The main character is Juno and maybe. About who Juno and Avos are, about the touchy Japanese emperors and more. Premiere before premiere
History of creation
However, after some time, thanks to Pierre Cardin, the Lenkom Theater toured in Paris and on Broadway in New York, then in Germany, the Netherlands and other countries.
December 31, 1985 on the stage of the Palace of Culture. Kapranov in St. Petersburg, the premiere of a rock opera performed by the VIA “Singing Guitars” (later became the St. Petersburg Rock Opera Theater) took place. This stage version differed from the Lenkom production. In particular, director Vladimir Podgorodinsky introduced a new character into the play - the Bell Ringer, actually the “materialized” soul of Nikolai Rezanov. The bell ringer is practically devoid of words and only conveys the tossing of the protagonist’s soul with the most complex plasticity and emotional mood. According to recollections, Alexey Rybnikov, who was present at the premiere, admitted that “Singing Guitars” more accurately embodied the idea of the creators of the opera, preserving author's genre mystery operas and original dramaturgy of Voznesensky. In the summer of 2010, the two thousandth performance of “Juno and Avos” took place in St. Petersburg, performed by the Rock Opera Theater.
The opera was also staged in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, South Korea, Ukraine and other countries.
Summer 2009 in France State Theater under the leadership of People's Artist of Russia composer Alexei Rybnikov presented new production rock opera "Juno and Avos". The main emphasis in it is on the musical component of the performance. Vocal numbers are staged by Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya, choreographic numbers by Zhanna Shmakova. The main director of the play is Alexander Rykhlov. On A. Rybnikov’s website it is noted:
The full author's version... is a serious innovation in the genre of world musical theater and is intended to return the original idea of the authors. IN new version operas combined the traditions of Russian sacred music, folklore, genres of mass “urban” music, with the figurative, ideological and aesthetic priorities of the composer.
Original story source
According to the memoirs of Andrei Voznesensky, he began writing the poem “Maybe” in Vancouver, when he was “swallowing... flattering pages about Rezanov from J. Lensen’s thick volume, following the fate of our brave compatriot.” In addition, Rezanov’s travel diary, which was also used by Voznesensky, has been preserved and partially published.
And after another two centuries, a symbolic act of reunion of lovers took place. In the fall of 2000, the sheriff of the Californian city of Benisha, where Conchita Arguello is buried, brought a handful of earth from her grave and a rose to Krasnoyarsk to lay at the white cross, on one side of which the words are engraved I will never forget you, and on the other - I'll never see you again.
Naturally, both the poem and the opera are not documentary chronicles. As Voznesensky himself puts it:
The author is not so consumed by conceit and frivolity as to portray real persons based on scanty information about them and insult them with approximateness. Their images, like their names, are only a capricious echo of famous destinies...
A similar story happened with the future Decembrist D.I. Zavalishin during his participation in round the world expedition under the command of M. Lazarev (1822-24) (See Questions of History, 1998, No. 8)
Plot
- Rezanov - G. Trofimov
- Conchita - A. Rybnikova
- Federico - P. Tils
- Rumyantsev, Khvostov, Father Yuvenaly - F. Ivanov
- Voice of the Mother of God - J. Rozhdestvenskaya
- Soloist in the prologue - R. Filippov
- Davydov - K. Kuzhaliev
- Jose Dario Arguello - A. Samoilov
- Praying woman - R. Dmitrenko
- Praying girl - O. Rozhdestvenskaya
- Sailor - V. Rotar
- Group of worshipers - A. Sado, O. Rozhdestvenskaya, A. Paranin
This was the first Soviet rock opera, which, however, due to the peculiarities of the regime, the creators - the author of the libretto Andrei Voznesensky and the author of the music Alexey Rybnikov - classified it as a different genre, calling it the modern opera “Juno and Avos”. Its content is based on real events. The plot is based on - tragic story the love of the Russian count and navigator Nikolai Rezanov and the daughter of the Spanish governor of San Francisco, Conchita Arguello.
