Libretto for the opera
Andrey Voznesensky, 1980PROLOGUE
REZANOV:"Lord, hear me, hear me, Lord!
I sail through stormy seas without a compass,
I call without a voice, given over to the abyss:
"Motherland, hear me, hear me, Motherland!"
And the dead and planets fly across the sky:
"Somebody hear me, somebody hear me!"
FIRST SOLOIST:
Twelve strikes like a clock
Over my patient nation
There is an apostolic number
For Russia it is twelve.
Eight hundred and twelve -
Will there be bad weather or the collapse of dynasties?
The people will sing and weep
And another, and another twelve!
SECOND SOLOIST:
History, you moan
Prophets crucified on crosses!
FIRST SOLOIST:
Oh, Motherland, you were short-sighted,
SECOND SOLOIST:
They will come down from the crosses,
The heretics will be burned to death.
FIRST SOLOIST:
When she executed her best sons,
FIRST SOLOIST:
cooking for myself
the worst of executions!
SECOND SOLOIST:
Decay is going crazy
But still - vivat!
Profession giving birth
Older than killing!
PART I. RUSSIA
(The action takes place in parallel: in the church where the funeral service is held for Rezanov’s late wife, in the apartments of Count Rumyantsev and in the tavern)
FATHER JUVENALIUS:With the saints, rest, O Christ, the soul of Your servant, the newly departed Anna, where there is no illness, no sorrow, no shortness of breath, but endless life.
Thou art the One Immortal One, who created and created man, so from earth we come together from the earth, and let us go to the earth again, as Thou didst command, Who created me and gave unto me: as Thou hast gone from the earth and gone to the earth, and may all men go, creating mournful mourning.
REZANOV:
I'm forty, but there is no peace -
All my life I've been running after the ghost of freedom
At my age there is no other concern!
CHORUS:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
REZANOV:
My dear sir Alexey Nikolaevich RUMYANTSEV!
Trusting in your most merciful patronage, I intend to ask you for support of my daring project. With God’s help, I now intend, having led the first round-the-world trip of Russians, to devote my life to the flourishing of the Russian-American campaign, in order to spread the light of our Fatherland to California and the Sandwich Islands.
May the fate of Russia be set in sails!
RUMYANTSEV:
.. Dear Count, I wish you
Divide your dreams in half!
In half!... In half!..
RE3ANOV:
I trust in your generosity! Your Excellency!
Deign to support this daring project of mine.
I'm lucky, Your Excellency!
This enterprise promises great benefits to the Russian state
and its consequences will be appreciated by our descendants.
CHORUS:
For you are the earth and you will go back to the earth,
maybe all people will go, gravestone
you will go out barefoot
You will never forget me
You'll never see me.
Shielding you from a cold,
I will think: God Almighty,
I will never forget you
I'll never see you again.
They don’t blink, they tear from the wind
Hopeless brown cherries.
I'll never see you again.
Your Excellency, if financial difficulties turn out to be the only obstacle on the way to the American continent, I will be ready to purchase two schooners at the St. Petersburg shipyard with my own funds and, having given them the names “Juno” and “Avos” respectively, I will be determined to set sail in the early summer of 1806 on a voyage to the shores of the New World.
A couple of phrases from here:
"I'll never see you again,
I will never forget you."
FATHER JUVENALIUS:
For you are the earth and you will go to the earth, maybe all people
let's go, the funeral sob creates a song:
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!
I'm extremely tired in my soul.
It’s like I’m carrying a secret hump on my chest,
Such melancholy!...
As if something happened or will happen, -
Below the throat it sucks out the collarbones...
The Russian Empire is a prison,
But it’s also a mess abroad.
Our generation was born early,
Foreign land is alien to us and home is boring,
Disbanded generation
We are alone towards the truth.
What am I looking for?... Something fresh
Old lands - old syphilis,
Theaters begin with hangers,
Kingdoms begin with gallows.
New lands - tabula raza,
I'll settle a new race there,
Third world without money and loops.
No republic, no crown,
Where is the land's golden bosom!
How icons are painted on gold,
The faces of people will be bright!
How icons are painted on gold,
The faces of people will be bright!
It's funny to fight global stupidity,
Freedom has lost its birthright.
She is neither here nor there.
Where to sail?...
I don't know, captain...
PRAYERS:
O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord Most High
Intercessor and protection of all who resort to You!
REZANOV:
I am looking for a way, like a warrior and a man,
But I'll be honest, there's another reason...
PRAYERS:
Look down from on high Thy saints upon me, a sinner,
falling to Your most pure Image! 
REZANOV:
Our Lady of Kazan!
PRAYERS:
Hear my warm prayer and offer it before Your beloved Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ!
REZANOV:
I saw in Her not the Pantocrator Virgin,
And a woman with cherry eyes.
I wanted to protect her, save her
Neither the doctor nor theologian helped me,
I have violated God's love.
PRAYERS:
Beg Him, may He illuminate my dark soul with the light of His Divine Grace!
REZANOV:
Knew many women. Buried his wife.
But everywhere I sensed the secret gaze of the cherry blossom...
REZANOV AND THE CHOIR:
Be the protector of my soul, O God, as I walk among
many networks.
PRAYERS:
Deliver me from them and save me, O Blessed One, as a lover of mankind
My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my covering
Holy Spirit: Holy Trinity, Glory to you!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for prayers
Thy Most Pure Mother, have mercy on us!
Lord, I call to you, hear me, Lord!
Listen to the voice of my prayer, always call me to You.
God, weaken, forgive, forgive my sins.
Lord, I cry to You, hear me, Lord!
Lord, I cry to You, hear me, Lord!
Glorious Ever-Virgin Mother of Christ God,
Bring our prayers to Your Son and our God,
May You save our souls!
I place all my hope in You,
Mother of God, keep me under Your roof!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
REZANOV:
A terrible delirium drives me around the world,
I have been sick at heart since my adolescence,
When your eyes fell on me
Our Lady of Kazan!
God's light is eternal
Sweet is God's light,
I'm watching you from heaven...
Be blessed
Be blessed
Don't be afraid of your love!
Holy Virgin,
Mother of God,
I am the only one praying for you.
CHORUS:
Hallelujah!
RUMYANTSEV:
Graph! The interests of the empire are aimed at the difficult situation in Europe. However, turning his gaze to your valor and heart wounds, and also grieving for his Alaskan subjects, the Sovereign chooses you for a feat that promises benefit to the Fatherland. Upon fulfillment of the diplomatic mission, the education and fate of the inhabitants of Russian America is entrusted to you, the manager of the company, the Sovereign bestows the title of actual chamberlain and the ribbon of Anna of the 1st degree and takes your children under the august guardianship for the duration of the expedition. Emperor Alexander Pavlovich himself graciously deigned to join the Russian-American company. I command you to sail on July 23, 1806, in view of the tense international situation, under the naval St. Andrew's flag of the empire.
