Feodor Chaliapin, most famed Russian operatic basso, received news last week in London that the Soviet Trade Union of Artists in Moscow, had just voted to deprive him of his cherished, official Russian title, "The People's Artist." Newsgatherers sought put gigantic Singer Chaliapin in his dressing room, found him sitting hunched and disconsolate in a purple and cream silk dressing gown and red leather slippers. As everyone knows, M. Chaliapin's English is quaint. Correspondents reproduced it as follows: "I was born and always will be, a 'people's' artist. I sing for...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
