Opera and a little nervous

Vladimir Kekhman tried to answer the accusations of the "criminal" reconstruction of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater

A year ago, the head of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater, the head of the St. Petersburg Mikhailovsky Theater, Vladimir Kekhman, was appointed. This happened after the scandal with the setting of the opera Richard Wagner Tangeyer and the subsequent dismissal of the former director Boris Mezdrich. During this time, Vladimir Kekhman not only renamed the theater, but also made a repair in it, which local city defenders called the "crime" . Now their appeal is considered by the Investigative Committee, the officials of Novosibirsk issued Kekhman to the order to eliminate violations, and the new director, who actually recognized the fact of arbitrariness, was forced to publicly meet with his critics - for the first time after the appointment.

The scandal in Novosibirsk happened at the end of 2014. The new staging of Richard Wagner "Tangeyer" then divided Novosibirsk into two camps: those who recognized the artist’s right to voluntarily interpret the image of Christ, and those who categorically did not allow this. Both those and others went to pickets. Some - ordinary spectators, artists and actors - tried to defend Tangeyer and the leadership of the theater. Others - primarily Orthodox activists - ardently supported the removal of the Tangaiser from the repertoire and the decision to change the theater course. The confrontation ended radically: the Tangaer was withdrawn from the repertoire, and the director Boris Mezdrich was dismissed. The Ministry of Culture of Russia was replaced by Vladimir Kekhman.

The hall before the reconstruction

A year later, the passions around the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater did not subside. But the subject of the dispute is now not the performances themselves, but those changes that the theater underwent under the new leadership. For the first time in all this time, they became the subject of public debate: public hearings about the situation in the opera Theater (which now became called new) took place in the theater hall of the regional scientific library. There were so many people who wanted to ask their question to Vladimir Kekhman that the allocated room hardly accommodated all those who came. Everyone wondered if Kekhman himself would really come, because earlier he ignored any proposals about negotiations, preferring to communicate with Novosibirsk critics and spectators through the press service.

Hall after reconstruction

With a little delay, Vladimir Kekhman still appeared in the hall. Ten minutes after the start of the meeting, the initiative from its presenters passed to the audience. They shouted from the places and waved ancient programs, either accusing the new leadership of the destruction of the theater, or no less ardently thanks to its preservation. At first, Vladimir Kekhman tried to maintain neutrality, answered all the attacks extremely politely and even tried to appease the audience: "I have not met a more beautiful public than in Novosibirsk - neither in St. Petersburg, nor in Moscow. Novosibirsk is generally an outstanding place. And I am surprised that so many people came to these hearings."

The gathered had the most questions for the reconstruction of the theater building, the new design of the auditorium, the lobby and stairs, which was represented by the audience in the fall of 2015. Then, for some reason, the theater employees paid special attention to the repair of toilets, presenting this almost the main achievement of the new leadership. Jokes about toilets have long been popular in Novosibirsk, and they were also not forgotten at the hearing. But, as one of the participants said, "nothing more has been done in the theater, everything else is vulgarity, circus and booths: and curtains like in a funeral bureau hang on the windows."

Foye of the first floor after reconstruction

There are really many complaints about the new interior decorations of the Opera Theater. There is practically nothing left of the usual appearance of the lobby. On the ground floor, instead of the usual mosaic floor, a red carpet appeared, and the walls of light yellow steel suddenly became terracotta. The lobby of the second floor also changed radically: the parquet was replaced with blue carpet, the walls became gray-blue. Comparison with the casino and circus is the mildest characteristics of the new repair. The Office for the State Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Novosibirsk Region on the eve also officially announced that the work was carried out without permission and design documentation.

Foyer of the second floor after reconstruction

Kekhman himself was forced to admit it. “All responsibility lies with me that we started working without permission. We did it for one simple reason: I had such an experience in the Mikhailovsky Theater. We built and prepared the documents in parallel. I thought that it would be the same. But I believe that the theater is ideologically look like now. There is no color that we would not repeat in the foyer, but we did not touch it. But if the court and the prosecutor’s office consider that I am to blame, I will be responsible for this, ”he said.

