Concordia Antarova (Russian: Конкордия Евгеньевна Антарова, also known as Cora Antarova, 25 April 1886 O.S./13 April 1886 (N. S.) – 6 February 1959) was a Russian contralto who starred in the Bolshoi Theater for more than twenty years. After her singing career ended, she wrote theosophical texts. She was recognized as an Honored Artist of the RSFSR in 1933.
Early life
Concordia Evgenievna Antarova was born on 13 April 1886 in Warsaw, Russian Poland. Her father was an employee of the Department of Public Education.[1] Her mother, who gave language lessons, was the first cousin of Arkady Vladimirovich Tyrkov and the niece of Sophia Perovskaya, two of the members of Narodnaya Volya, who had attempted to assassinate TsarAlexander II of Russia.[2][3] Her father died when Antarova was eleven years old, and her mother died when she was in the sixth grade, aged fourteen. In spite of being orphaned, she completed her studies at Gymnasium in 1901.[1][2] Deciding to enter a convent, Antarova sang in the choir and began to develop an interest in performing music. John of Kronstadt advised her that her vocation was to be part of the world rather than in the convent.[2]
When school friends were able to gather sufficient funds for her to continue studying, Antarova moved to Saint Petersburg.[2] In the 1901–1902 season, she performed as Solokha and the female innkeeper in Tchaikovsky's opera Vakula the Smith at the Saint Petersburg People's Hall.[4] Enrolling in the Bestuzhev Courses, she graduated from the History and Philology Faculty 1904.[1][4] Though she wanted to continue with music studies, Antarova had to work to be able to pay for lessons with Ippolitus Petrovich Pryanishnikov [ru] at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. She took a job as a teacher in the Nikolaevskaya Railway's Alexandrovsky foundry school, riding the train an hour each way to teach and back for her singing lessons. The lack of food and fatigue led to her developing bronchial asthma, which plagued her the rest of her life.[2] In 1907, she graduated from the Conservatory and was sent to the Mariinsky Theatre to audition. Of the 160 singers, she was the only one hired.[2]
Soon after Sophia Parnok died, Olga Tsuberbiller began a relationship with Antarova, which would last until the singer's death. Tsuberbiller was a noted mathematician who taught at the Moscow State University of Fine Chemical Technologies.[5][6][7] After she left the stage, Antarova began writing and publishing books. In 1939, she wrote Беседы К.С.Станиславского (Conversations with K. S. Stanislavski).[2] During the war she lived in Moscow, wrote a three-volume Theosophical novel, Two Lives, which along with two other volumes on Stanislavski remained unpublished in her lifetime. In 1946, she organized a division of the Russian theatrical society dedicated to Stanislavski and promotion of his theatrical methods.[2] Because she attended Theosophical Society meetings and was open about her explorations of mysticism and the occult, Antarova was surveilled constantly, though she escaped arrest because Stalin admired her voice.[7][8]
Death and legacy
Antarova and Tsuberbiller's grave
Suffering from ill-health from 1956, Antarova died on 6 February 1959 after a long illness, in which she was cared for by her partner Tsuberbiller.[1][9] Tsuberbiller never fully recovered from the pain of Antarova's death.[2] The two women were buried side by side in the Novodevichy Cemetery when Tsuberbiller died in 1975.[5] Posthumously, her book Two Lives was published in 1993[8] and her book on Stanislavski has been re-published several times, being translated into other languages.[2]
Abbasova, Pyarvin (Summer 2015). "HPB in Today's Russia". Quest. 103 (3). Wheaton, Illinois: Theosophical Publishing House: 112–113. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
Эльзон (Elzon), М. Д. (M. D.) (6 May 2016). "Антарова Конкордия (Кора) Евгеньевна" [Antarova, Concordia (Cora) Evgenievna]. National Library of Russia (in Russian). Moscow, Russia: Employees of the National Library of Russia-scientists and cultural workers Biographical Dictionary, vol 1–4. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
Тюляев (Tyulyaev), С. И. (S. I.) (6 March 1993). "Конкордия Антарова" [Concordia Antarova]. ariom.ru (in Russian). Russia: Энциклопедия Современной Эзотерики (Encyclopedia of Modern Esoterics). Archived from the original on 15 December 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
Васильева (Vasilyeva), Ольга (Olga) (2002). "Ходяков А.А. "А. В.Тырков—жизнь и судьба"" [Khodyakov AA "A. V. Tyrkov-life and destiny"]. Новгородский архивный вестник (Novgorod Archival Herald) (in Russian) (3). Novgorod, Russia: Archival Department of the Novgorod Region. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
Тюляев (Tyulyaev), С. И. (S. I.) (2009). "Антарова, Конкордия Евгеньевна" [Concordia Evgenievna Antarova]. dic.academic.ru (in Russian). Russia: Большая биографическая энциклопедия (Great Biographical Encyclopedia). Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
"Цубербиллер Ольга Николаевна (1885–1975)" [Tsuberbiller, Olga Nikolaevna (1885–1975)]. Novodevichy Necropol (in Russian). Moscow, Russia: Novodevichy Cemetery. 27 December 2007. Archived from the original on 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
