Chaliapin began his artistic career when, at the age of fifteen, he turned to the directorate of the Kazan theater with a request to listen to him and accept him into the choir. But due to a voice mutation, he sang extremely poorly at the audition. Instead of Chaliapin, they accepted some lanky nineteen-year-old guy, with a monstrous "okaying" accent, into the choristers.
Chaliapin remembered his first fiasco for the rest of his life, and hated his lanky competitor for a long time. Many years later, in Nizhny Novgorod, Chaliapin met Maxim Gorky and, among other things, spoke about his first singing failure.
Gorky laughed.
- Dear Fedenka, it was me! True, I was soon expelled from the choir, because I had no voice at all.

***
Chaliapin's debut on the opera stage was very memorable. Chaliapin at that time was the main extra in the theater. He was entrusted with the wordless role of the cardinal, who was to solemnly proceed across the stage, accompanied by his retinue. Before going on stage for the first time in his life, Chaliapin was so worried that his legs and arms were trembling. He spent a long time explaining their duties to the clueless junior extras, secretly anticipating how the hall would gasp from their majestic procession.
Follow me and do everything the same as me! he ordered his retinue and stepped onto the stage.
But as soon as he took a step, Chaliapin stepped on the edge of his long red mantle in excitement and collapsed right on the floor! The retinue accompanying the cardinal decided that this was the way it should be, and also fell! The main extra heroically tried to get to his feet, to get out of the wide mantle - it was useless. Floating in the robes of a cardinal, he crawled on all fours across the stage! And behind him, also trembling convulsively, the retinue crawled ...
The audience laughed out loud. As soon as Fedor Ivanovich was backstage, the enraged director grabbed him and lowered him down the stairs, giving the future decoration of the Russian stage a good kick in the ass.

***
Chaliapin had a secretary and assistant, Peter, who protected the singer from annoying journalists and theater critics.
During one of his trips around Europe, a well-known music critic came to the singer's hotel. The secretary met him.
"Fyodor Ivanovich is busy now," he said. I am ready to answer all your questions.
— What are Maestro Chaliapin's plans for the near future? asked the music critic.
- We are going to Milan, where we will sing at La Scala, then we will give a concert in London in honor of the English king, then we will go to Paris ...
“That's right, Pyotr,” Chaliapin's voice thundered from the next room. Just don't forget to take me with you!

***
Once, at the time of the revolution, Chaliapin came to his friend, the artist Korovin, and immediately complained:
— The devil knows what it is! I have been ordered to speak to the mounted sailors today. Tell me, for God's sake, what are horsemen?
“I don’t know what horse sailors are,” Korovin answered gloomily, “but you need to get out of here ...

***
During the revolution, Chaliapin's house was often searched at night. They were looking for "bourgeois values": diamonds and gold, but they did not disdain silver spoons and forks.
After one of these night raids, Chaliapin complained to Zinoviev:
- I understand - a revolution ... And, in essence, I am not against searches, but is it possible to search me at a time convenient for me, from eight to nineteen, for example?

***
Once an amateur singer came to Chaliapin and rather unceremoniously asked:
- Fedor Ivanovich, I need your costume for rent, in which you sang Mephistopheles. Don't worry, I'll pay you!
Chaliapin took a theatrical pose, took a breath of air and sang:
— Flea caftan?! Ha-ha-ha-ha!..

***
Once, the opera Don Carlos was playing at the Bolshoi Theatre. The party of King Philip was sung by Chaliapin, the Grand Inquisitor - Vasily Petrov.
It must be said that Petrov admired the genius of Chaliapin, and Chaliapin, in turn, highly appreciated Petrov's voice and talent.
Before the start of the third act, Petrov said to Chaliapin:
“But I’m going to sing you today, Fedya!”
- No, Vasya, don't oversing! Chaliapin replied.
- I'll drink!
- No, don't overeat!
The act has begun.
Petrov, who had a powerful voice, completed the phrase with a thunderous roar that drowned out the orchestra and filled the entire theater - from the stalls to the gallery.
In a fraction of a second, Chaliapin realized that this could no longer be blocked. And King Philip unexpectedly answered the words of the Grand Inquisitor ... in a whisper. He whispered his remark in absolute silence, and from these words, uttered with genius by Chaliapin, an ominous cold literally blew in the hall.
The success was complete, and the ovation lasted several minutes.
When the curtain closed, Chaliapin jokingly winked at Petrov:
— That's it! And you yell at the top of your lungs! ..

