February 13 - Feodor Chaliapin (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 13th are here: Eileen Farrell (2020) and Dale Wood (2021)

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Feodor  Chaliapin (February 13 [O.S. February 1] 1873 – April 12, 1938) was a  great Russian bass opera singer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If at First…

The singer's Metropolitan Opera debut in the 1907 season was disappointing due to the unprecedented frankness of his stage acting; but he returned to the Met in 1921 and sang there with immense success for eight seasons, New York's audiences having grown more broad-minded since 1907. – Wikipedia

New Yorkers were slow to embrace

Chaliapin, the great Russian bass.

For the prim and the proper a-

-ttending the opera,

His acting was too in-your-face.

He later seemed less of a threat,

And he conquered the stage of the Met;

And those who attended

Declared he was splendid,

A basso they’d never forget.

 

 

 

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