Зинаида Ершова

Zinaida Ershova (13 {O.S. 1} February 1882, Russian Empire — 19??) was a Russian mezzo-soprano/contralto opera singer. She performed dozens of leading roles and toured extensively in the Russian Empire, Europe, the USA, and worldwide. Ershova performed in duos with Alexander Karenzin, Feodor Chaliapin, Mattia Battistini, Capiton Zaporojetz, and Konstantin Kaidanov, to name a few, appearing on stage under the baton of Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Emil Cooper, Anatole Fistoulari, and other prolific conductors. Name variations: Зинаида Ершова-Долина, Зинаида Абессоломова, Finaida Erchova, Зинаида Исидоровна Ершова, Zinaida Isidorovna Ershova, Ershova-Dolina. She studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Varvara Zarudnaya (1857—1939), Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov's wife, and debuted in 1908 with Serge Zimine's opera company in Moscow. Ershova performed with the Zimin Opera (1908 to 1913, 1914–15, and 1916–17), Yekaterinoslav Opera (1913–14 season), and with O.Z. Suslov's Ukrainian Troupe in Odesa and Simferopol (1916). Zinaida Ershova emigrated from Russia after the 1917 revolutions, resuming her public career with Nikita Balieff's La Chauve-Souris theatrical "revue" in the late 1920s and Maria Kuznetsova's L'Opéra Russe а̀ Paris company in the 1930s. Ershova recorded on several 78 RPM gramophone records for Columbia, Regal, and Zonophone labels.