Biography
The Russian opera singer Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin (Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин) (February 13 (February 1, Old Style), 1873–April 12, 1938) was the most famous bass in the first half of the 20th century. Because of his powerful and flexible voice, together with his mesmerizing stage presence and his superb acting ability, he is considered one of the greatest performers in the history of opera, and he is credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in opera.
Chaliapin was born in Ömet Tawı, near Kazan. Largely self-taught, he began his career at Tbilisi and the Imperial Opera, St. Petersburg in 1894; he was then invited to sing at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, where he appeared regularly from 1899 to 1914. From 1914, Chaliapin apeared regulary at the Zimin Private Opera in Moscow.
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Chaliapin's most famous role was the title role of Boris Godunov (excerpts of which he recorded 1929-31), but is remembered for Ivan the Terrible in Rimsky-Korsakov's Maid of Pskov, Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust, Massenet's Don Quichote, and Bertram in Meyerbeer's Robert le diable. Thanks to his famous performances, Russian operas like Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Glinka's Ivan Susanin, Borodin's Prince Igor and Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride became well known in the West.
Chaliapin died in 1938 of leukaemia aged 63 in Paris. In 1984, his remains were transferred from Paris to Moscow for interment in the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.