CAPRICORN

I was born on January 10, 1929 in Leningrad. Of course, in the 30s of the last century, our family certainly did not know anything about the signs of the zodiac and their influence on the fate of a person and never spoke about it. Nevertheless, much later I found out that I was Capricorn, and found an amazing coincidence of my character traits with the description of this sign. Just as Capricorn is an individual slowly and persistently crawling to the top of a mountain, so my life is a movement from one goal to another. In adolescence, I was more subservient to elders than my peers, but by adulthood I suddenly acquired an almost adolescent frivolity and rebellious spirit.

I lost my mother at the age of five, my father at the age of 13. My grandmother baptized me secretly from my dad, it’s hard to imagine now, but it happened. I appreciated the importance of my grandmother in my life much later, when I was already an adult. And then there was a feeling that they were just looking after you: they dressed you, fed you, put you to bed. Okay, that's how it should be. The absence of a full-fledged family led to a certain arrogance - they say, I know everything myself, although, God knows, I knew little. I was a rather frivolous child, thinking very little about what the boy would have to think about if he had a mother and father. And so one day was similar to another, in general - "Groundhog Day". And only with time do you begin to understand how stupid you were and how ashamed you are today of some of your actions ... And you begin to engage in self-education and choose your own book characters. This is how Rakhmetov from Chernyshevsky's novel “What Is to Be Done?” became for me. As Gorky said, "I owe everything good in me to books." The heroes who overcame the difficulties of life became my idols, whom I wanted to imitate, tempering my will, character, inflexibility: the characters of Jack London, Jean Valjean from Les Misérables by V. Hugo, Mtsyri - the hero of M. Yu. Lermontov.

Such two lives in one

But only full of anxiety

I would change if I could.

I remember myself as a mobile boy: when my grandmother and I went out for a walk, I ran to the next street, and my grandmother walked calmly. Impatience, the inability to sit in one place for a long time, apparently led me to the fact that I really fell in love with skates, skis, and bicycles. I have never been in any sections, I did not strive for records, but I always received extraordinary pleasure from the rapid movement, from the wind in my ears.

In August 1941, the choir school, headed by the unforgettable Pallady Andreyevich Bogdanov, the former regent of the royal court choir, and now the director of our school, was evacuated from Leningrad to Vyatka, to the village of Arbazh (Kirov region). During the war, life was divided into study, feeding and entertainment. There could be no talk of systematic studies. But in the evenings, by the light of a kerosene lamp, Pallady Andreevich, a holy man (!), dismantled Haydn's string quartets with us. Can you imagine? Yes, yes, at school the second compulsory instrument was the violin or cello. And the war was leaving somewhere, hunger was leaving, and sticking out our tongue, we diligently comprehended the classics. Skiing in Arbage was the main entertainment for the boys - reckless and scary. Then deserters were hiding in the taiga forests, and everyone was afraid to meet them - each bush seemed like a person who would definitely attack you. And all around - the moon, stars, shiny snow! Just a cosmic feeling! Under the cover of darkness, in spite of fear, you make a forced march. Sweet horror and the feeling of victory over yourself! It used to be that you give in to some impulse, and then you are surprised at yourself. 1946. I'm going on winter holidays from Moscow to Leningrad. In the next carriage we played cards, and well after midnight, when we had finished playing the “fool”, I went to my room. The vestibule door was locked, but the outer door was open. I go out ... Two steps down, foot on the buffer, then on the next buffer, again on the step, and there, it turns out, the door is open. You run the risk of getting under the wheels, because slip - and that's it, you're gone. I was 17 years old...

Teenage frivolity sometimes does not leave me. Sweep, whistle, rapid movement is the form of my existence to this day. Sometimes it seems to me that physical development also shaped my character. However, everything can be vice versa.

WAR BOY

In Arbazh, in the sixth or seventh grade, the subject "military affairs" was introduced. The whole class was divided into sections, the commander of one of which I was appointed. I was lively, agile, but I did not know how to command others. It’s not that “didn’t know how” is not the right word, but I couldn’t afford to command others, and, as if apologizing, I said: “To the left ...” My classmates would see me in about nine or ten years, when in my submission there was a military ensemble consisting of a choir, an orchestra and a ballet - 75 people. Much later, the profession formed this “commanding” quality in me. You need to have "crocodile skin" to manage the team.

We were always hungry... “Hunger is such a shameful feeling, those who have not experienced it will not understand it. This is not just “hungry and hungry”, but this is a wild need to chew something with your teeth, something hard, tangible, in order to chew longer, so that no one sees that something is in your mouth, because neither think nor you can’t think” (D. Granin).

We were fed, but what kind of feeding was it! In the morning - tea, 10 grams of cane sugar, 10 grams of butter and a piece of bread. At lunch, for the first - cabbage floating in the water, for the second - cabbage without water. Dinner is the same as breakfast. I fell asleep with a dream that there was a jar of sour cream that would never end! Or a bag of sugar. And waking up, he looked at his neighbor - if he is sleeping, you wait until he wakes up in order to immediately say the cherished words: “First to the crust.” Why? Because the crust could be chewed longer. And finally - dancing! On major holidays - be sure to have some clubbing with a drink. Yes, yes, 13-14-year-old boys drank moonshine, which is always available in the village. Of course, we didn’t hear the word “calories”, but somehow it became easier. The local "intelligentsia" also came - the children of village chiefs. Girls bring moonshine, and we bring bread, butter and sugar, which we put aside from our meager rations ... Even in war, natural boyish instincts do not disappear - to woo, win an argument, prove something to everyone, and to ourselves, in the first place . I remember this time with a smile! It's winter, it's minus 42 outside, and we're arguing: who will run around the school in shorts? Or else: between the stove and the wall is 50 centimeters, and you need to get your butt up to the ceiling in this space, huh! So how is it? You get on all fours in this gap and start to climb up. "Engineering" thought worked, but how much pleasure ...

But the thought of when the war will end and we will defeat all the Nazis did not go away. We never, not for a second, doubted that the Red Army would win, only we were very worried that our victory did not come and people were dying. They were very worried. It seemed that death was walking next to us, so deep and strong was the feeling of kinship with everyone who fought at the front.