***
Among the artists, a dispute broke out about what art is. Chaliapin, having listened, imperceptibly withdrew into another room. Then he suddenly opened the door, stood on the threshold deathly pale, with disheveled hair, quivering lips, eyes full of horror, and shouted:
— Fire!
Panic arose, screams ... But Chaliapin suddenly laughed:
Do you now understand what art is?

***
Chaliapin was always indignant at people who consider the work of an artist to be easy.
“They remind me,” the singer said, “one cab driver who once drove me around Moscow:
- And you, sir, what do you do? he asks.
- Yes, I sing.
- I'm not talking about that. I ask what are you doing? Sing - we all sing. And I sing when I get bored. I ask: what are you doing?

“The great Chaliapin was a reflection of the split Russian reality: a tramp and an aristocrat, a family man and a“ runner ”, a wanderer, a frequenter of restaurants ...” - this is how his teacher Dmitry Usatov said about the world-famous artist. Despite all life circumstances, Fyodor Chaliapin entered the world opera history forever.

Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was born on February 13 (according to the old style - February 1), 1873 in Kazan in peasant family immigrants from the Vyatka province. They lived in poverty, his father served as a clerk in the Zemstvo council, often drank, raised his hand to his wife and children, over the years his addiction worsened.

Fedor studied at Vedernikova's private school, but he was expelled for kissing a classmate. Then there was the parish and vocational school, the latter he left due to a serious illness of his mother. On this state education Chaliapin ended. Even before the school, Fedor was assigned to the godfather - to learn shoemaking. “But fate did not judge me to be a shoemaker,” the singer recalled.

Once Fedor heard choral singing in the church, and it fascinated him. He asked to join the choir, and the regent Shcherbinin accepted him. The 9-year-old Chaliapin had an ear and a beautiful voice - a treble, and the regent taught him musical notation and put a salary.

At the age of 12, Chaliapin first got into the theater - to the "Russian Wedding". From that moment on, the theater “drove Chaliapin crazy” and became his lifelong passion. Already in Parisian exile in 1932, he wrote: “Everything that I will remember and tell will ... be connected with my theatrical life. About people and phenomena ... I'm going to judge ... as an actor, from an actor's point of view ... ".

When the opera arrived in Kazan, she, according to Fyodor, amazed him. Chaliapin really wanted to look behind the scenes, and he made his way behind the stage. He was taken as an extra "for a nickel." The career of a great opera singer was still far away. Ahead were breaking voices, moving to Astrakhan, a hungry life and returning to Kazan.

The first solo performance of Chaliapin - the part of Zaretsky in the opera "Eugene Onegin" - took place at the end of March 1890. In September, as a chorister, he moves to Ufa, where he transforms into a soloist, replacing a sick artist. The debut of the 17-year-old Chaliapin in the opera "Pebbles" was appreciated and occasionally entrusted him with small parts. But the theatrical season ended, and Chaliapin again found himself without work and without money. He played passing roles, wandered, and in desperation even thought about suicide.

Friends helped, who advised me to take lessons from Dmitry Usatov, a former artist of the imperial theaters. Usatov not only taught him the famous operas, but also taught him the basics of etiquette. He introduced the newcomer to the music circle, and soon to the Lyubimov Opera, already under contract. Having successfully played over 60 performances, Chaliapin went to Moscow, and then to St. Petersburg. After the successful role of Mephistopheles in Faust, Chaliapin was invited to audition at the Mariinsky Theater and enrolled in the troupe for three years. Chaliapin gets the part of Ruslan in Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila, but critics wrote that Chaliapin sang "badly", and he was left without roles for a long time.

