In the polyglot world of U.S. music, Russian singers have always been in short supply. It is nearly a quarter-century since Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin sang his last Manhattan recital. Last week the first Soviet singer to appear in the U.S. since World War II arrived in Manhattan to launch a six-week cross-country tour. Her name: Zara Doloukhanova.
In her debut in Manhattan's Town Hall, Armenian-born Mezzo-Soprano Doloukhanova, 39, strode onstage aglitter with diamonds, and swathed in pink silk wrappings. Her program included Russian songs (Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff), Armenian folk songs, Schubert and Strauss lieder,...