Interesting facts about Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin

Konstantin Korovin. Gallery of paintings and drawings by the artist - Portrait of F.I. Chaliapin. 1911

Should you listen to your elders?

Fyodor Chaliapin's father definitely had an opinion about his son's acting hobbies. He told him:
- You should go to the janitors, well, to the janitors, and not to the theater. You have to be a janitor, and you will have a piece of bread...

Don't get in your own sleigh

Fifteen-year-old Chaliapin turned to the management of the theater in Kazan with a request to audition him and accept him into the choir. But due to a mutation in his voice, he sang extremely poorly during the audition. Instead of Chaliapin, they accepted a lanky nineteen-year-old guy into the choir, with a monstrous “cursing” speech. Chaliapin remembered his first fiasco for the rest of his life, but he hated this lanky competitor for a long time. Years later, in Nizhny Novgorod, Chaliapin met Maxim Gorky, to whom he told about his first failure as a singer. Having heard the story, Gorky laughed:
- Dear Fedenka, it was me! True, I was soon kicked out of the choir, because I had no voice at all.

Debut

Fyodor Ivanovich's debut on the opera stage was very original. Chaliapin at that time was the main extra in the theater. He was assigned the silent role of the cardinal, who had to solemnly walk across the entire stage, accompanied by his retinue. Before going on stage for the first time in his life, Chaliapin was so nervous that his legs and arms were shaking. He spent a long time explaining their duties to the clueless junior extras, secretly anticipating how the audience would gasp at their majestic procession.
- Follow me and do everything the same as I do! - he ordered his retinue and went on stage. As soon as he took a step, Chaliapin in his excitement stepped on the edge of his long red robe and fell straight to the floor! The retinue accompanying the cardinal decided that... it was necessary, and also fell! The chief extra heroically tried to get to his feet and extricate himself from the wide robe - it was useless. Floundering in the cardinal's vestments, he crawled on all fours across the entire stage! And behind him, also trembling convulsively, crawled his retinue!
The audience laughed until they started laughing! As soon as Fyodor Ivanovich was backstage, the enraged director grabbed him and threw him down the stairs, giving the future decoration of the Russian stage a good kick in the ass.

"Now I'll lean on..."

Chaliapin recalled with humor the peculiar method of “educating” the voice, which was used by his teacher D.A. Usatov. Hearing that his voice was beginning to weaken, he hit the student in the chest with a backhand and shouted:
- Lean on, damn you! Lean on!.
But Chaliapin did not understand what and with what he had to “rely”...
“It was only a long time later that he finally explained to me that it was necessary to base the sound on the breath, to concentrate it...” Chaliapin said with a laugh, having already become a great singer.

Don't you want to croak? fine!

Once Chaliapin was sick with “angina pectoris” and refused to sing in two performances. For this, the director of the theater fined Fyodor Ivanovich and argued the imposition of the fine as follows:
- In our performances, many artists on stage simply croak, why can’t Chaliapin sing with the “toad”? He would fit in well with the general choir...

Ostrich in a cage

In 1901, Chaliapin toured at La Scala as a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater. He responded to his first foreign tour with an autoepigram, successfully paraphrasing the poems of Lermontov and Griboyedov:

I'm here in Milan - an ostrich in a cage
(In Milan, ostriches are so rare);
Milan is going to watch,
How the Russian ostrich will sing,
And I sing, and the sounds melt away,
But the caps are not in the air
Here, as in Russia, they don’t abandon people.

Yes, I'm not talking about that!

Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was always indignant at people who consider the artist’s work easy.
“They remind me,” said the singer, “of one cabman who once drove me around Moscow:
- And you, master, what are you doing? - asks.
- Yes, I’m singing.
- That's not what I'm talking about. I ask, what are you working on? Singing is what we all sing. And I sing when I get bored. I ask: what are you doing?

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 fall 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 fall 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 the 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 deeply worried the 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. The 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 the 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 leaders “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 way it should be, 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.