But Chaliapin meets a famous philanthropist Savva Mamontov, who offers him a place as a soloist of the Russian Private Opera. In 1896, the artist moved to Moscow and performed successfully for four seasons, improving his repertoire and skills.

Since 1899, Chaliapin has been in the troupe of the Imperial Russian Opera in Moscow and is a success with the public. He is received with enthusiasm at the La Scala theater in Milan - where Chaliapin performed in the image of Mephistopheles. The success was amazing, offers began to pour in from all over the world. Chaliapin conquers Paris and London with Diaghilev, Germany, America, South America, and becomes a world famous artist.

In 1918 Chaliapin becomes artistic director Mariinsky Theater(having renounced the position of artistic director at the Bolshoi Theater) and receives the first in Russia title of "People's Artist of the Republic".

Despite the fact that Chaliapin sympathized with the revolution from an early age, he and his family did not escape emigration. The new government confiscated the artist's house, car, bank savings. He tried to protect his family and the theater from attacks, met repeatedly with the leaders of the country, including Lenin And Stalin but that only helped temporarily.

In 1922, Chaliapin left Russia with his family, toured Europe and America. In 1927, the Council of People's Commissars deprives him of the title of People's Artist and the right to return to his homeland. According to one version, Chaliapin donated the proceeds from the concert to the children of emigrants, and in the USSR this gesture was regarded as support for the White Guards.

The Chaliapin family settles in Paris, and it is there that the opera singer will find his last refuge. After touring in China, Japan, and America, Chaliapin returned to Paris in May 1937 already sick. Doctors diagnose - leukemia.

“I’m lying ... in bed ... reading ... and remembering the past: theaters, cities, hardships and successes ... How many roles I played! And it doesn't seem bad. Here's a Vyatka peasant for you ... ”, Chaliapin wrote in December 1937 to his daughter Irina.

The great artist died on April 12, 1938. Chaliapin was buried in Paris, and only in 1984 did his son Fyodor achieve the reburial of his father's ashes in Moscow, on Novodevichy cemetery. In 1991, 53 years after his death, Fyodor Chaliapin was returned the title of People's Artist.

Fyodor Chaliapin made an invaluable contribution to the development of opera art. His repertoire includes over 50 roles in classical operas, over 400 songs, romances and Russian folk songs. In Russia, Chaliapin became famous for the bass parts of Borisov Godunov, Ivan the Terrible, Mephistopheles. Not only his magnificent voice delighted the audience. Chaliapin paid great attention to the stage image of his heroes: he reincarnated as them on stage.

Personal life

Fyodor Chaliapin was married twice, and from both marriages he had 9 children. With his first wife - the Italian ballerina Iola Tornaghi - the singer meets at the Mamontov Theater. In 1898 they got married, and in this marriage Chaliapin had six children, one of whom died at an early age. After the revolution, Iola Tornaghi lived in Russia for a long time, and only at the end of the 50s she moved to Rome at the invitation of her son.

Being married, in 1910 Fyodor Chaliapin became close to Maria Petzold, who raised two children from her first marriage. The first marriage had not yet been dissolved, but in fact the singer had a second family in Petrograd. In this marriage, Chaliapin had three daughters, but the couple was able to formalize their relationship already in Paris in 1927. Fedor Chaliapin spent with Maria last years life.

Interesting Facts

Fedor Ivanovich Chaliapin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for achievements and contributions to music.

Chaliapin was a remarkable draftsman and tried his hand at painting. Many of his works have survived, including "Self-portrait". He also tried his hand at sculpture. Performing in Ufa at the age of 17 as Stolnik in the opera Moniuszko"Pebbles" Chaliapin fell on stage - sat down past a chair. All his life from that moment he vigilantly watched the chairs on the stage. Leo Tolstoy, after listening to the folk song "Nochenka" performed by Chaliapin, expressed his impressions: "He sings too loudly ...". And Semyon Budyonny, after meeting Chaliapin in the carriage and drinking a bottle of champagne with him, recalled: “The whole carriage seemed to shudder from his mighty bass.”