I met the victory in Moscow as a 16-year-old teenager. It's impossible to describe! No words are enough. When we heard Levitan (and we heard after midnight, on May 9th), we rushed to Red Square, and there ... What was going on there! This is a flood of feelings: people are crying, rejoicing, laughing, kissing, pumping the military ... The joy was immeasurable. ... We bought port wine and went to celebrate.

START

I consider myself lucky. Judge for yourself. My life in the profession at first glance seems like a chain of accidents. I went to the first grade in an ordinary high school, but the singing teacher there - a graduate of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens - turned out to be a sensitive soul and was reverent about the matter. By some miracle, she saw musical abilities in me and sent me to the competition, which was announced by A.V. Sveshnikov, recruiting boys to the children's choir school at the Leningrad Chapel. Quite unexpectedly, out of three hundred boys, thirty are chosen, including me.

I remember well how we performed two works with the chapel choir - "Dubinushka" by P. Chesnokov and "Wheels, run" by I. Dunayevsky. Not only the sound of the choir was amazing, but also the experiences that I experienced myself. I was dying, thrilled with delight, the sound fascinated me! In 1938, a terrible thing happens: dad is arrested. I should be immediately expelled as the son of an enemy of the people, but they did not expell me. Accident? I don't know... The war started. I can’t get to the front, but nevertheless I send an application to Murmansk for admission to the jung school. I get the answer: "Admission to the jung school is over." Fate, apparently, was ruthless: “Ah, do you want to go against it? No boy! Sit where you are meant to be." Looking ahead, I will say that as a musician I was lucky: I endured and realized my artistic idea, which turned out to be viable.

My character, on the one hand, is shaped by hereditary traits along my father's line - perseverance, hard work, determination, and on the other hand, by life itself, and most importantly, by my profession. Do I have a good character? Easy? I think it's best to ask others about this. Maybe I'm tough? Yes - with the lazy. For I demand the same attitude to the work that I was taught - to give myself to it entirely, without a trace. Having received forced independence in early childhood, I went through life on my own, without asking anyone for advice. I found something in books, I observed something. Independence led me, alas, to uncompromising. More often it concerned relationships and life spoiled me pretty much. At a later age, I became, as they say now, more negotiable, but in the profession I remained the same - the stage does not forgive concessions, conciliation and compromise. It will be instantly noticed by both the audience and the artists.

“And what can you do?” - I asked myself at the beginning of my professional career. If you have come to art, you should ask yourself this question. For creative people, the main thing is whether you have a gift from God or not, do you know how to captivate your colleagues or not?

And everything else, honestly, is nonsense. At the age of 22, I headed the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Northern Group of Soviet Forces in Poland, and at one of my first concerts I saw a huge poster: "Artistic Director Vladimir Minin." Of course my heart skipped a beat! When applause broke out after the performance by the ensemble under my leadership of the oratorio "Alexander Matrosov" by composer V. Sorokin, I realized that this was "my" profession. But thank God, I had the sense to say to myself: “You are only the heir to what was created before you. Treasure it, save it and increase it!”

The inevitable conflicts with officials related to work, especially in Soviet times, are my war "outside". My God! What battles it was, multi-way operations, tricks, defeats, depressions ... Sometimes the stupidity of our laws and the bureaucrats who enforce them drove me to white heat: then I went ahead, sometimes skimped. Mikhail Andreevich Suslov, the main ideologist of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the "gray eminence" of the times of L. I. Brezhnev, said that church music should not be sung. I was furious: “Who allowed you, fry, to ban a whole layer of national culture ?!”

I called the director of the Melodiya company, V. V. Sukhorado, and the deputy minister of culture, V. F. Kukharsky. He said to the first: “It would be nice to release Rachmaninov’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.” - "Will you get permission?" - "Will try".

I called Kukharsky: "Vasily Feodosevich, it would be nice to release Rachmaninov." He says: "I will not notice it at my own peril and risk." So in 1983, for the first time in the Soviet Union, the vinyl record "Seven Choirs of Sergei Rachmaninov, opus 31" was released, but in fact - fragments of the "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom". I was one of the first to include spiritual choral works by P. Tchaikovsky, A. Grechaninov, P. Chesnokov and other Russian composers “not recommended for performance” in the concert programs.

Remembering this, I think: “What a blessing that today the state does not interfere in our repertoire!” I am infinitely grateful to the wonderful and courageous ascetics, thanks to whom people heard this music.

But even now, on my way, there are talented individuals invested with power, but not indifferent, who understand the vulnerability, insecurity of the artist and help them in every possible way. I have a particularly warm feeling for Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko, who, despite her enormous employment (I met her when she was Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation), contributed in every possible way to solving the extremely important issues of the Choir's activities. Even today, her attention as the Chairman of the Federation Council of Russia continues unabated. You know, dear reader, that it is customary for us to always scold and be dissatisfied with the authorities ...

In many cases this is certainly true, but not in ours. We moved from the Rosconcert, which ceased to exist, to the Department of Culture of the city of Moscow in
1998 and became a "municipal" team. But I can't say anything but gratitude to the Department! Thank you, Alexander Vladimirovich Kibovsky, that thanks to your efforts, after 15 years of struggle (!), we finally found our home! I have no spiritual discomfort due to the fact that I, being the head of the state choir, have some disagreements with this very state. Firstly, serving the Motherland (which I do) does not at all mean fully agreeing with what is happening in it. Perhaps the opposite. The more I love her, the more I wish her perfection, the more actively I try to contribute to this. This is the first.

Second. There is an internal tuning fork. own restrictions. Self-censorship, if you will. But it is more of an aesthetic nature. As the leader of an artistic organism, you yourself must understand and determine what and how should sound from the stage. Relatively speaking, the “golden cockerel”, which is ready to peck at you at any moment, should sit on a knitting needle inside you! There is a natural development of art, I call it "highway". But over time, the funds are exhausted, and then the creators are looking for new paths.

This is true for music as well. This is how aleatoric, serial technique, sonoristics appeared in the 20th century. I think all these branches eventually come to a dead end and turn back onto the main road, enriching the funds

expressiveness of this main path. In my opinion, as independent forms, they do not stand the test of time and are not in great demand by listeners, because the public, as you know, “votes with their feet”. The viewer always feels whether you are sincere or not. Another issue is that academic art requires at least minimal preparation.

RESISTANCE OF MATERIAL

By nature, I am a gambler and, therefore, risky.

