Opera Singer. He was a Ukrainian-born Italian tenor. His birth name is Mykola Ivanov. Born in Voroniž in the Governorate of Černigov (in today's Černihiv Oblast of Ukraine), as a child he was selected to become part of the prestigious Court Chapel of the Emperor of Russia, of which he was part until the natural change of voice . As soon as he reached the age of majority, the boy sang as a tenor in the salons of the aristocracy, always maintaining his commitment with the Court Chapel. At the institution he made extensive musical and vocal studies. A decisive turning point was the meeting with the greatest Russian composer Michail Ivanovich Glinka, who was also a boy, aspired to go to Italy, the land of fortune for a musician of the time. The two became close friends and in 1830 they decided to leave together. Ivanov's choice was also due to a health reason, in fact he suffered from an annoying bullous dermatitis, which otherwise would have been difficult to cure. He arrived in Milan and studied Italian and singing with the well-known teacher Eliodoro Bianchi, and later in Naples with the well-known singer Andrea Nozzari. He made his debut in Naples in 1832, at the Teatro San Carlo, in Giovanni Pacini's cantata Il Felice Imeneo, and in Donizetti's opera Anna Bolena, in which he obtained a flattering personal success. In 1833 he met Gioachino Rossini, who took him under his guidance and proposed him in many replicas of his works, and even indicated him to young composers such as Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi, as a reliable professional and voice of sure success. This benefited the Russian tenor so much that he soon became one of the most important tenors in Italy. He sang at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Venice, Palermo, Parma, Florence, Turin, in 1839 he sang at the Municipal Theater of Bologna, in '41 -'42 at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, the following year in Ancona and Lucca, then again in many Italian theaters, specializing in the Rossinian and Pacinian repertoire, with very positive results . Thanks to the support of Rossini, he obtained from Saverio Mercadante a new cabaletta for the opera Le due illustri rivali, while on the occasion of the resumption of two already tested operas, Ernani and Attila and again at the direct request of Rossini, Verdi wrote for him special romanze to replace other pieces of lesser effect. Abroad he also performed at the Théàtre des Italiens in Paris, hired as a double of the famous tenor Rubini, and at Covent Garden in London. He retired from the stage in 1852.