Recently I was given the new H.M.V. issue of Chaliapin singing excerpts from the opera Boris Godunov. A copy of the Russian text, with a line-by-line literal translation, is provided with the record. Chaliapin's wonderful voice and artistic sense make a whole of the music and of the words, so that even if one were quite unable to follow their meaning, some of the highly-taut emotions would be received by the listener.

I put the record on for a friend one afternoon and gave him the text. At a first hearing it is not easy to follow. For twenty minutes we listened to a great dramatic performance. When it was finished, I asked what he thought of it. ‘He had a wonderful voice; and he was putting his whole heart into it, but I couldn't follow why he sang just as he did.