It so happened that after graduating from graduate school, in 1958, Sveshnikov suggested that I go to Moldova and lead the Doina choir. I gladly agreed and, I must say, worked there for five years with great enthusiasm. And everything would be fine if my assistant, for whom I was "come in large numbers" and who, perhaps, herself dreamed of this position, did not begin to weave intrigues against me. With the help of the Union of Composers of Moldova, she organized a rather vicious campaign against me in the press - “there is not the right repertoire, there are few local composers”, but I must say that I took talented works into the repertoire of the chapel, and as you know, there are fewer of them. Despite the good attitude of the leadership of the Ministry of Culture of Moldova towards me and the award of the title of “Honored Worker of Arts of the MSSR” and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, I decided to leave. Refusal to fight? No. A sober understanding of the situation and the inability to resist.

I accepted the offer of the rector of the Novosibirsk Conservatory A. N. Kotlyarevsky to head the department of choral conducting.

What a life it was! No intrigue! Create, invent, try! And I was imagining. The basis of the experiments was the student choir. The singers' eyes were on fire! In a word, the sweet taste of free-thinking was extraordinarily intoxicating.

But then the temptation came up: in 1965 I was offered to lead the Leningrad Chapel named after. Glinka. Well, who can resist such a temptation? I didn't resist either. I flew on wings, inspired by the success with the Novosibirsk student choir, imagining that I would move mountains in the chapel!

It wasn't there...

Since the tsarist times, the chapel has been characterized by a somewhat cold, restrained academic sound, which was required by the church service. It played a leading role even in the performance of works by Soviet composers.

I wanted to bring something of my own, more emotional, sensual to the established performing aesthetics of the group... But my artistic idea met with stiff resistance from most of the artists.

In a word, conservatism won. I admitted my defeat, resigned and left for Moscow. It was hard in Moscow. Sveshnikov did not take to himself, the Ministry of Culture offered to go to the Odessa Conservatory. I was sheltered (I can’t find another word) by an “old” comrade, with whom we studied together both at the choir school and at the conservatory - Alexander Alexandrovich Yurlov. Peace to your ashes, Sasha, and low bow ...

He, being the head of the department of choral conducting at the Gnessin Institute, invited me there as a teacher. So fate gave me more than one blow, she also gave gifts. Three years later, in 1967, thanks to Yurlov's help, I became a rector. I could not even think about the choir then - it made me sick. I was the head of the choir class, I watched the work of graduate students. Sometimes he surprised students with some "discoveries", but he did not want to think about his own choir.

And it was then that the tempter, sitting on his shoulder, whispered in his ear: “Rector, create your own chamber choir ... you worked in the “state” groups that you came to ... start from scratch ... realize yourself .. ."

I made up my mind. And it turned out that my whole previous life was preparation for the creation of my own choir.

It began with the fact that I heard the performance of a small student ensemble that went to work. In other words, "on the hack". I liked the way they sing, and I suggested trying to make a real chamber choir. There were probably 25 people in attendance.

The student choir especially needs an interest in what they are doing. And I offered them something that no one else had. For example, the music of Sergei Slonimsky, old manuscripts deciphered by M. V. Brazhnikov. I felt that I had found the manner of performance in which it seemed to each of those sitting in the hall that I was addressing him, his soul, his feelings. Especially against the backdrop of a huge amount of "reinforced concrete" music. It inspired me too.

True, the work of the rector occupied most of the time, but I did not have long to be the rector.

The rector has no right to fall in love ... with a student, and at that time I was courting the soloist of the choir, Natasha Gerasimova. It doesn't matter if you marry her later. In short - “immoral”, they issue a party reprimand. To the credit of Y. Melentiev (Minister of Culture of the RSFSR), he asked me to write an application in order to transfer Sveshnikov from the post of rector to the position of chief conductor of the choir, who agreed to this. Then, however, he began to slowly “survive” me ...

I left of my own free will and became engaged only in my own choir. It was 1972.

The chamber choir of students of the Gnessin Institute after a year and a half, with the help of G.V. Sviridov, became a professional group - the Moscow Chamber Choir.

The story was like this.

We were invited to perform in the small hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and I invited G. V. Sviridov to the concert (I met him in 1956 during the premiere preparation of the poem “In Memory of Sergei Yesenin”). Among other compositions, the choir also performed Sviridov's work "Sing me that song", in which I changed the author's phrasing. He liked it, and in our conversation over a glass of tea, the idea arose to be a professional choir.

Georgy Vasilyevich called V.F. Kukharsky (Deputy Minister of Culture of the USSR E.A. Furtseva), and then it was a matter of technology. On December 30, 1973, I was invited by the director of the Rosconcert, Yu. L. Yurovsky, and gave me a night to draw up a staffing table and an estimate ...

New 1974 Choir met in the status of a professional!

How weighty was the opinion of a great artist at that time!

Eternal memory and gratitude to the great Russian creator for thirty years of creative friendship...

PERFECT CHOIR

“... If Nikanor Ivanovich’s lips were to be put to Ivan Kuzmich’s nose, and take some swagger, which Baltazar Baltazarych has, and, perhaps, add Ivan Pavlovich’s corpulence to this ...” (N. V. Gogol “Marriage”).

So is the perfect choir. If all singers had beautiful voices, mastered the technique of singing, were musically and aesthetically educated and were dying of happiness to play music, there would be a choir that formed in my head. Understanding the utopian nature of my own views, I still strived for the ideal and set the bar high, first of all, for myself.

How many times, out of desperation, I wanted to quit my choir, because it is difficult for singers who are taught to be soloists at the conservatory, it is difficult to comprehend the profession of a choral artist, where there is much less freedom, where sometimes you need to “squeeze” your voice a little, listen to your neighbor and look at the conductor all the time ! But I can't imagine my choir without good voices, and I'm proud that soloists from our team came out, who now sing in opera houses around the world.

The development of choral art in Russia was largely determined by the Znamenny chant, the successor to the Byzantine melos. Znamenny chant reached its apogee in the cult music of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Taneyev.

There is an abyss between the first performance of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom by Rachmaninoff in the 70s of the last century and its performance on April 4, 2018 in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall!

During these forty years there was a deep comprehension of the meaning of the same musical text.

Bruno Walter, an outstanding German conductor of the 20th century, said: “At 20 there was Me and Mozart, at 40 there were WE, and at 60 there was Mozart and I.” I subscribe to every word.

