Fyodor Chaliapin is a great Russian singer. Biography. In which operas did Chaliapin perform the main roles? “Pskovite” (Ivan the Terrible), “Life for the Tsar” (Ivan Susanin), “Mozart and Salieri” (Salieri)

Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was born on February 1 (13), 1873, in Kazan. As a child, Fyodor sang in the church choir. Before entering school, he studied shoemaking with N.A. Tonkov and V.A. Andreev. He received his primary education at Vedernikova’s private school. Then he entered the Kazan parish school.

His studies at the school ended in 1885. In the autumn of the same year, he entered the vocational school in Arsk.

The beginning of a creative journey

In 1889, Chaliapin became a member of the drama troupe of V. B. Serebryakov. In the spring of 1890, the artist's first solo performance took place. Chaliapin performed the part of Zaretsky in P. I. Tchaikovsky’s opera, “Eugene Onegin”.

In the autumn of the same year, Fyodor Ivanovich moved to Ufa and joined the choir of the operetta troupe of S. Ya. Semenov-Samarsky. In S. Monyushko’s opera “Pebble,” 17-year-old Chaliapin replaced the ill artist. This debut brought him fame in a narrow circle.

In 1893, Chaliapin became a member of G. I. Derkach’s troupe and moved to Tiflis. There he met opera singer D. Usatov. On the advice of an older comrade, Chaliapin took his voice seriously. It was in Tiflis that Chaliapin performed his first bass parts.

In 1893, Chaliapin moved to Moscow. A year later he moved to St. Petersburg and joined the opera troupe of M. V. Lentovsky. Winter 1894-1895 joined the troupe of I.P. Zazulin.

In 1895, Chaliapin was invited to join the St. Petersburg opera troupe. On stage Mariinsky Theater Chaliapin played the roles of Mephistopheles and Ruslan.

Creative takeoff

Studying short biography Shalyapin Fyodor Ivanovich, you should know that in 1899 he first appeared on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. In 1901, the artist performed the role of Mephistopheles at the La Scala theater in Milan. His performance was very popular with European audiences and critics.

During the revolution, the artist performed with folk songs, and donated the fees to the workers. In 1907-1908 His tour began in the United States of America and Argentina.

In 1915, Chaliapin made his film debut, playing the title role in the film “Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible.”

In 1918, Chaliapin took charge of the former Mariinsky Theater. In the same year he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Republic.

Abroad

In July 1922, Chaliapin went on tour to the USA. This fact in itself was deeply disturbing. new government. And when in 1927 the artist donated his fee to the children of political emigrants, this was regarded as a betrayal of Soviet ideals.

Against this background, in 1927, Fyodor Ivanovich was stripped of his title people's artist and were forbidden to return to their homeland. All charges against the great artist were dropped only in 1991.

In 1932, the artist played the title role in the film “The Adventures of Don Quixote.”

Last years of life

In 1937, F.I. Chaliapin was diagnosed with leukemia. Great artist passed away a year later, on April 12, 1938. In 1984, thanks to Baron E. A. von Falz-Fein, Chaliapin’s ashes were delivered to Russia.

The reburial ceremony of the outstanding singer took place on October 29, 1984, at Novodevichy Cemetery.

Other biography options

In the life of F. I. Chaliapin there were many interesting, fun facts. In his youth, he auditioned for the same choir together with M. Gorky. The choir directors “rejected” Chaliapin due to a mutation in his voice, preferring him to an arrogant competitor. Chaliapin retained his resentment for his much less talented competitor for the rest of his life.
Having met M. Gorky, he told him this story. The surprised writer, laughing cheerfully, admitted that it was he who was a competitor in the choir, who was soon kicked out due to lack of a voice.
The stage debut of young Chaliapin was quite original. At that time he was the main extra, and at the premiere of the play he performed in the silent role of the cardinal. The whole role consisted of a majestic procession across the stage. The cardinal's retinue was played by junior extras who were very worried. While rehearsing, Chaliapin ordered them to do everything on stage exactly as he did.
Entering the stage, Fyodor Ivanovich became entangled in his robe and fell. Thinking that this was the right thing to do, the retinue did the same. This “heap of small things” crawled across the stage, making the tragic scene incredibly funny. For this, the enraged director lowered Chaliapin down the stairs.