In a sea of salt and so on to hell
The sea doesn't need tears
The sea doesn't need tears.
Our faith is more accurate than our calculations,
"Perhaps" is taking us out
"Perhaps" is taking us out!
There are few of us, there are too few of us,
And the worst thing is that we are apart,
But from all the dens, from all the nightmares
We are returning to "Perhaps"
Instead of a flute, let's raise a flask,
To live more boldly,
To live more boldly.
Under the Russian sky flag
And the motto "maybe"
And the motto is "Perhaps".
There are few of us, and there are fewer and fewer of us,
And the sail is pierced right through,
But the hearts of forgetful women
They won't forget "Perhaps"!
In a sea of salt and so on to hell
The sea doesn't need tears
The sea doesn't need tears...
Our faith is more accurate than our calculations
"Perhaps" is taking us out
"Perhaps" is taking us out!
Instead of a flute, let's raise a flask,
To live more boldly,
To live more boldly,
By Russian cross flag
And the motto "maybe"
And the motto is "Perhaps"!
Mother of God, save and have mercy!
Lead the newborn sail through the storms,
Wish, as usual, that we will be under the keel
There was eight feet of blue water!
(musical intermission "Swimming")
PART II. AMERICA
REZANOV:
Dear sir, Count Alexei Nikolaevich!
I announce my arrival on the shores of California; the crew had a hard time on the way, people began to sleep, they ate only sea birds, now, thank God, everything is behind us. Before us is a settlement of Spanish monks of the Seraphic Order of St. Francis of Assisi. The fortress garrison greeted us without hostility. And here I appear, Chamber Herr Rezanov, Ambassador Extraordinary of the Sovereigns. Struck by the greatness of the blessed Russian monarch, the commandant of the fort, Jose Dario Arguello, changed his disposition and gave a gala ball and reception in our honor.
(Reception with Governor José Dario Arguello in honor of the 15th anniversary of CONSEPSIA, his daughter, and the arrival of the Russians)
JOSE DARIO ARGUELLO:
REZANOV:
Blessed is California!
May there be peace and paradise in the world,
When our sovereign peoples
They will unite not on the battlefield -
On the field of grace and love,
The universal reward will be for us
Peace, nations, thanksgiving to posterity,
The Pacific Ocean will forever remain.
REZANOV:
Comandante! On the 15th birthday of your daughter, Maria de la Conchepchion de Arguello, I have the honor to present her with a golden diadem studded with precious stones from the collection of Empress Catherine. Let her accept this gift as a sign of bright friendship between our powers.
REZANOV:
Let me ask you,
Are you a San Francisco angel?
REZANOV:
Let me dare...
REZANOV:
I am forty years old, there is no bay for the ship,
Let me sprinkle your flower with tears.
REZANOV:
A foreigner is inviting you to dance. FEDERICO:
White rosehip, wild rosehip
More beautiful than garden roses,
White branch young lover
He brought it to the count's wife.
White rosehip, wild rosehip
He gave it to her, laughing.
Leaves fell on the windowsill,
A shawl fell on the floor...
There is no price for love
There's only one life
One life, one life...
White rosehip, the culprit of passions,
The mind is ready to be taken away,
Don't you know, Count's gardener
Against other people's flowers.
What have you done, dear robber,
The shot rang out suddenly...
Red with blood, red rosehip
It fell from dead hands.
There is no price for love
There's only one life
There is one life, one life.
They were buried in different graves
Where the ancient rampart is.
What was your name, dear young man,
Only the rosehip knew.
The one who killed them is the one who spied,
He will be punished
White rosehip, everlasting rosehip
Blooms in memory of love.
There is no price for love
There's only one life
One life, one life...
(Evening after the ball)
| CONCHITA:
Que balada ha sido? FEDERICO:
CONCHITA:
FEDERICO:
CONCHITA:
FEDERICO:
CONCHITA:
FEDERICO:
|
(What kind of ballad was that? I composed it in your honor 0, what wonderful poems! Tomorrow I'm going to see your father Holy God! How many Do you think he will give us My father loves me madly See you soon, Cum!) |
REZANOV:
My old nonsense.
There is no salvation for the soul
The soul flies again
Like a wild swan.
Somewhere in the distance.
And again above me
Still the same look
Lilac unearthly...
(Night. Conchita's bedroom)
CONCHITA:Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.
Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum,
dele iniquitatem meam.
Amplius lava me ab iniguitate mea: et a peccalo meo munda me.
(Catholic prayer)
REZANOV:
Angel, become human!
Raise me, angel, from my knees.
You don't know the trembling of the heart,
Kiss me on the lips quickly.
To your girlish eyelids
I will open the most forbidden light,
Stupid fifteen-year-old angel
A foreigner of frightened years.
I'll tell you about Russia,
Where the nightingale is evil,
Compressed by the terrible love force,
Like a silver strength meter.
There is a temple of the miraculous Mother,
Leaned from the wall into the pond
Snow-white buttresses,
They drink water like horses.
You will recognize earthly
Divinity, and melancholy, and vale,
I'll tell you about Russia,
I dedicate you to love.
CONCHITA:
O, Mater pietatis et misericordiae, beatissima Virgo Maria,
ego miser et indignus peccator ad te confugio toto corde et affectu,
et precor pietatem tuam: ut sicut dulcissimo
Filio tuo in cruce pendеnti astitisti, ita et mihi misero,
peccalori, clemеnter assistere digneris,
ut tua gratia adjuti, dignam et acceptabilem hoseiamin
conspéctu summae et individuae Trinitatis offerre valeamus.
(Catholic prayer)
(Conchita's cry. Our Lady's theme sounds in the distance)
REZANOV:
0, woe to me, a sinner,
I am the most damned man of all,
give me, Lord, tears,
let my deeds be mourned bitterly.
REZANOV:
Having explained many characters, I will now proceed to a sad for me description of the stay of the Russians on the ships “Juno” and “Avos”, and upon their Arrival to the shores of the New World.
Entering the ship, they discovered that drunkenness, which continued for three months in a row, for Lieutenant KHVOSTOV, say, for his own person drank 9 1/2 buckets of French vodka and 2 1/2 buckets of strong alcohol, in addition to letting others go, and, in a word , got drunk with a circle of shipmen, apprentices, and officers. His endless drunkenness has deprived him of his mind, and he weighs anchor every night, but fortunately, the sailors are always drunk...
TAILS:
Your Excellency! Here is the governor's letter. The Spaniards do not agree to trade, but offer an exchange in kind. Yes... this is strange, the letter smells of perfume, there is a forget-me-not flower embedded in it, apparently it was not without a famous charming person...
(previous text continues to speak)
REZANOV:
My plans for new settlements, dreams of enlightening human souls in the new Russian colonies were seriously tested and completely shattered, and I no longer hope to bring the command to my native shores, having completed...
