Feodor Chaliapin stands as the single most celebrated bass in the entire history of opera. Endowed with an imposing yet sumptuous instrument, he immersed himself in every dimension of performance, above all the theatrical dimension of his characterizations, during an era when singers rarely pursued such breadth. Born to Russian peasant parents, he was indentured at ten to a shoemaker. A short stint with a traveling troupe and an equally chance encounter during his adolescence with his initial vocal instructor, Dimitri Usatov, revealed to the youth the scale of his own gifts; Usatov, struck by the talent, instructed him without fee.
Chaliapin appeared on the St. Petersburg stage in 1894 and was promptly engaged by the Imperial Opera. Two years later he joined a private Moscow company, where his first role, Ivan Susanin in Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar, earned glowing notices; during the same period he presented numerous acclaimed recitals. His initial venture beyond Russia took place in 1901 at Teatro alla Scala, where he sang the title role in Boito’s Mefistofele. Between 1905 and 1937 he performed in Monte Carlo almost annually, beginning as King Philip in Don Carlo and later creating the title character in Massenet’s Don Quichotte.
The bass reached the Metropolitan Opera in 1907, again as Boito’s Mefistofele; later that season he added Gounod’s Mefistophele and Mozart’s Leporello. He did not reappear in the United States until 1921, when he assumed the title role in Boris Godunov, remaining on the Met roster through 1929. In 1908 he forged a lasting partnership with Diaghilev in Paris, and five years afterward he performed several Russian parts at Covent Garden. He settled permanently in France in 1922.
Chaliapin visited virtually every major theater in Europe and America; during the 1935–1936 season he undertook a global tour that encompassed China and Japan. Renowned for his skill with makeup, he possessed a voice flexible enough to encompass both baritone parts such as Eugene Onegin and true bass roles such as Oroveso. Recital programs never listed specific selections in advance, announcing only “Selections to be announced.”
After his move to Paris, Soviet authorities viewed him with disfavor, yet that attitude softened once his international performances began to disseminate Russian opera worldwide. In addition to the Russian works already cited, his repertory included Khovanshchina, Prince Igor, Dargomyzhsky’s Rusalka, Sadko, Mozart and Salieri (which he introduced), Rubinstein’s The Demon, Serov’s Judith, and Gretchaninov’s Dobrinya Nikitich. Recordings made between 1901 and 1935 preserve his art and survey the breadth of that repertory. Absent his interpretation of Boris Godunov, the opera would almost certainly lack the lasting currency it continues to enjoy.
