Entertainment, Arts and Culture

Kiko wrote:Well, in order to implement that on a long term basis, then organise international festivals and contests somewhere in appropriate Russian territories. In this sense, language barrier might be an issue, so provide with well trained interpreters and translation infrastructure for these events, as well as carrying out worldwide intensive efforts for Russian language courses and publishing houses' work over printed Russian efforts in these areas.

Plenty of festivals in Russia and plenty of foreign musicians, artists, whoever are always invited to come. Whether before the SVO or post it.

Provide with sound translations of Puchkin's poetry unto the maximum languages possible, FFS.
The planet is avidly waiting to appreciate it.

Best way to spread knowledge and versatility in foreign languages is to publish bilingual renowned works, for instance, of Puchkin's poetry (sound translation of poetry is an amazing challenge).

Famous Russian theater school sets stage in Africa, 07.31.2024.

Organizers hope to reach out to Cameroon and other countries.

The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) has agreed to partner with the International Center for Research and Documentation of African Language Traditions (CERDOTOLA), the press service of the school reported on Monday.

GITIS will provide support for the training of theater staff in CERDOTOLA member countries, while initial working group meetings have already been held.

“CERDOTOLA plans to develop theatrical education in Cameroon and other African countries, as well as collaborate with GITIS to provide methodological assistance in training actors, directors, choreographers, and other performing arts specialists,” GITIS’s press service said in the statement.

The initial training sessions for master’s students led by the Russian theater’s instructors are slated to begin in Cameroon in January 2025. Aspiring young individuals interested in advancing their education in the theatrical arts will have the opportunity to attend classes in acting, stage speech, and stage movement. The most promising participants will be invited to continue their studies at GITIS.

The parties have also agreed to conduct lectures on the history of Russian theater, the history of fine arts, and the history of costume.

CERDOTOLA is present in 11 African countries, including Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), Gabon, Rwanda, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe.

In October, Grigory Zaslavsky announced a collaboration with the Grand Theater in Dakar, Senegal. The parties are working on staging plays by the famed Russian playwright Anton Chekhov adapted for the Dakar stage with the participation of the Russian production team.

https://www.rt.com/africa/601826-russia-gitis-art-education-africa/

Russia has defeated its main internal enemy, by Elena Karaeva for RiaNovosti. 08.04.2024.

When they tried to colonize us (and the reinstallation of the cultural code, which the West has been engaged in for several decades, is colonization, there should be no illusions here), then this work went in several directions.

Russian classical ballet was also attacked - "integral and clear dramaturgy in choreography is hopelessly outdated", and the theater - "who needs Ostrovsky , who smells of mothballs and is eaten away by moths ", and cinema - "what is the point of this boring psychologism today", but the main battle unfolded, and this is definitely impossible to deny, in the field of literature.

Russia, the leading power, has been oppressed and slighted for centuries in what concerns the written word, declaring that the entire, practically without exception, cultural layer of literature is nothing more than rubbish. But the real breed, the real vectors of personality cognition, they are undoubtedly in the hands of the Anglo-Saxons. From there flowed translations of various "goldfinches", "little lives", "benevolent women" and other reading matter, which, due to an oversight and because of our eternal Russian openness and naivety, we allowed to be called "great literature". And here it makes sense to note that the polemics from the series "Gogol - Ukrainian writer" are from the same opera. We were deprived of our wealth, and we, albeit not without internal resistance and bewilderment, still nodded in agreement.

The pressure was powerful, to be sure. Only the very strong, well-read and convinced could resist it all.

The sun of Russian poetry and prose seemed to have gone backwards. And it had almost set. Everything changed with the beginning of the SVO. Russian literary thought, having shaken off the dust that had been brought in and not removed in time and having pushed off from the "inner Urals", went on the offensive. And in this case we are talking not only about our significant compatriots-contemporaries, but also about the classics.

Publishers state that the leaders in book sales today are "Russian classics: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Bulgakov with the same "Master and Margarita".

Moreover, Russian readers have ceased to be interested in utopias and dystopias . The once-lauded George Orwell and his "1984" have been pushed aside, and by Russian readers themselves, who have preferred genuine stories about what happened and is happening in Russia to a fictional narrative from a completely alien life.

The chaff in the form of numerous "Donn Tarte" (the author who composed 600-odd pages about a 17th-century painting), "Jonathan Littell" (a man who scribbled many printed sheets about the reflections of an SS-murderer) and their spiritual allies has fallen away from the preferences of the Russian reader. Not because non-existent "propaganda" whistled in his ears, but because, with all the freedom of imagination and all the flights of fancy, the Russian reader is interested in reading about himself. He dreamed, and still dreams, of rushing to the railway station, as Katyusha Maslova rushed, to catch at least one more glimpse of Prince Nekhlyudov. Who betrayed her. But Katyusha continued to love him.

