Chaliapin Feodor

Chaliapin Feodor (1873-1938), Russian bass singer. Born in Kazan. As a child, he used to sing in a church choir. Being captivated by theater, he participated in opera and dramatic performances as an extra. As of 1890, he was employed as a choir singer of the Ufa Opera Theater. In 1892, he arrived in Tbilisi in order to enlist in the socalled Italian Company that was based in Batumi. Soon the troupe fell apart and F. Chaliapin returned to Tbilisi.

F. Chaliapin’s stage carrier took off in Tbilisi. His Tbilisian friends advised him to take lessons from D. Ustinov, former opera singer, who had many apprentices in Tbilisi. At the same time, F. Chaliapin was working at the Tbilisi Opera Theater. In 1893 – 94 he acted the parts of Mephistopheles (Gounod’s Faust) and the Miller (Dargomizhsky’s Rusalka). In the end of the season, they permitted him to produce independently two operas: Pagliacci and Faust.

In 1894 F. Chaliapin left Tbilisi. He went on tour to the cities of Russia and European countries; the most noteworthy was his triumphant performance at the Milan La Scala Theater in 1901, which earned him a worldwide fame.

In 1910, F. Chaliapin revisited Tbilisi, where his old friends met him cordially. Once again, F. Chaliapin saw the sights of ‘the city that worked miracles for me’

Starting from 1922 F. Chaliapin lived in Paris and he died there.