Poster of events in the House-Museum of F. I. Chaliapin

Short description

The Chaliapin House Museum was opened in 1975 in the apartment of the house where he lived with his family for six years before emigrating to Paris in 1922. It is located on the second floor of a building on the street with the modern name Graftio. In those days it was called Permskaya Street.

A memorial plaque with information about the singer is placed on the front door of the house. Thanks to the care of Chaliapin’s friend Isaiah Dvorishchin, employees of the Leningrad Theater Museum, and close relatives, it was possible to reliably reproduce the furnishings of the apartment . The singer’s personal belongings filled it with a living, real atmosphere of his life. As before, in the dining room there is a large table covered with a tablecloth, old paintings hang on the walls, and even the artist’s famous ashtray with a picture of a cat is still in place. And at the table it’s as if he’s playing cards, listening to his English gramophone, or the famous “opera bass of the world” is playing on an old piano.

What to see

The light fawn facade, richly decorated with stucco, immediately catches the eye. Visitors enter the museum not from the street, but from the courtyard, where a small garden is laid out. The lovingly recreated interior takes them back to the time when Chaliapin rested here, enjoying family comfort and communication with friends. This is greatly facilitated by the abundance of personal items donated to the museum by his children.

They loved to receive guests here - 24 people could easily fit at the table in the dining room. Artists and painters, writers and poets gathered here. The walls are decorated with paintings by family friend Konstantin Korovin, and the buffet is decorated with hand-painted sets and imperial eagles.

In the Green Living Room, the partition between the windows is decorated with a round painting by the Irish artist A. O'Connell, “Portrait of a Gypsy.” Fyodor Ivanovich especially loved her. Here Chaliapin's guests and his children played music and even gave small performances.

In a place of honor is an antique gramophone, and next to it is a set of records with recordings of famous opera singers and the voice of the owner of the house himself. In the office there is an original Chaliapin chair, brought from his Parisian apartment, and a closet with personal belongings. The walls are decorated with photographs of the artist in stage costumes or a group of friends - Gorky, Repin, Rimsky-Korsakov.

The Chaliapin House Museum is not just a collection of things and art objects. Meetings of the Opera Club are regularly held here, and beautiful music again sounds from the stage of the miniature concert hall, where the voice of the great singer thundered. Young artists consider it a great honor and good luck to start their theatrical career here.

Story

Unique materials about Chaliapin, the preserved atmosphere of his era, allow you to make an amazing journey into the musical kingdom created by the singer’s natural gift - his extraordinary voice. This wondrous place did not appear in the city right away, but went through its own historical path . It has the following main stages :

1. The decision to create the Chaliapin Museum. It appeared in 1960 thanks to the activities of people who were not indifferent to the singer’s life. Despite the fact that since 1927, the current government has accused the singer of supporting emigrants and deprived him of the title of People's Artist. An important reason for the opening of the museum was the appeal of the singer’s first wife, Iola Ignatievna, to the current Minister of Culture of the USSR, Furtseva. She asked to create museum in the house located on Novinsky Boulevard . The request was heard and very quickly the apartment began to be filled with the saved and found things of its owner. The main contribution to the reconstruction of the apartment was made by Chaliapin's servants : the housekeeper and her husband, the cook. They had a good idea of ​​where and what stood in Chaliapin’s home. Personal belongings, letters, photographs came here from different places. All property preserved during the war years by the staff of the theater museum was returned. Most of it remained thanks to Isai Grigorievich Dvorishchin. During the war, his family was evacuated, but he remained in place and died during a terrible famine in the winter of 1942. His children donated furniture, paintings, household items, and decorations in the form of paintings by famous artists who were friends with the singer.
2. Opening of the museum in 1975. For a long time it was called the Russian Opera House. Thanks to the actions of R. M. Gorbacheva during perestroika, he began to be called after the singer, a person who took a leading place in the list of talented opera singers and artists of many theaters around the world. Among them are the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters.
3. Current state. Between 1991 and 1998 the museum was closed for restoration. Its opening took place in 1998 in honor of the 125th anniversary of the birth of Chaliapin. The entrance hall, small and large living rooms, bedroom, dining room were restored, and the singer's dressing room, which existed at the Mariinsky Theater, was created. Based on a huge fund of documents, interesting exhibitions of photographs, letters, posters, concert programs, and personal belongings have been created. Now the Chaliapin House Museum is a branch of the St. Petersburg Museum of Musical and Theater Creativity. A storage facility called the “Russian Opera House” is also located here.

Poster of events in the House-Museum of F. I. Chaliapin

Dear visitors, please note that on May 26 there will be no concert of the vocal group “Feast of Bass”.

LECTURES

NAMES. EVENTS. DATES.

Series of lectures “Names. Events. Dates" in the new season 2018/2019. will tell about the life and work of composers-celebrants. Lectures are accompanied by rich audiovisual material.

