Researching Vasily Petrov

Vasily Petrov was born in the town of Oboyan (of the Belgorod Province, currently Kursk Oblast of Russia) in the family of a priest. He studied at a public school in Kharkov, and then at the St. Petersburg Teacher's College.

In 1788, he gained a position as mathematics and physics teacher at Kolyvansko-Voskresenskoe College of Mining, in the town of Barnaul. In 1791, he was transferred to Saint Petersburg to teach mathematics and Russian at the military Engineering College, in the Izmailovsky regiment. In 1793, Petrov was invited to teach mathematics and physics at the St. Petersburg Medical and Surgery School, at the military hospital. In 1795, he was promoted to the rank of 'Extraordinary Professor'. During the next few years, he built up a comprehensive physics laboratory.

His first published book, "A collection of new physical-chemical experiments and observations", was published in 1801. The bulk of this work was dedicated to the description of experiments related to combustion, as evidence against the then-popular phlogiston theory.

The chapters, describing luminosity of phosphors of mineral and organic origins have elicited vivid interest in scientific circles. Petrov was able to detect the maximum temperature when phosphorus ceases to glow in open (atmospheric) air, by his numerous experiments with fluorite he was able to prove it glows due to a different reason than phosphorus.

In 1802, Petrov discovered the electric arc effect, thanks to his building the world's largest and most powerful Voltaic pile at the time, which consisted of around 4,200 copper and zinc discs. In "News of Galvanic-Voltaic Experiments", 1803, Petrov described experiments performed using the voltaic pile, detailing the stable arc discharge and the indication of its possible use in artificial lighting, melting metals for smelting and welding, obtaining pure metallic oxides, and reduction of metals from oxides mixed with powdered carbon and oils.

Petrov was forgotten soon after his death and his works fell into oblivion. A copy of "News of Galvanic-Voltaic Experiments" was discovered by chance in a library in the town of Vilna near the end of the 19th century. The book was the first time in world literature that a series of important physical phenomena related to electricity were described in detail.

It was not until the late 1880s that technology based on Petrov's experiments was developed with the goal of industrial usage.

Feodor Chaliapin once commented to him, "Ah, Vasya, if I could have your voice." (ru: «Эх, Вася, мне бы твой голос»). This jocular remark bore testament to Vasily Petrov's undeniable talent.

Petrov was born into the large family of a village tailor. His musical abilities were evident from an early age: he learned to play the violin at the age of five, and at the age of nine he was learning to play the violin professionally, as well as singing in a choir. He graduated from a ministerial free school for the poor and began to work as a teacher. Soon after, he moved to Kharkov. In 1894, he injured a finger, preventing him from pursuing a career as a violinist. However, he still had one musical passion — singing. At the end of 1894, Vasily Petrov became a chorister with the Kharkov Cathedral. In 1895 he joined a provincial Ukrainian private Opera company, fulfilling his wish to become an operatic artist.

In 1898, one of his friends asked the Directorate of the Moscow Conservatory about interviewing Vasily Petrov. Consequently, Petrov was immediately enrolled to study at the Moscow Conservatory under supervision of Anton Bartzal . He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1902 and was immediately accepted into the Moscow Imperial Troup (Bolshoi Theatre) where he performed in concerts.

In 1899, Petrov, who was still merely a student in the first stage of his course, replaced the ill Chaliapin as Dosifey in the opera Khovanshchina in Mamontov's Private Russian Opera company. Thus began the friendship of the two great Russian bass singers. Petrov played the role of Dosifey again in 1910 with the Zimin Opera company.

During and after the revolution of 1917, he managed to retain his position at the Bolshoi Theatre due to having come from a working-class background.

From 1923, as the result of complications from having contracted malaria, both of Petrov's legs atrophied leaving him reliant on prostheses in order to walk, but this did not deter him from actively performing onstage.

At the invitation of Constantin Stanislavski, Petrov taught at the Stanislavski Opera studio from 1925 to 1929. He also taught at other music institutions and continued his work at the Bolshoi theatre until 1936. His last performance was at the Bolshoi theatre in June 1936 as Vasily Sobakin in the opera The Tsar's bride by N. Rimsky-Korsakov.

During his career, Petrov sang in 87 different operatic roles at Bolshoi theatre.

He died on 4 May 1937 in Moscow.

Vasily Rodionovich Petrov remains for posterity as one of the greatest representatives of Russian vocal art.

His grandson, Nikolai Arnoldovich Petrov (1943-2011), was known as an outstanding pianist.