It has come to my attention, dear readers, that the world of the theatre and song is fraught with a most curious sort of modesty—not of the soul, mind you, but of the pocketbook. Mr. Sergey Sosedov, a critic of no small ambition, has seen fit to declare that the fortunes amassed by our celebrated idols should be rendered entirely transparent.

«Indeed, they must disclose their fees, beyond any shadow of a doubt,» the gentleman proclaimed in a discourse with Gazeta.Ru. He posits that it is only fitting for the common folk to know precisely how many sovereigns are exchanged for a single evening's diversion.

There is a certain quaintness, is there not, in the notion that a singer's income is a state secret? Mr. Sosedov suggests that these sums are not so much secrets as they are merely kept behind a velvet curtain. He further muses—with a touch of delightful malice—that the public's adoration for these stars might suffer a most sudden and dramatic cooling once the true extent of their riches is revealed. One can almost imagine the shock in the salons!

Moreover, the critic has not spared the great Prima Donna herself, Madame Alla Pugacheva. In a display of characteristic bluntness, he remarked that her departure from the stage was a most overdue event. In his estimation, the lady should have retreated to her boudoir some thirty years prior, yet she clung to the footlights with a tenacity that left the younger generation of cavaliers and songstresses quite adrift.