The story of the meeting - true and fictional
Main story line true in all versions, it dates back to the moment when in 1806 the coast of California under the flag Russian fleet and under the leadership of the Russian count and chamberlain of His Imperial Majesty, two brigs landed - “Juno” and “Avos”. The content of the rest of the action allows for different, sometimes contradictory interpretations, simply because the story has become the reason for the creation of numerous poems, operas, ballets and simply art historical studies. A artistic creativity presupposes varying degrees of error in the face of the truth, as Andrei Voznesensky, the author of the poem “Maybe,” admitted. And in the production of the Lenkom Theater, in creative community Music author Alexei Rybnikov and director Mark Zakharov, the work acquired its permanent name - “Juno and Avos”.
Summary of the rock opera
Forty-two year old statesman and naval commander, widower and father of two children Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, dreaming of sailing to the shores North America, but receiving refusal after refusal, seeks intercession from the icon of the Mother of God and confesses to her his unrighteous passion for her as a woman. Our Lady forgives him and promises her protection. Soon he indeed receives from the imperial court the highest order to go to the shores of California to deliver food to the Russian colonies in Alaska. And now the Russian ships “Juno” and “Avos” drop anchor in San Francisco Bay. The content of the action now develops rapidly. At Don Arguello's ball in honor of the arriving Russian expedition, the count meets the owner's daughter, 16-year-old Conchita. Here he learns that the Arguello house is preparing for the wedding of young Conchita and the young hidalgo Fernando. Fascinated by the beauty of the girl, Rezanov secretly enters her bedroom, begs her for love and takes possession of her. The voice of the Virgin Mary descends to them again, and reciprocal love awakens in Conchita’s soul.
But the count must pay for his wrongdoing expensive price: the insulted Fernando challenges him and dies by his hand. The Russian expedition hastily leaves California. Rezanov secretly gets engaged to his beloved, but for the wedding he needs to obtain permission from the Pope in St. Petersburg to marry a Catholic. However, they are not destined to see each other again. Along the way, Rezanov becomes seriously ill and dies near Krasnoyarsk. Conchita refuses to believe the terrible news and waits for her lover for more than thirty years, after which she becomes a nun and ends her days as a recluse. This is the schematic content of the opera “Juno and Avos”.
Incarnation on stage
At Lenkom the production had a surprisingly happy fate. They missed it right away, unlike other, less edgy performances. The play “Juno and Avos” was shown on stages in many countries; the content of each tour was invariably triumphant. Not the last, if not the first, role was played by the immense talent, energy and charisma of the leading actors. IN different time the role of Count Rezanov was played by Dmitry Pevtsov, you can see others in this role famous actors. In the role of Conchita - Elena Shanina, Alla Yuganova. Other roles were played by Alexander Abdulov, Larisa Porgina and others. With all the merits of subsequent compositions, the duet of Nikolai Karachentsov with actress Elena Shanina, according to the reviews of the majority of viewers, remained unsurpassed in its frantic energy. No wonder the hit of the musical genre “I will never forget you” in this performance still does not lose popularity.
Memory
Conchita Argüello (monstrance Maria Domingo) died in 1857 and was buried in the monastery cemetery, from where her ashes were transferred to the cemetery of St. Dominic.
Count Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov was buried in the cemetery of the city cathedral of Krasnoyarsk in 1807. Almost two centuries later, in 2000, a white marble cross was installed on his grave, on which on one side it reads: “I will never forget you,” and on the other it is written: “I will never see you.”
The inexorably approaching spring and the awakening of nature to life set the mood for a romantic mood. I want to touch something sincere, pure and real!
Today I will tell you about the musical “Juno and Avos”, about the history of the creation of the musical itself, about the real events that underlie it musical performance and about the creators of this wonderful creation. And at the end of the article it awaits you a pleasant surprise on this topic.
“Juno and Avos” a musical?