Lectures start at 16.00

CONCERTS

vocal class concerts

St. Petersburg State Conservatory

"Young voices in Chaliapin's house"

“Young Voices in the Chaliapin House” is a traditional series of concerts at the House-Museum of F. I. Chaliapin, the fruit of many years of cooperation between the museum and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. During the season, associate professors and professors of St. Petersburg State University present their students - young opera vocalists - to the public. The concerts feature arias, romances and songs by famous foreign and domestic composers.

Vocal group

"Pir Basov"

“Feast of Bass” is a vocal group led by Evgeniy Kalvarsky. Members of the vocal group - owners of low voices of various timbres (baritone bass, high bass, low bass, extensive bass, bass profundo) - successfully perform at various venues in the city. The group's repertoire includes romances and songs by famous foreign and domestic composers of the 18th - 20th centuries.

Performers: Evgeny Kalvarsky, Anatoly Zelenko, Alexander Sidak, Denis Soziev, Victor Monakhov

Concertmaster: Stanislav Vorontsovsky

Concerts start at 16.00

ARTISTS PLAY

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF ST. PETERSBURG

“The artists of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra are playing” is a traditional series of concerts in the House-Museum of F. I. Chaliapin. Every year, artists of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra present to the audience a series of original programs that allow a new look at a particular period of musical history.

Building architecture

The three-story house , located on Aptekarsky Island, was purchased by Chaliapin in 1915 . The deed of purchase for the purchase from the state councilor who lived at that time, Petrov, has been preserved. The building was built in 1901. Along with the deed of sale, the modern archives of the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg contain a plan of the estate, signed by D. P. Ryabov. It is assumed that the architect of the building was V. A. Shchuko.

After the opening of the museum, a relative of the architect gave him a photograph from a family album, which shows the original image of the house. This document is now on display in the museum

Subsequent changes - the construction of two additional floors of neighboring buildings was carried out by the architect K. V. Markov. It is assumed that the work was carried out in the post-war period during the restoration of a neighboring house destroyed by bombing. Chaliapin settled on the second floor of the building.

The architectural features of the building were its external decoration, created in the style of the 18th century:

• rich stucco
• beautiful facade
• balustrade
• vases along the cornice
• interesting courtyard
• outbuilding for stables

In the backyard there is a garage where the singer’s personal car was located. Unfortunately, during the construction of additional floors, many sculptural elements were destroyed. Now it is planned to restore the outbuilding by building a new building to expand the museum's premises . The design of a new three-story building with an image of the singer on the facade, balconies covered with glass located on the second and third floors has already been developed.

Museum expositions

You can plunge into the world of the singer’s human values, learn the details of the development of his talent, and hear the famous singing voice - the bass, sounding from ancient recordings - on your own and along with excursions.

Right from the steps of the house, the guide begins an interesting story about the main stages of his life, confirmed by unique archival documents and personal belongings

Even in the hallway of the apartment, as before, his cloak hangs. It seems like he hung it just yesterday. The furnishings of the home of a wealthy family of the past have been restored to the last detail. Original exhibitions were created. The tour takes you through the following five rooms:

Large and small living room

These rooms are most similar to museum halls. On the walls hang paintings, family photographs, and the singer's costumes. In them he performed famous opera roles:

• Boris Godunov
• Ivan Susanina
• Ivan the Terrible

Among the paintings by famous artists A. Golovin, A. Yakovlev, K. Korovin, with the image of Chaliapin, there is also a famous portrait of the singer created by B. Kustodiev. It was presented to the Theater Museum by Chaliapin's daughter Marfa in 1968. This is the only portrait that Chaliapin took with him to Paris in 1922.

All portraits of family members hang in rare gilded frames. The room is decorated with a marble fireplace , creating an atmosphere of comfort in which a large family lived. In the small living room, a sculpture of the second wife , made by the hands of Chaliapin, has been preserved, and on one of the walls there is a painting with a portrait of his wife, painted independently.

Bedroom

The wealth and luxury of the room has been restored to its original form.

Of interest is the famous collection of weapons donated by the singer’s fellow countryman Maxim Gorky

The singer used many elements of the collection in performances on opera stages, as an attribute of the characters played by Chaliapin. In the House Museum, famous works of painting by the Lobanov-Rostovskys are exhibited in different rooms.

An unusual make-up corner, the artist's restroom , that existed at the Mariinsky Theater has been recreated.

Kitchen, hallway

The premises display many things related to the singer’s life. Among them are:

• unusual wine chest made of rare wood
• chandelier donated by M. Gorky

Library

This room contains a large number of photographs , documents, posters , scenery sketches, and posters related to the life of the great singer. Archive with notebooks, works of Shakespeare, Bunin, Pushkin . Numerous authentic letters reveal his spiritual appearance and connection with progressive contemporaries.

During the tour, you can see a living world created from the apartment owner’s favorite plants. Feel the scent of your favorite plants, lilac and patchouli. Hear the story of friendship with famous scientists Grum-Grzhimailo, Zabolotny.

Now the museum hosts interesting interactive performances , exhibitions, concerts, New Year celebrations, Christmas celebrations with a decorated Christmas tree, which was a tradition in Chaliapin’s family. This allows us to complement the image of a great talent who was a simple, kind, cheerful person.

