Musical heritage of the JINR Member States

The Queen of Spades with Orchestra!

On 6 June, the JINR Cultural Centre "Mir" will host the third concert of the new cycle "Acquaintance through music. Musical heritage of the JINR Member States". The country is Russia, music by P.I.Tchaikovsky, A.S.Pushkin's story "The Queen of Spades" that will find its embodiment on the birthday of Alexander Sergeyevich. We talked about the upcoming event with Director of the Dubna Symphony Orchestra Natalya Kastro.

Natalya Aleksandrovna, the very name of the concert "The Queen of Spades with orchestra" is already impressive! How did Pushkin's story that served as a plot source for the opera of the same name by P.I.Tchaikovsky, become the topic of the next concert cycle "Acquaintance through music"?

Not by chance, of course! Representing the musical culture of different countries, we decided to provide Russia a central place. And since we have promised to show not only the most striking national and iconic compositions by composers of the JINR Member States, but also various genres, then, finally, the turn of this project has come, where the word of art and music are combined in an amazing way.

The story of A.S.Pushkin "The Queen of Spades" and the music of P.I.Tchaikovsky - everything here is truly Russian. And the effect is enhanced by the fact that this program will be shown on 6 June - on the birthday of A.S.Pushkin.

In one action, you weave music and artistic word. Thus, will the perception of the musical composition become more voluminous for the audience?

Absolutely right! In general, music in this type of compositions is not only an artistic and expressive means. Along with literary material, and sometimes even more, it becomes a part of the action, a part of the dramatic construction. And here one of the important points is the art of selecting musical material and creative editing! When the music and the text come together and connect, new shades of meaning are created, the content deepens and the meaning of the episode is focused on. Therefore, just such a technique largely contributes to a more in-depth, sometimes philosophical rethinking of the text.

"Accuracy and brevity are the first virtues of prose. It requires thoughts and thoughts - without them, brilliant expressions serve nothing," wrote Pushkin. The Queen of Spades is a short story written in a very clear, slightly ironic language. Will the upcoming concert be like this?

Yes, the story is short, stage reading takes 1 hour and 10 minutes (by the way, in our concert the text of the story will be reproduced completely). And your question is absolutely appropriate - how much the music will correspond to the literary style and manner of narration of A. S. Pushkin. I must say right away that the music of the opera of the same name will not be included in this composition. It's a completely different story. This is a story about that music is by no means an illustration, not a duplication of a literary phrase or a passage of text by the musical language. Here, another task is to reveal what is behind the scenes, behind the brevity of prose, to reveal emotions or the hidden meaning of what has been said.

But speaking now about music and literary text, we must also say about one more component - about acting skills! An actor's performance, an actor's interpretation determines the concept, sets a certain tone and in total can greatly influence the choice of musical material. In our project, for example, theater and film actress Ksenia Karaeva, a great master in the field of artistic expression, will participate. Since 2009, the graduate of the Mark Zakharov workshop of Academy of Theater Arts has been closely collaborating with Pavel Slobodkin Center Moscow Chamber Orchestra, with Gnessin Virtuosi Chamber Crchestra precisely in the genre of musical and literary programs. And now, preparing a project with the Dubna Symphony Orchestra, Ksenia is in close contact with us, discussing the details and subtleties of all aspects of our joint activities.

"The Queen of Spades" is one of the first compositions in Russian having had success in Europe. It has been translated into French. Before Tchaikovsky, the Austrian composer Franz von Suppe wrote an opera based on this story. The story has been filmed more than once, the English-language film adaptation has participated in the third Cannes Film Festival. For more than 25 years, a performance of the same name based on this story staged by Pyotr Fomenko has been shown in the Vakhtangov Theater in Moscow. What is the secret of the Queen of Spades, in your opinion?

Ambiguity, mystery, mysticism, the magic of numbers, numerology and at the same time historical analogies, realistic everyday sketches ... But the main thing is a lot of reflections and the depth of philosophical insight into life, thoughts, attitudes of people, characters. This story excites everyone, regardless of time, place, language, genre - be it music, theater, cinema ...

Interviewed Eleonora Yamaleeva,
photo from the archive of Natalya Kastro