Vasily Petrov

Vasily Rodionovich Petrov (; , Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire - 4 May 1937, Moscow, USSR) was an outstanding Russian opera singer (bass).

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.

During and after the Russian 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. 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.

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

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