The Russian reader strives for justice, just as Prince Myshkin strived for it. The Russian reader can easily put himself in the place of the dowryless Larisa Ogudalova, as well as Katerina Kabanova, created by our greatest playwright Alexander Ostrovsky.

The Russian reader is no longer interested in the webs of thought crimes, constructed, albeit talentedly. This is not about us at all. While Orwell was trying to find a way to scare the Western reader, we were already aware that free thought cannot be locked up in any prison or camp, it will always butt heads with its jailers, like a calf butted heads with an oak tree. And in the end, it will defeat them.

Today we know for sure that manuscripts do not burn and that sooner or later the shackles of colonial literary manuscripts will rust. They will fall and crumble to dust.

But on the other hand, there is no reader's curiosity and openness stronger and bolder than ours. Law enforcement officers reading Hemingway? The receptionist at the dry cleaner's crying over the fate of Cosette from the novel "Les Miserables" and those same Russians who sent a mite for the restoration of Notre Dame because they had read too much of that same Hugo? Passers-by communicating in the language of quotes from "The Catcher in the Rye" (exactly as translated by Wright-Kovaleva)? Interlocutors tearing their aortas over the topic of who translated "Hamlet" better - Pasternak or Lozinsky?

So this is us, Russian readers and Russian connoisseurs of great, real, world (in every sense of the word) literature.
By freely constructing our circle of reading today, we, appreciating our classic writers and our contemporary writers, take away that literary baggage that the West, rushing between postmodernism and political correctness, is unable to either preserve or take with it.

What was once called — but abstractly and dreamily — Russian cultural exceptionalism has today become a reality of everyday life. The main thing is that this vector does not turn into the ordinariness of routine. And as for freedom of reading — who we want and when we want, here, judging by the publishers' reports, everything is more than in order.

Russian culture has defeated our main common internal enemy - the colonization of consciousness. Let us thank it for this, remembering that all other victories will certainly follow.

https://ria.ru/20240804/rossiya-1963916920.html

Return of Masterpieces: Bolshoi Theatre Plans Fifty Premieres, by Zoya Igumnova for Izvestia. 09.06.2024.

Bolshoi Theatre artistic director Valery Gergiev spoke about plans for Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Verdi, Wagner and Shchedrin.

Artistic director of the Bolshoi Theatre and the Mariinsky Theatre Valery Gergiev spoke about the Bolshoi Theatre's grand plans for the pre-anniversary, 249th, season. The Bolshoi Theatre will open it on September 7. The premiere of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet The Sleeping Beauty by Marius Petipa in the choreographic version of Yuri Grigorovich will take place on the Historical Stage. The repertoire is expected to include a lot of European music, but there will also be Glinka, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky. Izvestia visited the Bolshoi Theatre and assessed the scope of the plans.

Our duty to Verdi

On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the Bolshoi Theatre, the theatre's artistic director Valery Gergiev outlined the theatre's plans for the season. There will be work for everyone, even for those who have not been involved in productions for a long time. The main task is to concentrate on the names of the greatest Russian creators. World classics will also be staged. The Enchantress, Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky, four ballets by Stravinsky, 10 operas by Wagner, productions by Shchedrin, Shostakovich, and operas by Puccini will return to the stage. And that's not all. Negotiations are underway with three Russian choreographers.

“The Bolshoi Theatre should be the leader in bringing masterpieces back to the stage,” says Valery Gergiev.

Not only the Bolshoi Theatre troupe, but also the Mariinsky Theatre will be involved in this process. Joint performances will continue.

Sometimes there will be two choirs and two orchestras on stage. The playbill will be replenished not only with Russian classics, but also with great examples of world music. Having studied the repertoire over the past several decades, the artistic director noted that operas by Giuseppe Verdi have not been performed on the capital's stage for a long time.

— As an experienced artistic director, I understand that Verdi cannot be an outcast on any stage, — said Valery Gergiev. — This season we will be able to show 13-14 Verdi operas thanks to our combined resources. Don’t forget that the Bolshoi Theatre’s performances are performed with great success for at least six months on the Mariinsky stage. What joy and triumph there was during the tour with Boris Godunov! The ballets Ivan the Terrible and Jewels were also an event.