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

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

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

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

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

Chaliapin's beautiful voice appeared 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 Fyodor independently learned to pull the bow, trying to master the basics musical literacy.

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

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

One day, Chaliapin’s neighbor, regent Shcherbitsky in Sukonnaya Sloboda, where the family then lived, heard Fyodor singing and brought him to the Church of Barbara the Great Martyr, where the two of them sang the all-night vigil in bass and treble, then mass. After this incident, Chaliapin began to sing in the church choir constantly. He earned money by singing not only at prayer services, but also at weddings and funerals.

In 1883, F.I. Chaliapin first came to the theater.
He sat in the gallery and watched with bated breath what was happening on stage. They showed “Russian Wedding” by P. P. Sukhonin.

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

After this first visit to the theater, Fedor tried to get to almost every performance. Moreover, in the 80s years XIX centuries, 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”.

It was probably after listening to this opera that Chaliapin decided to become an artist.

But for now, Chaliapin had to care for his sick mother and work as a scribe in the district zemstvo government, then with a moneylender and in the court chamber. But the young man did not like any of these works.

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 through an advertisement to audition for the choir of the Kazan Opera House. Among those who came for the test was future writer A.M. Gorky - 20-year-old Alexey Peshkov. So he was enrolled in the choir as the 2nd tenor, and the commission rejected Chaliapin “due to lack of voice”...

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

Chaliapin met with Maxim Gorky again in 1900 in Nizhny Novgorod, and they will become friends.

In 1890, Fedor entered the Ufa opera troupe of Semenov-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. Chance helped - on the eve of the performance, one of the baritones of the troupe suddenly refused the role of Stolnik in Moniuszko’s opera “Pebble” and the entrepreneur Semyonov-Samarsky offered to sing this part for Chaliapin. The young man quickly learned the part and performed. He even got a salary increase for his efforts. In the same season he sang Fernando in Troubadour and Neizvestny in Askold’s Grave.

After the end of the season, Chaliapin joined the Little Russian traveling troupe Derkach, with whom he toured 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 the French opera and operetta troupe of Lassalle.

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

Chaliapin was noticed by the famous Tiflis singing teacher Professor Dmitry Usatov, who himself was formerly a famous opera singer. Recognizing great talent in the young Chaliapin, Usatov began to study with him for free, obtained a small scholarship for him and fed him free lunches.

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

After a few months of studying with Usatov, Chaliapin began performing 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 the Miller from “The Mermaid” and Tonio from “Pagliacci”.

However, in 1894, having saved up some money, Chaliapin went to Moscow. IN Bolshoi Theater He failed to get in, but he was accepted into Petrosyan’s opera troupe, which was being recruited for the St. Petersburg Arcadia Theater. Thus, Chaliapin came to the capital.

But, alas, two months later Petrosyan’s theater went bankrupt, and Chaliapin entered into a partnership opera singers Panaevsky Theater. At the beginning of 1895, he was invited to auditions at the Mariinsky Theater and a contract was signed with him for three years. This is how Chaliapin found himself on the imperial stage.

At first he played a supporting role, but at the end of the season, replacing the sick bass, Chaliapin had enormous success in the role of the Miller in “Rusalka”.

In the summer, he received an invitation to go to Nizhny Novgorod to perform during 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 for 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 you need to put new opera, let’s stage an opera!”

Chaliapin's debut in Moscow took place at the end of September 1896. He performed the role of Susanin in Glinka's opera. And a few days later in Faust the role of Mephistopheles. The success was colossal! They only talked about Chaliapin. And full recognition of Chaliapin’s genius occurred when Mamontov staged “The Woman of Pskov” by Rimsky-Korsakov, in which Chaliapin performed as Ivan the Terrible.

The 1897/98 season brought new successes to Fyodor Chaliapin.

These are the roles 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 management 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 Theater.

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

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

After his first performance on stage Milan Theater Fyodor Chaliapin became a world celebrity. For 10 performances, Fyodor Chaliapin received a huge sum at that time - 15,000 francs. After this, foreign tours became annual and were always a triumph.