Sometimes journalists ask: “Why do we need a conductor?”. I almost never answer some naivety of a question and don't go into details - ​what's the point? But I will tell you about one subtlety of this profession.

Chaliapin once admitted that two Chaliapins live in it: one sings, the other controls. Every conductor must have two conductors, and I am no exception.

Is it difficult? Don't know. The awareness of this peculiar dualism comes with experience; when the filling of the concert begins emotionally almost from the very first phrases, the feeling captures me, carries me, but the control does not weaken at the same time, on the contrary, it becomes sharper, because the same feeling takes possession of the artists and inaccuracies may appear, which I must immediately show with a gesture, and they fix it right away.

The form of the work is created at concerts. It lives its stage life. It's one thing - ​the composer's inner hearing, and another - his real sound on stage. For example, the articulation in the mind of a composer sometimes surpasses the performance capabilities of the singers. Nevertheless, you must preserve the character, the energy of the music, convey the meaning to the listener, and the tempo can be a little more restrained.

The work of a conductor with a choir is built on the foundation of the universal culture of artists and their love for work. I remember that there was an accompanist in the chamber orchestra of Saulius Sondeckis, whom he wanted to expel, but did not expel. I asked him once: “Why?”. “He is a musician who is very difficult to replace,” was the answer. We somehow ran into this concertmaster backstage, and he exclaimed: “How did we play today!” For him, these two hours were the meaning of life.

The work of an artistic director can be compared to what a gardener does: here is grafting, here is hilling, here is loosening, here is cutting off some kind of dried branch... And all in order for the tree to bear fruit.

An artistic director must love his team as a whole, even if he has his own preferences. After all, on stage, it is the artists who embody your artistic intentions. And if they succeed, you can forgive a lot.
Today. Tomorrow is all over again.

Concerts sometimes fail. Did I have them? Of course they were. Their nature is very, very diverse. Failure, first of all, is my assessment of the past concert, even if the audience gives a standing ovation. At first there was despair, self-criticism, a sense of guilt. Gradually came a sober understanding of their mistakes, their merciless assessment and understanding of what needs to be done in the future.

In general, troubles in my profession for 99 rubles, pleasure - for a ruble. But this ruble is golden!

If someone tells you that he knows what a choir is, don't believe him. Nobody knows. Sometimes it seems to the conductor that the score will be very difficult to learn, while the choir clicks it like seeds, and vice versa: what seems easy is overcome with difficulty. Why does the choir sing today cleanly and actively, but tomorrow - out of tune and sluggishly? Of course, the “wise men” will say: “the human factor”, and I understand that “Rh positive” ... But this does not answer the question “why?”.

So, the premiere... The premiere of a work by a Soviet composer. This is a responsibility not only to the author - he entrusts you with his newborn child. And not only in front of the public - ​acceptance or rejection of the composition largely depends on you. It's something more. It depends on you what role this composition will play in the development of Russian musical culture. It's in development! Remember the violin concerto by P. I. Tchaikovsky. The famous R. Auer refused to premiere it, referring to its difficulty, and today the students of the music school play it. Or the same example with the First Piano Concerto by the same author. N. Rubinstein did not agree to perform it, criticizing both his music and his technical difficulties. The premiere was played by another outstanding musician, Hans von Bülow.

In the choir, the premiere is always nervousness. The thing is not yet “worn in”, the music has not yet “settled down” enough, and we are “leaving on a nerve”. The further fate of the composition depends on your performance and feedback. Responsibility is incredible! And if everything worked out, the composition will have a life of its own, and the music will fit in, and “sweetness” will appear, but, alas, there will not be what is called “as a lover of a young minute of the first date is waiting for” (from Pushkin’s drafts “To Chaadaev”) .

1979, 180 years since the birth of Pushkin, the premiere of "Pushkin's Wreath" by Sviridov. What will Georgy Vasilyevich present?

Huge success, applause and the life of the work, which lasts to this day!

Times have changed, classical art almost never appears on federal channels. But the premiere of the remarkable, in my opinion, work by E. Artemiev “Nine Steps to Transformation”, kindly dedicated by the author to my considerable date and aroused great interest among the media, as well as standing ovations in October 2018, indicate that the public yearned for the talented , intelligent and philosophical conversation with her.

I would not like to look like an epigone, therefore, in order to imagine what a premiere is, I refer you, dear readers, to Karel Capek's talented essay "How a Performance Is Made".

EYE CHARM...

This chapter was especially difficult for me. It doesn't hurt that I'm talkative, especially about personal things. But this side of life is so important, and perhaps the main one, necessary for creativity, that I decided to write it anyway.

The women whom I had the good fortune to love… Precisely happiness, because falling in love, love and even painful partings either devastate you and make you a cynic, or develop you for new, more mature feelings that you especially cherish.

In this sense, I am a happy person.

Almost everything in my life I learned empirically, especially relationships with the opposite sex. There is no one to ask, and even if there was someone, does anyone listen to adults? Never: only one's own experience teaches, and then not for everyone and not always.

But the “son of difficult mistakes” gave an incomparable height of feelings, passions, and all my experiences enriched me as a musician.

I am absolutely happy that I have Volodya and Marina, who were given to me by my first wife Lilya. A 22-year-old boy understands little in life when he has children. But today they are my favorite friends! Loving, caring, ironic and very attentive.

Not very young, I fell in love... with a voice sparkling with all shades of silver - from dull tone with patina to exquisite brilliance. It was Natalya Gerasimova, the soloist of our choir, with whom we lived for almost 18 years. Now she is a People's Artist of Russia and works as a vocal teacher with us.

But I certainly could not imagine that when I was 63 years old, when there were already grandchildren, such love would burst into my life! It seemed to happen only in movies and in youth...

We had a state of incessant love, I switched to “you”, and Svetlana Nikolaevna always answered: “Ah, please don’t bring me to tears!”. Kindness was the dominant of my attitude towards her, and she wanted to remain forever the Woman I look after.

God gave us 10 years of happiness and took it away from me swiftly - in just four months...

Oh, how in our declining years

We love more tenderly and more superstitiously...

Shine, shine, parting light

Last love, evening dawn!

… Gradually, I got used to loneliness, but this habit is not called a fulfilling life. It becomes full-fledged when you are on stage or rehearsing. A full life - ​when children, granddaughters or great-grandchildren come to you!

I don't feel like an anchorite.