More than 40 years ago, the Bolshoi staged Verdi's Othello, in which the leading role was sung by Vladimir Atlantov, the great tenor. The legendary conductor Evgeny Svetlanov was at the conductor's stand. Gergiev remembers this performance and is sure that Othello, and along with it Falstaff, Rigoletto, Attila, and Nabucco on stage, are a long-overdue necessity.

If you like, this is our duty to Verdi, — said Valery Gergiev. — I perform quite often, have performed and, I think, will perform in Italy. I have a fairly good idea of ​​what La Scala is. I have many friends in Italy among artists, and not only. I think this is the best thing we can do with our colleagues from Europe — to turn to the operas of Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, as well as to the operas of Verdi and Wagner. This is definitely the best diplomacy. It evokes grateful responses or simply silent gratitude. In this way, we enrich the playbills of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres.

Valery Abisalovich does not rule out inviting an artist from Europe to perform the main part in Othello. A strong voice is needed to sing it to the end: it is very complex. Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto will soon perform in Moscow. The plans for this season include staging 10 Wagner operas, including Der Ring des Nibelungen.

The Bolshoi's repertoire problems

The artistic director noted that there is no point in duplicating productions at the Bolshoi when similar ones are already on the Mariinsky playbill. “Is it really worth making a new Sicilian Vespers if this huge production appeared at the Mariinsky five or six years ago? The answer, it seems to me, is simple: save up to a million dollars and show it three times in Moscow. It is worth spending money to bring in several trucks with scenery, but it is still many times cheaper than creating the production anew,” says Gergiev.

The reason for creating a production with the same name may be the obvious weakness of the current performance or the attraction of a new director. As a result of the partnership between the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi, Verdi's Aida will appear. It will be staged in St. Petersburg. But the forces of the troupe from Moscow will also be involved.

The creative resources of the two theatres are designed to allow each to perform three operas a day. And no one needs to be invited from outside for this.

There are hundreds of singers working at the Bolshoi and Mariinsky. There are 285 musicians in the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra! In fact, there are three orchestras in the theatre. And for the third year now, the company has not had a principal conductor. Will there be one in the new season? Unlikely. According to Valery Gergiev, the absence of a principal conductor is not a huge problem. The problem is that the Bolshoi Theatre does not have enough repertoire. And the artistic director is working on this problem.

Another task is to prepare a worthy celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of People's Artist of the USSR Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya. This will include not only performances to the music of the Bolshoi Theatre prima ballerina's husband Rodion Shchedrin, which he wrote for her, but also other worthy events.

“Once, Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin entered the auditorium at the Metropolitan Opera, a whisper went around the hall, and then suddenly the hall exploded with an ovation,” recalls Gergiev.

— Someone didn't understand what had happened. They thought: maybe the American president had come in. But Plisetskaya was greeted in a way that American presidents are rarely greeted.

The project includes staging the play Dead Souls to Shchedrin's music. It was once staged at the Bolshoi.

"I watched it as a student, an unforgettable performance by Boris Pokrovsky," Gergiev recalls. "The actors and the choir sang brilliantly. The orchestra was conducted by Yuri Temirkanov, the long-time director of the Kirov and now Mariinsky Theatre.

But practically nothing remains of those "Dead Souls". As the artistic director noted, the staff is looking for any reminders of the historical performance day and night. Now there will be a restoration of historical justice. Such creations should be on the playbill of the main theater of the country. Recalling the golden pages of the Bolshoi, the artistic director shared plans for staging evenings dedicated to legends.

Among the names mentioned by Gergiev are People's Artists of the USSR Irina Arkhipova, Evgeny Svetlanov, Vladimir Atlantov. And another 20 of our contemporaries.

Puccini's Manon Lescaut will appear on the Bolshoi stage. Several years ago, it was staged for Anna Netrebko. Now the title will return to the playbill. Dmitry Shostakovich's opera Katerina Izmailova and his ballet The Bright Stream will appear. The ballet troupe also plans to perform Russian ballets by Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, The Firebird, The Wedding, and Petrushka. The return of Prokofiev's Cinderella to the playbill is one of the priorities. The management is still deciding whether to restore the performance directed by Yuri Possokhov or create a new one. They are currently looking for choreographers. They plan to work with Alexander Sergeyev and Vyacheslav Samodurov. Maxim Petrov will take on Rodion Shchedrin's The Little Humpbacked Horse.

