HIGH FEE FOR CHALIAPIN.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19156, 12 November 1927, Page 9

HIGH FEE FOR CHALIAPIN.

TWO OCTOBER APPEARANCES. I {FBOM OTO OWX CORRESPOSDENT.) LONDON, October 4. According to tbo theatrical correspondent o£ the London "Daily Mail," Chaliapin. _tlie famous Russian bass, is to be paid £1250 for each of the two performances which he is to give at tho Albert Hall on October 11th and 13th. It is believed that this is the biggest fee ever paid, to a singer in this country. Mr Charles B. Cochran, who will present Chaliapin, admitted the accuracy of this amount. . "I do not like to give away the salaries or fees of artists under my management, but since you ask the question, I have to agree that your figures are correct," he said. "Chaliapin is to have £1250 per performance." , ~ It is understood that the total expenditure on these two Chaliapin nights will bo in the region of £6OOO. There will be a chorus of 1000 and the London Symphony Orchestra, with Mr Albert Coates as conductor. Although Mr Cochran holds the position oi salaried manager of the Albert Hall, the two concerts will, it is believed, be taken at his own personal risk. "There are no funds available for the provision of entertainments there, and, despite my managerial capacity, I am in the curious position of having to rent the hall for what I present there," he said. "I want to prove that I can draw as much money with music on a big scale as I can with boxing on a big scale. If I do not show other impresarios the possibilities of the Albert Hall they will never realise them." The best scats for the Chaliapin nights cost 21s (plus entertainment tax), the lowest priced seats os.