On February 6 and 7, the world premiere of the play “About Love (5 pounds of Love, 22 misfortunes, 33 tantrums)”, which became the center of the Theatre program of the VII Winter International Yuri Bashmet Art Festival in Moscow, was successfully held on the stage of Pyotr Fomenko’s Studio. This performance is a Cooperative project of the Festival and the Studio of Pyotr Fomenko, and it is the third joint project of maestro Yuri Bashmet, director Polina Agureeva and composer Valery Voronov.

The play “About Love” is a musical and dramatic production, which is a collage of Chekhov’s characters collected from various stories and plays. Director Polina Agureeva explores the themes of love, unhappiness and tantrums in Chekhov’s works, creating a portrait of the Chekhov universe, where the search for happiness and love becomes an eternal plot.

— I would say that the plot of the play is collected from all 12 Books by Anton Chekhov.here is a conditional husband and wife, to whom guests gather for lunch – characters from many of the author’s works. I wanted to touch on all Chekhov’s topics: This is both love and true humility. And we took archetypal situations, Chekhov’s themes, which, it seems to me, reflect his worldview. In general, we can say that it turned out to be a new play. But! there is not a single word there that was not written by Chekhov himself,” Polina Agureeva noted.

As Maestro Bashmet noted, the important importance in the performance is given to the music that Valery Voronov wrote specifically for the performance.

– I initially go through music. And only then do I start listening to the text and delving into the meanings. I want to praise Polina, she not only works with artists as a director, she also gets into our space, saying, for example, “this is too fast, we need to slow down, and this should be boring.” These things help me a lot. This is our third joint project, the first two have already been loved by the public, and I’m sure it will be the same with this one,” Yuri Bashmet shared.

Famous actors Karen Badalov, Galina Kashkovskaya, Alexandra Keselman, Thomas Motskus, Natalia Kurdyubova, Dmitry Rudkov, Natalia Martynova, Alexey Kolubkov, Polina Agureeva, Rustem Yuskaev, Mikhail Krylov, Ilya Shakunov, Maxim Litovchenko and others take part in the production.

– I’ll tell you honestly, I didn’t expect where I got to. When the live orchestra appeared, everything changed dramatically. When Yuri Abramovich came on stage, everything changed even more, because he is a magician. The musicians began to play differently. The same melody, everything seems to be the same, almost the same tempo and rhythm, which varies depending on the scene, but he does something with his hands, and magic arises. I think we need a certain number of performances so that we can hear each other not just on the level of sounds, but on the level of premonitions. So that we could breathe together. It’s very difficult. I’ve never had anything like this in my life,” says Karen Badalov.

The chamber ensemble “Soloists of Moscow” under the direction of Yuri Bashmet plays an important role in the performance. Thanks to the orchestra and music by composer Valery Voronov, specially written for the performance, the story turns into a symphony of human emotions: lyrical, sinister, pulsating to the rhythm of an inexorable heart striving for love.

Addressing Chekhov is always a conversation about a person, about the meaning of life, and almost always about love. Love as an inner depth or as a barren hollow flower? As a desire to find your higher self, or as the tragedy of a life blunder? Why do Chekhov’s “five pounds of love” destroy the lives of literally all his characters? This performance is an attempt at dialogue with Chekhov, not with any particular play or story, but with his complex deep worldview, with his reflection on the eternal.

Let the viewer decide for himself whether to laugh or be sad, to condemn the characters or to understand, to perceive their actions as tragic or to be afraid that this is not only the genre of the play, but also our life.

The VII Winter International Art Festival under the direction of Yuri Bashmet in Moscow will last until February 13. The program of the festival is very diverse: during the month, the public will be presented with a kaleidoscope of events from virtuoso chamber performances to grandiose musical and theatrical productions and world premieres. Among the participants are recognized masters of the stage, as well as foreign guests from Spain and Italy, personally invited by Maestro Bashmet and the festival management.

Actors and performers:

Pavel Kirillovich Lebedev, the owner of the house and garden — Karen Badalov

Zinaida Savvichna, his wife is Galina Kashkovskaya

Sasha, their daughter is Alexandra Keselman

Guests:

Borkin Mikhail Mikhailovich, actor — Thomas Motskus

Anna Petrovna Voynitseva, General’s wife, widow — Natalia Kurdyubova

Sergey Pavlovich Triletsky — Dmitry Rudkov

Sofya Egorovna, his wife is Varvara Nasonova

Mikhail Vasilyevich Platonov — Ilya Shakunov

Alexandra Ivanovna, his wife is Natalia Martynova

Porfiry Semenovich Glagolyev, doctor — Alexey Kolubkov

Nikolai Alekseevich Ivanov — Rustem Yuskaev

Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky — Mikhail Krylov

Elena Andreevna Serebryakova — Polina Agureeva

Mikhail Lvovich Astrov – Denis Avramov

Charlotte Ivanovna, does not know who she is or where she comes from – Elena Voronchikhina

Pantelei – Alexey Vertkov, Stepan Pyankov

Kiriukha – Anatoly Antsiferov

Matvey – Vladimir Toptsov

Konstantin – Maxim Litovchenko

Moscow Soloists Chamber Ensemble

Yuri BASHMET

Directed by Polina Agureeva

Assistant directors:

Ivan Gerasimov, Yulia Kamysheva

Composer — Valery Voronov

Set designer — Maria Mitrofanova

Lighting designer — Ivan Vinogradov

Costume Designer – Tamara Eshba

Источник: https://t.me/russian_concert_agency