It would be more correct to call this artistic performance a rock opera, but the birth of this rock opera took place during the times of severe Soviet censorship and therefore at that time everything connected with rock music would never have been released to the public. And what a loss would befall us if such injustice happened!!! Therefore, this musical performance was called “modern opera” by its savvy creators. Musical common name for musical performances and films, we have already talked about the musical genre in the article. Well, it doesn’t matter to us what genre the performance belongs to, what’s important is that it turned out to be amazingly insightful and captured our hearts for a long time.
Creators
The musical is based on Andrei Voznesensky's poem "Maybe", the music for the play was written by composer Alexey Rybnikov, and was staged by Mark Zakharov on the stage of the Moscow Lenin Komsomol Theater in 1981.
There is a story about how the happy meeting of the creators took place. And it was like this... Composer Alexey Rybnikov came to Mark Zakharov and presented his works, they were improvisations on Orthodox chants. Zakharov appreciated Rybnikov’s work and he had the idea of creating a musical performance, the only topic that interested him at that time was the theme of the work “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” With thoughts of combining Rybnikov’s improvisations and “The Lay,” Zakharov went to the poet Andrei Voznesensky and, at the meeting, outlined his idea to him.
Andrei Voznesensky, having listened to Zakharov’s idea, proposed an even more daring option for a musical performance and gave Zakharov his poem “Maybe” to read.
Zakharov quickly read the poem and even more quickly agreed to stage a play based on it.
This is how the creators of this unforgettable musical were connected.
The story of “Juno and Avos”
If you think that the names of the heroes of the rock opera are Juno and Avos, then you are mistaken, these are the names of the sailing ships on which our main character sailed to the coast of California.
More about this. Voznesensky’s poem was written, as is now customary to say, “based on real events" It is based on the biography of Nikolai Rezanov, a Russian officer, leader of the first round-the-world expedition. Reading the story of Rezanov’s life and the navigator’s travel diary, Voznesensky was inspired by the life of his brave compatriot. Real story was this: Nikolai Rezanov sailed to California in 1806 to replenish food supplies for the Russian colony in Alaska. In San Francisco he met Conchita Arguello, with whom he fell in love and became engaged. But Rezanov, due to duty, was forced to leave first for Alaska, and then to the emperor’s court in St. Petersburg. At the emperor's court, he planned to get permission to marry a Catholic. And on the way, Rezanov fell ill... He became seriously ill and died in Krasnoyarsk, never returning to his beloved. Rezanov was 42 years old when he met Conchita, Conchita was 16 years old. Rezanov died at 43.
Conchita refused to believe the rumors about Nikolai's death and waited for his return until 1842, when the English traveler George Simpson was able to tell her the exact details about what happened to Rezanov and his death. She believed the news of her beloved’s death only 35 years later, after which she became a nun and took a vow of silence. She passed away in 1857, having lived in the monastery for almost two decades.
This hopelessly poignant story has a small continuation in our time. In 2000, the sheriff of the city of Benish, where Conchita Arguella was buried, traveled to Russia to the city of Krasnoyarsk and brought a handful of earth from Conchita’s grave and a rose to Rezanov’s grave. Centuries later, our contemporaries tried to reunite these loving hearts.
On Rezanov’s grave there is a white cross, on it are carved the words “I will never forget you” on one side and “I will never see you” on the other side.
This is the story of Conchita Arguello and Nikolai Rezanov, the rest, what the poet Andrei Voznesensky added, is the artistic frame of this poignant story of two people who lived in the 19th century.
Conchita and Rezanov
Even without artistic image supplemented by Voznesensky, the story of Conchita and Rezanov is piercing to the depths of the soul! In our age of consumerism and cynical disregard for spiritual values, it is difficult to imagine such devotion and all-consuming love of Conchita, who dedicated her entire life to Rezanov alone, abandoning her own own desires and expectations.
The fate of the musical
The musical was staged in 1981, and it was surprising that the commission passed the rock opera the first time, without changing anything about it. Voznesensky recalled that before this commission they were in church at the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, which is mentioned in the musical, and even brought illuminated icons to their dressing rooms.