Chaliapin collected weapons. Old pistols, guns, spears, mostly donated by A.M. Gorky hung on his walls. The house committee either took away his collection, then, at the direction of the deputy chairman of the Cheka, returned it.

“By this time, thanks to success in various countries of Europe, and mainly in America, my material affairs were in excellent condition. Having left Russia a few years ago as a beggar, I can now arrange for myself a good house, furnished according to my own taste. (Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin)

How sad that many brilliant people left our country and became the property of a foreign land. And how we would like us and our state to learn to appreciate talents and create favorable conditions for their creativity in Russia.

Fedor Ivanovich was born on February 13, 1873 in Kazan in the family of a poor Vyatka peasant Ivan Yakovlevich Chaliapin and his wife Evdokia Mikhailovna, nee Prozorova. Father and mother were both from the Vyatka province, only from different villages.

Chaliapin's father served as an archivist in the county zemstvo council, and his mother was a day laborer and took on any hard work. But, nevertheless, the Chaliapin family lived very poorly. Parents did not even think about giving their son a good education. Fedor studied at the local 6th city four-year school, which he graduated with a commendable diploma. It was at the school that Chaliapin met the teacher N.V. Bashmakov, who himself loved to sing and encouraged his student to sing.

The boy was sent to learn the trade from a shoemaker, and then from a turner, he also tried the craft of a carpenter, bookbinder, copyist.

Chaliapin's beautiful voice manifested itself in childhood, and he sang along with his mother. And from the age of nine he sang in church choirs, dreamed of learning to play the violin, his father even bought him a violin at a flea market for two rubles, and Fedor independently learned to pull the bow, trying to master the basics of musical literacy.

Chaliapin read a lot, although he had almost no free time.

At the age of twelve, as an extra, Fedor participated in the performances of a troupe touring in Kazan.

One day, Chaliapin's neighbor, regent Shcherbitsky, in the Sukonnaya Sloboda, where the family then lived, heard Fedor sing and brought him to the Church of the Great Martyr Barbara, where they sang vigil in bass and treble, then Mass. After this incident, Chaliapin began to sing in the church choir constantly. By singing, he earned money not only at prayer services, but also at weddings and funerals.

In 1883, F. I. Chaliapin first got into the theater.
He sat on the gallery and, with bated breath, watched what was happening on the stage. They gave "Russian Wedding" by P. P. Sukhonin.

And here is what Chaliapin himself later wrote about this in his memoirs: “And now, I am in the gallery of the theater: Suddenly the curtain trembled, rose, and I was immediately stunned, enchanted. A fairy tale vaguely familiar to me came to life in front of me. Around the room, wonderfully decorated, magnificently dressed people walked, talking to each other in a particularly beautiful way. I didn't understand what they were saying. I was deeply shocked by the spectacle and, without blinking, without thinking about anything, looked at these miracles.

After this first visit to the theater, Fedor sought to get into almost every performance. Moreover, in the 80s of the XIX century, wonderful actors played on the stage of the Kazan theater - Svobodina-Barysheva, Pisarev, Andreev-Burlak, Ivanov-Kazelsky and others.

In 1886, Medvedev's opera troupe appeared in Kazan. Chaliapin was especially impressed by M. I. Glinka's opera Ivan Susanin.

Probably, it was after listening to this opera that Chaliapin decided to become an artist.

But for now, Chaliapin had to take care of his sick mother and work as a clerk in the county zemstvo council, then with a usurer and in the judicial chamber. But none of these works pleased the young man.

He sang in the bishop's choir at the Spassky Monastery, but when his voice began to break, Chaliapin got a job as a scribe in the consistory.

Interesting historical fact- Chaliapin came on an ad to audition for the choir of the Kazan Opera House. Among those who came for the test was the future writer A.M. Gorky - 20-year-old Alexei Peshkov. So he was enrolled in the choir as the 2nd tenor, and the commission rejected Chaliapin "due to lack of voice" ...

But still, the debut of the singer Chaliapin took place on the Kazan stage, in 1889 he first sang a solo part in an amateur production of " Queen of Spades". Then, with acting troupes, he wandered around the cities of the Volga region, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and had to work as a loader and a hooker on the pier. Often there was no money even for bread, and they had to spend the night on benches.

