Rustem Galich: "The power of a poetic word has no boundaries"
A performance based on M.Yu. Lermontov's "Demon" by RT Philharmonic Music and Literary Lecture Course has completed the cycle of day tickets "Great Names" for 2017/2018 concert season.
"The Demon" - the culmination of a five-year project of our fellow countryman, the famous master of artistic expression Rustem Galich.
Rustem Galich (Rustem Engalychev) was born and raised in Kazan. He graduated from the Moscow School of the Maly Theater - the Higher Theater School after Shchepkin on the specialty "Actor of the artistic word", where he studied at the masters of the genre - Vladimir Mitrokhin and Arkady Smirnov. Since 2000 he lives in New York, where he founded the "Theater of poetry and music of Rustem Galich." In the repertoire of the theater Rustem Galich several musical and poetic programs based on the works by great Russian poets and writers.
This is the third joint project of Rustem Galich and the Philharmonic Music and Literary Lecture Course of the Republic of Tatarstan.
After the play "Demon", which was a great success on the stage of the Tatar Philharmonic, Rustem Galich gave an interview to the press service of the Tatar Philharmonic.
- Congratulations on your incredibly successful performance, with the premiere! After all, with this composition of the performers " The Demon" has sounded for the first time.
- Yes, it was a premiere. In general, "The Demon" is the third work with the Philharmonic Lecture Course of Tatarstan. The first work was - "The Ball of Poets" - a combined program on the poetry of the Silver and the Golden Age. So we found a common handwriting of combining classics with concert numbers. In general, I can formulate the aesthetics of my theater as a "concert theater". I studied at the Shchepkin School on the section "Actor of the artistic word". And the mise-en-scene, when I stand here in front of the audience, it makes me happy with the concert performers. The combination of text and the interspersing of concert numbers - in my understanding is very organic. I work with many philharmonic societies, theaters. And here the guys are focused on concert activity. Therefore, this alloy is very organic. I was looking for such a collective! The first program turned out so organic that I wanted to make a second, and then a third. I am very grateful to Vladimir Vasilyev, Head of the Philharmonic Lecture Course (Honored Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan, ZG), that of all my works, a lot of programs, for a joint performance, he had chosen my favorite show - "The Demon".
- ... which, expectedly, had an overwhelming success with the Kazan public!
- Ye, and I had a feeling that with the philharmonic collective we have worked out the best performance from all the played before. I should note that it is in the philharmonic society that the sound for speech programs is absolutely perfect. It is very important. It often happens that the hall is good, but with such a light "echo". Musical, vocal numbers there pass perfectly, but for speech it is not very good. As soon as the sound is slightly blurred, the viewer must already be made to concentrate himself. And the sound should pour into your ears.
There is also an absolutely amazing screen. I really wanted to use the paintings by Mikhail Vrubel and Vitaly Ermolaev, an artist from Jurmala, who painted the paintings specifically for this performance. He has a theater of luminous paintings, a very unusual technique. The pictures "play" only on the screen, which can convey these colors. I believe that this performance on the stage of the Philharmonic is also unique in that, in addition to the wonderful performing skills of all the musicians, vocalists, and artists of the Lecter, a visual series was also presented. I provided only the source of the pictures, and the guys - the directors of the light are so creative that they have perfected, adapted them for a huge screen - they made both the stars and the continuation of the mountains - some kind of stereoscopic movie has turned out.
- You have lived in America for many years. But according to your working schedule you can see that most of your life passes outside this country, on tour. Very often you visit Russia.
"Eight months of the year I dedicate touring. I have two citizenships, no visa problems, any idea that I want to translate, which is interesting to the Russian-speaking audience, it is accessible to me. It is with great pleasure that I am going to conquer with the Russian poetic word Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica and Latin America. The power of a poetic word has no boundaries.
- There was a period when the spectator was deeply carried away by light humor, anecdotes, forgetting for a while about poetry, good literature. Now there is a reverse process. This is also said by poetic evenings in the Tatar Philharmonic, where tickets are sold out very quickly, almost always sold out ...
- I think that this phenomenon can be described with a well-known winged aphorism - "Everything is new - well forgotten old". Yes, in the field of the stage word there was a kind of confusion, which lasted 10-15 years. During this period the youth fell out of the traditions of the sounding word. The return of the artistic word is new for young people. I was convinced of this when I returned to Russia with my programs. Young people enthusiastically said: "It's something new!" I understand that people have simply forgotten the difference over the decades and have become unaccustomed to this genre. But thank God, this genre has not died, but now it is also actively reviving. No matter how much I perform in Russian cities, I see full halls and great interest of spectators.
"You are a Tatar." Tatar blood does not call you to make a program from the works by Tatar classics or contemporary authors?
- My life has developed so that I studied at the Russian school, entered the Russian course, spiritually I has been completely involved in Russian culture. But there is a call of blood. With a great respect for the Tatar culture. When invited to take part with Tatar works - I always respond. Recently, a program devoted to Gabdulla Tukay was made at the Kazan Big Concert Hall. In this program I read the fairy tales by the poet.
When you transfer the product of one culture to another dimension, it is enriched with new colors. And I think that my Tatar blood and in the " The Demon" it also matters. I played this performance not so long ago in Penza and in Tarkhany. There I have made an opening for myself -Lermontov's ancestors on the maternal line-Tatars.
- Where can you hear the Russian viewer in the near future, where will you go from your native Kazan?
- On April 20 we will present the same performance in Naberezhnye Chelny. Of course - with the Philharmonic Music and Literary Lecture of Tatarstan. After the performance, I will go to America. There I have a whole series of concerts.
- And in America a great interest in Russian classical literature?
- Of course. There, my theater, and other Russian-language theaters. Recently, I played Pasternak. We did a play based on Irina Volkovich's play "Over the Barriers", she was also a director. Our performance was selected for the theater festival, which will be held in June in Berlin.
- Thank you again for the wonderful performance and good luck to you!
Interviewed Zimfira Gilmutdinova.