Abroad

In Moscow, the Soviet Government took unto itself the estate of Basso Feodore Ivanovitch Chaliapin. Last August they had stripped him of his title "People's Artist" and of his other estate (in Yaroslavsk Province) because, they charged, he had helped Tsarists to escape Russia.

In London, Sir Thomas Beecham, as full of musical energy and notions as his father's factory was of pills, announced last week the foundation of an Imperial League of Opera. His new scheme calls for 120,000 subscriptions of $2.50 annually to provide for an estimated deficit of $300,000; seats for $1.40; a six months' season in London, the rest of the year to be divided among Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow; the company to be organized from such British singers as John McCormack, Edward Johnson, Alfred Piccaver, Joseph Hislop, Florence Austral and Eva Turner; Sir Thomas himself to be artistic director.