Medea Figner Opera singer (mezzo-soprano). Date of Birth: 04.04.1859 Country: France

Biography of Medea Figner

Medea Ivanovna Figner was an opera singer (mezzo-soprano) with a strong, even voice of wide range and soft timbre (her upper register had a light sound) and a vibrant dramatic temperament. She paid great attention to diction, striving for correct Russian pronunciation. In her work on certain roles, she sought advice from K. Fergi-Dzhiraldoni. Medea Figner was born into a poor Italian artisan family. She received her musical education in Italy, entering the Florence Conservatory at the age of 14 to study solo singing with F. Bianchi and P. Panofti, while also taking singing lessons from vocalist K. Carocci-Tsukki. She made her first concert appearance in a mezzo-soprano role in Verdi's Requiem (1875). Until 1877, she performed in Turin (as Carmen), Nice (as Sappho in the opera of the same name by G. Puccini), Modena, and Genoa. From 1877 to 1887, she successfully toured Spain (Seville, Barcelona, Madrid, Granada) and performed with A. Massini and M. Battistini. Starting in 1884, she performed in Italy (Milan, Bergamo, Turin, Bologna) and sang in an ensemble with N. Figner in the opera "La Favorite" by G. Donizetti. Medea Figner had a strong, even voice of wide range and soft timbre (her upper register had a light sound) and a vibrant dramatic temperament. She paid great attention to diction, striving for correct Russian pronunciation. In her work on certain roles, she sought advice from K. Fergi-Dzhiraldoni. Together with F. Tamagno, she toured South America. In the spring of 1887, the director of the Imperial St. Petersburg Russian Opera, G. P. Kondratyev, invited the artistic couple, who had become so popular in Europe and America, to perform on the main opera stage of Russia. The beautiful Medea Figner, partner of Nikolai Figner, also achieved resounding success. The contract they signed offered unheard-of fees for artists in Russia: Medea Figner received 15,000 rubles, while Nikolai Figner received 25,000 rubles per year, compared to the 12,000 rubles per year that the best soloists of the Imperial Mariinsky Opera received.
On February 8, 1889, Medea Figner became Medea Ivanovna Figner, and for the next fifteen years, the "Figner couple" adorned the Russian opera stage. She toured many cities, including Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Tbilisi, Nizhny Novgorod, Tula, and Kishinev, as well as London (Covent Garden Theatre, 1887), South America (1903, with E. Caruso), Japan, and Berlin. On December 6, 1894, Medea Ivanovna and Nikolai Nikolaevich were awarded the title of Soloists of His Majesty. In 1904, the couple separated, and Medea Figner bid farewell to the Imperial stage in 1912. From 1923 to 1930, she taught in Leningrad and was honored with the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. On November 15, 1925, she gave her final concert at the Leningrad Philharmonic Hall. From 1931, the singer lived in Paris. Several years before her death, in an interview with a French magazine at the age of almost 90, she spoke about her meetings with Tchaikovsky and sang a few lines from the aria of Iolanta quite decently. As the Great Soviet Encyclopedia states, "her beautiful voice and artistic performance always bring her great success." In Italy, the singer left behind two children, just as N. N. Figner left his child from a previous marriage. Soon after their marriage, the Figners had two boys in quick succession and, with a two-year break, two girls. As they grew up, the little "Figneryata," as they were called, began appearing in their famous parents' box during performances. Before attending a performance, the parents would warm up by asking their children for their opinions on their voices, believing that children's perception was the most direct and accurate. Twice a year, M. I. and N. N. Figner gave large concerts at the St. Petersburg Assembly Building, the proceeds of which went to support students. For two years, she performed opera roles in Italian (Valentine in "Les Huguenots" by G. Meyerbeer, Desdemona in "Otello" by G. Verdi, Gioconda in "La Gioconda" by A. Ponchielli).
M. I. Figner was the first performer of the roles of Lisa ("The Queen of Spades"), Iolanta (in Tchaikovsky's opera of the same name), and Carmen ("Carmen" by G. Bizet) on the Russian stage. P. I. Tchaikovsky remained a fan of the singer's talent until the end of his life, and there is every reason to believe that he considered her portrayal of the roles of Lisa and Iolanta in his operas to be close to perfection. From 1900, she performed in the Wagnerian style, traveling to Bayreuth, Dresden, and Munich to study it. Among her best roles were Tatiana ("Eugene Onegin" by P. I. Tchaikovsky), Ioanna (in "Joan of Arc" by M. E. Carafa), and Lisa ("The Queen of Spades" by P. I. Tchaikovsky). In St. Petersburg, the Figner couple lived in a large and spacious apartment on the corner of Liteyny Prospect and Basseinaya Street, in a house owned by the historian Bilbasov. This house was once inhabited by N. A. Nekrasov, N. A. Dobrolyubov, and served as the editorial offices of the Russian magazines "Sovremennik" and "Otechestvennye Zapiski". The hospitable hosts often had guests such as K. S. Stanislavsky, M. G. Savina, and the brilliant Mariinsky Theatre premier baritone L. G. Yakovlev.