Created with the support of the North-West Bank of Sberbank of Russia
Alexandrinsky Theater would like to thank Ksenia Bodrova for her help in working on the production.
The cycle "Monologues in the Tsar's Foyer" owes its birth and name to another work by Nikolai Sergeevich Marton - "Monologues", the premiere took place in September 2012 (since December 2013 the performance was held under the title "Faces and Roles").
Vertinsky. Russian Pierrot is based on musical short stories, songs of the great Russian actor, poet and chansonnier Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky (1889-1957). "... a poet, strangely singing his poems, all in words and images of bitter love, unlike anyone else, unprecedented, causing envy ... He was for me a phenomenon of art, the nature of which I can not determine, but which for me is nicer than others - the art of strange, fantastic" - wrote about Vertinsky Yuri Olesha. To get closer to the mystery of Russian Pierrot, to perform songs and poems of Vertinsky and together with the audience to understand how they resonate in the heart today - a longtime creative dream of the corypheus of the Alexandrinsky stage Nikolai Sergeevich Marton. Vertinsky. Russian Pierrot - more than a retrospective of comic arietas and sad songs Vertinsky. It is also a reflection on the artist's fate, in which the true tragedy of the past century resounds through the irony and mystery of talent.
Premiere - September 15, 2019
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The artist does not imitate Vertinsky, except that he freezes a couple of times in a picture pose, memorable from old posters. He sings in his own voice, a strong, deep, velvety baritone, not tempted by the characteristic tremolo and grating. Over the "pretentious poses" Marton laughs, he himself in this part is a master. But behind the poses, behind the masks in the theater hide, feeling uncomfortable with excessive frankness or sentimentality. And in the new performance, the artist not so much overcomes the reputation of a romantic hero, but uses the experience of "musical-dramatic" leaven, and the virtuosity of the master of the art word, and the distance necessary for the new drama and avant-garde directing. The game of intonation, the finely honed gesture, the subtle transitions from piano to forte, the change of moods - all this fits on a patch of seemingly uncomplicated arietka or a short poem. And immediately interrupted by the tragic "I don't know why and who needs it..." - an echo of the First World War, which has not lost its relevance to this day.
Elena Alekseeva
You catch yourself thinking that this performance is about art itself. The personality and biography of Nikolai Marton, the space of the Tsar's foyer with all its carvings, paintings and the enfilade formed by two tall mirrors facing each other... All this is no less meaningful than Vertinsky's legacy. Director Anton Okoneshnikov felt the format of the benefit itself, having envisaged such zones when the audience applauds the jubilee willy-nilly. There is something of a solemn ceremony in this performance. That is why there is a kind of charming master of ceremonies - a miniature performer Daria Klimenko, who helps the artist to change clothes and sometimes acts as a prompter.
Evgeny Avramenko
The combination of ironic detachment and impetuous lyricism that characterizes Vertinsky becomes a natural norm for Nikolai Marton's stage existence in this performance. Without imitating anything, the modern actor leads his own theme: about the dramatic fate not only of the artist, but of man in general. Through Marton Vertinsky addresses the audience to flash again with his unforgettable "lawless comet". But it is Nikolai Marton himself, it is his voice, his intonations, his thoughts that excite everyone.
Nadezhda Tarshis