Chaliapin would meet Maxim Gorky again in 1900 in Nizhny Novgorod, and they would become friends.

In 1890, Fedor entered the Ufa Opera Company of Semyonov-Samarinsky. By this time, Chaliapin's voice had recovered, and he could sing in treble and baritone.

Chaliapin sang his solo part for the first time in Ufa on December 18, 1890. The case helped - on the eve of the performance, one of the baritones of the troupe suddenly refused the role of the Stolnik in Moniuszko's opera "Pebbles" and the entrepreneur Semyonov-Samarsky offered to sing this part to Chaliapin. The young man quickly learned the part and performed. He even got a raise for his hard work. In the same season, he sang Fernando in Il trovatore and Unknown in Askold's Grave.

After the end of the season, Chaliapin joined the Little Russian wandering troupe of Derkach, with whom he traveled around the cities of the Urals and the Volga region, the troupe went to Central Asia, and finally he ended up in Baku, where in 1892 he joined Lassalle's French opera troupe.

However, the troupe soon broke up and, finding himself without a livelihood, Chaliapin reached Tiflis, where he got a job as a scribe in the management of the Transcaucasian Railway.

Chaliapin was noticed by the famous Tiflis singing teacher, Professor Dmitry Usatov, who himself used to be famous opera singer. Recognizing a great talent in the young Chaliapin, Usatov undertook to study with him for free, secured a small scholarship for him and fed him free meals.

Chaliapin subsequently called Usatov his only teacher and kept fond memories of him all his life.

After a few months of classes with Usatov, Chaliapin began to perform publicly at concerts organized by the Tiflis Musical Circle. Later he received an invitation to the Tiflis Opera House. And in 1893, Chaliapin first appeared on the professional stage.

The Tiflis Theater had a very large repertoire, and Chaliapin had to learn twelve parts from different operas in one season. The young singer coped with this and was highly appreciated by the public.

They say that Chaliapin was especially good in the role of Melnik from The Mermaid and Tonio from The Pagliacci.

However, in 1894, having saved up some money, Chaliapin went to Moscow. IN Grand Theatre he failed to get in, but he was taken to the Petrosyan opera troupe, which was recruited for the St. Petersburg theater "Arcadia". Thus, Chaliapin ended up in the capital.

But, alas, two months later, the Petrosyan Theater went bankrupt, and Chaliapin entered into a partnership opera singers Panaevsky Theatre. In early 1895, he was invited to audition at the Mariinsky Theater and a three-year contract was signed with him. So Chaliapin ended up on the imperial stage.

At first, he played supporting roles, but at the end of the season, replacing the sick bass, Chaliapin had a huge success in the role of Melnik in Rusalka.

In the summer, he received an invitation to go to Nizhny Novgorod to perform at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair in the private opera troupe of the famous Savva Mamontov. In the fall, Chaliapin accepts Mamontov's offer to leave Marinka and perform only with him.

Mamontov told him: “Fedenka, you can do whatever you want in this theater! If you need costumes, tell me, and there will be costumes. If we need to stage a new opera, we will stage an opera!”

Chaliapin's debut in Moscow took place at the end of September 1896. He performed the part of Susanin in Glinka's opera. And a few days later in "Faust" the party of Mephistopheles. The success was enormous! They only talked about Chaliapin. And the full recognition of Chaliapin's genius occurred when Mamontov staged Rimsky-Korsakov's The Maid of Pskov, in which Chaliapin acted as Ivan the Terrible.

The 1897/98 season brought Fyodor Chaliapin new successes.

These are the parts of Dosifai in Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina and the Varangian guest in Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko. The next season was followed by the roles of Holofernes in Judith and Salieri in Mozart and Salieri, Boris Godunov in Mussorgsky's opera of the same name. The directorate of the imperial theaters now spared no money, just to get Chaliapin back on their stage. And in the fall of 1899. Chaliapin signed a three-year contract with the Bolshoi Theatre.

