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The anniversary days began in the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre. The theater celebrates its 80th anniversary and on the 30th of November producer of the theatre Alexander Titel was 50 years old.
From our correspondent Natalia Victorova.
The celebration of the anniversary of the musical theatre was opened with a concert performed by winners of the prestigious opera award "Casta Diva". From the 1st to the 18th of December all the latest new productions will be on. The ballets by the head choreographer Dmitry Brianzev: "Teaming of the Shrew", "Bible Legends", "Shadowy Ball" and new operas "Carmen", "Love Drug", "Ernani", "Bohemia", "Tais". The celebration will be finished with big gala-concerts of the orchestra, chorus, opera and ballet troupes of the theatre.
There are several opera theatres in Moscow. And each of them has its own image, its own repertoire and its own audience. "They can reproach me with bias when I speak about my theatre, - said Alexander Titel in the interview to our radio. - But I think that the feature of our theatre is that it's the most "theatrical" of all musical theatres. It was born as a theatre. Producers created it. And what producers! Stanislavlky set up his own studio, Nemirovich-Danchenko - his one. Then the studios were transformed into theatres, and the theatres merged. The outstanding masters were working here - Meyerhold, Baratov, and Pokrovsky. Felzenstein produced his "Carmen" here and Harry Kupfer - "The abduction from Seraglio". I think in this sense the theatre has something to boast of. As regards to producers, to actors and to conductors. Today we are trying to continue the good traditions. We are trying to be a harmonious theatre. We want all the arts, which make opera to be equal - the music: orchestra and chorus, the acting, and the producing. I don't want to sacrifice anything: neither theatricality to music, nor music to the faulty easy acting.
Now in his 50-ies the producer sees his life and creating this way: "I think, it's a kind of mutual affair. On one hand I try to create life, on the other hand - life creates me somehow. That's why sometimes our mutual hopes came true, sometimes not. In any case I can say that I do my favorite job. Work is a pleasure for me. And I'd like to wish everyone the same. I have dreamt of producing performances since I was a child. And I always studied it in spite of many other interests in youth. I even graduated physico-mathematical school and Polytechnic College. I always did all kinds of creating activities: I published wall newspapers, took part in KVN games, acted as a compere with an orchestra, played in a studio theatre, wrote miniatures, sketches. It went this way since the childhood. It never seemed to be serious to me. I just did it for pleasure, for heart's sake. But once I understood that I shouldn't confuse my job with my hobby."
After Polytechnic College Alexander Titel graduated Moscow GITIS (Dramatic Art college) and went to Urals. He was invited by Ekaterinburg or Sverdlovsk theatre, as it was called then - one of the best Russian opera theatres. After eleven bright and interesting seasons the Master was invited to Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko musical theatre. Those were hard days for the theatre. It was being reconstructed after the fire. There were different conflicts in the troupe. Many people left then. Of course it's much more difficult to reconstruct than to destroy. Today as a rule all the performances are sold out in the theatre. The audience and the press have noticed a new direction of the producer's activity - he is searching for new talents, he is counting on the talented youth. The choice of repertoire and untrivial performances also attracts attention. "Ernani" by Verdi is one of the most successful operas of last years in the theatre. It was the first time it was on in Moscow. Another Alexander Titel's production is a famous opera by Mozart "Wedding of Figaro", which is performed in the foyer of the theatre.
"As a matter of fact there are millions of compositions with beautiful music and wonderful librettos, - says the producer, - but opera audience is very conservative. It appreciates the favorite plots. It loves "Rigoletto", "Traviata", "Barber of Seville", "Eugene Onegin", "The Queen of Spades", "Boris Godunov". There are about twenty compositions, which wander from one theatre to another. It is rather bad because they restrict the view of another musical styles. This circle is much wider in Europe. We don't often deal with modern music. We want our playbill to be more various and to include both Russian and foreign masterpieces. But not only of the 19th century - the most famous in opera - but also of the 19th and the 20th centuries.
We have already done much. Many new performances are on in the theatre, such as "Ernani" by Verdi, "Tais" by Massenet, "The love drug" by Donizetti. And the next new production is "Chaperon" - comic opera by Prokophiev .
 FOR THE 130TH ANNIVERSARY OF PHILIP MALIAVIN
 
 
 From Anatoly Naimushin.
130 years have passed since the birthday of Philip Maliavin - a talented Russian artist. His contemporaries highly valued his creating. Unfortunately today his name is almost forgotten - it was his destiny. Philip entered the art scandalously. After graduating the Artist Academy in Petersburg he produced his picture "Laugh" for the competition. He had painted gay and portly peasant women at the well wearing bright sarafans. The Great Russian artist Ilia Repin and other art connoisseurs highly valued the painting. But the academy professors viewed it in another way. They saw no merits in it and blamed the author for breaking the traditions and for primitive subject. Then famous Russian art workers Alexander Benua and Sergei Diagilev produced it at the International exhibition in Paris in 1900. The picture had a great success there and won the Grand Prize. It was bought by the Venice museum of contemporary art. And it is still kept there.
Philip Maliavin settled in Axenino village near Ryazan. He was working among common people and picturesque nature for twenty years. His heroines were peasant women, blooming and self-respecting. He painted them everywhere: in the yard, at the village fence, at work and at walks. The audience in Petersburg and Moscow salons where he exhibited his works was excited. And then new expression "Madonnas of Ryazan" was mentioned for the first time. But its author is unknown.
In 1920 Philip Maliavin left Soviet Russia. And though his works were still exhibited in different salons communists forbade even mentioning his name. His life was hard as a life of every emigrant, he never had enough money. He died in France at the beginning of the Second World War.
Now his name is returned back from oblivion. And Russian people can admire his "Madonnas of Ryazan" again - the art "inspired by national element and love of life", as it was called by one of critics .

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