RUSSIAN FILMS IN VENICE
By Milena Faustova
One of the most high-profile international film festivals - the Venetian
Film Festival - came to a close on the Italian Island of Lido on September
10th. In the 11 days that the festival was on the jury was presented with
more than 50 pictures from all over the world, including two films from
Russia - "First on the Moon" by Alexei Fedorchenko and "Garpastum"
by Alexei German Jr.
The result of Russia's participation in the Venetian Festival is one
prize and 12 minutes of uninterrupted applause. Alexei Fedorchenko's "First
on the Moon" won the "Horizons" competition prize given
to young talents and debutants. "First on the Moon" is a fictitious
story of a Soviet mission to the Moon in 1938, which was top secret. This
quasi-documentary of a comedy about the world's first spaceflight shared
a prize with the Polish film "In the East of Paradise" by Leh
Kovalski.
Alexei Fedorchuk's
victory came as a surprise of sorts, just as the underestimation of Alexei
German Jr.'s "Garpastum", which was anticipated at the Venice
Festival as a sure candidate if not for Grand-Prix, then to one of the
prize "lions" for sure. Garpastum is an ancient game similar
to football, and the scene in the film is set in the years of the First
World War. The tickets were sold out well before the main competition show,
and people were hanging by the entrance asking for a spare ticket throughout
the whole of the demonstration days. And the final captions were shown
to a standing ovation from the audiences.
The scriptwriter, Alexander Veinstein, said: "The festival left
me impressed. The 12-minute closing applause to "Garpastum" was
the longest in the festival. But what moved me most was that the four young
actors who played main parts were crying in full view of the audiences.
This was a reception they had never experienced before".
International critics described the film "Garpastum" a sample
of modern cinema classics made in the best traditions of Russian cinematography.
"The film by Alexei German Jr. meets the best of filmmaking traditions
reflecting the schools of Tarkovsky, Sokurov and German Sr. This is your
soul", - the Director of Venice Film Festival Marco Muller said. "Alexei
German Jr. has managed to strike on the right artistic solution. - Marco
Muller went on to say. - He demonstrated full maturity as a director, and
I'm sure that we'll meet again". However, the opinion of the Festival's
director and the high acclaim from the viewers produced no influence on
the jury, which divided on the film. As became known from unofficial sources,
"Garpastum" was considered in three categories, including the
Golden Lion, and on each occasion it lacked one voice. They say the inner
battles over German Jr.'s film delayed the closing ceremony with both the
viewers and the director exposed to overwhelming tension.
"It's so difficult to fight the fear that someone might leave,
some might not like it and some might whistle, - Alexei German Jr. said.
- But when you see a unanimously positive response it strikes you off balance
but gives you tremendous pleasure".
Today the film by German Jr. is in great demand, and the director gets
numerous invitations to international film festivals. The Festival's Grand-Prix
went to "Mount "Brookbeck" by the American director of Taiwanese
descent Eng Lee.
On the acknowledgment of Alexei German Jr., recognition from the public
and praise from the colleagues come above any prizes. The prominent Russian
actress and director Renata Litvinova described the film as strikingly
good. "Alexei, - she said, - is worthy of being a German, a member
of such great a family. When I saw the film I felt pride for the Russian
cinema art, both as a director and as a Russian".
TREASURES OF EUROPEAN KINGS IN MOSCOW
The Exhibition "Gabsburg Cabinets of Curiosities: the Magic of
Nature and the Mechanism of the Universe" from the Vienna Museum of
Art History has opened in the Moscow Kremlin. The show is part of a large-scale
project timed for the bicentenary of the Moscow Kremlin museum collections
that includes a series of displays similar to those of the world's biggest
museums. The Deputy Director of the Kremlin Museums Zelfira Tregulova says
she takes into consideration three moments when contemplating bringing
in a collection. First, it ought to have links to a royal dynasty with
a good "lineage". Second, it should come from a similar museum,
and third, its exhibits should be unique for the Russians. We choose what
we don't have, Mrs.Tregulova says, and we're planning mutual cooperation.
Louvre became the first guest to the Moscow Kremlin museums last year.
Colleagues from Paris brought one of the most treasured collections of
applied art - a collection of King Louis XIV consisting of carved vases
and vessels made of semi-precious stones set by Europe's best jewelers.
The return visit is planned for the late 2006-early 2007, when a joint
exhibition of Byzantine collections of the Kremlin and Louvre will take
place in Paris.
