Irina Bogacheva

Mezzo soprano

Irina Petrovna Bogacheva (born 1939) is a Russian mezzo-soprano and a professor of singing at the St Petersburg State Conservatory. Dmitry Shostakovich composed his cycle songs to poems of Marina Tsvetaeva for her.

During her career Bogacheva has performed at the Mariinsky Theatre and elsewhere in the Soviet Union the key mezzo roles in the Russian repertoire: the countess in The Queen of Spades, Marfa in Khovanshchina, Lyubasha in The Tsar's Bride, Marina in Boris Godunov as well as the title role in Carmen, Verdi's Eboli (Don Carlo), Amneris (Aida), Azucena (Il trovatore) and many others. Bogecheva performed overseas at the Opéra Bastille, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala Milan, the Metropolitan Opera New York.

Among her awards she is a People's Artist of the Soviet Union, recipient of the State Prize of the USSR, State Prize of the Russian Federation, Order For Services to the Fatherland IV Class, and Honorary Citizen of St Petersburg.