Looking back at my stage life, sometimes I don’t even believe what bounty the Almighty rewarded me with, allowing me to share the stage with world-class figures: I. Arkhipova, E. Obraztsova, M. Kasrashvili, E. Nesterenko, Z. Sotkilava, M. Guleghina, P Burchuladze, N. Krastevoy. V. Dzhioeva and others.

To be the first performer in Russia of works by D. Shostakovich, G. Sviridov, V. Gavrilin, V. Rubin, E. Artemiev, Y. Sherling, V. Dashkevich is worth a lot ...

And what kind of school did my Choir receive when performing with E. Svetlanov, V. Fedoseev. S. Sondeckis, V. Gergiev, M. Pletnev!

On the stage, I also met with I. D. Kobzon. In the 90s, the choir and Iosif Kobzon, at the request of the Japanese agency, recorded the song "Cranes". There were so many concerts, tours, meetings... How he instantly responded when my wife fell ill - I will never forget how he helped our Choir find a home, get a grant...

I have never met people with such a boundless heart. Blessed memory to him.

I rarely address people with "you". For me, this is the highest degree of trust. Such a few units. Elena Vasilievna Obraztsova, unforgettable Lenochka...

At the very beginning of Choir's life, he wanted to show off his repertoire sophistication, and Rossini's "Little Solemn Mass" appeared. But someone needs to sing a luxurious mezzo-soprano part, and I called her without knowing her. She gladly agreed, without stipulating any (!) preconditions. Soprano - Natalia Gerasimova, tenor - G. Grigoryan, bass - E. Nesterenko.

The premiere in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in 1979 became an event in the musical life of the country! Prior to this, the Mass had not been performed in Russia for almost 100 years!

There has never been such a beating of emotions between me, Obraztsova and the choir, it was a shock that I have never experienced again!

When, after all my wanderings, I returned to Moscow and the sky seemed like a sheepskin, it was Elena Vasilievna who introduced me to Vladyka Anthony, who provided such spiritual support that I keep it in my soul to this day. As well as the memory of this outstanding woman.

I call Vladimir Emelyanovich Zakharov, the director of the Great Hall of the Conservatory for many years, and I am happy that I can say it.

I am infinitely glad that the Moscow State Philharmonic is headed by Aleksey Alekseevich Shalashov, a musician who understands our difficulties and contributes to our joyful moments. I am grateful not only for the attitude towards me and our choir, but also for the support of many young talents that appeared on the posters of the Moscow Philharmonic.

Well, dear friends, I stood facing you while you were reading this booklet.

It's time to turn our backs on you again.

But only for the Chorus to sound again.

With respect and gratitude,

Your Vladimir Minin

Quotes about Maestro:

"The Moscow Chamber Choir was not only the first performer of many of my compositions. And what a performer! But it was the first choir that opened the possibilities of this genre to me. More than once I found inspiration in his art ... The return here is incredible! Of course, the primary merit This is their shepherd - Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin: he is a very talented person, a great artist, a real artist who knows how to light up and light up others. This is a rare gift! "

Georgy Sviridov

“Minin is not only a brilliant choirmaster who knows the secret of the human voice, a virtuoso conductor who knows how to achieve a perfect ensemble, but, and this is the main thing, he is a true artist who thinks problematic, large and at the same time thoroughly, feels the proportionality of the proportions of the topical and enduring in the most complex choral scores of both classical and modern music... Minin never comes into conflict with the nature of a piece of music, wherever it is created. Minin takes the work, without shaking off the soil of the culture and traditions that nourished it, and "transplants" it on Russian soil, under the fertile rains of the Russian choral school. And then music, ... becomes not only a phenomenon of our life, but this phenomenon itself, in strength of its uniqueness, becomes a driving force in the world of art".

V. Gavrilin

"Our cooperation with the Maestro began so long ago that it seems like it has always been. Great luck to sing with a Master of his craft and a great musician.
Vladimir Nikolayevich possesses extraordinary power and subtle nuances of the soul.
He is smart, demanding, infinitely talented.
He serves Russia and preserves traditions."

Elena Obraztsova

"Vladimir Nikolaevich is a man of outstanding culture, he is universally and encyclopedically educated. And Minin's musical thought is completely adequate to the musical form that he gives to the piece he performs. Vladimir Nikolaevich never conducts in the same way, and at the same time, there are no surprises for the choir in pauses, in expansion phrases. Artists instantly perceive and react, they are united with Minin by a common breath. "

Vladimir Dashkevich

"A great musician, great worker, creator and educator of a miracle, he is ruthlessly demanding - and above all to himself. Enthusiastically perceiving the creative results of Vladimir Nikolayevich, we do not always see the severity of his daily struggle for perfection. Minin's rehearsal is hard for everyone, but how easy , joyfully and bewitching happens in a concert.

Saulius Sondeckis (Lithuania)

Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin was born on January 10, 1929 in Leningrad. He graduated from the Leningrad Choral School, and in 1945 entered the Moscow Conservatory. In 1948, V. Minin began working as an accompanist in the State Academic Russian Choir of the USSR. And already in 1949, the head of the State Choir A.V. Sveshnikov invited him as his assistant.

In January 1951, Vladimir Minin was appointed artistic director and chief conductor of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army in Poland, and in 1954 he entered the graduate school of the Moscow Conservatory.

From 1958 to 1963, V. Minin headed the State Honored Chapel of Moldova "Doina", and from 1965 to 1967 he worked as artistic director and chief conductor of the Leningrad Academic Russian Choir named after. Glinka.

In 1972, on the initiative of Vladimir Minin, who at that time worked as the rector of the State Musical Pedagogical Institute named after. Gnesins, an amateur chamber choir was created from students and teachers of the university, which was transformed in 1973 into a professional group - the Moscow State Academic Chamber Choir. Here the rare artistic gift of V. Minin was revealed with particular brightness and fullness. In a relatively short period of time, the Moscow Chamber Choir became one of the leading artistic groups in the Soviet Union.

The creation and entire musical existence of the Moscow Chamber Choir has become a notable phenomenon not only in the creative biography of V. Minin, but also the brightest event in the musical culture of the whole country. V. Minin in 1972, the second after the famous choral conductor A. A. Yurlov, brought Russian sacred music to the concert stage.