(TAILS:
By the way, Count, the city is full of rumors!)
A necessary duty to Russia and our Most Gracious Sovereign.
Don't forget, Lieutenant!
DAVIDOV:
Your Mightiness! The Spanish kitchen man Alonso, having received 2 damasks of St. John's wort and three sets of bronze buttons for the message, reports that Conchita's parents resorted to missionaries. Those, not knowing what to decide, took poor Conchita to church and confessed to her. She admitted everything.
TAILS:
The scoundrel Alonso also reports that Conchita has a fiancé, a certain Federico. So, he threatens to stab Your Grace, he has completely lost his head, young, very dangerous!
REZANOV:
What does he need from me?
TAILS:
Your Lordship, he says: You ruined his bride, he says that you (he deigns to put it this way) that you, Your Lordship, did not commit an entirely honest act. He expresses himself, Your Grace.
REZANOV:
Tell him that he is a bastard and let him get the hell out
REZANOV:
What? What is he saying?
TAILS:
He dares to say that if you leave Conchita, you will destroy her.
She won't survive. He begs you!
(Engagement of Rezanov and Conchita)
RINGER:Engaged servant of God NICHOLAY
with the END of God's work...
Does God's servant NICHOLAS agree?...
DAVIDOV AND SAILORS:
You'll wake me up at dawn
You will go out barefoot to see off.
You will never forget me
You will never see me...
Shielding you from a cold
I'll think about it, God Almighty!...
CONCHITA:
Yse cuanto mas pronto partas tu mas
Se acerca nuestra eterna dicha.
Como no quiero que te marches tu como
Quiero que te marches pronto.
Oh, tomame, mi amado, contigo.
Yo sere tu vela La tempest d,
Me parece que te estoy perdiendo...
REZANOV:
Is she crying?
TAILS:
No, what are you! She says...
REZANOV:
No need, I understand!..
CONCHITA:
I know the sooner you leave,
the more likely we will be together forever.
I don’t want him to leave,
how I want you to leave quickly,
Take me, beloved, with you.
I will be your sail on the road.
I will be the heart of the storm to foretell,
I feel like I'm losing you...
REZANOV:
They don’t blink, they tear from the wind
Hopeless brown cherries
Returning is a bad omen
I'll never see you again.
And they will swing to their senseless heights
A couple of phrases from here
CONCHITA:
I'll never see you again
REZANOV:
I will never forget you...
CONCHITA:
I'll never see you again
REZANOV:
I will never forget you
CONCHITA:
I'll never see you again
REZANOV:
I will never forget you...
(Return of the "Avos" team to Russia)
PART III. RETURN
RINGER:
He dreamed, biting the bit,
Bring America and Russia together.
But the idea failed
For trying... thanks.
But the idea failed
Thanks for trying...
Bring Discovery Cards
in a haze of gold...
In a haze of gold, like pollen.
And pour moonshine over it and burn it
at the arrogant doors...
At the arrogant doors of the palace!
Bring your three wishes,
What I hid from my wives and friends,
What he gloomily gave to slaughter
To your adventurous planet,
Adventurous planet...
(Siberia. A small village near Krasnoyarsk. Rezanov dies of fever)
CHORUS, RINGER:Give thanks to the Lord, sons of God!
Give glory and honor to the Lord!
Hear, Lord, and have mercy on me,
Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy on me!
Hear the Lord and have mercy on me,
Do not move away, Lord, from me,
Let all the lands worship You,
Let them glorify Your name:
Holy It, Holy It, Holy It!
Proclaim His praise,
Listen, my people, to His law,
Sing to the Lord, all the earth,
Sing a new song to the Lord,
Sing to the Lord, sing to the Lord!
The Lord has shown us His salvation,
Proclaim His praise!
REZANOV:
I'm tired of waiting, I'm tired of believing,
When it comes up, Lord, what have you sown?
We cannot comprehend Your truth,
We cannot even find salvation in death.
The hour of death will find us in shame
And the angels will turn away from us...
I am amazed, Lord, at You,
Truly, he who can, does not want,
You are dear to those who practice virtue,
And I don't fit in their crowd.
How the sky didn’t care about my affairs,
So I spit on the mercy of heaven!
I'm empty! I'm a poor carrion!
I have lost myself...
Creator! Creator! Creator!
You stole my spirit
desert monastery,
I knock on my empty chest,
Like a woodpecker!
Creator! Creator! Creator!
CHORUS:
Let the great and terrible be glorified
Name of the Lord: Holy is It,
Holy It, Holy It!
REZANOV:
Who? Who are you?
Nonsense or really the Mother of God?
Or are eternal life the secret features?
I'm sorry... that I don't understand you again,
I am your lost plan,
Sorry...
(Cell of the monastery in San Francisco)
CONCHITA:
Ten years of waiting have passed
You're on your way. You're getting closer to me.
So that you have light on your journey,
I leave a candle in the window.
Twenty years of waiting have passed,
You will overcome global evil...
I leave a candle in the window.
Thirty years of waiting have passed,
You're on your way, you're getting closer to me.
My wing is growing!
I left a candle in the window...
RINGER:
Rest, O Lord, the soul of Your servant
CONCHITA and the servant of God
NICHOLAY!...
AMEN!
EPILOGUE
SOLOIST:Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
CHORUS:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Residents of the 20th century!
Your twentieth century is coming to an end!
Will he never answer?
To the question of a person's consent?
Two souls rushing through space
One hundred and fifty lonely years
We beg you for your consent,
Without consent there is no meaning in life.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah to the beloved couple
We forgot, scolding and feasting,
Why did we come to earth?
Hallelujah of love, Hallelujah!
Hallelujah to all future children.
Our life flew by at a fast pace,
We will answer the damned questions:
Hallelujah of love, hallelujah!
I love your hands and speeches
I will remove the fatigue from your feet...
Rivers merge into the common sea,
Hallelujah of love, hallelujah!
There is no sadder story in the world than the story of the love of the 42-year-old Russian navigator Count Rezanov and the 15-year-old Californian girl Conchita - for almost 30 years now (since the rock opera “Juno and Avos” appeared on the stage of the Moscow theater "Lenkom") all Russians are confident. Meanwhile, in reality everything was not quite like that...
Report from the inspector of Russian America Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov to the Minister of Commerce Count Rumyantsev, sent from San Francisco on June 17, 1806: “Here I must make a confession to Your Excellency of my private adventures. Daily courting the Spanish beauty, I noticed her enterprising character, unlimited ambition, which, at the age of fifteen, was already the only one in the whole family that made her homeland unpleasant. She always joked about it: “Beautiful land, warm climate. There is a lot of grain and livestock, and nothing more.” I imagined the Russian climate to be harsher and, moreover, more abundant in everything, she was ready to live in it, and finally, insensitively, I instilled in her impatience to hear something more serious from me, to the point that I just offered her my hand and received consent.” In St. Petersburg
They were not particularly surprised by the report: this overseas matchmaking of Nikolai Petrovich fit into the logic of his whole life...
Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov was not a count. He was born into an impoverished noble family in St. Petersburg on March 28, 1764. Soon his father was appointed chairman of the civil chamber of the provincial court in Irkutsk, and the family moved to Eastern Siberia.
Nikolai received a home education - apparently very good, because he knew, among other things, five foreign languages. At the age of 14 he entered military service first to the artillery. Then for his stateliness, dexterity and beauty
Transferred to the Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment. Apparently, this could not have happened without the patronage of Catherine II - otherwise it would be difficult to explain the sharp rise of his career. During the Empress’s trip to Crimea in 1780, Nicholas was personally responsible for her safety, and he was only 16 years old (so the matter was unlikely to be explained by his great experience in ensuring the safety of the reigning persons). Inseparably, day and night, he was then with Mother the Queen, and then something happened. Apparently, for some reason the Empress was dissatisfied with Nicholas. In any case, he left military service and disappeared from the empress’s entourage for a long time. 
Young Rezanov entered the most boring service in the Pskov civil court. And then - a new sharp leap in his career. He was summoned to the capital and given a position as head of the chancellery under Count Chernyshov, and was soon transferred to the same position to Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin himself, the Empress’s secretary, for a report on the “Senate memorials.” Thus, after 11 years, Rezanov again came into Catherine’s field of vision. And her then favorite Zubov considered Nikolai a dangerous competitor. It was rumored that it was Zubov’s jealousy that Nikolai Petrovich was obliged to send on a business trip to Irkutsk, where he had to resolve the issue with the merchant Shelikhov, who asked the empress to grant him a monopoly on fur fishing off the Pacific coast of Russia. And that Zubov allegedly hinted to Nikolai Petrovich that if he decided to return to St. Petersburg, he would not remain free for long...
And here is Rezanov in Irkutsk. Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov, whom he had to inspect for an indefinite period of time, was nicknamed the “Russian Columbus” because in 1783, having built on own funds three ships, sailed to America and established Russian settlements and fur trade there. In a word, Grigory Ivanovich was an enterprising man. And the St. Petersburg inspector took over instantly, with his hands... eldest daughter, 15-year-old Anna: a girl with a tight brown braid and bulging blue serious eyes. Rezanov was already thirty then...
The wedding took place in Irkutsk on January 24, 1795. The not too rich Rezanov took a good dowry for his bride, and Anna received a noble title. And six months later, strong, strong, and still quite young, Grigory Ivanovich died suddenly, and
Nikolai became a co-owner of his capital.
Nikolai Petrovich dared to return to the capital immediately after the death of the Empress and, accordingly, the fall of Count Zubov. The new Emperor Paul accepted him graciously and granted his request to create a single Russian-American company based on the trades of Shelikhov and other Siberian merchants, a representative office of which was established in St. Petersburg, and Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov himself was appointed head. Even members of the imperial family became shareholders of the company. Around the same time, he was also made Chief Secretary of the Governing Senate. A great career, a very great one. Especially for a poor nobleman from a seedy family...
Happiness and prosperity came to an end when his wife died of childbed fever, leaving Nikolai Petrovich in his arms one year old son Petra and daughter Olga, 12 days old. In Voznesensky’s poems, Rezanov speaks of his wife as something secondary in his life. In reality, Nikolai Petrovich loved his wife very much and grieved for her. He wrote: “Eight years of our marriage gave me a taste of all the happiness of this life, as if in order to finally poison the rest of my days with the loss of it.”
Out of sadness, he thought of moving away from people, huddling with his children somewhere in the wilderness... But the emperor intervened (by this time it was no longer Paul, but his son, Alexander I). Not wanting to let Rezanov retire, he appointed him ambassador to Japan in order to establish trade: Russia wanted to sell Japan fur goods, mammoth and walrus ivory, fish, leather, cloth, and
Buy millet, bayonet copper and silk (an extremely problematic task, considering that the Japanese have been pursuing a policy of strict isolationism for more than a century and a half, with Western countries they didn’t trade, didn’t maintain any relations, didn’t let anyone in)… It was decided to combine this embassy with trip around the world, to which the ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva” under the command of captains Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky were about to sail. By decree of the sovereign, Rezanov was appointed “full owner during the voyage,” that is, the head of the expedition...
“IN THE SEA OF SALT AND SO TO THE HELL, THE SEA DOESN’T NEED TEARS”
This expedition has been in preparation for a year. Ivan Fedorovich Krusenstern was rightfully considered its leader. He owned the idea, the development of the route, and the organization. Moreover, for the sake of the expedition, he left his young wife in labor. In general, the appointment of a civilian official as a “full owner” was a complete surprise for Krusenstern. However, he did not take this seriously, relying on the naval regulations adopted by Peter I, where it was clearly stated: there is only one owner on the ship - the captain, and everyone on board, regardless of their position, rank and position, is in his complete submission...
Misunderstandings began already during loading. There was not much space on the compact Nadezhda (a 35-meter-long sailing sloop), and the retinue entrusted to the ambassador made the expedition extremely cramped. As for Rezanov and Kruzenshtern themselves, in the absence of a second command cabin
They had to live in one (very small - only six square meters and with a low ceiling).
On July 26, 1803, at 10 o’clock in the morning, “Nadezhda” and “Neva” left Kronstadt. In November, Russian ships crossed the equator for the first time. Captains Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky brought their sloops closer together, the crews were lined up in parade order on the decks, and a thunderous Russian “Hurray!” rang out over the equator. Then a sailor dressed as Neptune shook his trident, welcoming the first Russians in the Southern Hemisphere. Then they swam in the Atlantic themselves and bathed... livestock: pigs, goats, a cow and a calf - they were thrown overboard, and then caught from the water (this was done more for sanitary reasons, because in the cramped ship stalls the livestock got pretty lousy).
Christmas was celebrated off the coast of Brazil. Both ships required thorough repairs: part of the plating on the Neva had rotted, and the main and foremasts on the Nadezhda were damaged. For the expedition they were bought in England as new, but they turned out to be used. When cleaning the bottoms, even the previous names were revealed: “Leander” and “Thames”. While they were standing at the dock, a scandal broke out with local authorities. The culprit is the enfant terrible of the expedition, a member of Rezanov’s embassy retinue, young Count Fyodor Tolstoy (he was mistaken for a smuggler, and instead of explaining himself, he opened fire on the police).
