The great Russian bass Yevgeny Nesterenko died yesterday, March 20, in Vienna as a result of COVID-19 disease. He was 83 years old. Nesterenko was an architect before studying singing. After graduation he joined the Mariinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre. He won the gold medal at the 4th Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition, which gave him entrée to Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre.
He had a broad repertoire and sang also in many of the world’s most prestigious venues, such as Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and La Scala. Nesterenko has made around 70 recordings, including 20 complete operas.
He also taught as a professor at the Moscow Conservatory from 1975 to 1993 and at the Vienna Conservatory from 1993 to 2003.