This year the project continues with an exposition of the Gabsburg
collection in Moscow. The Director of the Vienna Museum of Art History
Wielfried Zeipel said: "14 years ago the Museum of Art History in
Vienna hosted the Exhibition "Gold of the Kremlin". The exposition,
visited by 250 thousand people, was one of the most significant in the
history of our museum. The collections of the Moscow Kremlin and the Museum
of Art History in Vienna are similar in many respects. Even so, either
of the collections has a number of peculiar features that make it different.
The two collections are mutually complementary, and I think that the intercrossing
of the two cultures is of tremendous importance.
You must know that cabinets of curiosities that sprang up in the 16th
century and became particularly popular among the royalty in Renaissance
were predecessors to contemporary museums. Austrian monarchs, grand dukes
and emperors collected all sorts of rarities - extraordinary or unusual
items and works of art. Along with the jewelry the items included things
made of ivory and bronze, scientific instruments, mechanisms, clocks, exotic
games - in a word, artifacts that cause admiration".
The exposition features more than 30 unique rarities and artifacts
from the collections of curiosities of Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Tyrol
and Emperor Rudolf II. The emperors were ardent collectors and admirers
of the unusual or exotic and collected rarities from across the globe.
On display are items of symbolic importance, protective amulets and things
telling of the Universe and its structure. A highlight of the exhibition
is the portrait of Rudolf II painted by the prominent mannerist Arcimboldo.
One of the oldest exhibits is a late 16th-century table decoration
called "Snake Tongues". Made of fossilized shark teeth in the
form of snake tongues and previous gems the item was believed to be endowed
with the magic power of identifying poisons. Indicating poison were the
bezoar stones, which were removed from animal intestines and were decorated
with filigree. An equally unconventional exhibit is the blood-red flask
shaped as a heart and made of finest polished turtle shell. The other exhibits
of the "Magic of Nature" Section include a rhino horn cup with
a lid made of wild boar tusk with the bottoms of both the lid and the cup
inundated with insects made of precious metal - from spiders to scorpions.
Articles made of natural materials ranked much higher among the collectors
than man-made artifacts. The Earth was believed to be God's cabinet of
curiosities and a collector's stuff was but a mirror reflecting the surrounding
world.
The "Mechanism of the Universe" Section demonstrates an exquisite
solar clock, a globe or table decoration with a compass inside: a miniature
mountain realistically covered with forest with animals in it and an ivory
castle on top. On the exposition are two portraits of the collectors and
their personal knightly armor.
In a year the project "Royal Treasures in the Moscow Kremlin"
will feature the Exhibition "Naturalia-Artechiphalia", or "Natural
- Artificial". On view will be the treasures of the so-called "precious
cabinet" or the cabinet of precious gems of the 18th century Saxon
ruler Augustus the Strong that is now part of the collection of the Dresden
Museum "Green Vaults".
The treasures of Gabsburg cabinets of curiosities will be on view in
Moscow until November 20th.
80TH BIRTHDAY OF ARTIST MAI MITURICH
T.Zavialova
The Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow is hosting the Exhibition "Mai
Miturich: Drawing in Light". The one-man show is dedicated to the
80th birthday of Mai Miturich, a prominent Russian artist and member of
the Russian Arts Academy. On display are works in every kind of genre:
book graphics, easel painting, water colours, ink drawings, painted ceramics.
Mai Miturich represents a famous Russian dynasty of artists. His father
Petr Miturich was a celebrated graphic artist and painter of the "Russian
avant-garde" school. His mother, Vera Khlebnikova, was a sister of
the Russian symbolist poet Velimir Khlebnikov and a gifted artist herself.
Mai Miturich recalls with tenderness of his first steps in art.
"It all started very early. Both my dad and mum were artists,
and I would grab their pencils and draw too. I don't remember exactly how
I ended up drawing…I made various figurines out of modeling clay, and my
father took the pain of molding them from plaster and then casting them
of lead. They have all survived - doggies, cows, merry-go-rounds, and all
of them I made when I was under four".
Then there was school and…the Second World War. Mai Miturich joined
the army. Among his wartime awards are two Medals "For Courage",
which were granted for individual heroism only.
As an artist Miturich started with book graphics. Generations of Russians
grew on the books illustrated by Miturich. The editions included "Odyssey"
by 
Homer, and books
by children's writers, such as Kornei Chukovsky, Samuil Marshak and Agnia
Barto. For book graphics the artist earned numerous international awards
and prizes. Curiously enough, Mai Miturich perceives each of the books'
authors differently.
"Each of them sounds differently. Marshak is radically different
from Chukovski in all respects. Chukovsky is resounding, mischievous, Marshak
is more serious, orderly. Barto has an entirely different tune. And each
of them carries a particular visual image".
Apart from a graphic artist Mai Miturich was always a traveling painter.
