People and events:

• THE PROGRAM OF JUBILEE FESTIVITIES IN ST. PETERSBURG
• THE HAPPY PLANET OF NIKITA BOGOSLOVSKY
• MARK SHAGAL'S PICTURES ON STAGE

THE PROGRAM OF JUBILEE FESTIVITIES IN ST. PETERSBURG

Ceremonies marking the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg started off on May 23 and are scheduled to last through June 1. Says Olga Ivanova is one of the organizers of the holiday: "The destiny of St. Petersburg and its role in the history of Russia add national and worldwide significance to this date. The jubilee is a perfect opportunity to sum up achievements, outline new priorities and show the "face" of our city. St. Petersburg is a major cultural and scientific center. We want these 10 days to be a real holiday for its residents and numerous guests".
Naturally, the jubilee celebrations stretch far beyond 10 days. Since early January St. Petersburg has been hosting all sorts of public, cultural and sporting events that will continue through December, some even into 2004.
"St. Petersburg has many talented people", Ivanova says. "Directors of jubilee events are all Petersburgians. Our anniversary should distinguish itself by St. Petersburg style. Scores specialists in mass entertainment events, theatrical performances and sports festivals have been invited to boost the festive atmosphere".
Each of the 10 days of anniversary festivities is devoted to a concrete theme: "Grateful Descendants", "Holiday Comes to Every Street", "Intellectual St. Petersburg - a City of Prospects". May 27 "St. Petersburg's Birthday", followed by "Day of Sport and Good Health", "Theatrical Fairy-Show", and, finally, "Great Peter's Birthday" on May 30. Admission to all museums on May 30 will be free, and the famous Hermitage will stay open through the night. Festivities will close up with the "All Flags Coming…" colorful action.
Each of the 10 days will see dozens of events. Olga Ivanova enumerated just a few of them: "On May 27 a memorial sign commemorating St. Petersburg's tercentennial will be unveiled in Peter-and-Paul's Fortress, on a bastion from which the city actually began. The same day there will be a parade of cadet corps on Palace Square. The Hermitage will host a ceremony to award St. Petersburg's prizes in literature and art. Eleven cultural and art associations have already presented their nominees: the team of sculptors who created a monument to the Russian classic Ivan Turgenev - from the Artists' Union; the author of the book "Wishes for the Year 3000" Mikhail Chulaki (posthumously) from the Writers' Union, a group of city planners from the Architects' Union and so on.
And of course, there will be plenty of music everywhere - in theatres, concert halls, museums, gardens and parks, during the daytime and at night…
 

THE HAPPY PLANET OF NIKITA BOGOSLOVSKY

By O. Bugrova
On May 22 the popular Russian composer Nikita Bogoslovsky turned 90. The author of 8 symphonies, string quartets, an opera, a ballet, several operettas and musicals, he is known to millions of Russians as a composer of some 300 songs, including the ever-popular lyrical ballad "Dark Night" written during World War II. Bogoslovsky wrote music to 119 films. A jovial person and a well-known joke-cracker, he wrote 9 humor-splashing books, his favorite one being "Notes on the Brims of a Hat". His phrase "a well-bred person leaves a presentation with an empty stomach" has become an aphorism. Bogoslovsky's ability to hit the bull's eye helped him create truly popular songs. A song from the film "Two Soldiers" (1943), performed by a soldier named Arkady who comes from the Black Sea port-city of Odessa known for its merry port life, become folklore. "I was born in St. Petersburg and had no idea what kind of songs they were signing in Odessa. So an advertisement was put in a newspaper, asking people who could help to come to the studio", Bogoslovksy recalled. "A huge crowd turned up - from grey-bearded solid professors to such suspicious guys that I kept wondering why they aren't in prison yet - all patriots of Odessa.
Bogoslovksy wrote music to films about war, melodramas, adventure films, films for children, and comedies. As he himself confessed, music came out easily, except one satirical comedy about unlucky poachers - "Dog Barbos and an Unusual Cross-Country Race" directed by Leonid Gaidai. "Of all my 119 films, this one proved the hardest. Gaidai showed me the film and demanded that all humorous accents in music coincided with the succession of images on screen. Luckily, I did some work for animated cartoons and knew how it should be. They give you a long strip of drawings divided into squares (each square is a second). On each of the squares they write: "Here the hero stood up, here he ran off, here he smiled" and so on. In short, one had to compose something that would be both music and narration".
Nikita Bogoslovsky toured many countries and befriended many art celebrities, among them Gerard Philippe, Jean Marais, Michel Legrand, Duck Ellington and others. He was a disciple and close friend of the outstanding Russian composer Alexander Glazunov. Despite his more than venerable age, he is working on a new project initiated by the veteran opera producer Boris Porkovsky. "The piece I am working on now has no analogues in world music in terms of genre", Bogoslovsky says. "It's a single-act opera entitled "A Meeting with the Boss". The boss is a baritone, while all other characters are musical instruments. By their intonations and timbre one easily guesses what they want. For instance, here comes an oboe with an oriental accent - he is trying to bribe the boss. A clarinet-secretary keeps running to and fro. The boss's violin-wife is telephoning the husband. Then a trombone calls - he is the boss's boss. Here comes a drum-set-hooligan, followed by a bassoon accompanied by his flute-granddaughter. And so on and so forth. I'd like to make a spectacular finale".
Bogoslovsky is crowned with numerous titles and laurels, both at home and abroad. Asked what's the essence of life, Nikita Bogoslovsky remarked: "To live happily", and that's the way he lives, referring to the present times as "calm, lovely, and full of friends and work", and accepting critics' reviews with philosophic calm.

