Greenhouse effect

The "Persephone" Stravinsky in the House of Music in the Svetlanovsky Hall of the Moscow International House of Music took place the only performance of the melodrama of Igor Stravinsky "Persephone". The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia (NFOR) was conducted by Ion Marin, the production was carried out by Kirill Serebrennikov. In the Moscow poster of the current period, Persephone turned out to be practically the only response to Stravinsky’s anniversary - in June it turns 125 years since his birth.

The Moscow Easter Festival recently ended, in the framework of which Valery Gergiev and his team presented a number of Stravinsky’s works. “Persephone” is a little that Moscow managed to answer to St. Petersburg: the initiators and creators of the production shown in the Music House should already be thanked for this. Hardly anyone will remember when Persephone was the last time in Moscow. Hardly anyone in the coming years or even decades will risk playing it here again. A large, rare composition of the greatest composer - at least write every word with a capital letter - gathered about the same number of people in the hall as participated in his performance. “Persephone”, with a half -empty amphitheater (the orchestra is located in the stall) was more like a closed event. The May heat, Saturday evening or the sluggishness of ticket distributors is to blame, however, Persephone has become a major event in status than in fact.

In the poster, the performance was designated as “the return of the Persephons” - “dramatic oratorio”, although Stravinsky himself defined the genre of his “Persephons” as a melodrama or, more precisely, “a dance pantomime connected with singing and speeches”. The essay appeared in 1933 by order of Ida Rubinstein - the famous actress, dancer and part -time millionaire. It was she who performed in the premiere performances the title party intended for the reverence. Another hypostasis of Persephons is pantomime and dance, therefore, with the exception of the production with the participation of the famous ballerina Vera Zorina, the main role here is traditionally divided between two actresses. The melodrama was based on the play by Andre Jew, telling the story of the abduction by Aida Persephone - the daughter of Zeus and the goddess of fertility Demeter - and her return to the earth. The French text, inspired by Sati Spivakova, was duplicated on the screen in the magnificent translation of Irina Kuznetsova: "And the complaints of the earth have long been lost by the score: the nature of the dead spring is waiting in vain."

The main decoration of the production of Kirill Serebrennikov resembles a garden greenhouse, although the main action takes place against its background, and not inside: the old woman, symbolizing the kingdom of the dead, passes through this huge greenhouse and is seated on an advance. The batch of King Emolp - the narrator and the priest, which controls the action - is performed by tenor Marat Gali, standing on a huge tower. The most perhaps the naked dancer, merging in an embrace with Sati Spivakova in the prologue and the finale, is most impressive. In the scene of the resurrection, it is watered with freshly squeezed pomegranate juice - Hades gave Persephone a grenade grain so that it would not forget the kingdom of the dead - and the performer shows extraordinary technology and expressiveness. The spectacle is controversial and not always attractive, but certainly spectacular. It should be noted the magnificent work of the combined choir of the Academy of Good Art, located on both sides of the stage, as well as the maestro Jonah Marina, the main invited conductor nher. The score was carefully rehearsed, both solo and duets and the orchestra in general sounded brilliantly.

05/27/2007 / Ilya Ovchinnikov, the material was published in the newspaper No. 94 dated 05/28/2007.