The first performers of the roles were Rezanov - Nikolai Karachentsov, Conchita - Elena Shanina, Fernando (Conchita's fiance) - Alexander Abdulov.
Nikolai Karachentsov played Rezanov until the accident that happened to him.
The performance toured abroad - New York, Paris, Germany, the Netherlands, etc.
In 2010, the musical appeared on stage for the 2,000th time; it was also staged in other countries: Germany, South Korea, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
Where to watch a rock opera?
It would be great to watch the musical with your own eyes, but we don’t always succeed, and therefore I advise you to watch a rock opera without leaving your home.
I recommend watching the musical "Juno and Avos", staged by Lenkom in 1983, this is one of the first productions, in my opinion the most successful! For some reason, subsequent re-productions always lose something elusively valuable.
As I promised at the beginning of the article, I give you a surprise
“Juno and Avos” is the most famous and still popular Russian rock opera. The play premiered in 1981 at the Moscow Lenin Komsomol Theater, on whose stage it continues to this day.
Composer
The author of the music for the play is A. L. Rybnikov. He was born in Moscow on July 17, 1945. His parents were people creative professions: mother is an artist-designer, and father is a violinist. Alexey Lvovich began writing music at the age of 8. His first compositions were pieces for piano, and at the age of 11 he wrote the ballet “Puss in Boots.” A.L. Rybnikov graduated from the conservatory in composition class, his teacher was Aram Khachaturian.
In addition to the work “Juno and Avos,” Alexey Lvovich wrote another legendary rock opera, “The Star and Death of Joaquin Murrieta.” He is the author of music for the mystery "Liturgy of the Catechumens", to musical drama"Maestro Massimo", to the modern opera "War and Peace", to such films as: "Treasure Island", "That Same Munchausen", "The Tale of Star boy", "Andersen - Life without Love", "The Adventures of Pinocchio", "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Brothers Karamazov", etc., as well as cartoons: "The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats on new way", "Black chicken", the Moomin Troll series, etc. In addition, A. L. Rybnikov writes symphonic, chamber and choral music. And there is no doubt that awarding him the title of People's Artist in 1999 is quite fair.
Plot
The most famous work The rock opera “Juno and Avos” was and remains by composer A.L. Rybnikov. A brief summary of the performance will be presented in this article. Based on the plot poem of the same name, written by Andrei Voznesensky. She introduces us to true history which happened at the beginning of the 19th century. Russian statesman Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov took a trip to California in 1806, where he met Conchita, the daughter of the commandant of San Francisco.
So, “Juno and Avos” ( summary The opera will be described further in detail) - this is a story about how Nikolai Rezanov, as part of the expedition he led, stopped in California on the way to Alaska. At the ball, he meets sixteen-year-old Conchita, who falls in love with him. After getting engaged to her, Nikolai Rezanov is forced to continue the expedition and leave his bride in California. On the way to St. Petersburg, where he was going to apply for permission to marry Conchita, since she is a Catholic, Nikolai Petrovich falls ill and dies. Conchita waited for him for many years and did not believe that he was dead, and having received confirmation of his death, she became a nun and took a vow of silence.
Prologue
The rock opera “Juno and Avos” (the summary goes hand in hand with the work itself) begins with a prologue. Nikolai Petrovich prays, calling on the Lord and the Motherland. After which a prophet appears on stage and predicts to Russia that the difficult year 1812 is coming soon.
The first act of the rock opera "Juno and Avos"
The summary of the first part is as follows: after the funeral service in the church of his wife, Rezanov submits a petition to Count Rumyantsev to support his project - the first round-the-world trip in the history of Russia, which he intends to lead in order to establish friendly relations with America, which promises great benefits for Russia . Having received the go-ahead from Rumyantsev, N.P. Rezanov sets sail.