The director has already issued instructions to eliminate violations, so by September 1 the historical appearance of the theater should be restored. How it will be done is not yet clear. This topic was clearly the most painful for Vladimir Kekhman: in general, calm and balanced, to the question of restoring the original appearance of the theater, he answered standing and quite aggressively.

Vladimir Kekhman at public hearings

“There was nothing left of 1945, except for the chandelier, which really gathered all over Novosibirsk,” Kehman said almost to the scream. “People gave crystal to this chandelier. The floor was replaced, the panels were replaced, it was impossible to sit. Let's hold a referendum about the theater’s theme, and you will not see your theater! We have been ordered by a sociological study on the topic on the topic The theater will be its results, and we will all know.

Vladimir Kekhman got even more angry, answering a question about the new name of the theater. Previously, it was called the State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet, but since last year after the arrival of the new director, only the Novat abbreviation is officially used. “How did it happen that our theater was so called, so humiliated, our pride is the pride of Russia? Now he is some kind of new, this is like some kind of nickname,” one of the employees of the city museum Konstantin Golodyev was indignant.

“As you don’t like the navat, I don’t like the name“ opera, ”retorted Kekhman.“ Because it’s not opera, this is the same nickname in my understanding. ” “I think so, I think so, yes, I think so,” the director of the theater turned to the cry. “It’s not opera, this is the Opera and Ballet Theater. It is no longer possible to change the name - huge money has been spent on this from the point of view of the brand.”

At that moment, the word was now taken by the former director of the theater Boris Mazhrich, who was silent in the front row. It was him that Vladimir Kekhman constantly referred to him, speaking of the decline of the theater, about the reduction of the repertoire, about the disappearance of the museum and other problems. Noticeably nervous, Boris Mezdrich rejected all the accusations addressed to him:

Boris Mezdrich (extreme on the left)

"At one time, Vladimir Abramovich [Kekhman] called me and asked what I was going to do with the Tangaiser. I said (as a colleague to a colleague) that I would not take this performance. He quoted this phrase at a public hearing and said that the director was left and Tanniger was shot. And I have a proposal. Since Vladimir Abramovich is participating in various judicials now in various judicials The processes in his business enters, and in addition, he violated the legislation on the protection of monuments, without having worked in Novosibirsk for another year, I propose to transfer to the Minister of the Medinsky request in order to remove Khman Vladimir Abramovich for the period of investigative processes. "

This proposal was met by applause, although Vladimir Kekhman himself did not respond to the remark of Mezdrich at all. The meeting ended on this: everyone remained with his opinion, no resolution was adopted. Therefore, the hearings were decided to continue - but when this will happen, no one knows.

Vladimir Kekhman and Orthodox activist

Leaving, Vladimir Kekhman was generally pleased. Already in the corridor, smiling, he shook his hand to Yuri Zadoy, an Orthodox activist who was one of the initiators of the Tangeyer opera removal from the repertoire and actively participated in rallies against the former leader of the theater. Boris Mezdrich himself, in a conversation with former colleagues, noticed that he was not in the theater since his removal from his post and saw repairs only from photographs. What they did with the theater now categorically did not like it. In addition, Mezdrich is convinced that during the reconstruction, all laws on the protection of cultural monuments were violated.

Thus, Boris Mezdrich supported the activists of the Public Movement "Haughtered Novosibirsk", who in December applied to the Investigative Committee with the statement "On the possible crime against the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater", which has the status of a cultural heritage of federal significance. In this statement, they noted that the repair carried out by the new director of the theater is illegal, since the interiors of the main building of the city were radically changed than many spectators shocked. Therefore, the authors of the appeal are asked to conduct an audit and, in case of confirmation of the facts indicated by them, initiate a criminal case.

The facade of the theater building with incomprehensible black inserts on columns

This is far from the first attempt by the Novosibirsk public to pay attention to the repair and ballet Theater. The architects of Novosibirsk also addressed the open letter to the mayor of Anatoly Loktu. They demanded to verify the legality of the reconstruction of the theater interiors - the architectural monument, expressing the hope that in the city, "where there are law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor’s office, the city leaders have enough strength and political will to call the presumptuous director - Mr. Kekhman - respect Russian laws and return the interior interior interior to the author’s original interior." However, there have been no answers to these appeals from representatives of the authorities or law enforcement agencies.