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

The following year, Diaghilev brought the opera performance “Boris Godunov” to Paris 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.

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

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

With the outbreak of World War I, Chaliapin stopped touring abroad and did not leave Russia until 1920. He opened two hospitals for wounded soldiers at his own expense, and did not refuse help to those who were in need.

After October Revolution 1917, which the artist accepted favorably, Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin became a member of the directors 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 resolution of the Council of People's Commissars, he was one of the first 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, and demanded that his talent be used to serve the socialist society. And Chaliapin decided to leave Russia.

But leaving, especially with my family, was not so easy. Therefore, Chaliapin began to convince the authorities that his performances abroad not only brought income to the treasury, but also improved the image of the young Republic. He was allowed to travel abroad with his family.
True, Chaliapin was very worried that he eldest daughter Irina from her first marriage remained to live in Moscow with her husband and mother, Pola Ignatievna Tornagi-Chalyapina. He managed to take the other children from his first marriage - Lydia, Boris, Fyodor, Tatyana - with him, as well as the children from his second marriage - Marina, Marfa, Dassya. The children of Maria Valentinovna, Chaliapin’s second wife from his first marriage, Edward and Stela, lived with them in Paris.

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

In 1927 soviet government deprived 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. And the USSR authorities sought to return the singer.

Maxim Gorky wrote to Fyodor Ivanovich from Sorrento in 1928: “They say – will you 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 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 to your homeland, look at the construction of a new life, at new people, their interest in you is enormous, 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 corpse.”

It was last meeting Gorky and Chaliapin.

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

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

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

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 found he had heart disease and pulmonary emphysema. Chaliapin began to rapidly decline and in just a few months turned into an old man. At the beginning of 1938, he was diagnosed with leukemia. And in April the great singer passed away. He died in Paris, but never accepted French citizenship, dreaming of being buried in his homeland.

Chaliapin's will was carried out only 46 years after his death.

Personally, I and probably many would like for Chaliapin’s voice to be heard more often on radio and television. We cannot throw away such brilliant voices and allow them to sink into oblivion.

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

The son of the peasant of the Vyatka province Ivan Yakovlevich Chaliapin (1837-1901), a representative of the ancient Vyatka family of the Shalyapins (Shelepins). Chaliapin's mother is a peasant woman from the village of Dudintsy, Kumensky volost (Kumensky district Kirov region), Evdokia Mikhailovna (nee Prozorova). Ivan Yakovlevich and Evdokia Mikhailovna got married on January 27, 1863 in the Transfiguration Church in the village of Vozhgaly. As a child, Chaliapin was a singer. Received primary education.

Start of a career

Chaliapin himself considered the beginning of his artistic career to be 1889, when he entered the drama troupe V. B. Serebryakova. Initially, as a statistician.

On March 29, 1890, Chaliapin's first solo performance took place - the role of Zaretsky in the opera "Eugene Onegin", staged by the Kazan Society of Performing Art Lovers. Throughout May and early June 1890, Chaliapin was a chorus member of V. B. Serebryakov’s operetta company.

In September 1890, Chaliapin arrived from Kazan to Ufa and began working in the chorus of an operetta troupe under the direction of S. Ya. Semenov-Samarsky.

Quite by accident I had to transform from a chorister into a soloist, replacing a sick artist in Moniuszko’s opera “Galka”.

This debut brought out the 17-year-old Chaliapin, who was occasionally assigned small opera roles, for example, Fernando in Il Trovatore. The following year, Chaliapin performed as the Unknown in Verstovsky's Askold's Grave. He was offered a place in the Ufa zemstvo, but the Little Russian troupe of Dergach came to Ufa, and Chaliapin joined it. Traveling with her led him to Tiflis, where for the first time he managed to take his voice seriously, thanks to the singer D. A. Usatov. Usatov not only approved of Chaliapin’s voice, but, due to the latter’s lack of financial resources, began giving him singing lessons for free and generally took a great part in it. He also arranged for Chaliapin to perform in the Tiflis opera of Ludwig-Forcatti and Lyubimov. Chaliapin lived in Tiflis for a whole year, performing the first bass parts in the opera.