In 1898, Chaliapin married an artist of the Mammoth Theater, an Italian dancer, Iola Tarnaghi. By this time, Chaliapin also gained European popularity.

In 1900, he was invited to the Milan Theater to play the part of Mephistopheles in Boyoto's opera of the same name. The Milan audience greeted him with enthusiasm and at the end of the performance with a standing ovation.

After his first performance on the stage of the Milan theater, Fyodor Chaliapin became a world celebrity. For 10 performances, Fyodor Chaliapin received a huge amount at that time - 15,000 francs. After that, foreign tours became annual and always triumphant.

In 1907, for the first time, Diaghilev organized in Paris "Russian Seasons Abroad", at which Parisians were able to get acquainted with Russian musical culture. The French press covered the "Russian Seasons" enthusiastically, but Chaliapin's performance was recognized as especially striking.

The following year, Diaghilev brought to Paris an opera performance of Boris Godunov with Chaliapin in the title role. The success was stunning.

In 1908, Chaliapin performed in Milan in the opera Boris Godunov in Italian.

For the first time this year, he performed in Berlin, New York and Buenos Aires.

The Italian conductor and composer D. Gavazeni: said: “Chaliapin’s innovation in the field of dramatic truth in opera art had a strong impact on the Italian theater... The dramatic art of the great Russian artist left a deep and lasting mark not only in the field of performance of Russian operas by Italian singers, but also in general, on the whole style of their vocal and stage interpretation, including the works of Verdi ... "

Despite the fact that Chaliapin earned a lot of money by singing, he often gave charity concerts, posters of his charity performances in Kyiv, Kharkov, Petrograd have been preserved.

With the outbreak of the First World War, Chaliapin stopped foreign tours and did not leave Russia until 1920. He opened two infirmaries for wounded soldiers at his own expense, and did not refuse to help those who needed it.

After the October Revolution of 1917, which the artist accepted favorably, Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin became a member of the directorates of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters, he was engaged in the creative reconstruction of the former imperial theaters and in 1918 directed the artistic part of the Mariinsky Theater. In the same year, in November, by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars, he was one of the first of the artists to be awarded the title of People's Artist of the Republic.

But Chaliapin was not interested in politics, and he wanted to remain only a singer and actor. In addition, attacks began on Chaliapin and his family, they doubted his trustworthiness, demanded that his talent be put in the service of socialist society. And Chaliapin decided to leave Russia.

But to leave, and even more so with the family, was not so easy. Therefore, Chaliapin began to convince the authorities that his performances abroad not only bring income to the treasury, but also improve the image of the young Republic. He was allowed to travel abroad with his family.
True, Chaliapin was very worried that his eldest daughter Irina from her first marriage remained to live in Moscow with her husband and mother, Paula Ignatievna Tornagi-Chaliapina. He managed to take away other children from his first marriage - Lydia, Boris, Fedor, Tatyana, as well as children from his second marriage - Marina, Marfa, Dasya. With them lived in Paris and the children of Maria Valentinovna - the second wife of Chaliapin from his first marriage - Edward and Stela.

Leaving in April 1922, Chaliapin settled in France. In Paris, he had a large apartment that occupied an entire floor of the house. However, the singer spent most of his time on tour.

In 1927, the Soviet government stripped him of the title of People's Artist.

Chaliapin was very proud of his son Boris, who became a portrait and landscape painter. N. Benois spoke well of his talent, and Fyodor Ivanovich willingly posed for his son. Portraits and sketches of his father, made by Boris, have been preserved.

No matter how well Chaliapin lived abroad, he often thought about returning to his homeland. Yes, and the authorities of the USSR sought to return the singer.

Maxim Gorky wrote to Fyodor Ivanovich from Sorrento in 1928: “They say you will sing in Rome? I'll come to listen. They really want to listen to you in Moscow. Stalin, Voroshilov and others told me this. Even the “rock” in the Crimea and some other treasures would be returned to you.”

In April 1929, Chaliapin and Gorky met in Rome.

