A favorite bass performance from Moe Rear

Fyodor Chaliapin, the very great Russian basso, to this day owns the role of Massenet’s Don Quichotte.

This 1927 recording of the Death of Don Quichotte is the greatest example of his magnificent voice, brilliant artistry, and fierce theatricality. His impact and larger-than-life personality still jumps out of the grooves of this recording. It is a living work of art. Here, Chaliapin also sings the final lines of his devoted friend and squire, Sancho Panza.

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