In 1893 he moved to Moscow, and in 1894 to St. Petersburg, where he sang in Arcadia in Lentovsky's opera troupe, and in the winter of 1894-1895. - in the opera partnership at the Panaevsky Theater, in the Zazulin troupe. Beautiful voice aspiring artist and especially his expressive musical recitation in connection with his truthful playing attracted the attention of critics and the public. In 1895, Chaliapin was accepted by the directorate of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theaters into the opera troupe: he entered the stage of the Mariinsky Theater and successfully sang the roles of Mephistopheles (Faust) and Ruslan (Ruslan and Lyudmila). Chaliapin's diverse talent was expressed in comic opera“Secret Marriage” by D. Cimarosa, but still did not receive proper praise. It is reported that in the 1895-1896 season he “appeared quite rarely and, moreover, in parties that were not very suitable for him.”

Creativity flourishes

The years spent at the Russian Private Opera, created by S.I. Mamontov, marked the brilliant rise of Chaliapin’s artistic career. He was a soloist of the Russian Orchestra Orchestra for four seasons - from 1896 to 1899. In the autobiographical book “Mask and Soul,” written in exile (1932), Chaliapin characterizes this short period of his creative life as the most important: “From Mamontov I received the repertoire that gave me the opportunity to develop all the main features of my artistic nature, my temperament.” In the productions of the Mamontov Private Opera, the singer grew into a true stage artist. Here is another fragment of his memoirs, which talks about his initial steps in the Moscow opera group: “S. I. Mamontov told me: - 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’ll stage an opera! All this dressed my soul in festive clothes, and for the first time in my life I felt free, strong, able to overcome all obstacles.”

Since 1899, he again served in the Imperial Russian Opera in Moscow (Bolshoi Theater), where he enjoyed enormous success. He was highly appreciated in Milan, where he performed at the La Scala theater in the title role of Mephistopheles A. Boito (1901, 10 performances). Chaliapin's tours in St. Petersburg on the Mariinsky stage constituted a kind of event in St. Petersburg musical world.

Emigration period

From 1921 ("Enc. Dictionary", 1955) or 1922 ("Theatre Enc.", 1967) he went on tour abroad, in particular in the USA, where his American impresario was Solomon Hurok. When Chaliapin was in France, the Soviet government deprived him of citizenship only because the singer gave money to starving children of the White Guards.

Personal life

Chaliapin was married twice, and from both marriages he had 9 children (one died in early age).

Fyodor Chaliapin met his first wife in Nizhny Novgorod, and they got married in 1896 in the church of the village of Gagino. This was the young Italian ballerina Iola Tornaghi (Iola Ignatievna Le Presti (after Tornaghi’s stage), died in 1965 at the age of 92), born in the city of Monza (near Milan). In total, Chaliapin had six children in this marriage: Igor (died at the age of 4), Boris, Fedor, Tatyana, Irina, Lydia. Fyodor and Tatyana were twins. Iola Tornaghi for a long time lived in Russia and only at the end of the 1950s, at the invitation of her son Fedor, she moved to Rome.

Already having a family, Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin became close to Maria Valentinovna Petzold (née Elukhen, in her first marriage - Petzold, 1882-1964), who had two children of her own from her first marriage. They have three daughters: Marfa (1910-2003), Marina (1912-2009) and Dasia (1921-1977). Shalyapin's daughter Marina (Marina Fedorovna Shalyapina-Freddy) lived longer than all his children and died at the age of 98.

In fact, Chaliapin had a second family. The first marriage was not dissolved, and the second was not registered and was considered invalid. It turned out that Chaliapin had one family in the old capital, and another in the new one: one family did not go to St. Petersburg, and the other did not go to Moscow. Officially, Maria Valentinovna’s marriage to Chaliapin was formalized in 1927 in Paris.

