CURTAIN FELL
the results of the 3d World Theatre Olympics in Moscow
By Y. Kislyarova
Last week Moscow bid farewell to the 3d World Theatre Olympics that
had lasted for more than 2 months. The apotheosis of the closing ceremony
was the voyage of the Fools' Ship down the river Moskva. Built from Chinese
bamboo, the 20-ton ship carrying comedians from all over the world was
sailing along the Moskva when a huge fireworks curtain, a miracle of modern
pyrotechnics, dropped down, concealing the vessel from the eyes of bewildered
spectators. The curtain symbolized the end of the unprecedented world theatre
marathon.
Thanks to the Olympics Moscow now has two new theatre centers fitted
out with up-to-date equipment: the Drama School run by Anatoly Vasiliev
and the Meyerkhold Center. In the opinion of Vladimir Klimenko, a well-known
theatre producer and one of the leaders of the Russian avant-garde, these
are symbols of new realities in the world of theatre.
"It's very important, because a theatre should have a home",
says Klimenko. "It's hard to believe in God without a temple. Theatre,
like religion, is a door leading to a different world".
During the Olympics Klimenko gave a master-class at the Meyerkhold
Center.
"Three Olympic programs - street theatres, Vasiliev's theatre
and the Meyerkhold Center - all seemed related to the theatre's original
concept, the act of preserving some sacral knowledge or rite", says
Klimenko. "A shaman or a drama actor - is there any difference? Both
are concerned in human soul. Both lead it to the Unknown. The essence is
the same".
The Olympics summed up the development of the 20th century theatre
existing in a wide variety of forms from experimental avant-garde, street
theatres, opera and ballet productions to clownery, carnival processions,
antique tragedy and modern drama. The program abounded in classical productions,
master-classes, open lessons by renowned Russian and foreign masters as
well as graduate performances of drama schools across the world.
"The Olympics, the way I see it, is an attempt to revive the initial
nature of theatre in European understanding, bring it closer to religion
like in ancient Greece", says Klimenko. "Theatre is an ancient
art with its own philosophy. It is this initial essence of the theatre
that the Olympics was supposed to revive".
150 troupes from 46 countries visited Moscow during the Olympics. Muscovites
and numerous guests of the capital were able to see works by renowned directors
such as Georgy Streller, Yuri Lyubimov, Teodorus Terzopulos, Lev Dodin,
Tadashi Suzuki, Declan Donnellan, Valery Fokin, Robert Wilson, Adolf Shapiro,
Robert Sturua, Kama Ginkas, Petr Fomenko, Luke Bondy, Eimuntas Njakroshus
and many others. By its gradiosity and extravaganza the Moscow event surpassed
the two previous Olympics held in Greece and Japan .
THE CONVENTIONALITY OF
BEAUTY
to the 140th birth anniversary of composer
Anton Arensky
By Y. Monich
July 12 marked the 140th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding
Russian composer Anton Arensky.
Musicians and music lovers of the late 19th century would have never
believed that Anton Arensky would almost be 
forgotten
just decades after his death. His more than outstanding talent revealed
itself in a wide variety of genres. Arensky was distinguished by high professionalism,
impeccable taste and a sense of proportion. He was one of the most frequently
performed composers of his time. His operas, symphonic and chamber music,
romances and especially piano pieces struck an appreciative chord with
the audience and were praised by critics.
Arensky's teacher, the well-known Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov,
called him his best pupil and pinned great hopes on him. Sergei Taneyev,
professor at the Moscow Conservatory and a friend of Arensky, admired the
easiness with which the latter wrote music. Petr Thaikovsky wrote about
Arensky: "Arensky is amazingly clever in music. The way he thinks
everything over - thoroughly and correctly. He is a very interesting musical
personality". Tchaikovsky praised Arensky's music for its gracefulness,
liveliness and organic lightness, but often criticized it for the superficial
content and insignificance of emotions and thoughts behind the pleasantness
of sound, what he called "the conventionality of beauty". Arensky
worshipped Tchaikovsky and treasured his advice. Writer Leo Tolstoy placed
Arensky above all other Russian composers: "Of the new ones Arensky
is the best. His music is simple and melodious". Tolstoy was especially
fond of his 2nd suite for two pianos - "Silhouettes".
Arensky's romances, duets and ballads scored him immense popularity.
He wrote three operas as well as music to William Shakespeare's play "The
Tempest" and Alexander Pushkin's poem "The Fountain Of Bakhchisarai".
His single-act ballet "The Egyptian Nights" was staged at the
Mariinsky Theatre in St.-Petersburg. Producer Sergei Dyagilev took it for
his "Russian Seasons" in Paris. Arensky was a passionate and
slightly unbalanced, yet exceptionally charming person. The life and sole
of the party, he was always in the center of attention. Rimsky-Korsakov
once remarked that Arensky "led a disspated life". He had a wild
passion for cards and roulette.
Aware of his incurable disease, Arensky hurried to do as much as possible:
he conducted orchestras and choirs, gave concerts in Russia and abroad.
Though he wasn't a professional pianist, he made up his mind to perform
his piano pieces himself. "He played clumsily", recalls the well-known
pianist and one of Arensky's pupils Matvei Presman. "But even without
commonly accepted piano tricks, he managed to extract excellent sound".
Arensky was the first performer of his "Fantasy on Ryabinin's theme".
Ivan Ryabinin was a master of epic tales. Having once heard him at
a concert, Arensky was so amazed that he took out his notebook and sketched
musical illustrations to the tales.
Arensky's heritage is not as significant as that his famous contemporaries
such as Tchaikovsky or Rimsky-Korsakov. Yet, it would be unfair to diminish
the importance of his most successful works, which entered the "golden
fund" of Russian music .
07.17.2001
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