Interesting facts about him will tell you information that you won’t learn from his biography.

Fyodor Chaliapin interesting facts

He was born into a poor family. His father worked hard to feed the family, and in between he drank bitter drinks. No one was involved in his son’s education, and when he grew up, he was sent as an apprentice so that he could help his parents and earn food for himself. Fedor at one time worked as a shoemaker, woodcarver, and carpenter.

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 together 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.

He often donated the proceeds from concerts to the children of emigrants, which angered the Soviet authorities. The authorities confiscated the artist’s house, car, and bank savings. He tried to protect his family and theater from attacks, and repeatedly met with the country's leaders, including Lenin And Stalin, but this only helped temporarily.

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.

He had six children from his first marriage and three daughters from his second. Chaliapin loved them all very much. I tried to place the first ones in good educational establishments and not to deprive them of attention, he spoiled the second ones, still very small: he loved to squeeze them, told them fairy tales, and showered them with gifts.

Fyodor Chaliapin made an invaluable contribution to the development opera art. His repertoire includes over 50 roles played in classical operas, over 400 songs, romances and Russians folk songs. In Russia, Chaliapin became famous for his bass roles of Borisov Godunov, Ivan the Terrible, and Mephistopheles.

Fyodor Chaliapin visited Japan, America, Canada, England, Italy, Germany, the Hawaiian Islands, and after emigrating he lived in Paris.

Chaliapin began his artistic career when, as a fifteen-year-old boy, he approached the management of the Kazan Theater with a request to audition him and accept him into the choir. But due to a mutation in his voice, he sang extremely poorly at the audition. Instead of Chaliapin, some lanky nineteen-year-old guy with a monstrous “cursing” speech was accepted into the choir.
Chaliapin remembered his first fiasco for the rest of his life, and hated his lanky competitor for a long time. Many years later, in Nizhny Novgorod, Chaliapin met Maxim Gorky and, among other things, spoke about his first failure as a singer.
Gorky laughed:
- Dear Fedenka, it was me! True, I was soon kicked out of the choir, because I had no voice at all.

***
Chaliapin's debut on the opera stage was very memorable. Chaliapin at that time was the main extra in the theater. He was assigned the silent role of the cardinal, who had to solemnly walk across the entire stage, accompanied by his retinue. Before going on stage for the first time in his life, Chaliapin was so nervous that his legs and arms were shaking. He spent a long time explaining their duties to the clueless junior extras, secretly anticipating how the audience would gasp at their majestic procession.
- Follow me and do everything the same as I do! - he ordered his retinue and went on stage.
But as soon as he took a step, Chaliapin in his excitement stepped on the edge of his long red robe and fell straight to the floor! The retinue accompanying the cardinal decided that this was the right thing to do, and they also fell! The chief extra heroically tried to get to his feet and untangle himself from the wide robe - it was useless. Floundering in the cardinal's vestments, he crawled on all fours across the entire stage! And behind him, also trembling convulsively, crawled his retinue...
The audience laughed until they started laughing. As soon as Fyodor Ivanovich was backstage, the enraged director grabbed him and threw him down the stairs, giving the future decoration of the Russian stage a good kick in the ass.

***
Chaliapin had a secretary and assistant, Peter, who protected the singer from annoying journalists and theater critics.
During one of his trips to Europe, a famous music critic came to the singer’s hotel. The secretary met him.
“Fyodor Ivanovich is busy now,” he said. — I am ready to answer all your questions.
— What are Maestro Chaliapin’s plans for the near future? - asked the music critic.
— We are going to Milan, where we will sing at La Scala, then we will give a concert in London in honor of English king, then we'll go to Paris...
“Everything is correct, Peter,” Chaliapin’s voice thundered from the next room. - Just don’t forget to take me with you!