He was an extremely bright and restless man who loved dangerous pranks. He became famous for daring to climb hot air balloon very imperfect design. There was a breter (that is, without
Kontsa fought duels and got into quarrels specifically for this purpose). They rushed to add him to the expedition when he challenged the colonel of his own regiment to a duel (unheard of insolence). And now on the ship Fyodor Ivanovich was doing all sorts of things. Once he gave the old ship’s priest a drink and, while he was sleeping right on the deck, sealed his beard to the floor with an official wax seal. And when the priest woke up, Tolstoy tsked at him: “Lie down, don’t you dare get up!” You see, the government seal!” And the old man finally, crying, cut off his beard with scissors down to his chin. Another time, Tolstoy dragged an orangutan into the captain’s cabin (there was a small zoo on board, replenished at all stops) and taught him how to pour ink on a sheet of paper. But Count Tolstoy used blank slate. And the orangutan is Krusenstern’s captain’s diary, which was lying on the table.
On the island of Nukagiwa, Fyodor Ivanovich went to a native tattoo artist and returned covered from head to toe with intricate designs. Later in Russia, when Kruzenshtern, who had lost patience, dropped Tolstoy ashore, and he finally took off on some turn-up ship to the Aleutian Islands and only after that returned to St. Petersburg, Fyodor Ivanovich frapped the ladies in social drawing rooms, taking off his tailcoat, vest, shirt and showing off tattoos. In St. Petersburg they called him the American. By the way, Fyodor Tolstoy the American became the prototype of Silvio in Pushkin’s “The Shot” and Dolokhov in “War and Peace.” And in “Woe from Wit” he is described as follows: “Night robber, duelist, was exiled to Kamchatka, returned as an Aleut.”
It is not surprising that this man almost immediately, with two or three jokes, managed to quarrel with the heads of the expedition: Rezanov and Kruzenshtern. It got to the point that they, living in the same cabin, stopped talking and communicated with each other only through correspondence, and very sarcastic ones at that. The "explosion" occurred in the Marquesas Islands, nine months after sailing from Russia.
There it was necessary to replenish food supplies, and Kruzenshtern, noticing the respect of local residents for European iron axes, forbade exchanging these axes for anything other than pigs, so as not to reduce the price. And Rezanov, not knowing anything, sent his servant ashore to exchange several axes for ethnographic rarities (clay bowls, beads, wooden sculptures - he was collecting a collection for the emperor). Everything that the servant managed to exchange, the captain ordered to be taken away and dumped on the deck as a warning to others.
Rezanov recalled: “Feeling such impudence, the next day I saw Kruzenshtern on the quarterdeck, I said to him: “Aren’t you ashamed to be so childish and console yourself with the fact that you do not give me ways to fulfill what is entrusted to me?” Suddenly he shouted at me: “How dare you tell me that I’m childish!” “So, my sir,” I said, “I dare very much, as your boss.”
Unfortunately, the altercation did not happen anywhere, but, as Rezanov mentioned, it was on the quarterdeck - the captain’s most sacred place for any sailor. According to the maritime regulations, any arguments with the captain on the quarterdeck are doubly punished. And here - such audacity! In a word, Rezanov, due to his inexperience in
Naval affairs did not attach much importance to this circumstance, but Kruzenshtern was incredibly offended...
“After some time, Lieutenant-Commander Lisyansky and Midshipman Berg arrived from the Neva,” continues Rezanov. “They called the crew, announced that I was an impostor, and many insulted me, which, finally, with my exhausted strength, knocked me unconscious. Suddenly it’s time to drag me out onto the quarterdeck for trial.” He was pulled out of the cabin completely ill. They demanded to see the royal rescript. Nikolai Petrovich obeyed. The naval officers read the paper and asked, “Who signed?” “Our Sovereign Alexander,” replied Rezanov. “Who wrote it?” - they asked. “I don’t know,” the ambassador answered honestly. “That’s it,” the officers concluded. “We want to know who wrote this.” The Emperor may have signed it without even looking. And while we don’t know this, we have no boss except Krusenstern.” And immediately the shouts of the sailors were heard: “Kill him, the beast, into the cabin!” The offended Rezanov himself went down there and did not leave the cabin again until his arrival in Petropavlovsk.
There Rezanov wrote a complaint to the Governor-General of Kamchatka: they say that the crew of the expedition led by Kruzenshtern rebelled. Krusenstern had something to think about: “His Excellency Mr. Rezanov, in the presence of the regional commandant and more than ten officers, called me a rebel, a robber, determined my execution on the scaffold, and threatened others with eternal exile. I admit, I was afraid. No matter how fair the Emperor may be, being 13,000 miles away from him, you can expect anything...” With force, the Governor-General managed to reconcile them. On August 8, 1804, the commander of the ship "Nadezhda" Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern and all the officers came to Rezanov's apartment in full form and apologized for their wrongdoings. Rezanov agreed to continue the journey with the same composition. Having taken two non-commissioned officers, a drummer and five soldiers (the ambassador's honor guard) from the Governor-General of Kamchatka, Nadezhda moved to Japan (in the meantime, Lisyansky took the Neva to Alaska).
“UNDER THE RUSSIAN CROSS FLAG AND THE MOTTO “AVOS”
On September 26, 1804, the Nadezhda arrived in Nagasaki. At the entrance to the bay, Kruzenshtern ordered the cannons to be fired, as it should be on such solemn occasions. And then the bay blossomed with colorful lanterns and sails: a whole flotilla of Japanese junk boats moved towards the Russian
To the ship. And so translators and officials boarded the Nadezhda. They greeted the Russians by crouching and holding their knees, according to local custom. But they asked not to fire the cannon anymore and generally hand over all gunpowder and weapons (except for Rezanov’s own officer’s sword) and not enter the bay. Well! Kruzenshtern dropped anchor where he was shown. I had to stand there... for more than six months.
All these six months, the Japanese behaved extremely politely: everyone squatted, holding their knees with their hands, smiled, nodded happily. They delivered everything to the Russians at the slightest request: fresh water, the freshest food, ship materials for repairing the ship... But they did not take payment for all this and the ship was not allowed into the harbor.
Rezanov himself was allowed to go ashore and wait for an answer from the capital, from the Japanese emperor, to whom they brought a letter from the Russian Tsar and gifts. The ambassador was given a luxurious palace, but he was not allowed to go beyond it and no one was allowed in to see Nikolai Petrovich. Finally, in March, a dignitary arrived from Ieddo (as Tokyo was called in those days). He brought a disappointing answer: the emperor was extremely surprised by the arrival of the Russian embassy, he could not accept it and did not want to trade and asked that the Russian ship leave Japan. They say that it has been decided for 200 years that there is no benefit for the Japanese to leave their country or allow anyone to come to them. Even the gifts were not accepted, and the dignitary returned them to Rezanov with a respectful bow. Perhaps the Japanese emperor simply didn’t like them because they were poorly chosen: porcelain dishes (and it was worth transporting them from Europe to Japan!), fabrics (inferior quality to local
Silk), finally, furs, among which there were too many silver foxes, but in Japan the fox is considered an unclean, devilish animal.
