Vladimir URIN,
Tugan SOKHIEV,
Makvala KASRASHVILI,
Makhar VAZIEV,
Bolshoi Theatre of Russia collective
<...>
Alexander Alexandrovich was a young man full of strength and energy. It is impossible to accept his death. He devoted to the Bolshoi Theater eight years of his, as we know today, short life. He was not afraid to come to the Bolshoi at the age of thirty-seven and was not afraid to leave when he realized that his own creative route should follow a different vector. The years of his leadership at the Bolshoi Theater were difficult and happy. Alexander Vedernikov has known the Bolshoi Theater from an early age. The XXI century began. And Alexander Alexandrovich believed that the theater should change, that it was necessary to open up to the world, to move in this direction – to invite as many directors and singers as possible. He has performed many new productions himself. "The Fiery Angel" by Prokofiev, "Adriana Lecouvreur" by Chilea, "The Flying Dutchman" by Wagner in the first edition, appeared for the first time in the Bolshoi. He has conducted many of the most important Russian operas, including "Boris Godunov", "Eugene Onegin", "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Virgin of Fevronia", "War and Peace". With him, the theater commissioned – for the first time in the XXI century – a new opera: "The Children of Rosenthal". This opera by Leonid Desyatnikov became the most important milestone in the life of the Bolshoi. All this exists now and will be mentioned in all books on the history of the Bolshoi Theater. But, unfortunately, there will not be all that Alexander Alexandrovich could still carry out on the diverse stages of the world, there will be no new meetings with outstanding conductors and singers, new mastered scores, new orders to composers.
And how much things remain outside the official biography? His modesty, his humour, his love of nature, his interest in various genres of art, even his inimitable manner of speech. One of his favorite turns of phrase is "do you understand?". No... we don't understand. And we don't want to understand. It's hard to accept the departure of Alexander Alexandrovich. It's too premature… We express our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Alexander Alexandrovich Vedernikov.
UNIVERSE VEDERNIKOV
Anatoly IKSANOV,
General Director of the Bolshoi Theatre.
"Bolshoi Theatre", No. 3(22), 2020.
<Translated automatically, will be edited later>
It is bitter and unfair when, on the rise, having gained worldly wisdom and faith in one's own strength, a person leaves. We worked together for eight years: stormy, reckless, crazy, when stereotypes about the Bolshoi were broken, when through trial and error a unique path for the creative and institutional movement of the theater was sought. Of course, all the changes largely took place on the initiative of Alexander Alexandrovich Vedernikov, he was the engine of creative ideas thanks to a deep understanding of music, the highest education and amazing intelligence.
He was completely alien to false pathos and window dressing. It impressed me very much. The most important thing is that we absolutely trusted each other in those difficult times when the construction of the New Stage was being completed, it was being opened, and the historic building was being reconstructed.
We faced colossal tasks - to preserve the troupe and repertoire, to release new performances. Together with Vedernikov, they then planned and carried out many tours in order to occupy a huge troupe during the reconstruction. We agreed which of us would go on what tour, so that the team would always know that we were nearby. For me, these eight years may be the happiest time of my life in general, and especially in the Bolshoi. The years with Alexander Alexandrovich were difficult, but also joyful.
I remember that in June 2001 I called him - at that time he was conducting either in Belgium or in Holland - and asked to meet. From the first minute I realized that we were of the same blood group. Modesty, intelligence have always attracted me in people, and these traits dominated in him. And a sense of humor! It is clear that a lot of things “fell down” on us from the outside, but it is surprising that Vedernikov answered with an invariable smile to any attacks: “Wonderful are your deeds, Lord!” I sometimes stubborn, and he just smiled.