In 1984, Chaliapin's ashes were transferred from Paris to Moscow, to the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Addresses in St. Petersburg - Petrograd

1894-1895 - hotel "Palais Royal" - Pushkinskaya street, 20;
1899 - Kolokolnaya street, 5;
1901 - end of 1911 - furnished rooms of O. N. Mukhina - Bolshaya Morskaya Street, 16;
late 1911 - spring 1912 - apartment building - Liteiny Prospekt, 45;
summer 1912 - autumn 1914 - Nikolskaya Square, 4, apt. 2;
autumn 1914 - 06.22.1922 - Permskaya street, 2, apt. 3. (now the Memorial Museum-Apartment of F.I. Shalyapin, St. Petersburg, Graftio St., 2B)

Memory of Chaliapin

In 1956, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Supreme Council of the RSFSR considered “proposals to posthumously restore the title of People’s Artist of the Republic to F. I. Chaliapin,” but they were not accepted. The 1927 resolution was repealed by the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR only on June 10, 1991.
On February 8, 1982, the first opera festival named after him opened in Kazan, the homeland of Fyodor Chaliapin. The festival is held on the stage of Tatarsky state theater Opera and Ballet named after. M. Jalil, since 1991 has had the status of International.
On October 29, 1984, a ceremony for the reburial of the ashes of F.I. Chaliapin took place at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
The opening took place on October 31, 1986 tombstone F. I. Chaliapin (sculptor A. Yeletsky, architect Yu. Voskresensky).
On August 29, 1999 in Kazan, a monument to F. I. Chaliapin (sculptor A. Balashov) was erected near the bell tower of the Church of the Epiphany. The monument stands next to the Shalyapin Palace Hotel. In February 1873, Fyodor Chaliapin was baptized in the Church of the Epiphany.
A monument to Chaliapin was also erected in Ufa.
Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his achievements and contributions to music.
In 2003, on Novinsky Boulevard in Moscow, next to the house-museum named after F.I. Chaliapin, a monument about 2.5 m high was erected in honor of the great artist. The author of the sculpture is Vadim Tserkovnikov.

Gallery

Portraits of Chaliapin

Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov: F. I. Chaliapin in the role of Ivan the Terrible, 1897

Caricature by P. Robert of F. I. Chaliapin, 1903

Portrait by B. M. Kustodiev.

Self-portrait of F. Chaliapin in the role of Dosifey (“Khovanshchina”), made on the wall of the artist’s dressing room at the Mariinsky Theater (1911)

Portrait of F. I. Chaliapin on postage stamp USSR 1965, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the artist V. A. Serov.

Awards

1902 - Bukhara Order of the Golden Star, III degree.
1907 - Golden Cross of the Prussian Eagle.
1908 - cavalier officer rank.
1910 - title of Soloist of His Majesty (Russia).
1912 - title of Soloist of His Majesty the Italian King.
1913 - title of Soloist of His Majesty English king.
1914 - English Order for special services in the field of art.
1914 - Russian Order of Stanislav III degree.
1916 - rank of officer.
1918 - title of People's Artist of the Republic (awarded for the first time).
1934 - Commander of the Legion of Honor (France).

Creation

The surviving gramophone recordings of the singer are of very low quality, so one can judge his work mainly from the memories of his contemporaries. Singer's voice - high bass(possibly a bass-baritone) of a light timbre, with very pronounced tremulation. Contemporaries note the singer’s excellent diction and his flying voice, which can be heard even in the most distant places from the stage.

According to a common point of view, Chaliapin gained his popularity not so much as a singer, but as an outstanding artist, a master of disguise and artistic word. Tall, stately, with pronounced demonic features, with a piercing gaze, Chaliapin made an indelible impression in his best tragic roles (Melnik, Boris Godunov, Mephistopheles, Don Quixote). Chaliapin shocked the audience with his frantic temperament, he sang every note, found very precise and sincere intonations for every word of the song, and was absolutely organic and authentic on stage.

Chaliapin's artistic talent was not limited to musical and acting activities. Chaliapin painted well in oils, drew and sculpted, showed great literary abilities, demonstrating in his written works a great and quick-witted natural mind, an extraordinary sense of humor, and tenacious observation.

