Nikolai Petrovich Chistyakov (* 1866, Bezhetsk, Tver Province, now Tver Oblast - † 1932) was a Russian and Ukrainian opera artist (bass-baritone), chamber singer and teacher. Honoured Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1928). Father of the outstanding Ukrainian actress Valentyna Chistiakova.
Biography.
Born into the family of an official. After graduating from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1891 (class of S. Gabel), until 1907 he performed at the opera houses of Tiflis (1895-1896), Kazan (1896-1898, 1901-1904), St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkiv (1899-1901), Kyiv (1900), Odesa, Tomsk, Saratov (1896-1897, 1900-1905). In 1907-1918, he sang at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre (he made his debut in the role of Vladimir Galitsky).
He performed the roles of: Robert (Iolanthe), Gamba (Mateo Falcone), Zaruba (The Forest Tsar), Aphron (The Golden Cockerel), Kalenik (May Night), Tomsky (The Queen of Spades), Mamirov (The Sorceress), Malyuta Skuratov (The Tsar's Bride), the Grand Duke (The Slippers), Don Basilio (The Barber of Seville). Mephistopheles (Faust). One of the best roles is that of Vladimir Galitsky (Prince Igor by A. Borodin).
Chistiakov's partners on the stage were: G. Baklanov, O. Bohdanovych, M. Bolshakov, O. Borysenko, M. Goryainov, O. De Vos-Soboleva, A. Kartavina, Y. Makhina, G. Sunnerberg, S. Tamarova, and F. Chaliapin.
Since 1918, he lived in Kyiv, where he conducted concert activities and at the same time directed the choral studio of the Dnipro Flotilla. He taught singing at schools, and from 1923 he was a professor at the Kyiv Conservatory. Among his students: Vasyukov, Hrodzynskyi, S. Danchenko, M. Donets, O. Kolodub, I. Totskyi.
He recorded 8 works on gramophone records in St. Petersburg (E. Berliners Gramophone, 1900) - arias of Susanin ("Life of the Tsar" by M. Glinka), Demon ("Demon" by A. Rubinstein), Gremin, Mephistopheles ("Faust") and romances by M. Mussorgsky, P. Tchaikovsky, A. Rubinstein.
