Boris Sobinov

Who was Boris Sobinov?

Boris Leonidovich Sobinov was a Russian composer and a son of Leonid Sobinov, Russia's leading lyric tenor during the first quarter of the 20th Century.

Boris was the first child born to Maria Karzhavina, a dramatic actress and Leonid Sobinov, a famous opera singer, who had met as schoolmates at the Philharmonic Society. Though their union dissolved after only a few years, Leonid remained an active and loving presence in the lives of Boris and younger brother Yuri.

Boris received a military education while obtaining musical training. His younger brother Yuri was a visual artist and painted the pictured oil portrait of Boris at the piano.

Both brothers served in the tsarist army, and then in the White Army in the Civil War. Yuri was killed near Melitopol. Boris, along with army baron Pyotr Wrangel, managed to escape to Germany. He later graduated from Berlin's High Art School, where he later taught. Throughout his professorial years he continued to compose his own works.

Leonid and Boris reunited as Leonid toured Berlin. In 1931 Boris settled in Riga, where Leonid spent much of a one year sabbatical with his son, second wife Nina Mukina and daughter Svetlana. Eventually father and son toured Europe together, giving concerts in Finland, Estonia, Poland, the Balkans, Germany, and France. Preserved programs of these concerts are on display in Russia's Yaroslavl museum.