Place of Birth. Education. Was born in Moscow. Graduated from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in 2001, majoring in chamber and opera singing. In 2003 (with a gold medal) – graduate school of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In addition, for several years he studied vocals with the Honored Artist of Russia L. Shekhova.
Career. In 1998 he won the First Prize at the All-Russian Competition for Young Opera Singers. In 1999 he won the Second Prize at the “Grande Voce” competition in Spain.
After the victory in 1998, Nikolai Baskov received an offer to perform the part of Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s opera “Eugene Onegin” on the stage of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. He became the youngest Lensky in the history of world opera, which served as a dizzying start in the singer’s creative career. After that Nikolai performed with great success the parts of Vladimir Igorevich in “Prince Igor” by A. Borodin, the Fool in “Boris Godunov” by M. Mussorgsky, Izmail in “Nabucco” by G. Verdi, Alfred in “Traviata” by G. Verdi, Spakos in ” Cleopatra “J. Massenet, Cavaradossi in” Tosca “G. Puccini and others.
In 2000, a video clip for the musical composition “In Memory of Caruso …” was filmed. Thanks to this work, Nikolai Baskov took leading positions in the Russian charts on radio and television. The singer’s career quickly went beyond the academic halls, which expanded the circle of fans of his work. Discs with Nikolai’s solo albums began to disperse in millions of copies. He became the first and today the only artist in Russia to sing both in the Crossover and Pop styles.
His musical compositions become hits, and his videos are quoted on such prestigious music channels as Muz-TV and MTV. The artist has repeatedly been awarded the prestigious Russian awards “Ovation”, “Golden Gramophone”, “Muz-TV”, “Style of the Year”, “Singer of the Year”.
In 2000, Nikolai had an unforgettable meeting with the legend of world opera, the great soprano of the 20th century, Montserrat Caballe. After a number of joint performances, the prima donna even offered Nikolai regular classes to improve vocal technique. Their voices sounded on famous opera stages in Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and other countries of the world. The foreign press more than once noted the unique timbre of the voice, excellent technique, wide range, sense of style, artistry and special musicality inherent only to Nikolai.
Along with the performance of classical works, Basque performed a lot on the stage with the performance of opera arias, Neapolitan songs, musicals, contemporary pop and variety music. Frequent guest and participant of musical and not so musical events. Basque is the host of several television projects, including “Saturday evening” on the channel “Russia“.
In Ukraine, the singer has formed a creative duet with the Ukrainian singer Taisia Povaliy.
From 2011 to 2016, Nikolai was a professor at the vocal department at the Sholokhov Moscow State University for the Humanities. Since 2016 – the Institute of Arts of the Moscow State Pedagogical University.
In 2016, Nikolai Baskov announced the opening of his own music production center.
During the 2018 presidential elections, he became a member of the Putin Team movement, which supported Vladimir Putin.
Regalia. People’s Artist of Russia. People’s Artist of Ukraine (2004). People’s Artist of Moldova (2007). People’s Artist of the Chechen Republic and Ingushetia (2007).
He was awarded the highest state award of the Republic of Belarus – the Order of Francis Skaryna, the Gold Medal of the Peace Foundation (for peacekeeping and charitable activities). Awarded the title of “Golden Voice of Russia”.
In September 2015, a bill was introduced to the Verkhovna Rada to deprive the title of “People’s Artist of Ukraine” Ani Lorak, Taisii Povaliy, Joseph Kobzon and Nikolay Baskov…
Discography. “Dedication” (2000), “Dedication for an encore” (2000), “Masterpieces of the passing century” (2001), “I’m 25” (2001), “Never Say Goodbye” (2004), “Let Me Go” (2005) , “Best songs” (2005), “You alone” (2007), “69 best songs in mp3” (2008), “Romantic Journey “(2011),”Game “(2016).
Personal life. Ex-wife (2001 – 2008) – Svetlana Borisovna Shpigel, daughter of producer Baskov Boris Spiegel. Son – Bronislav Nikolaevich Spiegel (born April 24, 2006).
16.10.2021