Rezanov did not refrain and spoke insolently to the dignitary: they say that our emperor will be more helpful than yours, and on his part this is a great mercy, which “from a single love of humanity followed to alleviate your shortcomings” (that’s what he said!). The translators were frightened, sighed, fidgeted, but Nikolai Petrovich still insisted on translating. The matter was completely failed. Perhaps, this embassy not only did not bring the moment of establishing diplomatic relations between Japan and Russia any closer, but rather delayed it. But at the same time, Rezanov entered Japanese history textbooks as a very worthy and respectable person. Returning to Petropavlovsk, Nikolai Petrovich learned that the emperor, having awarded Kruzenshtern with the Order of St. Anna, II degree, only granted him a snuff box sprinkled with diamonds. This meant that supreme authority rather took the captain's side in the conflict. Nikolai Petrovich was released from participation in the first Russian round-the-world expedition - he was now offered to go with an inspection to Russian settlements in Alaska. And Kruzenshtern rushed to catch up with Lisyansky in the Atlantic Ocean.
And here is Rezanov in Novo-Arkhangelsk, on the island of Sitkha. The situation in which he found the Russian colony was terrible. Products were delivered to them exclusively from Russia - across all of Siberia to Okhotsk, and from there by sea... For this
Months passed, everything came spoiled. Contacts with the “Bostonians” - American merchants - did not work out. In short, the settlers simply starved to death. Rezanov developed the most vigorous activity there: he bargained with the merchant John Wolf for the ship “Juno,” loaded to the brim with food, so that he did not have time to come to his senses. Not to mention the fact that Wolf had absolutely no intention of selling Juno at all.
But this was only a partial solution to the problem. Winter was approaching, and the settlers would not have enough food from the Juno until spring. Rezanov ordered to build another ship with speaking name“Maybe” and thus equipped a small expedition of two ships to the south, to California. By this time, half the team was already dying from scurvy. “Let's save the colonies from starvation. Or we'll die. Maybe we’ll save you after all!” - this is the motto with which they set off.
In March 1806, Juno and Avos moored in San Francisco Bay. California at that time belonged to Spain, and Spain was an ally of Napoleon, therefore an enemy of Russia. War could break out at any moment. In a word, the commandant of San Francisco, in theory, simply should not have hosted Russians. In addition, any relations between colonists and foreigners bypass Madrid court were not welcome. And yet Rezanov managed to break through to the Californians! Moreover, during his six weeks there, he completely conquered the governor of Upper California, Jose Arillaga, and the commandant of the fortress, Jose Dario Arguello. The latter’s daughter was 15-year-old Donna Maria de la Concepcion Marcella Arguello. Conchita...
One of the participants in Rezanov’s expedition, the ship’s doctor Georg Langsdorff, wrote in his diary: “She stands out with her majestic posture, her facial features are beautiful and expressive, her eyes are captivating. Add here a graceful figure, wonderful natural curls, wonderful teeth and thousands of other charms. Such beautiful women can only be found in Italy, Portugal or Spain, but even then very rarely.” And one more thing: “One would think that Rezanov immediately fell in love with this young Spanish beauty. However, in view of the prudence inherent in this cold man, I would rather admit that he simply had some kind of diplomatic designs on her.” Maybe the doctor was just wrong? But Rezanov himself, in his reports to Russia, did not
He looks like a man who has lost his head in love.
He writes to Count Rumyantsev: “My proposal (of Conchita’s hand and heart) struck down her parents, who were raised in fanaticism. The difference of religions and the upcoming separation from their daughter were a thunderclap for them. They resorted to missionaries, they did not know what to decide on, they took poor Concepsia to church, confessed her, convinced her to refuse, but her determination finally calmed everyone down. The Holy Fathers left the permission behind the Roman throne, but agreed to engage us by agreement, which would be a secret until the permission of the Pope. From that time on, placing myself as a close relative to the commandant, I managed the port of His Catholic Majesty as the benefit of Russia required, and the Governor was extremely amazed to see that, so to speak, he
He himself found himself visiting me. They began to bring bread to the Juno, and in such quantities that I already asked to stop the supply, because my ship could not take more.” And to his brother-in-law and co-owner of the Russian-American company, Nikolai Petrovich even admitted: “From my Californian report, do not consider me an anemone. My love is in Nevsky under a piece of marble, but here is the result of enthusiasm and a new sacrifice for the Fatherland. Concepsia is sweet as an angel, beautiful, kind-hearted, loves me; I love her and cry because there is no place for her in my heart, here I, my friend, as a sinner in spirit, repent, but you, as my shepherd, keep the secret.” ambition, tried to instill in this girl the idea of exciting life in the capital of Russia, the luxury of the imperial court and so on. He brought her to the point that the desire to become the wife of a Russian chamberlain soon became her favorite dream. One hint that the implementation of her vision depended on her was enough for Rezanov to force her to act according to his desires.”
And immediately after the engagement, the groom left the bride in order to return to St. Petersburg and ask the emperor to petition the Pope for consent to the marriage. Nikolai Petrovich calculated that two years would be enough for this. Conchita assured him that she would be waiting...
On June 11, 1806, the heavy “Juno” and “Avos” left the Californian soil, taking away 2,156 pounds of wheat, 351 pounds of barley, and 560 pounds of legumes that would save the Russian colony in Alaska. A month later we were already in Novo-Arkhangelsk. Here Nikolai Petrovich managed to make one extremely interesting order: he sent detachments of his people to California to look for a suitable place for organizing the Southern settlements in America. Such a settlement in a Californian bay: a fortress, several houses and 95 inhabitants was even organized. But the place was chosen poorly: the bay was constantly flooded, and after 13 years the Russians left there. Perhaps, if Rezanov had returned to them, he would have found a way out and secured the California lands for Russia; in any case, the American admiral Van Ders argued: “If Rezanov lived ten years longer, and what we call California and the American
British Columbia would be Russian territory."...
Having hastily completed his business in Alaska, Rezanov rushed headlong to St. Petersburg. He was impatient to quickly realize his “American” ambitious plans... Or maybe he was still impatient to return to Conchita (whether Rezanov was completely sincere in his letters to his relatives and superiors - who knows?). Be that as it may, he was in a hurry. In September he was already in Okhotsk. The autumn thaw was approaching, and it was impossible to go further, but Nikolai Petrovich did not want to listen to anything. I went on horseback. Along the way, crossing rivers, he fell into the water several times - the ice was too thin and broke. We had to spend several nights right in the snow. In a word, Nikolai
Petrovich caught a terrible cold and lay in a fever and unconsciousness for 12 days. And as soon as he woke up, he set off on the road again, not sparing himself at all...