The walk with a guide ends in the hall where the eternal voice of the singer sounds in the performance of famous opera arias and ancient romances.

about the house-museum

The F.I. Chaliapin Museum was opened on April 11, 1975 in the singer’s last St. Petersburg apartment. Here, on Aptekarsky Island, in house 2-B on Permskaya Street (now Graftio Street), the great singer lived from 1915 to 1922, from here he went abroad forever.

For the 125th anniversary of the birth of F.I. Chaliapin, the entrance hall, dining room, bedroom, large and small living rooms were restored, and the artist’s make-up room corner at the Mariinsky Theater was also recreated. The main events of Chaliapin's life and work are presented in the exhibition with letters, photographs, posters and programs, his personal belongings and household items, paintings and drawings, theatrical costumes and scenery sketches for performances in which Chaliapin played. The museum also houses collectible weapons donated to the singer by Maxim Gorky.

Of particular interest are the paintings of outstanding artists A. Golovin, K. Korovin, A. Yakovlev, depicting Chaliapin in life and on stage. The famous portrait by B. Kustodiev (1921) is also on display. Chaliapin loved this portrait very much and took it with him abroad. In 1968, the singer’s daughters Marfa and Marina donated the portrait to the Theater Museum.

The specially equipped Open Funds of the F. I. Chaliapin House Museum contain the collection of Nina and Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky, donated to the museum by the Konstantinovsky Foundation. The foundation of this collection was laid at the very end of the 1950s. Over the years, it has become the largest collection of theatrical paintings from the late 19th – early 20th centuries in the West. The interest of collectors in this period is understandable: at the end of the 19th century. Famous artists came to the Russian theater: M. A. Vrubel and K. A. Korovin, A. Ya. Golovin and V. D. Polenov, A. N. Benois and L. S. Bakst, N. N. Sapunov and S. Yu. Sudeikin. They contributed to the rise of decorative art to an unprecedented artistic level, and S. P. Diaghilev’s “Russian Seasons” in Europe forced people to talk about these artists all over the world.

TripAdvisor Russia

Ticket price and opening hours 2021

• Open from Wednesday to Sunday
• Opening hours from 12:00 to 19:00
• On Wednesday, the Chaliapin Museum opens at 13:00 and is open until 21:00
• Closed days are Tuesday and Monday

Ticket price:

• adult - 100 rubles
• pensioners, schoolchildren, students - 50 rubles

Members of organized groups with a guide of 10 people will need to pay 300 rubles.

Ticket prices:

• Entrance ticket for adults: 200 rub.
• Entrance ticket for persons from 7 to 18 years old: 70 rubles.
• Entrance tickets for preferential categories of citizens and pensioners: 100 rubles.
• Children under 7 years old as part of an organized group: 100 rubles.

For free:

• children under 7 years old,
• for visitors under 18 years of age on the third Thursday of every month
• visitors from St. Petersburg CityPass is free during the validity period of the card

Audio guide: 200 rub.

Cost of excursion services: for a group of up to 5 people. — 1000 rub. Entrance tickets are paid additionally.

Staged photo shoot in the interiors of the museum: without installing special equipment - 3000 rubles / hour, with installation of special equipment - 5000 rubles / hour

Loyalty program for cardholders “Unified Card of St. Petersburger”: discounts for students and pensioners. Detailed information on the website https://ekp.spb.ru/

Order on setting ticket prices for 2021

Please note that benefits are valid upon presentation of the relevant documents

Interesting Facts

Chaliapin's life is filled with interesting events and facts. Until now, many are trying to unravel the secrets of his unusual voice, to find out certain moments of his life, and museum exhibitions help to do this. Among the singer’s life stages, the following are of interest:

• The young singer's debut on stage took place in the role of a cardinal, walking importantly in a long robe across the stage along with his retinue. Its members had to perform all actions by analogy with the cardinal. Unfortunately, Chaliapin fell , caught in his long robe. The whole retinue instantly did the same. The director brutally drove away the failed actor .
• In his younger years, the actor took part in a competition to select a choir and was rejected; his competitor won. During the years of his friendship with Maxim Gorky, he told him this story. To everyone's surprise, it turned out that Gorky was a competitor, but he was quickly expelled from the lineup due to lack of voice.
• Chaliapin wrote the books “The Story of My Life”, “Mask and Soul”. In the latter, published in Paris, he sharply condemned the ideology of Bolshevism, Soviet power, and Stalin. For permission to print the first book without taking into account copyright, the court ordered the USSR to pay monetary compensation.
• The last concert tour of the great singer consisted of 50 solo concerts in the cities of China and Japan . Returning to Paris, he felt unwell. Subsequently, doctors discovered Chaliapin had an oncological blood disease, which was the cause of death. still doubt about the cause of death of a healthy , strong person . At the request of the singer's son, his ashes were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery in 1984.

Having visited Chaliapin's house museum and touched upon the unforgettable past, one gets the impression that the singer is alive and just went out for a while on business.

Photo gallery