Opera Singer. For many years he was Russia's reigning lyric tenor, renowned at home and abroad. Leonid Vitalyevich Sobinov was born in Yaroslavl, Russia. His mother was an amateur singer and the boy sang in the local choir, but his father insisted he study law. He became a practicing attorney in Moscow in 1894 while taking voice lessons on the side. In 1897 one of his instructors encouraged him to attend an audition at the Bolshoi Theatre; he was given a two-year contract on the spot, effectively launching his career. Audiences adored Sobinov for his warm, pure tone, polished musicianship, and personal charm both on and offstage. His repertory included the tenor leads in "Martha", "Mignon", "Werther", and "Romeo and Juliet", as Lensky in "Eugene Onegin", Gerald in "Lakme", and Alfredo Germont in "La Traviata", though he never tackled Don Jose in "Carmen", feeling it would put too much strain on his voice. For the rest of his life he would be based at the Bolshoi, apart from three years of engagements at La Scala in Milan (1904 to 1906, 1911), and successful performances at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Covent Garden in London, the Teatro Real in Madrid, and recital tours throughout Europe. From 1901 to 1917 he made a good number of recordings, many of which have been remastered and issued on CD. After the Communists came to power, Sobinov elected to remain in his homeland and continued to enjoy fame; he was named People's Artist of Russia in 1923 and awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1933. In his last years he also served as a director of the Bolshoi. He died of a heart attack in Riga, Latvia, and a special train was ordered to bring his remains back to Moscow. His birthplace in Yaroslavl is now a museum. Sobinov's sons Yuri and Boris met tragic fates. Both served with the White Guard during the Russian Civil War and Yuri was killed in action. Boris escaped to Germany, acquiring a minor reputation as a pianist and composer. He accompanied his father on his last European tour in 1931. At the end of World War II Boris was living in the American sector of Berlin. The occupying Soviets invited him to give a concert for Red Army troops, but on his arrival he was seized by the NKVD and sent to a labor camp, where he spent 10 years. He was released in 1955 as an "internal exile", which meant he could not live within 101 kilometers (roughly 62 miles) of any large city. Broken in health, he died the following year.