For more than 30 years, V. Minin has been carrying out a special mission as the best interpreter of Russian church music. It was thanks to V. Minin's conducting skills and perseverance that spiritual works by Russian composers - Bortnyansky, Berezovsky, Chesnokov, Strumsky, cult works by Rachmaninov - "All-Night Vigil", "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom", choral music by Tchaikovsky and Taneyev, were revived for the listeners. Through his work, V. Minin made Russian church music available to listeners all over the world and revived it as an integral part of world musical culture. Russian Orthodox music sounded in the best concert halls of Europe, North and South America, Japan, China, South Korea, and Japan.

The revival of a huge layer of Russian culture brought to life an unprecedented interest of composers in choral music. V. Minin is dedicated to the works of Georgy Sviridov - the cantata "Night Clouds", Valery Gavrilin - the choral symphony-action "Chimes", which have become national classics, the works of Rodion Shchedrin, Vladimir Rubin, etc.

Throughout the entire period of the existence of the Moscow Chamber Choir, outstanding world performers - Irina Arkhipova, Elena Obraztsova, Montserrat Caballe. Evgeny Nesterenko, Zurab Sotkilava, Alexander Vedernikov, the orchestras of Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Bashmet, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Yuri Temirkanov were and remain V. Minin's stage partners.

Over the past few years, the Choir has also tried forms unusual for a chamber group - participation in opera productions.

At the Zurich Opera House in the operas The Demon by Anton Rubinstein, Khovanshchina by Modest Mussorgsky, at the summer festival in Bregenz (Austria), the stage of which is located on the waters of Lake Constance - in the operas Un ballo in maschera by Giuseppe Verdi, La bohème by Giacomo Puccini .

And in the summer of 2003, in the opera "Chanterelles" by Leos Janacek and the musical "West Side Story" by Leonard Bernstein.

The ascetic activity of V. Minin in the revival and promotion of Russian sacred music was duly appreciated by the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. His Holiness Patriarch of All Rus' Alexy II awarded V. Minin twice: in 1999 with the Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir; in 2004 with the Order of St. Daniel, Prince of Moscow.

Portal Credo. en: I will start the interview not with questions about your musical activity (there were many conversations with you on this topic). I would like to talk about the spiritual, religious side of your life. When did you come to the realization that you became a believer? Under whose influence?

V. N. Minin: We must start from afar. Secretly from my parents, my grandmother baptized me at birth.

- This is the lot of most people of your generation, when believing grandmothers secretly baptized children from their parents.

- Yes you are right. My grandmother was very religious, and, despite all sorts of persecution, icons hung in our house. She prayed both in the morning and in the evening. But, basically, I grew up in an atmosphere of anti-religious propaganda, and when I grew up and began to understand something, I didn’t really joke, but at least I didn’t take it seriously.

Then my grandmother began to hold soul-saving conversations with me. In particular, she told me: “You are baptized, and once baptized, you have a guardian angel and you must treat God with a holy feeling. If you treat God like that, then the guardian angel will help you in life.”

I believed what my grandmother said, but this did not impose any obligations on me. Well, there is a guardian angel - and there is. Therefore, my life is, as it were, protected, and I am not subject to evil.

And then grief came to our family - when I was five years old, my mother drowned. It was 1934. And then, in 1937, my father was arrested. He worked then in militia on an economic part. I guess the reason for his arrest. He was an interesting man, a widower, and, therefore, the women with whom he communicated, as I understand it, claimed that he would marry one of them.

I remember that we went to visit his friends, where various companies gathered, but apparently my father did not want to marry into any. He loves my mom very much. And in retaliation for such steadfastness, he was slandered. In those years, the most common was the accusation of anti-Soviet propaganda. And he was imprisoned for a joke under article 58-10, for 10 years. Father was sent to a concentration camp near Pskov.

In the 38th year, his friend returned from Spain, the hero of the war against the Nazis, according to the current ranks - a general. He was a signalman and was given command of the School of Communications. They both come from fairly wealthy St. Petersburg families. During the Civil War, my father saved this friend's life - he carried him out of the shelling, out of the swamps.

Having learned that my father had been arrested, and having found out all the circumstances of this case, the hero of the Spanish war went to Moscow and turned to the prosecutor's office. You understand that in those years he risked everything - position, title, if you like, life. A miracle happened - my father was acquitted, and exactly one and a half years later he returned home. Grandmother said then: "It was I who prayed."

Perhaps, here was for me, firstly, a human lesson. And secondly, this miracle planted something in me that it is not necessary to treat faith and prayer so lightly. It all started, perhaps, with something so mysterious, unknown. But anti-religious propaganda still pressed.

Much later, the impetus for faith was the events in my personal life, when I met priests, in particular, Metropolitan Anthony of Leningrad and Novgorod of blessed memory. The man was holy. Elena Vasilievna Obraztsova introduced me to him. It was the end of the 60s.

After these conversations with Metropolitan Anthony, as well as with Alexander Alexandrovich Yurlov, who was the first in Soviet times to start performing sacred music in secular concerts, my whole gut revolted. How can any mortal person, whether it be at least a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU Suslov or someone else, ban the heritage of the nation? Who gave him the right?

This feeling has been growing in me all the time. I gradually began to comprehend faith, to go to church. True, as a student I went to church to listen. In particular, I first heard Sergei Rachmaninoff's Vespers in 1948. It was performed only in churches, but the choirs were small. Naturally, the executions were imperfect.

Then I got acquainted with the regents, in particular, with Nikolai Vasilyevich Matveev, the regent of the church "Joy of All Who Sorrow" on Bolshaya Ordynka in Moscow. It was the best ecclesiastical performance of Rachmaninoff's Vigil that I have ever heard. This was the beginning of my comprehension of the spiritual world. And then I, with my choir, began to prepare for performance and sing spiritual music.

– Did you come to your first program of Russian sacred music already with inner faith, consciously, and not because it was becoming fashionable?

- It was not fashionable, but it was banned. It became fashionable in the late 80s, when the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' was celebrated. And in the 72nd it was not fashionable.

- The law of the "forbidden fruit", which is especially sweet?

“It's not that it was forbidden fruit. Rather, at first a purely internal, emotional sensation was born, and then an understanding and indignation that the people were being deprived of their own music. It's not in any frame!

When we began to sing our programs of Orthodox spiritual music, there were also acquaintances with Orthodox clergy. I had especially sincere conversations with Vladyka Theodosius, who at that time was Archbishop of Smolensk. Now he is the Metropolitan of Omsk and Tara. He had wonderful sermons, and I listened to them with great pleasure. These were the 74-76s.

