Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin (1/13February 1873, Kazan – 12 April 1938, Paris), Russian opera singer. A legendary figure in the world of opera, he is often ranked with Caruso and Callas as one of the greatest singers and most influential operatic artists of the twentieth century; Toscanini said that he was the greatest operatic talent he had ever worked with. Possessing a distinctive "high-lying" bass voice, he was immensely popular with the public and toured the world, performing in fully staged productions and solo recitals. He is also credited with helping to bring a more naturalistic acting style to the operatic stage. In addition, owing to his advocacy, Russian operas - the master works of Mussorgsky, Glinka, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov - became much better known in the West. He was also what one would call a "big personality" - temperamental, egotistical, willful - his fellow performers had to be constantly on guard, ever watchful for his penchant for scene-stealing. A fairly accomplished artist himself he was also, as seen here, a frequent and enthusiastic model for the best known artists of his day. (http://curiator.com/contribute)