Russia cannot be understood with the mind: funny curiosities during Fedor Chaliapin's tour in America

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

World famous Russian artist Fyodor Chaliapin at the beginning of the twentieth century he performed not only in Russia, but also at all the most prestigious European opera stages. He also visited America, although he spoke extremely negatively and critically about it. It was in the United States that funny things often happened to him - Americans rarely understood the specific Russian humor.

Fyodor Chaliapin loved all kinds of practical jokes, now he would be called a master of "trolling". At the American customs, he was asked to show gold that was not declared in the declaration. His assistant said that there really is such a thing - Fyodor Ivanovich has a golden throat. The harsh American customs officers did not appreciate the Russian humor and offered Chaliapin to illuminate his throat with an X-ray.

Chaliapin repeatedly confessed his dislike of America and promised to come there, although he was there on tour quite often - after all, the fees for performances there were impressive. “I do not like this America and will never go there again! What a strange people, these Americans! They pay huge amounts of money to artists, but they themselves understand nothing about music or dramatic art. For them, some clowns, magicians, ventriloquists are more interesting than opera singers or musicians,”Shalyapin was indignant.

On his first visit to America in 1907, he was not received as enthusiastically as in Europe. An angry Chaliapin wrote to V. Telyakovsky: “America is a nasty country, and everything that we say about America is sheer nonsense. They talk about American freedom. God forbid, if Russia ever lives up to just such freedom - there it is possible to breathe freely and it can only be done with difficulty. All life in work is in hard labor, and it seems that in this country people live only for work. The sun, the stars, the sky, and God are forgotten there. Love exists - but only for gold. I have never felt so bad anywhere else. There is no art anywhere and not at all."

An American newspaper published the following review of his performance: "Mr. Chaliapin is not only a bad singer and artist, but he does not even know how to behave properly on stage with the ladies." Then a correspondent of the same newspaper came to Chaliapin to interview him. In revenge, the singer told him all sorts of "fables in their faces, a bunch of all sorts of incongruities and absurdities." “Here,” I told him, “you Americans are bragging about your freedom! Yesterday I myself saw a policeman beat a cabman in the street. He beat so hard that his teeth flew in one direction, and blood splattered in the other. Freedom is good, there is nothing to say!"

Once in Chicago, a local millionaire invited Chaliapin to speak at his private reception. The singer asked for an unheard-of fee - $ 10,000. In response, the millionaire said that he would agree only if Chaliapin did not sit with his guests at the same table, but would sing in the garden, in the bushes. Suddenly, the singer agreed. Imagine the owner's surprise when all his guests left the house and gathered in the garden to listen to the great performer of romances and opera arias.

Chaliapin was firmly convinced that Americans are not able to appreciate real talent - they often become victims of advertising. Many of them do not come to listen to him, but to gawk at a man who “makes” 3 thousand dollars in an evening. The singer expressed interesting thoughts about mass culture, which today have become relevant for our society: “Here you need to constantly remind yourself, otherwise the audience will forget you. The American public craves purely insane fun; they need not tragedy, not drama, not opera; they need to forget about the day's worries. Despite such a difficult relationship with America, Chaliapin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his achievements and contributions to the field of music.

Anecdotal situations often occurred with another outstanding Russian artist: curious cases from the life of Faina Ranevskaya