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…
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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.
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- 05/29/2003
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