Victor Ivanovich Nikitin
| Victor Ivanovich Nikitin | |
|---|---|
Victor Nikitin
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| Background information | |
| Born | 12 February 1911 Syzran, Russian Empire |
| Origin | Syzran, Soviet Union |
| Died | 6 January 1994 |
| Genres | Opera, Romantic music, military music, ethnic Russian music, easy listening, middle of the road, folk music. |
| Occupation(s) | Alexandrov Ensemble soloist |
| Years active | 1939–1952 |
| Labels | BMG, EMI, Melodiya, Teldec, Victor, Columbia, Supraphon |
| Associated acts | Alexandrov Ensemble |
Victor Ivanovich Nikitin,(Russian: Виктор Иванович Никитин), was a Soviet tenor soloist of the Alexandrov Ensemble, born in Syzran 12 February 1911 and died in Moscow 6 January 1994. He is notable for being the first Mr Kalinka, and for being called "Ambassador Kalinka" by Erich Mückenberger after singing at the 1948 Berlin peace concert. He was buried at Pyatnitskoye cemetery in Moscow.
He was a machine engineer in 1938, and joined the Alexandrov Ensemble in the same year. He had possibly started recording by 1936. He was already known as "Mr Kalinka" before World War II.
Apparently when he sang to entertain the Soviet troops at the Eastern Front in World War II, the Germans on the other side stopped shooting to listen. The German appreciation of Nikitin did not end there. At the Alexandrov Ensemble August 1948 Peace Concert, he sang encores of Kalinka and received high praise for his singing. Before the concert he had bought a book of 10 German folk songs, and then persuaded Boris Alexandrov and the Soviet commanders to let him sing some of them in German. This would be seen by the German audience as a great commitment to peace. In a photograph taken from the back of the choir at the time, you can see some of the 30,000-strong audience with the destroyed city as a backdrop. You can just see the flowers along the front of the stage, and to the left of the photo, standing in front of the balalaika players is a young soloist, perhaps waiting for Boris to indicate the start of his song. This is the scene which Nikitin, the choir and the orchestra saw on that day in 1948.
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