The total number of titles mentioned by Valery Gergiev is approaching fifty. It is worth keeping an eye on the Bolshoi's playbill for their appearance in the repertoire.

https://iz.ru/1754929/zoia-igumnova/vozvrashchenie-shedevrov-bolshoi-teatr-planiruet-polsotni-premer

Russia has its own Hollywood, by Andrey Rezchikov for VZGLYAD. 09.07.2024.

Putin Opens First Stage of Moskino Cinema Park Ready to Compete with Hollywood.

President Vladimir Putin took part in the opening of the first stage of the Moskino cinema park, which will become the main venue of the Moscow cinema cluster being created and will compete with Hollywood. Dozens of films are already being shot here at the same time. About 50 different film projects have appeared in a year, including about the SVO. According to experts, the cinema park is important for the development of all domestic cinema.

On Saturday, President Vladimir Putin launched the opening of the first stage of the Moskino cinema park via video link during a concert in Zaryadye to mark City Day . Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also took part in the ceremony. The president admitted that the development plans for the project are impressive. "Indeed, the site can and will certainly become one of the most respected, largest and most effective in the world," Putin said.

The Moskino Cinema Park is part of the Moscow Cinema Cluster being created. In the Krasnopakhorskoye settlement of the Troitsky District, 18 natural sites, four pavilions and six infrastructure facilities have been built on a territory of 180 hectares. Among them are decorations of old Moscow, old St. Petersburg, a railway station, an airport and a Russian village. In free time from filming, the cinema park can be visited as part of excursions and special events.

The second stage of the cinema park and another 20 sites are planned to open by the end of 2027, and the third stage with 26 sites will be launched in 2030. According to Sobyanin, there is now "no end to those wishing to work in the cinema park." About 50 different film projects have been filmed there in a year.

As the mayor recalled, back in 1938 Stalin was offered to build a large site for the development of the film industry, "but the war got in the way." Putin noted on this occasion: "They were competing with Hollywood."

Sobyanin agreed with this, adding that "we are also competing with Hollywood today, setting ourselves the task of creating a world-class venue." Among the completed projects, he noted "Peter I," the film "GDR," and the filming of "Princess Olga."

According to the mayor, many war films are being shot – about the First World War, the Second World War and about the special military operation (SVO). "The latest project – a partisan town has been built, quite natural, many war films are being shot. And this war film is already in the locations of the city, old Moscow, the filming of the film is also underway. "At the Call of the Heart" is another patriotic film," Sobyanin noted.

According to the project curator, Deputy Mayor of the capital Natalia Sergunina, all the sites, where it is already possible to simultaneously shoot dozens of films, were developed together with filmmakers. More than a dozen production designers from all over the country worked on them.

As TASS notes , Putin especially noted that Moskino has created conditions for everyone who wants to see how a movie is made. "Therefore, without any doubt, it will be one of the places of attraction for numerous tourists. I have no doubt about it," the president emphasized, adding that "anyone will be happy and very interested to see from the outside what cinema is like from the inside, how it is made."

Putin admitted that he was very pleased with the increase in the share of Russian films in the box office. In his opinion, domestic filmmakers understand the country's values ​​better than foreigners. He called domestic film production "extremely important, in demand in the country."

In his opinion, “very talented, interesting and creative people also work abroad.” “But still, it is probably quite difficult to perceive our history, our spiritual values ​​from the outside, and our artists, as a rule, succeed in this much better,” Putin believes.

During the inspection, the president drew attention to the scenery for one of the films, noting the naturalness of Cathedral Square. He even expressed his willingness to let the film crew into the Kremlin grounds. "If you have any further need for such filming, contact us directly, we will provide you with the opportunity, we will make room for you a little, and the money you spend on creating copies of what we already have can be spent in this case, say, on repair work in the Kremlin itself," Putin suggested with a smile.

The opening of the first stage of the Moskino cinema park was welcomed by experts. "I have the most positive feedback. It is very good that films can already be shot on this site. This project is important for the development of domestic cinema. We see that the attendance of cinemas has become much better, this is already a generally recognized fact.

The share of Russian cinema in the box office is increasing. God willing, it will be cinema of decent quality”, noted film critic Nikolai Garmiza, associate professor at the Moscow State University of Culture and Art.

The expert also welcomed the opportunity for cinema park guests to observe the filming process from the sidelines. According to him, the quality of domestic film production is growing.

"Certainly, Russian directors understand Russia's values ​​better than foreigners. This is absolutely true," the film critic emphasized.