Partners in different years were: A. M. Davydov, T. Dal Monte, D. de Luca, N. Ermolenko-Yuzhina, I. Ershov, E. Zbrueva, E. Caruso, V. Kastorsky, E. Cuza, N. M. Lanskaya, L. Lipkovskaya, F. Litvin, E. Mravina, V. Petrov, T. Ruffo, N. Salina, T. Skipa, P. Slovtsov, D. Smirnov, L. Sobinov, R. Storchio, M. Cherkasskaya, V. Eberle, L. Yakovlev.

The message about Chaliapin, summarized in this article, will tell you about the life and work of the Russian opera and chamber singer.

Report on Fyodor Chaliapin

Fedor Ivanovich Shalyapin was born on February 13, 1873 in Kazan into the family of a clerk in the zemstvo administration. Parents noticed little boy a beautiful treble and sent him to sing in the church choir, where he learned the basics of musical literacy. In parallel with this, Fedor studied shoemaking.

The future Russian singer Fyodor Chaliapin completed only a few classes primary school and went to work as an assistant clerk. One day he visited the Kazan Opera Theater, and art captivated him. At the age of 16, the young man auditions for the theater, but in vain. Serebryakov, the head of the drama group, took Fedora as an extra.

Over time, he is entrusted with vocal parts. The successful performance of the role of Zaretsky (the opera Eugene Onegin) brings him minor success. The inspired Chaliapin decides to change the team to music group Semenov-Samarsky, in which he was accepted as a soloist, and leaves for Ufa.

The singer, who has gained musical experience, is invited to the Little Russian traveling theater of Derkach. Chaliapin tours the country with him. In Georgia, Fedora is noticed by D. Usatov, a vocal teacher, and takes him in for full support. The future singer not only studied with Usatov, but also worked in the local opera house, performing bass lines.

The works of Fyodor Chaliapin

The life of Fyodor Chaliapin changed in 1894, when he entered the service of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theater. It was here that during one performance he was noticed by the benefactor Savva Mamontov, who lured Fedor to his place. Mamontov gave him freedom of choice in his theater regarding the roles performed. He sang parts from the operas “A Life for the Tsar”, “Sadko”, “The Pskov Woman”, “Mozart and Salieri”, “Khovanshchina”, “Boris Godunov” and “Rusalka”.

At the beginning of the twentieth century he appears at the Mariinsky Theater as a soloist. Together with the capital's theater he tours throughout Europe and New York. He performed at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater many times.

In 1905, Fyodor Chaliapin, the singer, was already a fully formed artist who performed songs that were famous at that time. He often gave the proceeds from concerts to workers, which earned him respect from the Soviet authorities.

After the revolution in Russia, Fyodor Ivanovich was appointed head of the Mariinsky Theater and awarded the title of People's Artist of the Republic. But he did not manage to work in the theater field for long in his new position. In 1922, together with his family, the singer emigrated abroad and more to Soviet Russia he didn't perform. After some time, the authorities deprived him of the title of People's Artist of the Republic.

Abroad, he went on tour around the world. After the last tours in the countries Far East Fyodor Ivanovich felt bad. After a medical examination in 1937, he was diagnosed with blood cancer. Doctors said that he would not live more than a year. Died great singer in April 1938 in his Paris apartment.

Fyodor Chaliapin personal life

His first wife was a ballerina Italian origin. Her name was Iola Tornaghi. The couple married in 1896. The marriage produced 6 children - Igor, Boris, Fedor, Tatyana, Irina, Lydia. Chaliapin often went to perform in St. Petersburg, where he met Maria Valentinovna Petzold. She had two children from her first marriage. They began to meet secretly and, in fact, Fyodor Ivanovich started a second family. Double life the artist led him to leave for Europe, where he took his second family. At that time, Maria gave birth to three more children - Martha, Marina and Dasia. Later, Chaliapin took five children from his first marriage to Paris (son Igor died at the age of 4). Officially, the marriage of Maria and Fyodor Chaliapin was registered in Paris in 1927. Although he maintained a friendly relationship with his first wife Iola, he constantly wrote letters to her about the achievements of their children. Iola herself went to Rome in the 1950s at the invitation of her son.

