<Translated automatically, will be edited later.>
The Bolshoi's chief conductor spoke about the prospects of the season
After the gathering of the Bolshoi troupe (see Kommersant on August 27), Kommersant columnist TATIANA KUZNETSOVA questioned ALEXANDER VEDERNIKOV, the musical director and chief conductor of the theater, about what was not said at the general meeting.
— What caused the adjustment of the opera plans, in particular, the cancellation of the production of the opera "The Americans", which was supposed to open a new theater stage?
— We take the blame for this event entirely on ourselves, because by asking the production team, which consisted of the leaders of the Shadow Theater, namely Ilya Epelbaum and Maya Krasnopolskaya, to prepare the concept of this production, we did not take into account the situation that could potentially develop. And it developed. When we received the director's explication, it was no longer Fomin's opera "The Americans", it was some other work. In particular, the number of actors against the score increased sevenfold. But, driven by the desire to stage Fomin's opera (perhaps not very accurately called the opera of the Russian Baroque and pre-Glinkov period) in all the aesthetic glory of this phenomenon, we considered it wrong to allow such free treatment of the authors of this work of art. Therefore, we had to abandon this idea at this stage, but I am absolutely sure that we will carry out this production a little later anyway.
— These authors are known for their original ideas, so you knew who you were contacting.
— Since they work in the genre of puppet theater, it was meant that this would be an opera for either a marionette theater or a type of nativity scene theater, since these are some of our national rooted theatrical genres. Instead, a fantasy-style production appeared.
— "Futuristic?"
— Skit. That's not what we agreed on. And for some reason, not a single theater artist — neither the opera soloists, nor the choir, nor the orchestra were included in the plans of this performance. What is strange, you must admit, is to make a play in which not a single theater artist participates, at the expense of the theater and on the stage of the theater.
— But the explication could have been corrected.
— We have made such attempts. And we were told that the composition was bad, that it was all completely primitive, and that the only way to make something out of it was to follow this path. For example, it seems to me that opera is not even bad at all, but, on the contrary, very interesting.
— Instead of "Americans", "The Adventures of a Rake" suddenly appeared — from where?
— "The Adventures of a Rake" arose in so far as the New stage of the Bolshoi Theater should have some kind of artistic physiognomy, different from the Main Stage. If the Main Scene, as it is commonly called, is mainstream, then, apparently, the New Scene should focus on what is before the mainstream and after the mainstream, or on some bizarre interpretations of the main repertoire. And in order to declare this orientation, Stravinsky's opera was chosen, because, on the one hand, it is a Russian opera, and on the other hand, it is not really written in English. And it refers us both to the classical period, the pre-Romantic, because it is stylization, and to the post-Romantic, because it is Stravinsky. And this is brilliant music, and Director Chernyakov and I are happy that our aspirations have coincided for this production.
— When will the premiere be?
— February 20th.
— How will the New Scene open?
— We are thinking about it now. Maybe it will open earlier than planned, given that the builders have suddenly rushed forward in completing the construction. So we would like to open the New Stage on November 29th, instead of December 29th as planned. A new job.
— "The Snow Maiden", or what?
— I can't confirm or deny anything either.
— Last year, the strategic planning department was established, which was headed by our colleague, the famous music critic Peter Pospelov. You fired him this summer. For what? And who will replace him?
— One could say that, as a man of fairly broad interests and broad opportunities, Pyotr Pospelov, apparently, at some stage began to feel that his creative interests extended much wider than the Bolshoi Theater. That's all. And it began to come into some conflict with the daily routine work. And the name of the successor can be announced after September 10.
— What is the fate of the opera commissioned by the theater to composer Desyatnikov and writer Sorokin? Are you not afraid of the scandals associated with the name of the latter?
— This does not affect us at all — it would be ridiculous, because I am not a member of the "Walking Together" movement. If we take into account the wishes of each social movement or party, can you imagine what will happen to the Bolshoi's repertoire? This project exists, and they are actively working. But no one can say in advance whether a composer will write a brilliant opera or just a talented one, you know? That's why there is an open situation between us and the creators of the future opera. We give them the opportunity to try to create this business. And we reserve the opportunity at a certain stage to look at what happened and make a final decision. For example, at the stage of complete completion of the concept, but from a practical point of view, at least some kind of act should be written.
— So you don't agree to anything less than genius?
— You have to set yourself high goals.
