The image comes vividly back to me of the
tall, dignified figure, more especially in the
part of Boris Godonov, with that air of aloof-
ness, of spiritual serenity, by which Russians
so often recall the traditional Christ, the ease
and simplicity of his acting and the impressive
singing voice, l^the superb Russian bass, the
deep rich voice which alone seems adequate to
the expression of profound emotions of tender
humanity.
Chaliapin I am inclined to place among the
three stage figures I have seen who now in
memory leave the deepest impression : Ristori,
Salvini, Chaliapin — it was the order in which
I saw them, perhaps the order in which I
should rank them.
Ristori I should certainly place first, though



CHALIAPIN 209

I only saw her once, on the stage in Sydney,
as Pia de' Tolomei and the sleep-walking Lady
Macbeth. She remains in my mind as the
absolute type of the classic in dramatic art.
That word " classic " suggests to some people
the coldly artificial, the conventionally unreal.
Ristori was at the farthest -remove from that.
She was the adorable revelation of what the
classic really means : the attainment of the
essential in dramatic art by the road of a
simplicity and a naturalness from which all
superfluity and extravagance have fallen away,
so that every movement is under control and
every gesture significant. In classic art such
as this, simplicity is one with dignity, and the
last utterance of poignant intensity is brought
within reach. Salvini was very different. He
was not classic. He carried human passion to
the utmost limits of expression on the basis of
robust physical force, and seemed to have an
immense reservoir of emotion .to feed his art.
