Maria Maksakova, Sr.

Maria Petrovna Maksakova (, née: Sidorova; April 8, 1902 – August 11, 1974) was a Soviet opera singer, mezzo-soprano, a leading soloist in the Bolshoi Theatre (1923–1953), who enjoyed great success in the 1920s and 1930s, in the times often referred to as the golden age of Soviet opera. Maria Maksakova, the three times laureate of the Stalin Prize first degree (1946, 1949, 1951), was designated as a People's Artist of the USSR in 1971. The actress Lyudmila Maksakova is her daughter; singer and TV presenter Maria Maksakova her granddaughter.

Biography Maria Sidorova was born in Astrakhan, one of six children of Pyotr Sidorov, the executive director of the Volga Shipping company. After her father's death, ten-year-old Maria joined a local church choir to help her 27-year-old mother sustain a family.

Maximilian and Maria Maksakovs moved to Moscow and settled at Dmitrovka Street, in a communal flat. "[Max] turned his young wife's life into hard labour. Each day a home practice, with tears; then a performance in the evening, late at night – lots of scolding with more tears ... He was 33 years older but not for a moment did she come to regret those 15 years she spent with him", daughter Lyudmila Maksakova remembered. As the war was coming to an end, things for Maria Maksakova started to look brighter. In 1944 she won the 1st Prize at the Russian Folk song competition held by the Arts Committee of the USSR. In 1946 she received her first Stalin Prize "for the outstanding achievements in opera and the performing arts." Two more were to come, in 1949 and 1951. In 1956 the Bolshoi invited Maksakova back, but her return was a one-off: she performed as Carmen, just to say farewell to her fans. In her later years Maksakova taught vocals at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (where she for many years held the position of a docent), was the head of the Folk vocal school in Moscow, published articles and essays. She was the driving force behind the opening of the Conservatory in her native Astrakhan. Among her protégés was Tamara Milashkina, later an acclaimed singer on her own right. In 1971 she was designated as a People's Artist of the USSR. When daughter Lyudmila called her mother to bring the news, the reply was: "So what? Now all this doesn't matter."

Maria Petrovna Maksakova died in Moscow on August 11, 1974. She was buried at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery.