Mykola Mykhailovych Poludennyi (* 10 April 1938, Dnipro - † 19 November 2005, Gurzuf) was a Ukrainian singer (baritone) of the Soviet era. People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1978). Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1971), awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples.
Biography.
He grew up in Gurzuf, from childhood he had a beautiful well-pitched voice. At a song festival in the Crimea, he performed V. Muradeli's song "The Party is Our Helmsman", where Ivan Kozlovsky heard him and advised him to enter the conservatory. During his 4th year of study, he became the winner of the All-Ukrainian Vocal Competition. In 1961, he graduated from the Kyiv Conservatoire in the class of O. Hrodzynsky, and in 1965 he completed his postgraduate studies with him.
In 1966-1974, he performed as a soloist at the Kuibyshevsky Theatre, and since 1974 at the Dnipro Opera and Ballet Theatre.
He toured the USSR and abroad, performing in almost all theatres of the former USSR.
He was the chairman of the jury of the Crimean vocal competitions - 2001-2003 - "Crimean Spring" and "Tsar's Salon", 2004 - "Golden Cradle".
He has performed about 30 roles, including
Babushkin - "Dnipro Rapids" by Kolodub,
Demon - Rubinstein's opera,
Don Giovanni - by W. A. Mozart,
Oleg Koshevoy - The Young Guard by Maitus,
Eugene Onegin - Tchaikovsky's opera,
Mazepa - Tchaikovsky's Mazepa,
Rigoletto - Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi,
Germon - La Traviata by Verdi,
Aminasro - "Aida" by Verdi,
Count di Luna - "Il trovatore" by Verdi,
Escamillo - Carmen by Georges Bizet,
Marquis di Posa - Don Carlos by Verdi,
Vladimir Ulyanov - "The Ulyanov Brothers" Maitus,
Oleg Koshevoy - The Young Guard by Maitus,
Almaviva, Figaro - The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini,
Shaklovy, "The Hiding Place" by Mussorgsky,
Godunov - Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky,
Gryaznoy - The Tsar's Bride by Rimsky-Korsakov,
Canio - La Pagliacci by Leoncavallo,
Aleko - "Aleko" by Sergei Rachmaninoff,
Count Daniel - The Merry Widow by Lehár,
Heinrich Eisenstein - The Bat by Johann Strauss,
Malatesta - Don Pasquale by G. Donizetti, in the Russian version of The Bell,
Lorryman Crown - Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin,
Mishuk - "The Quiet Don" by I. Dzerzhinsky,
Engineer - Virinea by S. Slonimsky,
Telegin, "Walking in Torment" by A. Spadavecchia.
He returned to Gurzuf with his wife - they left Dnipro due to a misunderstanding with the theatre management, and since 1996 they have worked at the Crimean Humanitarian University as vocal teachers, the Yalta Rainbow School, and the Gurzuf Music School. In 1999-2005, he headed local vocal competitions and performed at the Pushkin Museum in Gurzuf.
His wife, Milia Ivanivna Poludenna (1946-2004), was a singer, Honoured Artist of Ukraine. She and her husband are buried in the Old Gurzuf Cemetery.
At the beginning of May, festivals are held - competitions of vocalists named after Milia and Mykola Poludennykh.
