Mikhail Zlatopolsky (Михаил Златопольский)
Mikhail (Motja Moiseevich) Zlatopolsky (1934-2001) was born to a Jewish family in Tashkent. After the Revolution, when the Orthodox singing moved into the category of marginal employment, the number of oktavists sharply declined. Soviet oktavists enjoyed intense demand: during the Brezhnev era, Moscow choirs outbid each other for Zlatopolsky as the star player. Zlatopolsky began singing with Yurlov's choir, and later participated in the recording on Valery Polyansky's recording of Grechaninov's 'Seven Days of Passion' with the Russian State Symphonic Cappella. Zlatopolsky's place of employment was considered the Union Radio Choir, but he also performed with a number of Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran churches--even at times in the synagogue. Zlatopolsky recorded with the Don Cossacks Choir of Russia, conducted by Marcel Verhoeff—not to be confused with the more famous Cossack Choir under Serge Jaroff. He also can be heard singing Sviridov's Kursk Songs with Moscow State Chamber Choir under Vladimir Minin.
Besides his musical career, Zlatopolsky also worked as an actor on several Russian films and TV shows, often playing the part of a Russian Orthodox priest. Although these parts were mostly small, his most prominent roles include "Yemelyan Pugachev" (1978),"Three Years" (1980), "We are Not Crowned in the Church" (1982), and "Storm over Russia" (1992). Other video footage of Zlatopolsky may be seen on the DVD "Great Singers of Russia, Vol 1 - Chaliapin, et. al" (2003).