Николай Басков
Nikolay Baskov was born on October 15, 1976 in the town of Balashikha, Moscow Region. In 2001 he graduated from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in chamber and opera singing (class of prof. V. Levko and V. Shcherbakov.) And entered the postgraduate course of the Moscow State Conservatory named after M. PI Tchaikovsky (class of Prof. P. Skusnichenko), which he graduated in 2003 with a gold medal. Also, for several years, Nikolai studied vocals with the Honored Artist of Russia L. Shekhova.
After winning the All-Russian Competition for Young Opera Singers (First Prize, 1998), as well as after the Second Prize at the Grande Voce Competition (Spain, 1999), the very young Basque received an offer to perform the part of Lensky in Tchaikovsky's opera “Eugene Onegin "on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia in 1998. He became the youngest Lensky in the history of world opera, which served as a dizzying start in the singer's creative career. He performs with great success the roles of Vladimir Igorevich in "Prince Igor" by A. Borodin, the Fool in "Boris Godunov" by M. Mussorgsky, Izmail in "Nabucco" by G. Verdi, Alfred in "La Traviata" by G. Verdi, Spakos in "Cleopatra" "J. Massenet, Cavaradossi in" Tosca "by G. Puccini and others.
After meeting with Boris Spiegel (2000), a video clip for the musical composition "In Memory of Caruso ..." was filmed. Thanks to this work, Nikolai Baskov quickly took leading positions in the Russian radio and television charts. It was thanks to Boris Spiegel, who later became his producer, that Baskov's career went beyond the academic halls, which expanded the circle of fans of his work. Discs with Nikolai's solo albums began to sell in millions of copies. He became the first and so far the only artist in Russia to sing in both the Crossover and Pop styles. His musical compositions become hits and take first places in the charts, and his videos are quoted on such prestigious music channels as MUZ-TV and MTV. The artist has repeatedly been awarded such prestigious National awards as - "Ovation", "Golden Gramophone", "MUZ-TV", "Style of the Year", "Singer of the Year".
In 2002, Nikolay's fateful meeting with the legend of world opera, the great soprano of the twentieth century Montserrat Caballe, took place. After a number of joint performances, Mrs. Caballe offered Nikolai regular classes to improve vocal technique. From that moment on, his fate changed dramatically. From a huge number of young opera singers, Caballe chose Nikolai Baskov, who is not only her only student, but also her stage partner today. Their voices have sounded on famous opera stages in Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and other countries of the world. The foreign press more than once noted the unique timbre of the voice, excellent technique, wide range, sense of style, artistry and, inherent only to Nikolai, a special musicality.
December 18, 2010 Nikolay takes part in Ivan Urgant's Smak program, where he cooks herring under a fur coat according to the family recipe.
Today Nikolay Baskov is: Honored Artist of Russia, People's Artist of Ukraine. He was awarded the highest state award of the Republic of Belarus - the Order of Francysk Skorina, the Gold Medal of the Peace Foundation (for peacekeeping and charitable activities). Awarded the title of "Golden Voice of Russia" by the National Ovation Prize.