One frosty day, Rezanov lost consciousness, fell from his horse and hit his head hard on the ground. He was taken to Krasnoyarsk, where Nikolai Petrovich died on March 1, 1807. He was 42 years old...
After 60 years, Russia sold Alaska to America for next to nothing, along with all the possessions of the Russian-American Company. Rezanov's plans were not allowed to come true. But he still gained fame throughout the centuries - thanks to Conchita.
True, she did not wait for him for 35 years, as stated in the famous rock opera. No. Just a little more than a year Every morning I went out to the cape, sat on the rocks and looked at the ocean. Exactly in the place where the support of the famous Californian Golden Gate Bridge is now...
And then, in 1808, Conchita learned about the death of her groom: a relative of Nikolai Petrovich wrote to her brother. Adding that Signorita de Arguello is free and can marry whomever she wishes. But she rejected this unnecessary freedom. Who should she marry, what dreams should she cherish? For twenty years after that, Conchita lived with her parents. She was involved in charity work and taught literacy to Indians. Then she went to the monastery of St. Dominic under the name Maria Dominga. Together with the monastery she moved to the city of Monterrey, where she died on December 23, 1857. Having thus survived Rezanov for half a century...
Not so long ago, in 2000, in Krasnoyarsk, a monument was erected on Rezanov’s grave - a white cross, on one side of which it was written: “Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov. 1764-1807. I will never forget you,” and on the other - “Maria Concepcion de Arguello. 1791-1857. I'll never see you again." The sheriff of Monterrey came to the opening - specifically to scatter a handful of earth from Conchita’s grave there. He took back a handful of Krasnoyarsk soil - Conchite.
This rock opera, I believe, needs no introduction. well-known songs - I will never forget you, and “Hallelujah” I really wanted to see a real production and it’s a pity. which is no longer the case with actors like Alexander. Abdulov. and Nikolai Karachentsev - he is alive and God bless him many years. with him this opera is the most strong in spirit and emotional.
The plot of Juno and Avos is based on a true romantic story love between Russian Count Nikolai Rezanov and Conchita Arguello. As the story goes, in 1806 Rezanov undertook a sea expedition from Alaska to the shores of California on the ships Juno and Avos in order to obtain provisions for the starving Russian colonies in America. Arriving in California, he met the daughter of the local governor in the Spanish colony of San Francisco, but their rapidly developing romance was interrupted by the count's urgent departure to Russia. Unable to obtain a quick permission to marry a Catholic, Orthodox Rezanov spent several years waiting for him and died near Krasnoyarsk. Conchita waited for him for 35 years until she received reliable information about his death, after which she retired to a monastery...
The love story that has touched people's hearts for twenty years is back. It seems that such music cannot become obsolete, and for many years these melodies will make people's hearts clench and tears flow from their eyes.
13 years before the appearance of , Alexey Rybnikov first combined church choirs and ambient music on a synthesizer. For the first time, our compatriot revealed to the world a new dimension of mystical music.
In 1978, composer Alexey Rybnikov showed director Mark Zakharov his musical improvisations on the themes of Orthodox chants. Zakharov liked the music, and then the idea arose to create a musical performance based on it based on the plot of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” He approached the poet Andrei Voznesensky with this proposal (this was their first meeting), but he did not support this idea:
Then I was an arrogant young poet; it seemed incomprehensible to me why it was necessary to write something Slavophile based on “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign,” while its author was unknown and it was not even known whether or not there was an author of “The Lay.” I say: “I have my own poem, it’s called “Maybe!” About the love of forty-two-year-old Count Rezanov for sixteen-year-old Conchita, let’s make an opera based on this poem.” Mark was a little confused and said: “Let me read it.” The next day he told me that he agreed and that we would make an opera, and the choice of the composer would be his, Mark. He chose Alexey Rybnikov. It was a happy choice.
The libretto was indeed based on poem "Maybe" (1970), although for theatrical production Naturally, I had to add many arias and scenes. Since the word “rock opera” was banned at that time (as was rock music in general), the authors wrote under the title of the work: “modern opera”. Staging dance numbers was carried out by choreographer Vladimir Vasiliev, who also initially felt that the upcoming production had no analogues on the Soviet stage.
Unlike Rybnikov’s previous rock opera“The Star and Death of Joaquin Murrieta,” which the commission rejected 11 times, a new performance was allowed immediately. At the same time, according to Voznesensky’s recollections, before passing the commission, Zakharov went with him in a taxi to the Yelokhovsky Cathedral, where they lit candles at the Kazan icon Mother of God (which is mentioned in the opera).
The opera premiered on July 9, 1981 on the stage of the Moscow Lenin Komsomol Theater, starring Nikolai Karachentsov (Count Rezanov), Elena Shanina (Conchita), Alexander Abdulov (Federico). In a few days, according to Rybnikov's memoirs, scandalous articles about the play were published in the West, assessing it as anti-Soviet, which made life difficult for its authors:
The Western press reacted as if we were premiering on Broadway, and not in Soviet Moscow. After that, I was pushed into the shadows for a very long time. The play was played, but was not released abroad, the record was not released for a very long time (after all, 800 people go to the performance 2-3 times a month, and the record is mass fame). They didn’t even recognize me as the author, they didn’t sign an agreement with me, and I sued the USSR Ministry of Culture, foreign correspondents came to the trial... Having won the trial, I fell into the category of people with whom it is better not to get involved at all. A. Rybnikov
However, after some time, thanks to Pierre Cardin, the theater toured in Paris and on Broadway in New York, then in Germany, Holland and other countries. Subsequently, the opera was staged in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, South Korea.
Rock opera - Juno and Avos
Released: 1980 | Country: USSR | Genre: Rock opera | Quality: mp3/320 Kbps
Composer: Alexey Rybnikov
“Juno and Avos” is one of the most famous Russian rock operas by composer Alexei Rybnikov with poems by poet Andrei Voznesensky. The premiere took place on July 9, 1981 on the stage of the Moscow Lenin Komsomol Theater (director Mark Zakharov, choreographed by Vladimir Vasiliev, artist Oleg Sheintsis), whose repertoire the play is still included in.
Tracklist:
1. 01 - Prologue
2.02 - Funeral service
3. 03 - Romance “I will never forget you”
4. 04 - Aria Rezanova “I’m madly tired in my soul”
5.05 - Church scene, prayer
6. 06 - Aria of the Blessed Virgin
7. 07 - Sailors' song "Maybe"
8.08 - Swimming
9.09 - Arrival in America
10. 10 - Scene at the ball
11. 11 - White rosehip
12. 12 - Night in Conchita's bedroom
13. 13 - Aria Rezanova “Angel, become human”
14. 14 - Duel with Federico
15. 15 - Engagement
16. 16 - Rezanov’s monologue “Bring me discovery cards”
17. 17 - Choir and scene “Give unto the Lord...”
