How a Soviet opera star sang for years with only one functioning lung.

Music · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Sergei Lemeshev was a national icon whose lyrical tenor captivated the USSR. Yet, after contracting severe pneumonia and tuberculosis during the war, he was forced to perform with a collapsed lung. His resilience and technical precision allowed him to continue his legendary career despite profound physical limitations.

Born in 1902 to a peasant family, Sergei Lemeshev was initially destined for a life as a cobbler. However, his vocal talent led him from a parish school to the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied under Nazari Raisky. By 1931, he had joined the Bolshoi Theatre, where his soft, light timbre and immense charm transformed him into a public idol. His fame was such that fans, known as 'lemeshistki,' would crowd the streets and scuffle with the followers of his rival, Ivan Kozlovsky.

The Great Patriotic War brought a devastating health crisis. Lemeshev suffered two bouts of pneumonia, complicated by pleurisy and tuberculosis. To survive, he underwent artificial pneumothorax, a procedure that induced the therapeutic collapse of his right lung. Forbidden from singing, he adapted his technique with extreme sensitivity to continue performing from 1942 to 1948, even as his other lung was later collapsed and re-inflated. Remarkably, he continued to record major operatic works throughout this period.

Lemeshev’s signature role was Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, a part he performed over 500 times. His dedication remained absolute; he sang the role for the final time on his 70th birthday, despite having previously suffered three heart attacks and the removal of a lung. Beyond the stage, he was a prolific concert singer and a dedicated educator at the Moscow Conservatory. Though he reportedly disliked the pomp of his own stardom, his influence was indelible, leading to his recognition as a People's Artist of the USSR in 1950 and the naming of an asteroid in his honor in 1978.

While he was a titan of the stage, much of his legacy remains preserved only in excerpts rather than complete recordings. His career spanned decades of change, from his early training in Tver to his final years as an associate professor. He passed away in 1977 and was buried in Moscow’s Novodevichy Cemetery, leaving behind a reputation for both legendary work ethic and an unassuming, gentle nature.

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