As film director and screenwriter Alexey Muradov recalled, Hollywood also began as a huge site with outdoor pavilions. “The Moskino Cinema Park will first and foremost make life easier for filmmakers. When all the infrastructure is built, it will be very convenient for film production. The scale of the site is already impressive. We have never had anything like this. Previously, Mosfilm was considered the largest film studio, but here everything is much grander. Filming 20 films at the same time is just the beginning,” Muradov believes.

According to him, enormous efforts and resources were invested in the creation of the cinema park.

"It's practically impossible to film in Moscow. But with the acquisition of this site, many things become easier for filmmakers

from the point of view of production. Accordingly, from the point of view of creativity, all this is the right story,” the interlocutor added.

The fact that more films are being shot in Russia every year has a positive effect on the quality of the footage, Muradov emphasizes. Moreover, this gives hope for the emergence of new talented directors, actors and many others involved in the filming process, including lighting technicians and engineers.

"Quantity turns into quality - this is the law of dialectics. After the 1990s, many professionals left, resulting in a huge black hole, but now young people are gaining understanding and experience of what cinema is and how to make it. Many niches are starting to fill up again, names and talents appear, natural selection is taking place," the director emphasized.

https://vz.ru/society/2024/9/7/1286016.html

Mishustin sets the task of improving the quality of domestic cinema, 10.08.2024.

Mishustin: The authorities are faced with the task of improving the quality of Russian cinema.

MOSCOW, 8 Oct — RIA Novosti. The authorities are faced with the large-scale task of improving the quality of domestic cinema, this is necessary for the education of the younger generation, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a strategic session dedicated to the development of Russian cinema.

"We are faced with the large-scale task of improving the quality of domestic cinema, making it consistent with traditional spiritual and moral values. At the same time, it must attract viewers, find a way to their hearts, be in demand, interesting, creative," the head of government noted.

After the collapse of the USSR, the flow of Western films to the Russian market increased significantly, while domestic cinema was pushed into the background. The situation was changed thanks to state support, Mishustin recalled.

He noted that cinematography now serves more than just an entertainment function, and its success is determined not only by the number of films released and the amount of box office receipts.

"Good films allow you to gain new knowledge, get acquainted with culture, history, art, teach you to think, empathize, see the diversity of the world, and broaden your horizons. They are necessary and important in educating the younger generation," the prime minister emphasized.

In September, Vladimir Putin announced a multiple increase in the share of Russian cinema in the box office. According to him, this is important for the industry itself. In addition, domestic masters know better what made our country what it is than foreign producers, the president explained.

https://ria.ru/20241008/mishustin-1977041358.html

If you are good at putting words together into sentences, then that's great, by Dmitry Petrovsky, writer, screenwriter, author of books, for RT Russian. 10.10.2024.

The Nobel Prize in Literature once again repeats the scheme that has become familiar to us. The winner is announced - and the whole world, with the exception of narrow specialists, asks: well, wow, who is it?

Han Kang is a writer no better or worse than many. She is 53 years old and was born in Gwangju, South Korea. Her father is also a writer. She teaches at the Seoul Institute of the Arts and has won local and then international awards. Her novel "Vegetarian" has been translated into foreign languages, including Russian. An ordinary biography that does not even raise an eyebrow. It's good that she is not transgender*, but it seems a bit too little for the main literary award?

Ian McEwan lives in England, Thomas Pynchon in the US, and Michel Houellebecq in France. None of them have won a Nobel Prize. It is possible to discuss whether Bret Easton Ellis, Douglas Coupland or, say, Christian Kracht deserved it, but these three in any case left a greater mark on world literature than the current laureate.

If we assume that the prize is given specifically for literature.

The problem is that the Stockholm check has long ceased to be a recognition of literary merit, but has turned into a political instrument.

They encourage authors who carry certain values ​​that can be very conditionally called Western. If the author himself was not born in the West, that's even better.

The Nobel Committee seems to be saying to the city and the world: boy/girl, you can be born anywhere, but if you faithfully carry the right message in your texts, then one day we will notice and reward you. Write about vegetarians, write about protests against the division of Korea (Han Kang's 2021 novel is about exactly this), and everything will be fine. If you are good at putting words together, then it's great. You may not be Pynchon, but you must be a citizen.

Rebelling against this is useless and stupid. Their bonus is that they do whatever they want. Moreover, even a broken watch shows the correct time twice a day, and the bearers of those very values ​​sometimes really write well, and then it turns out well.

Let's just agree that the world's main literary prize has only an indirect relation to the quality of this literature. And life will immediately become easier.

* The LGBT organization is recognized as extremist, its activities are prohibited on the territory of Russia by the decision of the Supreme Court of November 30, 2023.