MARK SHAGAL'S PICTURES ON STAGE

The Moscow Young Spectators' Theatre has premiered the play "Dreams of Exile" staged by the outstanding Russian director Kama Ginkas in cooperation with students of the Theatrical Art Academy. Ginkas's plays are characterized with emotional sharpness, scenic grotesque and frequent changes-over from reality to surrealism. The new play is no exception. The director's free fantasy is based on canvases by the prominent artists Mark Shagal.
The Russian Jew Mark Shagal who lived in France for a long period of time depicted his hometown of Vitebsk where he spent his childhood and youth. "Dreams of Exile" is the first ever play in Russia dedicated to Mark Shagal and his works. Asked why he chose this very painter, director Ginkas said: "It happened by chance, I had to stage a play about exile for demonstrating in Paris. Shagal long lived in exile. I thought his pictures could tell much about the emigration. Besides they speak of love, parting, joys of life, pain, death, childhood and motherland. What's most important is which of the themes touches you. It's highly difficult to interpret pictures, But it's as difficult to stage plays."
Like Shagal's pictures the play is about searches for the God in each of the painter's picture, whether it features clouds, people or a yard behind a Vitebsk shoemaker's house. The play is full of an array of symbols coming from Shagal's canvases. Weird creatures emerge and dissappear on the stage - people with heads of birds and animals. An enormous black coat is towering on Golgotha. Then it's replaced by a wooden pile with Jesus Christ's face clapped on it. The stage set comes under a series of changes - a half of a bagle on a fishing line turns into the horned moon, a small table's legs wear woman's shoes, wet clothes on a rope milk like cows and then raises up into the skies. These symbols are very intriguing and audiences are eager to guess them. Probably, the play is a bit complex for perception. What a person should do to catch properly all the details of the play?
Kama Ginkas says: "I would advice you to be open-hearted and not to burden yourself with useless conclusions and forcible ideas. Shagal founded his own museum in Nice where he put on display a large number of his pictures. But he banned guiding it. He lived up to almost 100 years. When he visited a museum and heard teachers telling their pupils about his pictures, he beaten with his stick on the floor so as the children stop listening to such explanations. So I want our audiences to be the children not prevented by their teachers".
"Dreams of Exile" rocks the audiences, it's a source of deep emotions kept in one's heart for a long time whether it's a joyfull Jewish holiday, war-born horror or the grief of parents parted with their children. This grotesque and abundant show engraves in one's memory. The director explains why the play has such a tremendous effect on audiences. First, because of the actors' sincere playing. Second, because of the scenic space perfectly organized by painter Maria Mitrofanova, and, finally, the abundance of music. Folk songs, wedding songs, segments of Alfred Shnitke's compositions along with the characters and symbolic stage set create the play's atmosphere and revive Shagal's pictures. The two-hour play speaks of elevated and down-to-earth issues, the philosophic points are replaced with comic sketches making the spectators laugh. The history of a provincial town unexpectedly reveals Biblical allusions. The extravagant play allows the audiences to understand better the great artist's picturesque world and enjoy the art of theatre.
 
05/29/2003