CHALIAPIN IN BAKU

In mid-April 1915, news spread in the city - Baku will be visited by the famous singer Feodor Chaliapin. Soon, the local newspapers Kaspiy and Baku published announcements that the only concert of the artist will take place on Friday, 8 May 1915, in the theatre of the Mayilov brothers and tickets can be purchased at the theatre box office on 23 April.

Queuing up for Chaliapin

The theatre box office, as a rule, opened at 10 in the morning. The police, who anticipated a large crowd of people, arrived at the theatre early, at 5 in the morning, in order to prevent any incidents in this regard. And they were late: the area adjacent to the theatre was filled by those who sought tickets to the concert of the famous singer. Fans of the artist and the police reached a compromise: the former "lift the siege" of the theatre box office, compile lists of those wishing to purchase tickets to the concert under the supervision of the police and then approach the box office according to these lists. Each person wishing to get the cherished ticket must have a badge with his number in the queue attached to his chest.

At the scheduled time, the box office opened, but after three hours, the box office had not a single ticket left. Their owners were prudent citizens who had been queuing up all night long. At the request of those on the waiting list, one person was not allowed to buy more than two tickets.

But a few hundred people more were on the waiting list. Due to the huge public interest, the representative of Chaliapin immediately telegraphed to Petrograd requesting a second concert in Baku. The agreement was received on the same evening and the second concert was scheduled for 10 May, for the great artist had to perform in Tbilisi on 9 May.

Fraudsters decided to take advantage of the situation. The next day, a citizen turned up in the building of the city exchange and began to offer tickets to Chaliapin's concert. He had a few dozen tickets that were immediately snapped up. However, it was soon discovered that the tickets were counterfeit.

Chaliapin's work in Baku

Chaliapin arrived in Baku on the morning of 7 May and stayed at the Hotel Europe. He could not refuse a second concert in Baku because, as he told local reporters, he had good memories linked to this city: "Baku evoked old memories in me, about days gone by, but never forgotten ... Twenty-two years ago I sang in Derkach's company, which performed in the Vyatskiy circus in Baku. My life already had some conveniences. For example, I had my own Turkoman fur coat from sheepskin. This coat had such dimensions that I had two more comrades sleeping in it. We slept on the stairs leading backstage. We slept in the sitting position, wrapped in my coat ..."

The fees of beginner artists were scanty, and there were times when they were not paid at all. Chaliapin was no exception. According to him, the fee for a season of performances in the Ukrainian troupe of Derkach in Baku was ... a woollen cloth overcoat. "It was like this: one day the stock company came to the conclusion that it is inconvenient for a representative of the operetta to walk around in a huge sheepskin coat, and decided to buy me a coat ... Unfortunately, this wonderful coat did not last very long, because no matter what tricks you play, you should drink a glass of tea for a penny every day and eat lavash for three pennies. For this purpose, it was necessary to get rid of the woollen coat and re-don the famous fur coat..."

It was at the end of 1891. And when he needed a passport and money to return to Kazan for the funeral of his mother, the owner of the troupe refused to give them. So Chaliapin ended up out on the street, homeless and without livelihood. To make money, he got a job as a porter at the pier of the Caucasus and Mercury shipping company. "However, I got some support from a bunch of runaway convicts, who had their headquarters near Tsitsianovskiy Square (now the Sabir park - author). I sang them songs, and they gave me borsch for that," Chaliapin recalled.

"Chaliapin sang a lot, willingly"

Already a well-known artist, he was in Baku in the spring of 1900 and in 1910. In spite of the difficulties and hardships that accompanied him in Baku then, Chaliapin did not regret the past years. "Yes, give me the then 19-year-old, and I will give up all this Chaliapin with all his splendour and glory ... Will the best champagne give me the joy that a glass of sweet tea and lavash gave me then," he told a Kaspiy correspondent.

Chaliapin's concerts were a great success. He sang ballads and songs "Old Corporal", "Seminarian", "Miller", "The Government Clerk" and other works by Glinka, Mussorgsky, Dargomyzhsky, as well as several works by Grieg and Schubert. Kaspiy noted that "Chaliapin sang a lot, willingly, unceremoniously, without being capricious or forcing anyone to beg him". And during the second concert, he sang the popular "Flea" by Mussorgsky, which he refused for some reason to perform at the request of the audience at the first concert.