Once, when we were walking with him, I asked him: "Tell me, Vladyka, you are just a person. Where do you draw strength from? I see how your day is full of various kinds of activity?" He replied: “You know, Vladimir Nikolaevich, sometimes I get so tired that I want to crawl into a crack like a bug, and so that no one touches me. But when I remember what is there (he pointed to the church) - behind these walls I my flock is waiting, I get up and go."

Since then, I began to go to church more often, and then I got to know all the members of the Holy Synod. Wherever I went, I always came to one of them for moral support. And I must say that the Holy Synod, in the person of its individual representatives – I can name Vladyka Filaret of Minsk, Vladyka Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, not to mention His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II (I did not know Patriarch Pimen) always supported me.

It gives me great pleasure to talk with the regent of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Matthew - he is a wonderful person. At this point, I'm probably completely immersed. I will not say that I am a very zealous parishioner, but at least as far as possible, I try to observe everything that a believer is supposed to observe.

Are you a parishioner of a particular parish?

– I am a parishioner of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Krapivniki. It's near Trubnaya Square. Very cozy temple. Father John, the nephew of academician Sergei Vavilov, the former president of the USSR Academy of Sciences, is the rector there. This is a person who helped me spiritually a lot in my life, especially after the death of my wife. After her death, when our choir is not on tour, I regularly not only go to my wife's grave every Sunday, but also visit this church every Saturday and Sunday.

– How do you feel about the fact that today almost all choirs sing sacred music?

- I'm not entirely happy about it. When it became possible to perform sacred music in concerts, everyone rushed to sing it on the concert stage. Without realizing in the least: do you understand something in this matter or not, whether everything is worth performing in concerts or not everything, how to sing - just like in church, or observing the laws of the concert stage. Many questions arose, and I would say that the process of performing sacred music has gone in breadth, but, unfortunately, not in depth. It's not that something spoiled, but the taste was spoiled.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin(p.) - Soviet and Russian choral conductor, choirmaster, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (). Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR ().

Biography

1951-1954: artistic director and chief conductor of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Northern Group of Forces in Poland.

1954-1957: postgraduate studies at the Moscow Conservatory with A. V. Sveshnikov, at the same time choirmaster of the State Academic Choir of the USSR and teacher of choral conducting at the Moscow Conservatory.

1958-1963: artistic director of the Moldavian choir "Doina", at the same time a teacher of choral conducting at the Chisinau Institute of Arts.

1963-1965: Head of the Department of Choral Conducting at the Novosibirsk Conservatory.

1965-1967: artistic director of the Leningrad Academic Capella.

In 1972, on the initiative of Vladimir Minin, who at that time worked as the rector of the Gnessin State Musical Pedagogical Institute, a chamber choir was created from students and teachers of the university, of which he is still the artistic director and chief conductor.

In 1973, the choir was transformed into a professional group, known today throughout the world as the Moscow State Academic Chamber Choir.

In 1978, Vladimir Minin was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR. In 1982, the Moscow Chamber Choir was awarded the 1st Prize at the All-Russian Review of Professional Academic Choirs in Moscow, and Vladimir Minin was awarded the USSR State Prize. In 1986 in Vienna, at the I World Congress of Choral Musical Groups, the Moscow Chamber Choir was recognized as the best choir, and in 1988 Vladimir Minin received the title of People's Artist of the USSR.

Outstanding contemporary composers dedicated their works to Maestro Minin: Georgy Sviridov (cantata "Night Clouds"), Valery Gavrilin (choral symphony-act "Chimes"), Rodion Shchedrin (choral liturgy "The Sealed Angel"), Vladimir Dashkevich (liturgy "Seven lightning bolts of the Apocalypse") »); and Gia Kancheli entrusted the Maestro with the premiere in Russia of four of his compositions.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II awarded Vladimir Minin with the Order of Saint Prince Vladimir and the Order of Prince Daniel of Moscow, and in 2013 Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' with the Order of Glory and Honor, thus evaluating his contribution to the preservation of the spiritual masterpieces of Russian culture. In December 2012, V. Minin was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.

Channel "Culture" shot the film "Vladimir Minin. From the first person. In 2010, a book by V.N. Minin "Solo for the Conductor" c DVD "Vladimir Minin. Created a Miracle”, which contains unique records from the life of the Choir and the Maestro. Since 2010, Vladimir Minin has been a member of the Expert Council for the artistic embodiment of cultural programs and ceremonies of the XXII Olympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi.

For the anniversary of the Maestro, the Kultura TV channel is shooting the film Four Evenings with Vladimir Minin.

In Maestro Minin was elected Chairman of the Moscow branch of the All-Russian Choral Society.

Today, speaking in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, in various cities of Russia, art schools and general education schools in Moscow and the Moscow Region, the Cancer Center in Solntsevo, implementing the long-term project "Minin Choir for Children", Vladimir Nikolayevich also remains true to his mission of educating future listeners , without which the concert halls can be empty.

Lives and works in Moscow.

... The Minin Choir is an Art Theatre, the chief director of which not only puts on performances, but also plays himself, cannot but play. Minin is a great artist, a great musician, a great artist. (E. Kotlyarsky)

Awards and titles

• Honored Artist of the Moldavian SSR (1961).
• Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV degree (1997).
• Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" III degree (2004).
• Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir (for the revival of church music) (1997).
• Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow II degree (2004)
• Order of Honor (December 24) - for a great contribution to the development and preservation of the best traditions of Russian national choral art, many years of creative activity
• Triumph Award ()
• Order of Glory and Honor (ROC, 2012)
• International Prize of St. Andrew the First-Called "For Faith and Loyalty" (2012)
• Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, 2012
• Order of Friendship (August 14, 2014) - for great merits in the development of national culture and art, television and radio broadcasting, press, communications and many years of fruitful activity

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An excerpt characterizing Minin, Vladimir Nikolaevich