Source
The Bolshoi's chief conductor spoke about the prospects of the season
After the gathering of the Bolshoi troupe (see Kommersant on August 27), Kommersant columnist TATIANA KUZNETSOVA questioned ALEXANDER VEDERNIKOV, the musical director and chief conductor of the theater, about what was not said at the general meeting.
— What caused the adjustment of the opera plans, in particular, the cancellation of the production of the opera "The Americans", which was supposed to open a new theater stage?
— We take the blame for this event entirely on ourselves, because by asking the production team, which consisted of the leaders of the Shadow Theater, namely Ilya Epelbaum and Maya Krasnopolskaya, to prepare the concept of this production, we did not take into account the situation that could potentially develop. And it developed. When we received the director's explication, it was no longer Fomin's opera "The Americans", it was some other work. In particular, the number of actors against the score increased sevenfold. But, driven by the desire to stage Fomin's opera (perhaps not very accurately called the opera of the Russian Baroque and pre-Glinkov period) in all the aesthetic glory of this phenomenon, we considered it wrong to allow such free treatment of the authors of this work of art. Therefore, we had to abandon this idea at this stage, but I am absolutely sure that we will carry out this production a little later anyway.
— These authors are known for their original ideas, so you knew who you were contacting.
— Since they work in the genre of puppet theater, it was meant that this would be an opera for either a marionette theater or a type of nativity scene theater, since these are some of our national rooted theatrical genres. Instead, a fantasy-style production appeared.
— "Futuristic?"
— Skit. That's not what we agreed on. And for some reason, not a single theater artist — neither the opera soloists, nor the choir, nor the orchestra were included in the plans of this performance. What is strange, you must admit, is to make a play in which not a single theater artist participates, at the expense of the theater and on the stage of the theater.
— But the explication could have been corrected.
— We have made such attempts. And we were told that the composition was bad, that it was all completely primitive, and that the only way to make something out of it was to follow this path. For example, it seems to me that opera is not even bad at all, but, on the contrary, very interesting.
— Instead of "Americans", "The Adventures of a Rake" suddenly appeared — from where?
— "The Adventures of a Rake" arose in so far as the New stage of the Bolshoi Theater should have some kind of artistic physiognomy, different from the Main Stage. If the Main Scene, as it is commonly called, is mainstream, then, apparently, the New Scene should focus on what is before the mainstream and after the mainstream, or on some bizarre interpretations of the main repertoire. And in order to declare this orientation, Stravinsky's opera was chosen, because, on the one hand, it is a Russian opera, and on the other hand, it is not really written in English. And it refers us both to the classical period, the pre-Romantic, because it is stylization, and to the post-Romantic, because it is Stravinsky. And this is brilliant music, and Director Chernyakov and I are happy that our aspirations have coincided for this production.
— When will the premiere be?
— February 20th.
— How will the New Scene open?
— We are thinking about it now. Maybe it will open earlier than planned, given that the builders have suddenly rushed forward in completing the construction. So we would like to open the New Stage on November 29th, instead of December 29th as planned. A new job.
— "The Snow Maiden", or what?
— I can't confirm or deny anything either.
— Last year, the strategic planning department was established, which was headed by our colleague, the famous music critic Peter Pospelov. You fired him this summer. For what? And who will replace him?
— One could say that, as a man of fairly broad interests and broad opportunities, Pyotr Pospelov, apparently, at some stage began to feel that his creative interests extended much wider than the Bolshoi Theater. That's all. And it began to come into some conflict with the daily routine work. And the name of the successor can be announced after September 10.
— What is the fate of the opera commissioned by the theater to composer Desyatnikov and writer Sorokin? Are you not afraid of the scandals associated with the name of the latter?
— This does not affect us at all — it would be ridiculous, because I am not a member of the "Walking Together" movement. If we take into account the wishes of each social movement or party, can you imagine what will happen to the Bolshoi's repertoire? This project exists, and they are actively working. But no one can say in advance whether a composer will write a brilliant opera or just a talented one, you know? That's why there is an open situation between us and the creators of the future opera. We give them the opportunity to try to create this business. And we reserve the opportunity at a certain stage to look at what happened and make a final decision. For example, at the stage of complete completion of the concept, but from a practical point of view, at least some kind of act should be written.
— So you don't agree to anything less than genius?
— You have to set yourself high goals.
Source
Tatiana KUZNETSOVA,
Kommersant, August, 29, 2002
Kommersant, August, 29, 2002
Alexander Vedernikov: we didn't agree on a skit