Alexander Alexandrovich is an amazing person, with a huge and rich inner world - completely special, not subject to external influences. He was also very human! I remember how, from morning till evening, "Nashi" stood at the entrances of the theater with posters, allegedly disgracing us with him and the author of "Children of Rosenthal" Vladimir Sorokin. And he, Vedernikov, went out late in the evening after the performance and gave the rebels hot coffee from a thermos: he understood that poor young people were freezing, not really realizing what and why. He also perfectly understood what was behind the attacks on the "Children of Rosenthal".
It was a wonderful time when we converged in our aspirations to move forward, preserving the best of the great heritage of the Bolshoi Theater: Alexander Alexandrovich, Alexei Ratmansky, Dmitry Chernyakov, Leonid Desyatnikov, Valery Borisov. At the same time, we made many real friends abroad: Peter Konwichny, Francesca Zambello, Yug Gal, Brigitte Lefevre, Gerard Mortier, Maria di Freda ... Everyone believed in Alexander Alexandrovich, believed in what we were doing, it gave us strength.
I repeat that complete trust reigned between us, despite the fact that we, of course, made many mistakes in the search. Only those who do nothing do not make mistakes. The main thing is not to make a mistake, but to understand why it happened. With Alexander Alexandrovich, “working on mistakes” was easy. He knew how to listen and hear, evaluating a particular problem, success or shortcomings. Without him, it would have been much more difficult, and perhaps impossible, to go through such a difficult path with minimal losses. Mentally returning to those times, I simply can’t imagine with whom, other than Alexander Alexandrovich, I could do this.
He left the theater himself. A year before leaving, he said: “You know, Anatoly Gennadievich (we were always with him on“ you ”), in general, not a single chief conductor could stand at the Bolshoi Theater for more than seven years! And I have gone for the eighth!”. And a year later he left the Bolshoi. It was probably my fault in this decision. I know that he felt and saw that other times were coming, which he could hardly accept. Today I bitterly recognize the irretrievable loss of a loved one who gave me the faith that the world can be changed for the better. I thank fate for meeting Alexander Alexandrovich Vedernikov, for whom music was the universe, and morality was the measure of a person.
Text prepared by: Katerina Novikova
Tugan SOKHIEV,
Makvala KASRASHVILI,
Makhar VAZIEV,
Bolshoi Theatre of Russia collective
<...>
Alexander Alexandrovich was a young man full of strength and energy. It is impossible to accept his death. He devoted to the Bolshoi Theater eight years of his, as we know today, short life. He was not afraid to come to the Bolshoi at the age of thirty-seven and was not afraid to leave when he realized that his own creative route should follow a different vector. The years of his leadership at the Bolshoi Theater were difficult and happy. Alexander Vedernikov has known the Bolshoi Theater from an early age. The XXI century began. And Alexander Alexandrovich believed that the theater should change, that it was necessary to open up to the world, to move in this direction – to invite as many directors and singers as possible. He has performed many new productions himself. "The Fiery Angel" by Prokofiev, "Adriana Lecouvreur" by Chilea, "The Flying Dutchman" by Wagner in the first edition, appeared for the first time in the Bolshoi. He has conducted many of the most important Russian operas, including "Boris Godunov", "Eugene Onegin", "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Virgin of Fevronia", "War and Peace". With him, the theater commissioned – for the first time in the XXI century – a new opera: "The Children of Rosenthal". This opera by Leonid Desyatnikov became the most important milestone in the life of the Bolshoi. All this exists now and will be mentioned in all books on the history of the Bolshoi Theater. But, unfortunately, there will not be all that Alexander Alexandrovich could still carry out on the diverse stages of the world, there will be no new meetings with outstanding conductors and singers, new mastered scores, new orders to composers.
And how much things remain outside the official biography? His modesty, his humour, his love of nature, his interest in various genres of art, even his inimitable manner of speech. One of his favorite turns of phrase is "do you understand?". No... we don't understand. And we don't want to understand. It's hard to accept the departure of Alexander Alexandrovich. It's too premature… We express our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Alexander Alexandrovich Vedernikov.
UNIVERSE VEDERNIKOV
Anatoly IKSANOV,
General Director of the Bolshoi Theatre.
