It was the distant summer of 1915. The voice of the singer Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin resounded throughout the empire. Enthusiastic crowds of admirers, despite the high prices, snapped up tickets to attend a concert by their beloved performer. The great Fyodor Chaliapin visited our city often, for the people of Kharkiv, as is well known, idolized him.
As we all know, the true history of Kharkiv is much more interesting than it might seem at first glance. There are many stories, events, and lives connected to Chaliapin in Kharkiv. But there are also quite a few real, lighthearted stories linking the great musician to Kharkiv—the kind that the newspapers of that time loved to write about.
In the newspaper *Petersburg Courier*, we find the following:
In Kharkiv, at a local theater, a search was unexpectedly conducted before the start of F.I. Chaliapin’s concert with the aim of “catching freeloaders.” They searched everywhere: in the auditorium, among the orchestra, under the stage, in the restrooms, and even… under the “grates.” As a result, over 70 people were discovered who were eager to hear the famous singer but had sneaked into the theater without tickets. All of them were escorted out of the theater.
The people of Kharkiv went to such great lengths and made such sacrifices just to see and hear the great singer with their own eyes and ears.
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