Unidentified photographer / artist, n.d., Leonid Georgievich Yakovlev (1858-1919), Russian baritone as Romeo, Cabinet card, Private collection of T. Max Hochstetler, LL/20410
Unidentified photographer / artist n.d. Leonid Georgievich Yakovlev (1858-1919), Russian baritone as Romeo
A baritone, Yakovlev had an active stage career which spanned the years 1887 until 1906. He joined the Mariinski Theatre company in St. Petersburg. He also served as the director at Mariinski for a part of his career. Yakovlev was an extremely popular singer of opera. Critics described his stage performances as "possessing showiness and a great voice." His best role was as Eugenie Onegin in the Tschaikovsky opera of the same title. Tshchaikovsky's "Eugenie Onegin" is based on the novel by Alexander Puskkin. In this cabinet card, Yakovlev is shown in the costume of Romeo from the opera, "Romeo & Juliet" by French composer, Charles Francois Gounod.
(Kindly contributed by T. Max Hochstetler, June 2007)
