Josef Paleček and Julia Platonowa by Wesenberg

Julia Federowna Platonowa (1841-1892); Russian soprano.

In 1863 she made her debut at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg as Antonida in Glinka's "Iwan Susanin" ("Ein Leben für den Zaren"). Until 1876 she was one of the prima donnas of this Opera House where she sang at various premières. In 1869 she created the role of Maria in Cesar Cui's opera "William Ratcliff", in 1872 Donna Anna in "Der steinerne Gast" by Dargomyshski, in 1873 Olga in "Das Mädchen von Pskow" by Rimsky-Korsakov and in 1874 Marina in Mussorgsky's "Boris Gudonov". She also had a distinguished career as a concert singer.

Josef Paleček (1840-1915); Czech bass.
In 1864 he made his debut at the Provisional National Theatre in Prague as Sarastro in Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte". Soon he performed important roles like Mephisto in "Faust", Falstaff in "Die lustigen Weibern von Windsor", Figaro in "Le nozze di Figaro" and the Cardinal in "La Juive". Here he sang at three world premières of operas by Smetana: as Kmet in "Die Brandenburger in Böhmen" (1866), as Kruschina in "Die verkaufte Braut" (1866) and as Benes in "Dalibor" (1868). In 1869 he joined the Italian Opera company in Moscow, but the following year he transferred to the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. In 1874 he created the role of Rangoni in Mussorgksky's "Boris Gudonov" and in 1880 Sergey Kiribeyevich in Rubinstein's "The merchant Kalashnikov". At the Mariinsky he had a great career that lasted 40 years.

On the photo from 1874 they are seen in their creator roles of Rangoni and Marina in Modest Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov". The première took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on 27 January 1874.