"Animal scene"

Memory of Elena Obraztsova. Critic Alexei Parin - about the great Russian opera singer

In Germany on January 12, after a serious illness, an outstanding opera singer Elena Obraztsova died. She was 75 years old. Farewell to the People’s Artist of the USSR will be held on January 14 at the Bolshoi Theater, on the stage of which she debuted in 1963. Over the 50 years of Obraztsova’s creative activity, she conquered all the leading opera theaters in the world-from La Scala to Covent Garden, sang more than 90 parties from the world opera repertoire and opened the way to many young stars. At the request of Medusa, the legend of the opera scene, Mezzo-soprano Elena Obraztsova recalls the music critic Alexei Parin .

Elena Vasilievna Obraztsova, of course, was an outstanding, great singer - this can be said without any doubt - and a completely phenomenal person. A person who realizes itself in art. There was a real romantic impulse in it, a flight, a sense of art inside himself, which unfolds a person-it was very felt in it.

I am only five years younger than Elena Vasilievna, so her whole creative life passed before my eyes. I remember very well how Elena Obraztsova appeared at the Bolshoi Theater, how everyone said about her debut in the role of Marina Mnishek. And it was very interesting for me to see and understand what kind of new singer it was. I came to the “royal bride”, where she sang Lyubasha, quite quickly after her appearance in the Bolshoi Theater. And, of course, he was shocked by her voice, huge, very beautiful, who was immediately remembered and told you a lot, but also surprised by her certain helplessness as an actress. It was an old performance in which it was introduced by the director’s assistants - and there was nothing special from the acting point of view there. However, then its development as an “animal scene” - as Franco Dzeffirelli called her once - turned out to be just fantastic. It is unfortunate that in those days in Moscow we could only see the results of this development - in the Bolshoi Theater, performances were not specifically staged on it, only abroad.

Obraztsova was the singer of the only and unique in her generation, it is no coincidence that she sang Verdiev’s parties on the stage of La Scala in the year of the theater anniversary. It is good that we were shown in the direct broadcast of Don Carlos, where the whole constellation of the singers participated. It is impossible to forget how Elena Vasilievna, on the one hand, sang a song about a veil in Don Carlos, which requires an incredible belkant accuracy and this gust itself (a song about a veil is a story that Eboli tells about herself), and on the other hand - O Don Fatale, the last aria of the Princess Eboli, where a completely different vote and a different gate is needed, rather, more likely Late -romantic. This is absolutely unforgettable. Since then, I looked alive and listened to many records of Don Carlos - but I have not heard such a perfect performance of these two contrasting fragments of the Eboli party and I'm afraid that I will not hear already. Many exemplary performances of exemplary were beautiful. And she gave her in Paris with a desk, and “rural honor” in Milan, according to which Dzeffirelli later shot the film. There she already appears as a completely phenomenal actress who holds a very difficult high tessature for the Mezzo-soprano and at the same time so naturally exists in such a common environment.

We perceived her performances at the Bolshoi Theater in the 1970s and 80s, when she sang in the language of the original-in the same “Carmen” as royal gifts. Everyone still remembers her concerts in the Great Hall of the Conservatory, which brought the audience to insanity. After them, the audience raised Elena Vasilievna in her arms and carried in her arms to the car. I have not heard this anymore about any singer, so we can say with confidence that Obraztsova in her generation was completely unique. And although in this generation there are enough Russian singers who performed on Western scenes, no one knew such a scope and dedication in art.

Of course, she was distinguished by the phenomenal energy of existence in art - she herself told how three concerts could sing one day - in the morning, day and evening. Obraztsova had a huge repertoire, at the end of her career she also sang ancient Italian music, a lot of the oratorial genre, for example, amazingly recorded Rapsodia for Alta Brahms.

Being such an “animal scene”, Obraztsova felt the need for it to the end. The fact that she until the last came out like a countess in a “peak lady” in the Bolshoi Theater and in Mikhailovsky is great happiness. It is impossible to part with the scene to a person who gave all his energy to her. There are pirate records from the metro-opera when the image sang to the adalaziz in the “norm”-her crazy energy on stage is especially visible there. Or during her debut in the Metro-Opera: she sang Amneris in Aida, and after the scene of the trial, the hall howled and shouted. When she sent the curses to the priestesses who did not forgive Radame, she wanted to fall through the ground.

Obraztsova was not easy, with elements of madness, such artistic madness. Vazha Chachava, who worked with Elena Vasilievna for a long time, said to himself: "I am not crazy enough to become ingenious in art." And partly his statement is connected with the shawl of nature of Elena Vasilievna, who during the performances forgot herself.

Vazha Chachava told a wonderful story about how he came to accompany Obraztsova to her solo concert in La Scala. She wanted to cancel the concert, because she did not work one bunch, but Claudio Abbado forced her to go on stage, and Vaja thought that there would be a collapse and scandal. However, Elena Vasilievna pulled herself together and on stage simply surpassed herself, and the audience literally crazy with delight at the end of the concert. So she knew how to gather on stage in a half -heart state.

I myself also know this dual nature of exemplary, which at the same time radiated some incredible human charm. I remember when we wrote conversations for the book that I published (“Elena Obraztsova: Voice and Fate.” M., 2009- approx. Medusa ), we sat with her on the lawn in her country house, on two chairs, and she almost in a whisper told me some very important, secret moments of her life. Then, when she received a decoding from me, she did not believe that she said all this. I thought that maybe I was fantasized. It was in this that its artistic-human nature was: when she was given to art or conversation, she did not remember herself, did not evaluate. And this is probably the property of a real big artist.

As a teacher and connoisseur of art, Elena Vasilievna committed very important actions. At one of her contests, she gave the Grand Prix of Julia Lezhneva, which was then 18 years old. I talked with the jury members, where the venerable ladies were sitting, say, the first ladies of the vocal kingdom, and they said that it was a revaluation, nothing would come out of Lezhneva. Six years have passed - and Julia Lezhneva stands in the front row of vocals.

Elena Vasilievna possessed strong inner vision: she saw not only the vocal merits of the singer, but also the human essence, knew how to look "on five floors inside." Such an immersion in a person characterizes it, if we speak in an exalted sense, as a positively charged witch. In any case, it was a very powerful penetration into a person who did not allow her to make mistakes. Obishovova, not only in partners, but also in friends had people of high moral assessments. Placido Domingo. Or Franco Dzeffirelli and Herbert von Karayan, who appreciated her very much.

Obraztsova was a man who determined a lot in art itself. Her gala concerts, final concerts after contests, “Opera Ball” at the Bolshoi Theater, “Big Opera” on the Culture channel, where she addressed us from the screens-all this said that we were dealing with an incredible scale living with us at the same time. For art, the existence of such positively charged people is necessary. This is an incredible loss for Russian culture, because Elena Vasilievna could do a lot more.

Recorded by Tatyana Ershova