A photograph of Nikolai Semyonovich Golovanov and Antonina Vasilyevna Nezhdanova, kept in the conductor’s memorial office, was taken during their Berlin tour in 1922. The destinations of Nezhdanova and Golovanov, who gave their joint concerts during the difficult time of the Russian Civil War, seem to be quite diverse. In 1919 alone, they performed in Ryazan, Petrograd, Vologda, Smolensk, and Sverdlovsk. In 1922, under the mandate signed by the People’s Commissar for Education Anatoly Lunacharsky, and on behalf of the Pomgol Central Commission, Nezhdanova and Golovanov went on an international tour. This mission was of especially great importance since the two were the first Soviet musicians to perform abroad.

Antonina Vasilyevna enjoyed colossal popularity. Sergei Rachmaninoff even dedicated his famous song “Vocalise” to her. Bernard Shaw, stunned by Nezhdanova’s skilled performance of Russian songs, gave the singer his portrait with an inscription that read, “Now I understand why nature let me live up to 70: it was done so that I could hear the best voice in the world — Nezhdanova’s.” The world’s largest opera houses offered long-term contracts to the singer, but Nezhdanova rejected the proposals. Only once did she agree to perform on the stage of the Palais Garnier in Paris. In 1912, Nezhdanova sang the part of Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Rigoletto”, where she performed alongside the famous Italian singers Enrico Caruso and Titta Ruffo.

Not only was Nikolai Semyonovich the singer’s accompanist for almost 30 years, but he was also her life partner. Golovanov was 18 years younger than Antonina Vasilyevna. However, from 1918 right until Nezhdanova’s death on June 23, 1950, the couple were inseparable.