***
Once during the revolution, Chaliapin came to his friend the artist Korovin and immediately complained:
- The devil knows what it is! I was required to speak to the mounted sailors today. Tell me, for God's sake, what are mounted sailors?
“I don’t know what horse-drawn sailors are,” Korovin answered gloomily, “but we need to get out of here...

***
During the revolution, Chaliapin's house was often subject to night searches. They were looking for “bourgeois values”: diamonds and gold, but they did not disdain silver spoons and forks.
After one of these night raids, Chaliapin complained to Zinoviev:
- I understand - revolution... And, in essence, I am not against searches, but is it possible to search me at a time convenient for me, from eight to nineteen, for example?

***
One day an amateur singer came to Chaliapin and rather unceremoniously asked:
- Fyodor Ivanovich, I need to rent your costume in which you sang Mephistopheles. Don't worry, I'll pay you!
Chaliapin stood in a theatrical pose, took a deep breath and sang:
- The flea has a caftan?! Ha-ha-ha-ha!..

***
Once upon a time, the opera “Don Carlos” was performed at the Bolshoi Theater. The role of King Philip was sung by Chaliapin, and the role of the Grand Inquisitor by Vasily Petrov.
It must be said that Petrov admired the genius of Chaliapin, and Chaliapin, in turn, highly valued Petrov’s voice and talent.
Before the start of the third act, Petrov said to Chaliapin:
- But I’ll sing you out today, Fedya!
- No, Vasya, you won’t sing too much! — answered Chaliapin.
- I'll sing again!
- No, you won’t sing too much!
The act began.
Petrov, who had a powerful voice, completed the phrase with a thunderous roar that drowned out the orchestra and filled the entire theater - from the stalls to the gallery.
In a split second, Chaliapin realized that it was no longer possible to block this. And King Philip unexpectedly responded to the words of the Grand Inquisitor... in a whisper. He whispered his remark in absolute silence, and from these words, brilliantly pronounced by Chaliapin, an ominous cold literally breathed into the hall.
The success was complete, and the ovation lasted for several minutes.
When the curtain closed, Chaliapin playfully winked at Petrov:
- That's it! And you're screaming at the top of your lungs!..

***
A debate broke out among artists about what art is. Chaliapin, having listened, quietly retreated into another room. Then he suddenly opened the door, stood on the threshold, deathly pale, with disheveled hair, trembling lips, eyes full of horror, and shouted:
- Fire!
Panic and screams arose... But Chaliapin suddenly laughed:
- Now do you understand what art is?..

***
Chaliapin was always indignant at people who consider the artist’s work easy.
“They remind me,” said the singer, “of one cabman who once drove me around Moscow:
- And you, master, what are you doing? - asks.
- Yes, I’m singing.
- That's not what I'm talking about. I ask, what are you working on? Singing is what we all sing. And I sing when I get bored. I ask: what are you doing?

“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 good 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 a 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 for two rubles at a flea market, and Fyodor independently learned to pull the bow, trying to master the basics of 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 of the 19th century, 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 would meet Maxim Gorky again in 1900 in Nizhny Novgorod, and they would 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 of Derkach, with whom he toured the cities of the Urals and the Volga region, the troupe went to Central Asia 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 Tiflis Opera theatre. 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 Grand Theatre 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 joined the partnership of opera singers of the 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 for performances during the Nizhny Novgorod Fair in a private opera troupe famous Savva Mamontova. 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 the 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 the stage of the 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. French press covered “Russian Seasons” enthusiastically, but Chaliapin’s performance was recognized as especially brilliant.

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 the Italian theater... The dramatic art of the great Russian artist left a deep and lasting mark not only in the field of performance of Russian operas by 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 a lot 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 a large apartment that occupied an entire floor of the house. However, the singer spent most of his time on tour.

In 1927, the Soviet government stripped 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.”

This was the last meeting between 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 H.G. 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 that can make not only the voices of modern singers, but also our entire lives more beautiful and purer.