FEODOR
CHALIAPIN
(b.
in Kazan 1873 d. in Paris 1938)
The
Life
He
was born on 13 February 1873 in Kazan on Rybnoryadskoaya Street
(now Pushkin Street ). His father, Ivan Yakovlevich, was a
clerk in the Zemskaya Uprava (Land Council). In 1878, the
family moved to the village of Ometyevo, a district of Kazan,
and settled in a small house.
His
musical education started as a member of the choir in the
local church. He had only 4 years of formal schooling and
at the age of 17 he left an abusive home (his father had become
an alcoholic) and joined a travelling theatre company. There
he met Dmitri Uzatov, a retired tenor, who gave classical
singing education to Chaliapin. He
debuted with the Tbilisi Opera, then Mariinsky (later Kirov)
now the Mariinsky Theatre, and later joined the Bolshoi Opera
in Moscow .
In
1902, Chaliapin sang Boito's Mefistofele with Enrico Caruso
at La Scala and became the best bass in Europe during those
years. His debut at the Met for the season of 1906 - 07 was
announced with great expectations. He sang Mefistofele, Il
barbiere di Siviglia and Don Giovanni. The reaction of New
York critics was puzzling and, with only one exception, they
detested him. They accused him of clowning on the revered
stage of The Met. Only one critic, Henry T. Finck, maintained
that the Russian bass was one of the great singing actors
of all times. How right he was!
Chaliapin
shocked the American critics the first time. Always against
convention, he created his own interpretation of the operatic
character he played. In Mefistofele, he came on the stage
with his magnificent half naked body. The critics could not
accept his characterization but the public did. Chaliapin
had an enormous popular success. For each performance, he
commanded 33 000 American dollars of today. Chaliapin did
not set foot again on American soil until 1921.
Boris
(Boris
Godounov)
|
The
devil
(Mefistofele)
|
In
between those years, he created the title role of Massenet's
Don Quichotte in 1910, which the composer had written for
him. He sang Boris Godunov in Paris in 1908 and in 1914 -15
he sang Russian Opera in London, just before the pistol shot
at Sarajevo touched off the WW1 conflict. But even in the
midst of this feast of Russian music, Chaliapin misbehaved.
With
him, it was as always a matter of money. He was the highest
paid artist in Russia , with a salary of 37 000 roubles a
year from the Imperial Opera House. Sir Thomas paid him 250
pound sterling a performance for the season of Russian Opera
at the Drury Lane Theatre . Chaliapin had a house in Moscow
, another one in St Petersburg and an estate at Yaroslavl.
He was a rich man.
It
always came as a shock that this big man with a big lusty
voice, big warm personality, a zest for good eating, drinking
and talk, the magnetism of a handsome, vigorous and virile
male, a man so big in every way, could be so stingy about
money, while he was everywhere acclaimed as a great artist.
After the Russian revolution, Chaliapin stayed in Moscow for
a time, singing at the Bolshoi, returned for a short period
to the Mariinsky Theatre at the end of the war but finally
left Russia in 1921, never to return.
Anecdotes
There
are some funny anecdotes going around about the great Russian
bass. Chaliapin was always an actor, on and off the stage.
A legend grew up about his romantic escapades and his readiness
with his fists. In Chicago a story broke into the newspapers
about his attentions to a lady member of the opera company,
which caused a lively bout with a fellow artist courting the
same lady.
Another
newspaper story told of Chaliapin quarrelling with another
artist and getting his nose broken. This story went all over
the world, reaching even his secretary in Russia, who cabled
anxiously to know what had happened. Chaliapin's version was
that he had been misunderstood by dolts who knew nothing of
opera in general and Boris Godunov in particular. He had merely
been rehearsing the Palace scene, showing the tenor who sang
the role of Prince Shouisky how the mad Czar cuffed and cursed
the Prince. He cabled his secretary that if he, Chaliapin,
had had his nose broken, there would have been news of a tenor's
funeral the next day!!!
Feodor
Ivanovich Chaliapin married twice. His first wife was Lola
Ignatievna, an Italian dancer and they had five children:
Kira, Tanya, Lydia, Boris and Feodor. After the divorce, she
migrated back to the Soviet Union, where she stayed for the
rest of her life. Marie Valentinovna, an Estonian, was his
second wife, a charming and cultured woman. She brought to
the household two children by her first husband and bore Chaliapin
three daughters, Marfa, Maria and Daska. Two wives, eight
children, two step children, were the centre of his universe.
The
Voice
With
a voice of commanding power, range and technique which were
unconventional but remarkably secure, Chaliapin achieved a
highly personal balance between the demands of declamation
and musical line. Even in his vocal declining years, he was
an actor of immense energy and perfect attention to detail,
whose presence held all eyes glued to him whenever he was
on the stage.
His
vocal technique was superb. The voice was even throughout
its range, allowing him to tackle selected baritone roles
as successfully as his customary bass roles. It was sharply
focused, free of vibrato and could be fined down to the merest
thread of sound when the music (or rather Chaliapin's knowledge
of music) demanded it. He was one of the first singers who
appled psychological technique to operatic acting. The way
he used to stand, the way he moved, what he wore and the rhythm
of his speech translated to music were nothing short of revolutionary
in opera!
Rachmaninov
claimed that Chaliapin sang as Tolstoy wrote, which we may
observe for example with his interpretation of Mefistofele
- his 'Son lo spirito' was marked by a demonic whistle and
a terrifying interpretation. There was almost a conversational
quality in Chaliapin's deep, low voice combined with dramatic
ability.
Feodor
Ivanovich Chaliapin died in Paris in 1938. The legend had
departed but fortunately it is still with us through his recordings,
which are gems among opera lovers.
Audio
file
1.
M. Musorgskij - Boris Godounov
Dostíg
ya výshey vlasti (I have supreme power)
Boris
Godounov - act II...............................4:50
(28/4/07)
(l.s.)
|
”There
is one thing to be said for glory - you can take glory
with you, when it is your time to go”