H. A. Sadoven

Russian opera singer (mezzo-soprano and contralto) (born May 21, 1894 in Kyiv, Russian Empire [now Kyiv, Ukraine] – died September 13, 1978, Paris, France [1]) - Russian opera singer (mezzo-soprano and contralto). Helena (or Elena) A. Sadoven was the daughter of the last rector of the Imperial University of St. Vladimir, A. A. Sadoven. She studied piano and voice at the Kyiv School of Music, where Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff auditioned her and praised her piano playing. Later, she studied piano at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, graduating in 1917. As early as 1916, however, she became a vocal soloist at the Bolshoi Theater. In 1917-1918, she was featured as a soloist at the Mariinsky Theater and the Narodny Dom opera in St. Petersburg. From 1918-1919, she sang at the Odessa Opera, from 1919-1920 at the Kyiv Opera. In 1920, Sadoven emigrated to Paris, France, where she spent the rest of her life. In Paris, Sadoven performed at the Grand Opera and the Opéra Comique. In 1927, she switched to the Russian Opera. In the 1920s and 1930s, she toured widely in Europe (La Scala, Milan; Barcelona, London, Berlin, Leipzig, Amsterdam, etc.) but also made a tour through South America.