Few of the Russian artists can boast as many trips around the country,
and each of his trips was devoid of haste and extremely productive. On
display at the Tretiakov are about one hundred landscapes and fantasies
that grew from the artist's impressions of the breathtakingly beautiful
scenery he saw in different corners across the country. And these are but
a fraction of the whole. In his time Miturich introduced the viewers to
the beauty of Commander Islands, the easternmost islands of Russia. From
his pictures people got an idea of the Siberian Republic of Tuva, with
its crystal clean mountains, forests and rivers. Being in impeccable command
of the canvas oil painting or water-color techniques, Mai Miturich passes
on to the viewer the energy of his feelings by making his works throb with
light and shadow and exude the melody of color and the rhythm of stroke.
A particular section of the exhibition depicts the artist's vision
of other countries and cultures. On the acknowledgement of Mai Miturich
himself, he was most impressed by Japan. "I've been to Japan six times
- for the first time in the early 1960s. And I visited it over and over
again, when books with my drawings came out there or on other occasions.
At the invitation of Hokkaido Gallery I lived in Japan for more than 18
months. On my pictures is never-changing Japan: Pacific coasts, the ocean,
hilly landscapes. I was always looking for places that had survived the
way they used to be in ancient times, and sometimes I think I succeeded.
On one of my water colors is an ancient granite obelisk that stands on
a shore near a fishermen's village. Engraved on the obelisk is an inscription
that if translated into Russian will say approximately the following: "Fish,
forgive us for catching you. We catch you to live. Sorry for that".
The exhibition of Mai Miturich's works at the Tretiakov will run till
October 2nd.
MOSCOW PHILHARMONIC IN NEW SEASON
O. Bugrov
The Moscow Philharmonic Society has opened its 84th season launching
more than 600 concert programs in 13 philharmonic halls across Moscow.
The first month of the season - September - offers classical music
lovers a great variety of events, such as orchestra concerts in the direction
by Valery Gergiev and Mikhail Pletnev, the Contest of Young Performers
"Philharmonic Debut" and the Festival "Quartet Art".
On tradition, philharmonic concerts make up the concert series. The
Director of the Moscow Philharmonic Society Alexei Shalashov tells of the
priorities in forming the series: "This season the Moscow Philharmonic
presents a considerable number of musicians with a world name, including
Russian performers living abroad, whose concerts were always more of a
show and an expensive show at that. Now we've made concerts of this kind
part of the regular series, affordable in prices. The idea is to make the
listener part of the world concert space".
One of the world stars - a rare coloratura soprano from South Korea,
Sumi Yo - is to arrive in Moscow this month.
The variety of the coming season is seen from the concert series titles:
"Masterpieces of Russian Symphony Music", "World Stars -
Laureates of Tchaikovsky Competition", "Great Instrumental Concertos",
"Contemporaries and Classics". Contemporary music has become
a frequent guest to philharmonic programs, particularly since composer
Alexander Tchaikovsky took over the artistic direction of the Moscow Philharmonic
three years ago. And the current season is no exception.
"As a composer I'm happy that we in Russia for the first time
hear modern symphonies by top foreign composers: Phillip Glass and John
Coriliano from the United States, Mark Turnage of Britain, - Alexander
Tchaikovsky said. Gradually, step by step, we introduce the listener to
musicians who set contemporary music trends in the West. We'll be giving
concerts to mark the 70th birthday of the Georgian composer Giya Kancheli,
and we'll be celebrating the 80th birthday of the Russian master Boris
Tchaikovsky. A big number of out-of-the-series concerts will be dedicated
to contemporary music.
The main participants in this season's concerts are lead singers of
the Moscow Philharmonic Society, many of which are known worldwide. These
are violist Yuri Bashmet, violin players Vladimir Spivakov, Viktor Tretiakov
and Sergei Stadler, cellists Natalya Gutman, Alexander Rudin and Alexander
Kniazev, pianists Vladimir Krainev, Nikolai Petrov and Eliso Virsaladze.
Standing out this season is the series "Stars of the 21st century",
which features the young generation of talented performers, just off from
musical academies but popular all over Russia and abroad. Among them is
cellist Denis Shapovalov, violin players Shandor Murzha and Alena Baeva,
pianists Yekaterina Mechetina, Rem Urasin and Alexander Melnikov.
The main player this season is the Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
led by Yuri Simonov, a conductor known among foreign audiences as the musical
director of the Belgian National Orchestra and the head of the Hungarian
Orchestra "Liszt-Wagner", who is famous for the opera productions
in Hamburg, Paris, Birmingham and Los Angeles. In the near future Yuri
Simonov's Orchestra is leaving for a grand tour of Spain and Britain, where
it will play Russian composers.
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