Shalyapin Days in Ufa

A service for Fyodor Shalyapin will be held in St. Sergius' Cathedral in Ufa (the capital of Bashkiria) on Thursday. Traditionally, flowers will be laid to the memorial plaque on the house, where the great singer lived.

The celebrations are timed to the 130th anniversary of Fyodor Shalyapin's birth.

His name is closely connected with Ufa. December 18, 1896 is considered the beginning of Shalyapin's career. Archivists established that on that day Shalyapin sang a solo part in Ufa for the first time in his life. It was Stolnik in Stanislaw Moniuszko's opera "Halka".

Seventeen-year old Shalyapin arrived in Ufa as a member of the chorus of the Russian commercial opera and operetta in accordance with his first contract. He combined his opera and church singing with a copyist's job in the regional council. After that, Shalyapin, sponsored by Ufa art patrons, went to study in St. Petersburg.

A monument to Shalyapin will be erected in Ufa soon.