Second act
Rock opera “Juno and Avos” summary (second part) tells about what is happening to the heroes already in America. The scene begins with Nikolai Petrovich writing a letter to A.N. Rumyantsev about the state in which his expedition arrived on the shores of California, and how they were met local residents. Next, the action moves to the ballroom. This is where N.P. Rezanov met Conchita, in honor of whose 16th birthday a ball was given. Nikolai Petrovich presents the commandant's daughter with a gift - a golden diadem from the collection of Empress Catherine. After the ball, Rezanov enters Conchita's bedroom and seduces her. The girl falls in love with him, and he only feels remorse. During confession, the girl tells everything to her confessor, which he reports to her father, who insists on an engagement in order to hide his daughter’s dishonor. Rezanov and Conchita get engaged, after which he sails away, but he is never destined to return to her. For thirty years Conchita waited for the return of N.P. Rezanov, not believing the rumors about his death.
“Juno and Avos” is a cult performance not only for Lenkom, but also for theater Moscow for many decades. It was born in 1981 and since then, for more than twenty years, it has been a constant sell-out. We bring to your attention two versions of this magnificent performance... the 1983 version with Elena Shanina in the role of Conchita (this version is considered a classic).. And the 2004 version with Anna Bolshova, in my opinion an even more successful production...
History of creation
Back in the late 70s, Alexey Rybnikov, turning to the poetry of Andrei Voznesensky, created the rock opera “Juno and Avos”. Just like the main characters of this work - the Russian traveler Count Rezanov and the daughter of the governor of San Francisco Conchita - there was a lot of anticipation for Rybnikov’s opera amazing adventures, and on an international scale...
Alexey Rybnikov
Few people remember that for the first time the opera was presented not on the Lenkom stage, but in Orthodox church. In February 1981, in the Church of the Intercession in Fili, in the presence of not only music lovers, but also specially invited Western correspondents, as well as representatives of the police and the KGB (who did not need an invitation!). Speakers were installed to the right and left of the altar base to create a stereo effect; in the center, Alexey Rybnikov himself sat at a table with a tape recorder, who uttered several introductory phrases, and then about a hundred people listened to a recording of the rock opera for almost two hours. Everything took place in an unheated room, the listeners did not take off their winter coats. But the goal was achieved: articles appeared in the Western press, after which the authorities decided to figure out what kind of misfortune this was - “Juno and Avos”.
To begin with, the Melodiya company received instructions to suspend the release of a record with Rybnikov’s opera.
Mark Zakharov
Help arrived right away unexpected side. Andrei Voznesensky was friends with the world-famous designer and couturier Pierre Cardin, who organized creative evenings for the Russian poet in his theater on the Champs-Elysees. Having received a cassette recording of “Juno” from a friend, Monsieur Cardin was delighted and, having arrived in Moscow, decided to attend the performance. He was shown a draft version, but this was enough for the French guest to invite Lenkom members to Paris. He was not even embarrassed by the fact that Mark Zakharov’s troupe at that time was considered not to travel abroad. The authority of Pierre Cardin in the USSR was so great that he had access not only to the Ministry of Culture, but also to Yuri Andropov himself, where he never tired of repeating that soviet art can be proud not only of ballet and circus, but also of modern opera. Thanks to the efforts of the Parisian celebrity, the go-ahead for the theater's tour to France was received. And thereby - an unspoken permission for the premiere of the play on the main stage of Lenkom.
1981 premiere of the play
20 years later
However, Andrei Voznesensky believes that this could not have happened without the intervention of higher powers: “All our efforts to break through to the prime minister were frustrated by KGB restrictions. But one day Mark said: “You know, Andrey, there is one person who will help us.” We went to the Elokhovskaya Church, where Mark said: “Let's light the Kazan candles Mother of God!” They lit three candles. And I bought three samples. He brought one to Karachentsova (performer of the role of Count Rezanov. - Author's note), the other, maybe to Shanina (Elena Shanina, performer of the role of Conchita. - Author's note), maybe to Rybnikov, I don't remember, and left one for himself. And then everything was allowed to us! Maybe Mark Anatolyevich called someone at night and agreed... But the fact is that they allowed it. It’s like in “Juno and Avos”, after the intervention of the Mother of God, they suddenly give the green light to the trip... So this is magical story. And the mysticism continues."
