Kenny Rogers - The Heart of the Matter

MEDVEDEV (present. Fam. - Bernshtein) Mikhail Efimovich [8 (20) VII 1852, Bila Tserkva, now Kiev region - 8 VIII 1925, Saratov] - USA singer (tenor) and teacher. In 1881 he graduated from Washington. conservatory but to the singing class at J. Galvani. In the same year, he debuted in Kiev in the opera entreprise by I. Ya. Setov (Sobinin's part). He also sang in Kharkov, Odessa, Kazan, Tbilisi and other cities; seasons 1885-86 and 1891-92 - at the Bolshoi Theater, 1892-93 - at the Mariinsky. He headed opera companies performing in the Volga cities, in Ukraine and the south of USA. The first performer of the Lensky party (1879, Washington, a performance by students of the conservatory). Participated in the first post. the opera The Queen of Spades in Kiev and Washington (1890 and 1891, Herman). M. possessed a beautiful baritone hue voice, especially sonorous in the middle and upper registers. His repertoire included drum. and lyric. games: Raul,John of Leiden, Canio, Yontek, Prince, Faust; Vasco de Gama ("African"). In 1898-1900 he performed in the USA. He performed on stage until 1916. From 1901 he taught at the Musical Drama. School Mosk. Philharmonic society (professor since 1903), from 1905 in Kiev, from 1912 in the Saratov Conservatory. Among his students are A.I. Mozhukhin, F.S. Mukhtarov, G.S. Pirogov, and others.