He also studied singing in Moscow with professors Alexander Dodonov and Alexandra Santagano Gorchakova, who, in 1897, suggested that he attend an audition at the city's Bolshoi Theatre.

Sobinov would go on to appear in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in operas such as Ruslan and Ludmila, Faust, Manon, Prince Igor, Eugene Onegin, Halka, Rigoletto, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser (as Walter von der Vogelweide) and Mikhail Ivanov's Zabava Putyatishna (as Solovey Budimirovich).

[1] Sobinov was impressed by the up-and-coming operatic bass Feodor Chaliapin, who was one year younger than he was, and they appeared together on stage in 1899.

In that same year, he added the parts of Andrei (Mazeppa), Gérald (Lakmé) and Alfredo Germont (La traviata) to his repertoire.

After going through the score of Carmen, he declined to take on the role of Don José, insisting that its dramatic nature would be too taxing for his voice.

In order to enlarge his operatic repertoire (having already added to it the tenor leads in Martha, Werther, Mignon and Roméo et Juliette), Sobinov decided to travel to Italy, so that he could experience Italian opera directly.

His performances were acclaimed not only in Russia but also in other European countries, owing to the beauty of his voice and the polish of his singing style.

As well as the Bolshoi and La Scala, he sang at the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg; Palais Garnier, Paris; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo; and Teatro Real, Madrid.

Sobinov achieved enormous fame despite facing strong competition for the Russian public's affection from a number of rival male singers of outstanding quality.

She was the sister of the renowned Soviet sculptor Vera Mukhina, who was the creator of the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman monument.