lomakin and sang in the Free Music School concerts before finishing in Milan. He made his Mariinsky debut in 1867 in Bellini's I puritani and remained a principal there until 1890, creating Boris in 1874 and, in his last season, the title role of Borodin's Prince Igor. Four Tchaikovsky premieres were his as well, among them Tomsky in The Queen of Spades. He directed at the Mariinsky afterwards and ran a free choral class.
Creations
- Boris Godunov — Boris Godunov (St Petersburg, 1874)
Written from
- Wikipedia (2026) Ivan Melnikov (baritone). (Accessed: August 2026). The English article.
- Wikipedia (2026) Мельников, Иван Александрович. (Accessed: August 2026). The Russian article.
- 'Melnikov, Ivan Alexandrovich' (1992) in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 3, p. 324.