The music of Fyodor Chaliapin has not been preserved on gramophone recordings in very good condition. good quality. However, contemporaries note his flying, timbre voice with pronounced tremulation.
Fyodor Chaliapin not only sang. He was interested in sculpture, painting and even starred in 2 films.
Even in his youth, he auditioned for the choir with M. Gorky. And the team leaders preferred the latter. Chaliapin harbored a grudge against Gorky for the rest of his life, although he did not know the name of his competitor. Once, when meeting with the writer, Fyodor Ivanovich told him this story. And Gorky, laughing, said that he was the offender.
Has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He drew beautifully, as evidenced by his “Self-Portrait”.
He collected weapons.
His second wife could not officially bear the surname Chaliapin, since he was not divorced from his first wife. There have always been scandals about this in the Western press. Once, even while on tour in New York, the artist was blackmailed by reporters, demanding $10,000 so that information would not go to the people.

We hope that the report about Fyodor Chaliapin helped you learn a lot useful information about the singer. And you can leave your message about Fyodor Chaliapin using the comment form below.

After artists or architects, something material remains. And what remains after the great singers? In many ways, technically imperfect recordings. And it’s even a shame that this is so. That's why it's better to listen to such masters live. Especially when there is such an opportunity. And if not, well, all that remains is to trust the films and memoirists.

Biography of Fyodor Chaliapin

He was born in poor peasant family 1(13).02.1873 The father dreamed of seeing his son as a man of a practical profession. Of course, music was not a business in his eyes. He raised his son in strictness. It happened that he was severely flogged in the stables. In 1883, Chaliapin appeared in the theater for the first time. Everything you saw there magically affected him for the rest of his life. Later, Chaliapin traveled a lot with various acting troupes. And due to lack of money, he had to work on the pier - either as a loader or as a hookman.

Fate brings him to Tiflis. Here Usatov, a famous singing teacher at that time, saw him and became interested. In the past, he himself was a famous opera singer. He undertook to teach young Chaliapin vocals completely free of charge, sensing his remarkable talent. The student quickly made progress, and already in 1893 Fedor entered the professional stage. The choice was huge. In just one season, Chaliapin had to master as many as 12 operatic roles. He quickly became a crowd favorite. She received him warmly and enthusiastically.

Chaliapin shone in the role of the Miller from “The Mermaid.” A year later, the novice bass went to conquer the capital. There he was also noticed and appreciated. The management of the Mariinsky Theater concludes a contract with Chaliapin for three years. The pinnacle of recognition is the imperial stage. Then he was invited to perform in a private troupe famous philanthropist. They immediately liked each other. However tempting offer Shalyapin does not accept Mamontov. He returns to everyday life imperial theater. Then, succumbing to the persuasion of his beloved woman, the Greek woman Iola Tarnaki, he moves to Moscow.

Now Chaliapin enthusiastically works at the Mamontov Theater. Here he can allow himself the most daring artistic experiments. Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov - a whole gallery of bright and expressive images. The then-novice composer and conductor helped Chaliapin prepare a number of parts. Their friendship continued until the end of their lives. For his part, Rachmaninov even dedicated several of his romances to Chaliapin.

There were legends about Chaliapin's cool temperament. He lost his temper over every little thing. I especially couldn’t stand falsehood and hackwork on stage. I spent as much as possible. Loved money. He said: “Only birds poop for free.” Thanks to his unique vocal range, Chaliapin was both a bass and a tenor. Chaliapin also had a chance to sing in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The Bolsheviks' coming to power initially changed little. Chaliapin is still invited to perform at official concerts, he is in demand. He is awarded honorary titles. But immediately official voices are heard demanding that creativity be socialized and talent be put at the service of the people. In 1922, Chaliapin and his family left Russia forever. Officially - on tour, in fact - in exile. In 1927, in his homeland he was deprived of the title of People's Artist. He was known all over the world, but he chose France.

Numerous tours, fame, purchase of a luxurious mansion. Chaliapin tours America with enormous success. At the end of his life he will write memoirs entitled “The Mask and the Soul.” Chaliapin died of leukemia in 1938. To recent years he dreamed of returning to his homeland.

Few people know that Chaliapin owed the development of his voice to Savva Mamontov. He sang superbly, although he did not make a career in this field.