"Bolshoi Theatre", No. 3(22), 2020.
<Translated automatically, will be edited later>
It is bitter and unfair when, on the rise, having gained worldly wisdom and faith in one's own strength, a person leaves. We worked together for eight years: stormy, reckless, crazy, when stereotypes about the Bolshoi were broken, when through trial and error a unique path for the creative and institutional movement of the theater was sought. Of course, all the changes largely took place on the initiative of Alexander Alexandrovich Vedernikov, he was the engine of creative ideas thanks to a deep understanding of music, the highest education and amazing intelligence.
He was completely alien to false pathos and window dressing. It impressed me very much. The most important thing is that we absolutely trusted each other in those difficult times when the construction of the New Stage was being completed, it was being opened, and the historic building was being reconstructed.
We faced colossal tasks - to preserve the troupe and repertoire, to release new performances. Together with Vedernikov, they then planned and carried out many tours in order to occupy a huge troupe during the reconstruction. We agreed which of us would go on what tour, so that the team would always know that we were nearby. For me, these eight years may be the happiest time of my life in general, and especially in the Bolshoi. The years with Alexander Alexandrovich were difficult, but also joyful.
I remember that in June 2001 I called him - at that time he was conducting either in Belgium or in Holland - and asked to meet. From the first minute I realized that we were of the same blood group. Modesty, intelligence have always attracted me in people, and these traits dominated in him. And a sense of humor! It is clear that a lot of things “fell down” on us from the outside, but it is surprising that Vedernikov answered with an invariable smile to any attacks: “Wonderful are your deeds, Lord!” I sometimes stubborn, and he just smiled.
Alexander Alexandrovich is an amazing person, with a huge and rich inner world - completely special, not subject to external influences. He was also very human! I remember how, from morning till evening, "Nashi" stood at the entrances of the theater with posters, allegedly disgracing us with him and the author of "Children of Rosenthal" Vladimir Sorokin. And he, Vedernikov, went out late in the evening after the performance and gave the rebels hot coffee from a thermos: he understood that poor young people were freezing, not really realizing what and why. He also perfectly understood what was behind the attacks on the "Children of Rosenthal".
It was a wonderful time when we converged in our aspirations to move forward, preserving the best of the great heritage of the Bolshoi Theater: Alexander Alexandrovich, Alexei Ratmansky, Dmitry Chernyakov, Leonid Desyatnikov, Valery Borisov. At the same time, we made many real friends abroad: Peter Konwichny, Francesca Zambello, Yug Gal, Brigitte Lefevre, Gerard Mortier, Maria di Freda ... Everyone believed in Alexander Alexandrovich, believed in what we were doing, it gave us strength.
I repeat that complete trust reigned between us, despite the fact that we, of course, made many mistakes in the search. Only those who do nothing do not make mistakes. The main thing is not to make a mistake, but to understand why it happened. With Alexander Alexandrovich, “working on mistakes” was easy. He knew how to listen and hear, evaluating a particular problem, success or shortcomings. Without him, it would have been much more difficult, and perhaps impossible, to go through such a difficult path with minimal losses. Mentally returning to those times, I simply can’t imagine with whom, other than Alexander Alexandrovich, I could do this.
He left the theater himself. A year before leaving, he said: “You know, Anatoly Gennadievich (we were always with him on“ you ”), in general, not a single chief conductor could stand at the Bolshoi Theater for more than seven years! And I have gone for the eighth!”. And a year later he left the Bolshoi. It was probably my fault in this decision. I know that he felt and saw that other times were coming, which he could hardly accept. Today I bitterly recognize the irretrievable loss of a loved one who gave me the faith that the world can be changed for the better. I thank fate for meeting Alexander Alexandrovich Vedernikov, for whom music was the universe, and morality was the measure of a person.
Text prepared by: Katerina Novikova
State Academic Bolshoi Theatre