AT PREMIERE sp. "JUNO AND PERHAPS" IN PARIS, 1983
It is interesting that the first Soviet rock opera was “Orpheus and Eurydice” by the Leningrad VIA “Singing Guitars”, but still the first Soviet rock opera throughout the world was and will be called “Juno and Avos”... Indeed, Rybnikov’s rock opera was destined been through world fame. By the way, in the early 80s, a record was recorded (not with Lenkom actors, but with guest singers), which sold more than two million (!) copies, for which the Melodiya company awarded Rybnikov the “Golden Disc”.
Monsieur Cardin kept his word and presented “ Russian miracle"on the stages of Paris, New York, Hamburg, Munich, Amsterdam and other cities of the world. In Paris, Pierre Cardin showed a Russian rock opera for two months (!) in his theater on the Champs-Elysees, inviting celebrities there. So, the Rothschilds appeared as a whole clan.
Singer Mireille Mathieu expressed her respect. Arab sheikhs dropped by to see the outlandish opera. All two months were sold out, despite quite expensive tickets- A seat in the stalls cost four hundred francs. Subsequently, the English version was also filmed. documentary about the Moscow performance. The opera was also staged in Hungary, Germany, South Korea, the Czech Republic, and Mexico. Of course, the creators of Juno dreamed of Broadway. And so the famous Broadway producer Joseph Papp (“Hair”, “Corus Line!”) suggested making “Juno” with American actors. A translation into English was prepared, Rybnikov flew to New York many times, where rehearsals with the actors had already begun. However, Joseph, like the opera hero Count Rezanov, suddenly fell ill and died, and the project stalled.
From time to time Lenkom went on tour around Russia, where something incredible was happening. Alexander Abdulov, I remember, told how the tour in Leningrad took place in the early 80s: “When we first brought “Juno and Avos” to St. Petersburg, several hundred young people broke down the doors of the Gorky Palace, then they were caught for thirty to forty minutes with dogs throughout the DC. One day I was simply stunned: there were about forty minutes left before the start of the performance, I raised my head up, and there, on the grates, were about twenty people lying, waiting to meet art. So specifically, they lie in beams. But they could have easily crashed onto the stage!”
The play “Juno and Avos” became business card theater, and today it is not dilapidated, but quite modern project, where young people are constantly introduced talented actors. Therefore, public interest does not wane. Andrei Voznesensky, at the request of Mark Zakharov, even changed the final line of the play, which now reads like this: “Children of the twenty-first century! Your new century has begun."
In 2005, there was a danger that the legendary performance would be curtailed or suspended after the legendary performer of the role of Count Rezanov, 60-year-old People's Artist of Russia Nikolai Petrovich Karachentsov, got into a serious car accident. However, the theater found two worthy Rezanovs in the person of Dmitry Pevtsov, who at 45 is in amazing shape, and people's artist Russia by Viktor Rakov, and the show continues.
In the early 80s, a pirate film-play based on “Juno” was shot, with Karachentsov, Shanina, Abdulov, which walked around the country in a video version. In 2004, a new CD was recorded (the disc was released by Sony Music and Columbia) with Lenkom actors and the Araks group, and also filmed New film based on the play for DVD with Dolby sound. Alexey Rybnikov has repeatedly spoken about the existence of a project for a full-length musical film, but the composer does not yet see worthy candidates among film directors, since musical films They haven’t filmed professionally in Russia for a long time. But it’s impossible to make a film based on “Juno” poorly, or even at an average level!
The magnetism and amazing energy of the performance made it truly eternal... decades pass, actors change, but this performance floats like "Juno" on the waves of time... Amazing actor play, soulful music and powerful lyrics make this rock opera a true theatrical marvel.