18. 18 - Scene in the cell. Waiting for Conchita
19. 19 - Final
20. 20 - Epilogue "Hallelujah"
Download the album "Juno and Avos" (159 MB):
Libretto: Andrei Voznesensky.
Characters and performers: Rezanov - G. Trofimov; Conchita - A. Rybnikova; Federico - P.Tils; Rumyantsev, Khvostov, Father Yuvenaly - F. Ivanov; Voice of the Mother of God - Zh. Rozhdestvenskaya; Soloist in the prologue - R. Filippov; Davydov - K. Kuzhaliev; Jose Dario Arguello - A. Samoilov; Praying woman - R. Dmitrenko; Praying girl - O.Ro
shaking and emotional production by Mark Zakharov with great actors
Director: Mark Zakharov. Cast: Alexander Abdulov, Nikolai Karachentsov, Elena Shanina, Pavel Smeyan, Alexander Shiryaev, Radiy Ovchinnikov, Vladimir Belousov, Sergei Grekov.
How many beautiful words have been said about love, but it still seems like they are not enough! This film is another wonderful hymn of love.
The plot is well-known and not at all original: a middle-aged Russian count and the young daughter of the governor of San Francisco fell in love with each other. However, they were not given the chance to unite their destinies. The Count, thinking that he is leaving his beloved for short term, and was never able to return to her. And she before last days in her life she remained faithful to their love: “I will never see you. I will never forget you..." There is so much tenderness, sincerity, freshness and purity in this story!
“Juno” and “Avos” were the names of two sailing ships on which the expedition of the Russian statesman and traveler Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov set off for the shores of California in 1806. “Juno and Avos” - that’s what he called his own in 1970 new poem Andrei Voznesensky, in which he told amazing story the love of 42-year-old Count Rezanov and 16-year-old Conchita Arguello, daughter of the commandant of San Francisco. “Juno and Avos” is the name of the most famous Soviet rock opera by Alexei Rybnikov, which was released in 1980 in the form of an audio production, and six months later embodied in a musical performance on the Lenkom stage. In terms of beauty, expression and power of impact on the viewer, no other domestic musical work of this genre can still compare with this stunning music.
Coincidence in names? Not at all - a sequential chain artistic embodiment historical fact plus an incredible coincidence of circumstances that brought together three talented people: Andrei Voznesensky, who wrote the libretto for the opera based on his poem, Alexei Rybnikov, the author of amazing, somehow unearthly, and sometimes even mystical music, and Mark Zakharov, the famous director and artistic director of the Moscow Theater them. Lenin Komsomol, which brought together the brightest theater stars in the performance. And, of course, those who brilliantly brought this bright production to life on the Lenkom stage on July 9, 1981: the artist Oleg Sheintsis, who created the magnificent scenery, the famous choreographer Vladimir Vasiliev, who choreographed the dance numbers, and, of course, the very first “star” cast: Nikolai Karachentsov (Rezanov), Elena Shanina (Conchita), Alexander Abdulov (Fernando), Lyudmila Porgina (Virgin Mother of God - this role was later played by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya for a long time), Pavel Smeyan and Gennady Trofimov (First and Second Writers) and many others popular actors of Lenkom.
The history of the creation of the rock opera “Juno and Avos”
Orthodox chants interested many Soviet composers, but it was Alexey Rybnikov who managed to transfer them to big stage. In 1978, he showed his musical improvisations to director Mark Zakharov, who really liked the music. It was then that the two masters came up with the idea of creating musical performance O Orthodox Rus', the plot of which was “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” But who should be entrusted with writing the libretto? The choice fell on the poet Andrei Voznesensky, who, to Zakharov’s surprise, did not support this idea, but proposed his own, which somewhat discouraged the director. However, after reading the poem, Zakharov agreed to stage a play based on this plot. Rybnikov also liked the idea, however, in order to give the performance the format of a rock opera, Voznesensky had to compose several new scenes and solo arias.
The fact that the future performance had no analogues on the domestic stage was understood by everyone: the director, composer, author of the libretto, directors of vocal and dance numbers, and actors involved in the production. The performance, which is essentially a rock opera, had to be veiled under the name “modern opera”, since the wording “rock opera” could become a serious obstacle to reaching the audience. And the role of the Mother of God had to be designated in the play as “Woman with Child,” otherwise the censor would not have let it through.
Work on the performance proceeded in parallel with the recording of an audio version of the opera, in which other performers were involved. The first listening to the album took place six months before the theatrical premiere, on December 9, 1980. It is noteworthy that the Church of the Intercession on Fili in Moscow was chosen for this event, and not concert hall. But it was precisely thanks to the magnificent acoustics of the church that the audio premiere created a real sensation: the opera was noticed and unconditionally loved. True, censorship for various reasons delayed the serial release of the audio version of the opera, but still two years later the Melodiya company released an album of two records, which instantly became in short supply among music lovers.
Surprisingly (and for the authors themselves), the Lenkom artistic council accepted the rock opera “Juno and Avos” immediately, although Rybnikov’s previous rock opera, “The Star and Death of Joaquin Murrieta,” was rejected by the commission as many as 11 times! Maybe it was an accident, or maybe they really intervened Higher powers, because Andrei Voznesenskysaid that before showing the opera to the commission, he and Zakharov went to the Yelokhovsky Cathedral to ask for blessings from the Kazan Mother of God and light candles at her icon. In addition, they brought three consecrated icons from the church to the theater and placed them on the dressing room tables of Elena Shanina, Nikolai Karachentsov - the leading actors - and Lyudmila Porgina, who in the premiere performance played the role of the Virgin Mary (or Woman with Child, as indicated in the program) .
What influenced the commission’s opinion is unknown, but the fact that the play was allowed to be staged on the stage of the Lenin Komsomol Theater is a fact. And this year the legendary performance is being celebrated across the world’s theater stages.
On our website you can listen to the full audio version of the rock opera"Juno and Avos."
To the surprise of the authors of the rock opera, there were no problems with censorship. But the authorities did not intend to contribute to the success of the performance. Despite the wild success among the audience, art officials did their best to prevent the popularization of the play: they created obstacles to tours even within the country, not to mention showing it at foreign venues. ... | Lazar Iosifovich Weisbein - have you ever heard this name? Hardly. Does the name Leonid Osipovich Utesov mean anything to you? Famous name, legendary, right? But it’s not real: the talented Jewish youth Lazar Weisbein chose this sonorous pseudonym as his stage name. And the scene in his life appeared when he was 20 years old - and since then it has not let go. ... |
The year 1970 in the USSR was rich in cultural events, large-scale and not so large. But one of them, in my opinion, deserves to be remembered in more detail: the State Academic Central Puppet Theater named after S.V. Obraztsova moved to a new building. ... |
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 People's Artist Composer Alexey Rybnikov was presented to Russia 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 white cross, on one side of which the words are embossed 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 a 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