After the performance, Gorky told Chaliapin a lot about the Soviet Union and in conclusion said: “Go home, look at the construction of a new life, at new people, their interest in you is huge, when they see you, you will want to stay there, I’m sure.” But Chaliapin's wife interrupted Gorky's persuasion, telling her husband - "In Soviet Union you will only go over my dead body.”

This was the last meeting between Gorky and Chaliapin.

In the meantime, mass repressions began in the USSR, rumors about which increasingly reached the West.

In exile, Chaliapin was friends with Rakhmaninov, Korovin, Anna Pavlova. He was acquainted with Charlie Chaplin and Herbert Wells.

In 1932 Chaliapin starred in the sound film Don Quixote directed by the German director Georg Pabst. The film was popular in many countries and became a notable phenomenon in cinematography.

Chaliapin continued to give a huge number of concerts every year.

But his health, starting in 1936, began to deteriorate. In the summer of 1937, doctors diagnosed him with heart disease and emphysema. Chaliapin began to rapidly surrender and in just a few months he turned into an old man. In early 1938, he was diagnosed with leukemia. And in April the great singer died. He died in Paris, but never accepted French citizenship, dreaming of being buried in his homeland.

Chaliapin's will could only be fulfilled 46 years after his death.

Personally, I and, probably, many would like Chaliapin's voice to sound more often on radio and television. You can not scatter such brilliant voices, let them drown in oblivion.

After all, it is precisely such nuggets of the Russian land as Chaliapin that can make more beautiful and purer not only the voices of modern singers, but also our whole life.

As a child, Fyodor Chaliapin could not even imagine that he would someday become a great singer. His father, Ivan Yakovlevich, stubbornly convinced his son that The best way to earn a living - not to sing songs, but to get a job as a janitor.

Parents baptized their son Fedor the very next day after his birth. The child was so frail that his mother and father feared his imminent death.

As a child, Fedya sang in the church of the city of Kazan, where a familiar regent attached him. When the boy was given the first fee (one and a half rubles), he was very surprised to learn that you can also get money for singing!

At the age of fifteen, young Fedya Chaliapin tried to enter the choir of the Kazan Theater. But, he didn't pass the audition. Instead, they took some tall, thin guy. Years later, Fedor Ivanovich spoke about his failure to the writer Maxim Gorky. He laughed and remembered that it was he who was Chaliapin's competitor. True, the future writer did not last long in the theater, he was expelled from the choir, since he did not know how to sing at all.

Once Fyodor Ivanovich hired a cab driver in Moscow. During the conversation, the peasant asked what Chaliapin was doing. - Yes, I sing. - And I sing when I'm bored. What is your job?

Chaliapin was an avid arms collector. The walls of his house were decorated with guns, pistols, sabers. After the revolution, the collection was confiscated, but soon, at the direction of the Cheka, it was returned. It was the passion for weapons that helped Chaliapin protect himself from the robber. One night, a criminal climbed into Chaliapin's dacha in Sochi. The artist drew a revolver and killed him with a shot in the heart. The attacker turned out to be a local beggar. There was a stick in his hands, but Chaliapin assured that in the dark he mistook it for a gun.

In 1922, Chaliapin decided to leave Soviet Russia. But, the title of People's Artist remained with him for another 5 years. Only in 1927, the government of the USSR deprived him of the opportunity to return to the country. The thing is that the singer gave his fee for one of the concerts to the children of Russian emigrants. Chaliapin was accused of supporting the enemies of the Soviet Union.

During a tour of the United States, Chaliapin passed inspection at the New York customs. One of the fans standing in line shouted loudly: “It's Chaliapin! He has a golden throat! The customs officers regarded this "compliment" in their own way: they forced the singer to take an X-ray of his throat.

They say that it was largely thanks to Chaliapin that caviar became popular in Europe. He liked to drink a glass of vodka and eat it with a caviar sandwich. Many admirers of Chaliapin's talent began to do the same.

Chaliapin was not only a great singer, but also a talented painter and sculptor. Many of his paintings and several sculptures have survived.

On April 12, 1938, Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin died in Paris and was buried at the local Batignolles cemetery. Only in 1984 was the singer's reburial ceremony at Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery.