Ballet creativity of A.I. Khachaturian as a classic example of modern music

After the success of Aram Khachaturian's first ballet "Happiness" at the decade of Armenian art in Moscow, the directorate of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after S. M. Kirov ordered the composer new ballet. The libretto written by Konstantin Derzhavin in the year was based on some of the plot moves of the ballet "Happiness", which allowed Khachaturian to preserve in the new work the best that was in his first ballet, significantly supplementing the score and developing it symphonically.

In 1943, the composer received the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree for this ballet, which he contributed to the fund of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Later, based on the music for the ballet, the composer created three orchestral suites. In the mid-1950s, the Bolshoi Theater turned to the ballet Gayane. Based on the new libretto by Boris Pletnev, Aram Khachaturian significantly changed the score of the ballet, rewriting more than half of the previous music

Characters

• Hovhannes, chairman of the collective farm
• Gayane, his daughter
• Armen, shepherd
• Nune, collective farmer
• Karen, farmer
• Kazakov, head of the geological expedition
• Unknown
• Giko, collective farmer
• Aisha, collective farmer
• Ishmael
• Agronomist
• Geologists
• Head of the Border Guard

The action takes place in Armenia today (i.e. in the 30s of the XX century).

stage life

Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after S. M. Kirov

Characters

• Gayane - Natalia Dudinskaya (then Alla Shelest)
• Armen - Konstantin Sergeev (then Semyon Kaplan)
• Nune - Tatyana Vecheslova (then Fairy Balabina)
• Karen - Nikolai Zubkovsky (then Vladimir Fidler)
• Giko - Boris Shavrov
• Aisha - Nina Anisimova

Characters

• Gayane - Raisa Struchkova (then Nina Fedorova, Marina Kondratieva)
• Armen - Yuri Kondratov (then Yuri Hoffman)
• Mariam - Nina Chkalova (then Nina Timofeeva, Nina Chistova)
• George - Yaroslav Sekh
• Nunne - Lyudmila Bogomolova
• Karen - Esfandyar Kashani (then Georgy Solovyov)

The performance was held 11 times, the last performance on January 24 of the year

Libretto author and choreographer Maxim Martirosyan, production designer Nikolai Zolotarev, conductor Alexander Kopylov

Characters

• Gayane - Marina Leonova (then Irina Prkofieva)
• Armen - Alexey Lazarev (then Valery Anisimov)
• Nerso - Boris Akimov (then Alexander Vetrov)
• Nune - Natalia Arkhipova (then Marina Nudga)
• Karen - Leonid Nikonov
• Lezginka - Elena Akulkova and Alexander Vetrov

The performance was held 3 times, the last performance on April 12 of the year

Moscow Musical Theater named after K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko

"Suite from the ballet" Gayane "" - one-act ballet. Libretto author and choreographer Alexei Chichinadze, production designer Marina Sokolova, conductor Vladimir Edelman

Characters

• Gayane - Margarita Drozdova (then Eleonora Vlasova, Margarita Levina)
• Armen - Vadim Tedeev (then Valery Lantratov, Vladimir Petrunin)
• Nune - A. K. Gaysina (then Elena Golikova)
• Karen - Mikhail Krapivin (then Vyacheslav Sarkisov)

Leningrad Maly Opera and Ballet Theater

Ballet in 3 acts. Libretto, choreography and composition - Boris Eifman, production designer Z. P. Arshakuni, music director and conductor-producer A. S. Dmitriev

Characters

• Gayane - Tatyana Fesenko (then Tamara Statkun)
• Giko - Vasily Ostrovsky (then Konstantin Novoselov, Vladimir Adzhamov)
• Armen - Anatoly Sidorov (then S. A. Sokolov)
• Matsak - Herman Zamuel (then Evgeny Myasishchev)

Performances in other theaters

Bibliography

• Kabalevsky D."Emelyan Pugachev" and "Gayane" // Soviet music: magazine. - M ., 1943. - No. 1.
• Kabalevsky D. Aram Khachaturian and his ballet "Gayane" // Pravda: newspaper. - M., 1943. - No. 5 April.
• Keldysh Yu. New production"Gayane" // Soviet music: magazine. - M ., 1952. - No. 2.
• Strazhenkova I."Gayane" - Aram Khachaturian's ballet. - M., 1959.
• Tigranov G.. - M .: Soviet composer, 1960. - 156 p. - 2750 copies.
• Armashevskaya K., Vainonen N."Gayane". Last years works // . - M .: Art, 1971. - S. 241-252. - 278 p. - 10,000 copies.
• Sheremetevskaya N."Gayane" // Music life: magazine. - M ., 1978. - No. 10.
• Esambaev M. Not only a word Soviet culture: newspaper. - M ., 1989. - No. July 11.
• Antonova K. A celebration of life is a celebration of dance // Benoir Lodge No. 2. - Chelyabinsk: Publisher Tatyana Lurie, 2008. - P. 151-152. - 320 s. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89851-114-2.

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Notes

Links

• on the website of the Aram Khachaturian Virtual Museum

An excerpt characterizing Gayane (ballet)

Fabvier, without entering the tent, stopped talking with familiar generals at the entrance to it.
Emperor Napoleon had not yet left his bedroom and was finishing his toilette. He, snorting and groaning, turned now with his thick back, then with his fat chest overgrown with a brush, with which the valet rubbed his body. Another valet, holding the bottle with his finger, sprinkled cologne on the well-groomed body of the emperor with an expression that said that he alone could know how much and where to sprinkle cologne. Short hair Napoleon were wet and matted on the forehead. But his face, although swollen and yellow, expressed physical pleasure: "Allez ferme, allez toujours ..." [Well, even stronger ...] - he kept saying, shrugging and groaning, rubbing the valet. The adjutant, who entered the bedroom in order to report to the emperor on how many prisoners had been taken in yesterday's case, handing over what was needed, stood at the door, waiting for permission to leave. Napoleon, grimacing, looked frowningly at the adjutant.
“Point de prisonniers,” he repeated the words of the adjutant. – Il se font demolir. Tant pis pour l "armee russe," he said. "Allez toujours, allez ferme, [There are no prisoners. They force them to be exterminated. So much the worse for the Russian army. shoulders.
- C "est bien! Faites entrer monsieur de Beausset, ainsi que Fabvier, [Good! Let de Bosset come in, and Fabvier too.] - he said to the adjutant, nodding his head.
- Oui, Sire, [I am listening, sir.] - and the adjutant disappeared through the door of the tent. Two valets quickly dressed His Majesty, and he, in the blue uniform of the Guards, with firm, quick steps, went out into the waiting room.
Bosse at that time was hurrying with his hands, setting the gift he had brought from the empress on two chairs, right in front of the emperor's entrance. But the emperor dressed and went out so unexpectedly quickly that he did not have time to fully prepare the surprise.
Napoleon immediately noticed what they were doing and guessed that they were not yet ready. He didn't want to deprive them of the pleasure of surprise him. He pretended not to see Monsieur Bosset, and called Fabvier to him. Napoleon listened, with a stern frown and in silence, to what Fabvier told him about the courage and devotion of his troops, who fought at Salamanca on the other side of Europe and had only one thought - to be worthy of their emperor, and one fear - not to please him. The result of the battle was sad. Napoleon made ironic remarks during Fabvier's story, as if he did not imagine that things could go differently in his absence.
“I have to fix it in Moscow,” Napoleon said. - A tantot, [Goodbye.] - he added and called de Bosset, who at that time had already managed to prepare a surprise, placing something on the chairs, and covering something with a blanket.
De Bosset bowed low with that courtly French bow that only the old servants of the Bourbons knew how to bow, and approached, handing the envelope.
Napoleon turned to him cheerfully and tugged him by the ear.
- You hurried, very glad. Well, what does Paris say? he said, suddenly changing his previously stern expression to the most affectionate.
- Sire, tout Paris regrette votre absence, [Sir, all Paris regrets your absence.] - as it should, answered de Bosset. But although Napoleon knew that Bosset should say this or the like, although he knew in his clear moments that it was not true, he was pleased to hear this from de Bosset. He again honored him with a touch on the ear.
“Je suis fache, de vous avoir fait faire tant de chemin, [I am very sorry that I made you drive so far.],” he said.
– Sir! Je ne m "attendais pas a moins qu" a vous trouver aux portes de Moscou, [I expected no less than how to find you, sovereign, at the gates of Moscow.] - Bosse said.
Napoleon smiled and, absently raising his head, looked to his right. The adjutant came up with a floating step with a golden snuffbox and held it up. Napoleon took her.
- Yes, it happened well for you, - he said, putting an open snuffbox to his nose, - you like to travel, in three days you will see Moscow. You probably did not expect to see the Asian capital. You will make a pleasant journey.
Bosse bowed in gratitude for this attentiveness to his (hitherto unknown to him) propensity to travel.
- A! what's this? - said Napoleon, noticing that all the courtiers were looking at something covered with a veil. Bosse, with courtly agility, without showing his back, took a half-turn two steps back and at the same time pulled off the veil and said:
“A gift to Your Majesty from the Empress.
It was a portrait painted by Gerard in bright colors of a boy born from Napoleon and the daughter of the Austrian emperor, whom for some reason everyone called the king of Rome.
A very handsome curly-haired boy, with a look similar to that of Christ in Sistine Madonna, was depicted as playing bilbock. The orb represented the globe, and the wand in the other hand represented the scepter.
Although it was not entirely clear what exactly the painter wanted to express, imagining the so-called King of Rome piercing the globe with a stick, but this allegory, like everyone who saw the picture in Paris, and Napoleon, obviously, seemed clear and very pleased.
“Roi de Rome, [Roman King.],” he said, pointing gracefully at the portrait. – Admirable! [Wonderful!] - With the Italian ability to change the expression at will, he approached the portrait and pretended to be thoughtful tenderness. He felt that what he would say and do now was history. And it seemed to him that the best thing he could do now was that he, with his greatness, as a result of which his son in bilbock played with the globe, so that he showed, in contrast to this greatness, the simplest paternal tenderness. His eyes dimmed, he moved, looked around at the chair (the chair jumped under him) and sat down on it opposite the portrait. One gesture from him - and everyone tiptoed out, leaving himself and his feeling of a great man.
After sitting for some time and touching, for what he did not know, with his hand until the rough reflection of the portrait, he got up and again called Bosse and the duty officer. He ordered the portrait to be taken out in front of the tent, so as not to deprive the old guard, who stood near his tent, of the happiness of seeing the Roman king, the son and heir of their adored sovereign.
As he expected, while he was breakfasting with Monsieur Bosset, who had been honored with this honor, enthusiastic cries of officers and soldiers of the old guard were heard in front of the tent.
- Vive l "Empereur! Vive le Roi de Rome! Vive l" Empereur! [Long live the Emperor! Long live the king of Rome!] – enthusiastic voices were heard.
After breakfast, Napoleon, in the presence of Bosset, dictated his order to the army.
Courte et energique! [Short and energetic!] - Napoleon said when he himself read the proclamation written without amendments at once. The order was:
"Warriors! Here is the battle you have been longing for. Victory is up to you. It is necessary for us; she will provide us with everything we need: comfortable apartments and a speedy return to the fatherland. Act as you did at Austerlitz, Friedland, Vitebsk and Smolensk. May later posterity proudly remember your exploits in this day. Let them say about each of you: he was in the great battle near Moscow!
– De la Moskowa! [Near Moscow!] - repeated Napoleon, and, having invited Mr. Bosse, who loved to travel, to his walk, he left the tent to the saddled horses.
- Votre Majeste a trop de bonte, [You are too kind, your Majesty,] - Bosse said to the invitation to accompany the emperor: he wanted to sleep and he did not know how and was afraid to ride.
But Napoleon nodded his head to the traveler, and Bosset had to go. When Napoleon left the tent, the cries of the guards in front of the portrait of his son intensified even more. Napoleon frowned.
“Take it off,” he said, pointing gracefully at the portrait with a majestic gesture. It's too early for him to see the battlefield.
Bosse, closing his eyes and bowing his head, took a deep breath, with this gesture showing how he knew how to appreciate and understand the words of the emperor.

All that day, August 25, as his historians say, Napoleon spent on horseback, surveying the area, discussing the plans presented to him by his marshals, and personally giving orders to his generals.
The original line of disposition of the Russian troops along the Kolocha was broken, and part of this line, namely the left flank of the Russians, was driven back as a result of the capture of the Shevardinsky redoubt on the 24th. This part of the line was not fortified, no longer protected by the river, and in front of it alone there was a more open and level place. It was obvious to every military and non-military that this part of the line was to be attacked by the French. It seemed that this did not require many considerations, it did not need such care and troublesomeness of the emperor and his marshals, and it did not need at all that special higher ability, called genius, which Napoleon is so fond of ascribed to; but the historians who subsequently described this event, and the people who then surrounded Napoleon, and he himself thought differently.
Napoleon rode across the field, peered thoughtfully at the terrain, shook his head approvingly or incredulously with himself, and, without informing the generals around him of the thoughtful move that guided his decisions, conveyed to them only final conclusions in the form of orders. After listening to the proposal of Davout, called the Duke of Eckmuhl, to turn around the Russian left flank, Napoleon said that this should not be done, without explaining why it was not necessary. On the proposal of General Compan (who was supposed to attack the fleches) to lead his division through the forest, Napoleon expressed his consent, despite the fact that the so-called Duke of Elchingen, that is, Ney, allowed himself to remark that moving through the forest was dangerous and could upset the division .
After inspecting the area opposite the Shevardinsky redoubt, Napoleon thought for a while in silence and pointed to the places where two batteries were to be arranged by tomorrow for action against the Russian fortifications, and the places where field artillery was to line up next to them.
Having given these and other orders, he returned to his headquarters, and the disposition of the battle was written under his dictation.
This disposition, about which French historians speak with delight and other historians with deep respect, was as follows:
“At dawn, two new batteries, arranged in the night, on the plain occupied by Prince Ekmülsky, will open fire on two opposing enemy batteries.
At the same time, the chief of artillery of the 1st Corps, General Pernetti, with 30 guns of the Compan division and all the howitzers of the Desse and Friant division, will move forward, open fire and bombard the enemy battery with grenades, against which they will act!
24 guards artillery guns,
30 guns of the Kompan division
and 8 guns of the Friant and Desse divisions,
In total - 62 guns.
The chief of artillery of the 3rd corps, General Fouche, will put all the howitzers of the 3rd and 8th corps, 16 in total, on the flanks of the battery, which is assigned to bombard the left fortification, which will total 40 guns against it.
General Sorbier must be ready at the first order to take out with all the howitzers of the guards artillery against one or another fortification.
In continuation of the cannonade, Prince Poniatowski will go to the village, into the forest and bypass the enemy position.
General Kompan will move through the forest to take the first fortification.
Upon entering the battle in this way, orders will be given according to the actions of the enemy.
The cannonade on the left flank will begin as soon as the cannonade of the right wing is heard. The riflemen of Moran's and Viceroy's divisions will open heavy fire upon seeing the right wing attack begin.
The viceroy will take possession of the village [Borodin] and cross his three bridges, following at the same height with the divisions of Moran and Gerard, who, under his leadership, will move towards the redoubt and enter the line with the rest of the army.
All this must be carried out in order (le tout se fera avec ordre et methode), keeping the troops as far as possible in reserve.
In the imperial camp, near Mozhaisk, September 6, 1812.
This disposition, very vaguely and confusedly written - if you allow yourself to treat his orders without religious horror at the genius of Napoleon - contained four points - four orders. None of these orders could be and was not executed.
The disposition says, firstly: that the batteries arranged at the place chosen by Napoleon with the guns of Pernetti and Fouche, having aligned with them, a total of one hundred and two guns, open fire and bombard the Russian flashes and redoubt with shells. This could not be done, since the shells did not reach the Russian works from the places appointed by Napoleon, and these one hundred and two guns fired at empty until the nearest commander, contrary to Napoleon's order, pushed them forward.

BALLETS

"GAYANE"

The history of this score goes back to the ballet “Happiness” composed back in 1939…
“When I started composing my first ballet score, I knew absolutely nothing about the specifics of ballet as a musical genre. Already in the process of work, I quickly began to grasp and realize its characteristic features. To a certain extent, probably, the circumstance helped me that, as Myaskovsky said, the element of dance lives in Khachaturian's music ... ”This is the confession of the author himself.
In a friendly conversation with the composer, the most prominent at that time political figure Anastas Mikoyan expressed his desire to create a ballet performance for the upcoming Decade of Armenian Art (it became one of the first in the Armenian musical theater and the first national ballets shown in the pre-war decades). This idea fully corresponded to the composer's own creative aspirations. The theme of the ballet was born at the same time in a conversation with Mikoyan, who advised Aram Khachaturian to meet with the famous Armenian director Gevork Hovhannisyan, who recently wrote the ballet libretto “Happiness” about the life and work of Soviet border guards and collective farmers.
The deadlines were extremely tight. Khachaturian spent the spring and summer of 1939 in Armenia, collecting folklore material - it was here that the deepest study of melodies began. native land. This was advised to him by the writer Maxim Gorky. With the purely danceable nature of the music, Khachaturian set himself the task of "symphonizing" the ballet. He wanted the songs, dance melodies created by the people to organically enter the ballet, so that they would be inseparable from all the music of the ballet. Thus, Khachaturian quite quickly realized and formulated the main provisions of his musical and choreographic aesthetics.
Work on the score of "Happiness" lasted only six months. took over the rehearsals famous conductor Konstantin Saradzhev is a student of Artur Nikish.
Everything was done to ensure that the tour of the Armenian Opera and Ballet Theater named after Spendiarov, the youngest in the country (he was still 6 years old at the time), would be as successful as possible within the framework of the Armenian decade. K.Sarajev assembled a magnificent orchestra. October 24, 1939 the ballet "Happiness" was staged in Moscow in Bolshoi Theater and literally captivated the audience. Many participants received government awards, and enthusiastic reviews did not cease to fill the pages of newspapers.
However, this did not prevent the composer from being soberly aware of some weak sides of his essay. The libretto also suffered from flaws. And, nevertheless, "Happiness" turned out to be a good springboard for the true flowering of Khachaturian's ballet skills. Soon the leadership of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre. Kirov offered to stage the play "Happiness" with a new libretto on his stage ...
As a result, the entire score of "Happiness", according to figurative expression the author himself, was “dispossessed” by him ...
It all ended with the creation of the ballet "Gayane", but it was already during the Second World War. Here is how the composer recalls this period:
“I lived in Perm on the 5th floor of the Tsentralnaya Hotel. When I remember this time, I think again and again how difficult it was for people then. The front needed weapons, bread, shag ... And in art - spiritual food, everyone needed - both the front and the rear. And we, artists and musicians, understood this and gave all our strength. About 700 pages of the Gayane score I wrote in half a year in a cold hotel room, where there was a piano, a stool, a table and a bed. It is all the more dear to me because Gayane is the only ballet on Soviet theme who has not left the stage for a quarter of a century ... "
"Saber Dance", according to the author himself, was born by accident. After the score of "Gayane" was completed, rehearsals began. The director of the theater called Khachaturian and said that a dance should be added to the last act. The composer undertook this reluctantly - he considered the ballet finished. But he began to think about this thought. “The dance should be fast, militant. Khachaturian recalls. - Hands as if in impatience took a chord and I began to break it down like an ostinato, repeating figure. A sharp shift was needed - I took the opening tone at the top. Something "hooked" me - yeah, let's repeat in a different key! A start! Now we need a contrast... In the third scene of the ballet, I have a melodious theme, a lyrical dance. I combined the militant beginning with this theme - it is played by a saxophone - and then returned to the beginning, but in a new capacity. I sat down to work at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and by 2 o'clock in the morning everything was ready. At 11 o'clock in the morning the dance was performed at a rehearsal. By the evening it was staged, and the next day there was already a general ... "
The ballet "Gayane" to the libretto by K. Derzhavin was staged by N. Anisimova in December 1942 - when the grandiose epic near Stalingrad was unfolding. The production took place in Molotov, where the Leningrad Kirov Theater was evacuated. P. Feldt, who conducted the ballet at the premiere, surpassed himself, as the reviewers wrote. “Feldt especially pleased with that inspired ardor,” noted the composer Dmitry Kabalevsky, “which he, as a talented ballet conductor, sometimes lacked” ...
Whether you watch "Gayane" in the theater, listen to this music in a concert or recording, the impression from it is born somehow immediately and remains in your memory for a long time. The generosity of Aram Khachaturian, which has few analogues in the history of music, is melodic and orchestral, modal and harmonic generosity, generosity associated with the widest range of thoughts and feelings that are embodied in the score.
Three symphonic suites composed by Khachaturian from the score of the ballet contributed to the world fame of Gayane's music.
“The evening of the first performance of the First Suite from “Gayane” firmly stuck in my memories,” says singer N. Shpiller, “Golovanov conducted the orchestra of the All-Union Radio. Neither before nor after that day - it was October 3, 1943 - I have not heard such a flurry of applause, such an unconditional universal success new work, as then in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions.
After 6 years, the equally unanimous success of the Gayane music on the other side of the earth was glad to note the great composer of the 20th century, Dmitry Shostakovich, in New York, at the All-American Congress of Scientists and Cultural Figures in Defense of Peace, where the Gayane score was performed under the baton of the outstanding conductor Stokowski.
For the music for the ballet "Gayane" Aram Khachaturian was awarded the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree.

July 24, on historical stage Bolshoi, there will be a single performance dedicated to the anniversary of the great composer A.I. Khachaturian and the 100th anniversary of the First Armenian Republic! The President of Armenia and many Russian officials will attend Gayane's ballet.

When

Where

Bolshoi Theatre, Teatralnaya metro station.

What is the price

The cost of tickets is from 10,000 to 15,000 rubles.

Description of the event

2018 is full significant events related to Armenian statehood and culture! This year marks 115 years the greatest composer Aram Ilyich Khachaturian. Armenia is also celebrating the 100th anniversary of the First Armenian Republic, and ancient capital Yerevan celebrates its 2800th anniversary!

Naturally, all these events were an excellent occasion for a series of events designed to present Armenian culture in Russia in all its splendor. Thanks to the active work of the RA Embassy in the Russian Federation, which, with the advent of the new Ambassador, Vartan Toganyan, in 2017, began to pay special attention close attention development of cultural and humanitarian ties between the two countries, after a break of almost 60 years, Moscow will see the ballet "Gayane" by Khachaturian on the historical stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia!

Stunningly colorful scenery and costumes, restored according to the sketches of the great artist Minas Avetisyan, will arrive from Yerevan together with a ballet and a magnificent orchestra, conducted by the Honored Artist of Russia, twice nominated Grammy awards- Konstantin Orbelyan! IN last time the ballet "Gayane" was staged at the Bolshoi Theater 57 years ago - in February 1961.

Who is suitable for

For adults, ballet fans.

Why you should go

• The only performance in Moscow
• The famous ballet returns to the Bolshoi Theater
• Significant event attended by officials

The ballet "Gayane" is notable, first of all, for the music of Aram Khachaturian, while experts rightly call the libretto stilted. It was written by screenwriter and librettist Konstantin Derzhavin in 1940 based on Khachaturian's previous ballet Happiness. In "Gayane" the composer retained all the best that was in "Happiness", and significantly supplemented and developed the score. The premiere of the ballet took place in 1942 in Perm, where the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre. Kirov. After Soviet theaters often turned to Khachaturian's ballet. "Gayane" was staged in Sverdlovsk, Yerevan, Kyiv, Riga, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk. In the Kirov Theater it was resumed two more times - in 1945 and 1952. On the main stage musical theater countries - the Bolshoi - "Gayane" was first staged in 1957. Your attention is invited to a recording of a much later production.

So, experts consider music to be the main advantage of "Gayane". “While still working on the music of the ballet “Happiness”, Khachaturian turned to Armenian folklore, - we read in the book “History of Modern Domestic Music”. – All this was included in Gayane. And although there are few folk melodies in the ballet, the intonation nature Armenian music recreated through rhythmic, harmonic features, bringing the composition closer to the tradition of Russian classical "music about the East". By the way, it was for the ballet Gayane that Khachaturian wrote Saber Dance, which is often performed as an independent work. As for the choreography, the ballet breaks up into separate exits. “Various solo numbers and duets, dramatic scenes, generally symphonized (“Cotton picking”, “Dance of cotton”, “Dance of pink girls” and others), folklore dances (“Lezginka”, “Russian dance”, “Schalakho”, “Uzundara ”, “Gopak”) - all this makes up a voluminous and contrasting score of the ballet ”(“ History of Modern Russian Music ”).

Why in Armenian history is there a place for hopak, Russian dance and other dances of the peoples of the USSR? At the end of this story, guests from the fraternal republics arrive at the Armenian collective farm for the harvest festival. But before that, a completely detective story unfolds in the mountain collective farm and its environs. A spy descends on a parachute into the mountains of Armenia. He will follow the geologists - with the help of the smart shepherd Armen, they discovered deposits of rare and valuable ore not far from the collective farm. Naturally, vigilant Soviet collective farmers will expose the enemy. But in parallel with the espionage in the ballet unfolds, of course, love story. Shepherd Armen and the daughter of the chairman of the collective farm Gayane love each other, but they have to constantly repel the attacks of the jealous Giko, Gayane's admirer.

Today "Gayane" seems to be a monument to a special era Soviet art when the glorification of the brotherhood of peoples took on bizarre forms. But this does not prevent you from enjoying the powerful music of Aram Khachaturian and high skill ballet dancers of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Artist N. Altman, conductor P. Feldt.

The premiere took place on December 9, 1942 at the Opera and Ballet Theater named after S. M. Kirov ( Mariinskii Opera House), the city of Molotov (Perm).

Characters:

• Hovhannes, chairman of the collective farm
• Gayane, his daughter
• Armen, shepherd
• Nune, collective farmer
• Karen, farmer
• Kazakov, head of the expedition
• Unknown
• Giko, collective farmer
• Aisha, collective farmer
• Agronomist, collective farmers, geologists, border guards and head of the border guard

The action takes place in Armenia in the 1930s of the XX century.

Dark night. A figure of the unknown appears in the thick net of rain. Listening carefully and looking around, he frees himself from the parachute lines. By checking the map, he is convinced that he is at the target. The rain subsides. Far away in the mountains, the lights of the village flicker. The stranger throws off his overalls and remains in his tunic with stripes for the wound. Limping heavily, he walks away towards the village.

1. Sunny morning. Boiling in collective farm gardens spring work. Leisurely, Giko goes to work lazily. The girls of the best brigade of the collective farm are in a hurry. With them, the foreman is a young cheerful Gayane. Giko stops her, talks about his love, wants to hug her. A young shepherd Armen appears on the road. Gayane joyfully runs towards him. High in the mountains, near the camp of shepherds, Armen found pieces of ore and showed them to Gayane. Giko watches them jealously.

During the rest hours, the collective farmers start dancing. Giko wants Gayane to dance with him, tries to hug him. Armen protects the girl from importunate courtship. Giko is furious and is looking for a reason to quarrel. Grabbing a basket with seedlings, Giko throws it furiously, throws himself at Armen with his fists. Gayane gets between them and demands that Giko leave.

The young collective farmer Karen comes running and announces the arrival of the guests. A group of geologists led by the head of the expedition, Kazakov, enters the garden. They are followed by an unknown. He hired himself to carry the geologists' luggage and stayed with them. Collective farmers cordially welcome visitors. Restless Nune and Karen start dancing in honor of the guests. Dancing and Gayane. The guests follow Armen's dance with admiration. A signal is given to start work. Hovhannes shows the gardens to visitors. Gayane is left alone. She admires the distant mountains and gardens of her native collective farm.

The geologists are back. Armen shows them the ore. The discovery of the shepherd interested geologists and they are going to explore. Armen undertakes to accompany them. They are followed by an unknown person. Gayane tenderly says goodbye to Armen. Giko, seeing this, is overcome with jealousy. The unknown sympathizes with Giko and offers friendship and help.

2. After work at Gayane friends gathered. Kazakov enters. Gayane and her friends show Kazakov the carpet they have woven, start a game of hide and seek. Drunk Giko arrives. The farmers advise him to leave. After seeing off the guests, the chairman of the collective farm tries to talk to Giko, but he does not listen and intrusively sticks to Gayane. The girl in anger drives Giko away.

Geologists and Armen are returning from the campaign. Armen's find is not an accident. A rare metal deposit has been discovered in the mountains. Giko, who lingered in the room, becomes a witness to the conversation. Geologists are on their way. Armen tenderly gives Gayane a flower brought from the mountainside. This is seen by Giko, passing by the windows with the unknown. Armen and Hovhannes set off together with the expedition. Kazakov asks Gayane to save the bag with ore samples.

Night. An unknown person enters Gayane's house. He pretends to be sick and collapses in exhaustion. Gayane helps him up and hurries for water. Left alone, he begins to look for materials from the geological expedition. Returning Gayane understands that the enemy is in front of her. Threatening, the unknown person demands that Gayane hand over materials. During the fight, the carpet covering the niche falls. There is a bag with pieces of ore. The unknown person takes the bag, ties Gayane and sets fire to the house. Fire and smoke fill the room. Giko jumps out the window. Horror and confusion on his face. Seeing a stick forgotten by an unknown person, Giko realizes that the criminal is his recent acquaintance. Giko carries Gayane out of the house on fire.

3. Starry night. High in the mountains there is a camp of collective farm shepherds. Passes a squad of border guards. Shepherd Izmail entertains his beloved Aisha by playing the flute. Aisha starts a smooth dance. Shepherds gather. Armen comes, he brought geologists. Here, at the foot of the cliff, he found ore. Shepherds perform folk dance"Khochari". They are replaced by Armen. Burning torches in his hands cut through the darkness of the night.

A group of highlanders and border guards arrive. Highlanders carry the parachute they found. The enemy has penetrated Soviet soil! A glow broke out over the valley. The village is on fire! Everyone rushes there.

The flame is raging. In its reflections, the figure of an unknown person flashed. He tries to hide, but collective farmers run from all sides to the burning house. The unknown person hides the bag and gets lost in the crowd. The crowd subsided. An unknown person overtakes Giko, asks him to be silent and for this he gives a wad of money. Giko throws money in his face and wants to apprehend the criminal. Giko is injured but continues to fight. Gayane comes to the rescue. Giko falls. The enemy aims a weapon at Gayane. Armen came to the rescue and grabs a revolver from the enemy, who is surrounded by border guards.

4. Autumn. The collective farm had a bountiful harvest. Everyone converges on a holiday. Armen hurries to Gayane. Armena stops the kids and starts a dance around him. Collective farmers are baskets of fruit, jugs of wine. Arriving invited to the holiday guests from the fraternal republics - Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians. Finally, Armen sees Gayane. Their meeting is full of joy and happiness. People flock to the square. Here are the old friends of the collective farmers - geologists and border guards. The best brigade is awarded a banner. Kazakov asks Hovhannes to let Armen go to study. Hovhannes agrees. One dance follows another. Hitting the sonorous tambourines, Nune and her friends dance. Guests perform their national dances - Russian, dashing Ukrainian hopak.

There are tables on the square. With raised glasses, everyone praises free labor, indestructible friendship Soviet peoples, beautiful motherland.

In the late 1930s, Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) was commissioned to compose music for the ballet Happiness. A performance with a traditional plot for that time about happy life"under the Stalinist sun" was preparing for the Decade of Armenian Art in Moscow. Khachaturian recalled: “I spent the spring and summer of 1939 in Armenia, collecting material for the future ballet“ Happiness ”. folk art". Six months later, in September, the ballet was staged at the Armenian Opera and Ballet Theatre. A. A. Spendiarov, and a month later they showed it in Moscow. Despite the great success, shortcomings in the script and musical dramaturgy were noted.

A few years later, the composer returned to work on music, focusing on a new libretto written by Konstantin Derzhavin (1903-1956). Reworked ballet named after main character"Gayane", was preparing to be staged at the State academic theater opera and ballet named after S. M. Kirov, but the beginning of the Great Patriotic War ruined all plans. The theater was evacuated to the city of Molotov (Perm), where the composer arrived to continue work.

“In the autumn of 1941, I returned to work on the ballet,” Khachaturian recalled. - Today it may seem strange that in those days of severe trials there could be talk of ballet performance. War and ballet? Concepts are really incompatible. But as life has shown, there was nothing strange in my plan to depict the theme of a great nationwide upsurge, the unity of people in the face of a formidable invasion. The ballet was conceived as a patriotic performance, affirming the theme of love and loyalty to the Motherland. At the theatre's request, after finishing the score, I completed the "Dance of the Kurds" - the same one that later became known as the "Saber Dance". I started composing it at three o'clock in the afternoon and worked without interruption until two o'clock in the morning. In the morning next day the orchestral voices were rewritten, and a rehearsal took place, and in the evening - a dress rehearsal of the entire ballet. Saber Dance immediately made an impression on the orchestra, on the ballet, and on those present in the hall.

The first performers of the successful premiere at Molotov were Natalya Dudinskaya (Gayane), Konstantin Sergeev (Armen), Boris Shavrov (Giko).

The music for the ballets "Gayane" and "Spartacus" is one of the the best works Khachaturian. The music of "Gayane" is notable for its wide symphonic development with the use of leitmotifs, bright national color, temperament and brilliance. It organically includes authentic Armenian melodies. The lullaby of Gayane imbued with a tender feeling is remembered. For many decades, the Saber Dance, full of fire and courageous strength, was a real hit, reminiscent of Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor by Borodin. Constant trampling rhythm, sharp harmonies, whirlwind tempo help to create a vivid image of a strong, courageous people.

Musicologist Sofia Katonova wrote: “The merit of Khachaturian was both the reproduction of the characteristic traditions and genres of ancient Armenian art, and their transfer in a specific style folk performance. It was important for the composer, addressing in "Gayane" to contemporary theme, to capture not only the authentic features of the era, but also the appearance and mental make-up of their nation, borrowing its inspired creative manner reflections of the surrounding life.

Nina Anisimova (1909-1979), choreographer of the play "Gayane", was a student of the famous Agrippina Vaganova, an outstanding character dancer of the Kirov Theater from 1929 to 1958. Before working on "Gayane" Anisimova had experience in staging only a few concert numbers.

“The theater’s appeal to this musical work,” wrote ballet expert Marietta Frangopulo, “expressed the aspirations of the Soviet choreographic art to incarnation heroic images and, in connection with this, an appeal to large symphonic forms. The bright music of Khachaturian, full of drama and lyrical sounds, abounds with Armenian folk melodies developed in the techniques of a wide symphonic development. On the combination of these two principles, Khachaturian created his music. Anisimova set herself a similar task. "Gayane" is a performance of rich musical and choreographic content. Some ballet numbers - such as the duet of Nune and Karen, Nune's variation - subsequently became part of many concert programs, just like Saber Dance, whose music is often performed on the radio. However, the inferiority of the dramaturgy of the ballet greatly weakened its impact on the viewer, which led to the need to rework the libretto several times and, in accordance with this, the stage appearance of the performance ".

The first changes in the plot basis took place already in 1945, when the Kirov Theater, returning to Leningrad, finalized Gayane. The prologue disappeared in the performance, the number of saboteurs increased to three, Giko became Gayane's husband. New heroes appeared - Nune and Karen, their first performers were Tatyana Vecheslova and Nikolai Zubkovsky. The scenography was also changed, Vadim Ryndin became the new artist. The play was reworked at the same theater in 1952.

In 1957, the ballet "Gayane" was staged at the Bolshoi Theater with a new illustrative-naturalistic script by Boris Pletnev (3 acts, 7 scenes with a prologue). Choreographer Vasily Vainonen, director Emil Kaplan, artist Vadim Ryndin, conductor Yuri Fire. The main roles at the premiere were danced by Raisa Struchkova and Yuri Kondratov.

Until the end of the 1970s, the ballet was successfully staged on Soviet and foreign stages. Of the interesting decisions, it is worth noting the graduation performance of Boris Eifman (1972) at the Leningrad Maly Opera and Ballet Theater (later the choreographer created new editions of the ballet in Riga and Warsaw). The choreographer, with the consent of the author of the music, refused spies and scenes of jealousy and offered the viewer a social drama. The plot told about the first years of the formation of Soviet power in Armenia. Gayane Giko's husband - the son of the fist Matsak - cannot betray his father. Gayane, who grew up in a poor family, sincerely loves her husband, but supports new power led by Armen. I remember how the "red wedge" of the Komsomol "historically determined" crushed Matsak. A concession to old stereotypes was the murder of a rich father own son. The premiere was danced by Tatyana Fesenko (Gayane), Anatoly Sidorov (Armen), Vasily Ostrovsky (Giko), German Zamuel (Matsak). The play ran for 173 performances.

In the 21st century, the Gayane ballet disappeared from theater stages, primarily because of an unsuccessful script. Separate scenes and numbers of the play by Nina Anisimova continue to be performed annually in graduation performances of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. Saber Dance remains a frequent guest on concert stages.

A. Degen, I. Stupnikov