And the conversation turned again to the war, about Bonaparte and the current generals and statesmen. The old prince, it seemed, was convinced not only that all the current leaders were boys who did not understand the ABCs of military and state affairs, and that Bonaparte was an insignificant Frenchman who had success only because there were no Potemkins and Suvorovs to oppose him; but he was even convinced that there were no political difficulties in Europe, there was no war either, but there was some kind of puppet comedy played by today's people, pretending to do business. Prince Andrei cheerfully endured his father's mockery of new people and with apparent joy called his father to a conversation and listened to him.
“Everything seems good as it was before,” he said, “but didn’t the same Suvorov fall into the trap that Moreau set for him, and didn’t know how to get out of it?
- Who told you? Who said? shouted the prince. - Suvorov! - And he threw away the plate, which Tikhon quickly picked up. - Suvorov! ... Having thought, Prince Andrei. Two: Friedrich and Suvorov ... Moreau! Moreau would have been a prisoner if Suvorov's hands were free; and in his arms sat hofs kriegs wurst schnapps rat. The devil is not happy with him. Here you go, you will recognize these Hofs Kriegs Wurst Raths! Suvorov did not cope with them, so where is Mikhail Kutuzov to deal with? No, my friend,” he continued, “you and your generals cannot manage against Bonaparte; you need to take the French so that you don’t know your own and beat your own. The German Palen was sent to New York, to America, for the Frenchman Moreau,” he said, alluding to the invitation that Moreau had made this year to enter the Russian service. - Miracles! ... Were the Potemkins, Suvorovs, Orlovs Germans? No, brother, either you all went crazy there, or I survived out of my mind. God bless you and we'll see. Bonaparte they have become a great commander! Hm!…
“I’m not saying anything so that all orders are good,” said Prince Andrei, “only I can’t understand how you can judge Bonaparte like that. Laugh as you like, but Bonaparte is still a great commander!
- Mikhail Ivanovich! - the old prince shouted to the architect, who, having taken up the roast, hoped that they had forgotten about him. “Did I tell you that Bonaparte is a great tactician?” Vaughn and he says.
“Yes, Your Excellency,” replied the architect.
The prince laughed his cold laugh again.
- Bonaparte was born in a shirt. His soldiers are excellent. Yes, and the first he attacked the Germans. And only the lazy did not beat the Germans. Since peace has been standing, the Germans have been beaten all the time. And they are nobody. Only each other. He made his glory on them.
And the prince began to analyze all the mistakes that, according to his concepts, Bonaparte made in all his wars and even in public affairs. The son did not object, but it was clear that no matter what arguments were presented to him, he was just as little able to change his mind as the old prince. Prince Andrei listened, refraining from objections and involuntarily wondering how this old man, sitting alone for so many years without a break in the country, could know and discuss all the military and political circumstances of Europe in recent years in such detail and with such subtlety.
“Do you think I, old man, don’t understand the real state of affairs?” he concluded. “And that’s where it is for me!” I don't sleep at night. Well, where is this great commander of yours, where did he show himself?
“That would be long,” answered the son.
- Go to your Buonaparte. M lle Bourienne, voila encore un admirateur de votre goujat d "empereur! [here is another admirer of your servile emperor ...] - he shouted in excellent French.
- Vous savez, que je ne suis pas bonapartiste, mon prince. [You know, Prince, that I am not a Bonapartist.]
- “Dieu sait quand revendra” ... [God knows when he will return!] - the prince sang out of tune, laughed even more out of tune and left the table.
The little princess was silent during the whole argument and the rest of the dinner and looked in fright now at Princess Marya, then at her father-in-law. When they left the table, she took her sister-in-law by the hand and called her to another room.
- Comme c "est un homme d" esprit votre pere, she said, - c "est a cause de cela peut etre qu" il me fait peur. [What a smart person your father is. Maybe that's why I'm afraid of him.]
- Oh, he's so kind! - said the princess.

Prince Andrei left the next day in the evening. The old prince, without deviating from his order, went to his room after dinner. The little princess was with her sister-in-law. Prince Andrei, dressed in a traveling frock coat without an epaulet, was packing with his valet in the chambers allotted to him. Having inspected the carriage and the packing of the suitcases himself, he ordered to lay it down. Only those things remained in the room that Prince Andrei always took with him: a casket, a large silver cellar, two Turkish pistols and a saber, a gift from his father, brought from near Ochakov. All these travel accessories were in great order with Prince Andrei: everything was new, clean, in cloth cases, carefully tied with ribbons.
In moments of departure and a change in life, people who are able to think about their actions usually find a serious mood of thoughts. In these moments, the past is usually verified and plans for the future are made. The face of Prince Andrei was very thoughtful and tender. With his hands folded back, he paced the room quickly from corner to corner, looking ahead of him, and shaking his head thoughtfully. Was he afraid to go to war, was he sad to leave his wife—perhaps both, but apparently not wanting to be seen in such a position, when he heard footsteps in the passage, he hurriedly freed his hands, stopped at the table, as if he was tying the cover of the box, and assumed his usual, calm and impenetrable expression. These were the heavy steps of Princess Marya.
“They told me that you ordered the mortgage,” she said, out of breath (she must have been running), “but I so wanted to talk to you alone again. God knows how long we'll be apart again. Are you angry that I came? You have changed a lot, Andryusha, - she added, as if in explanation of such a question.
She smiled, pronouncing the word "Andryusha". Apparently, it was strange for her to think that this strict, handsome man was the same Andryusha, a thin, playful boy, a childhood friend.
- Where is Lise? he asked, only answering her question with a smile.
She was so tired that she fell asleep on the couch in my room. Ah, Andre! Que! tresor de femme vous avez,” she said, sitting down on the sofa opposite her brother. She is a perfect child, such a sweet, cheerful child. I loved her so much.
Prince Andrei was silent, but the princess noticed an ironic and contemptuous expression that appeared on his face.
– But one must be indulgent to small weaknesses; who does not have them, Andre! Don't forget that she was brought up and raised in the world. And then her situation is no longer rosy. It is necessary to enter into the position of everyone. Tout comprendre, c "est tout pardonner. [Whoever understands everything will forgive everything.] You think about it, poor thing, after the life to which she is accustomed, to part with her husband and remain alone in the village and in her position? This very hard.
Prince Andrei smiled, looking at his sister, as we smile, listening to people whom we think we can see through.
“You live in the countryside and don't find this life terrible,” he said.
- I'm different. What to say about me! I don't want another life, and I can't, because I don't know any other life. And you think, Andre, for a young and secular woman to be buried in the best years of her life in the countryside, alone, because papa is always busy, and I ... you know me ... how poor I am en ressources, [interests.] for a woman accustomed to the best society. M lle Bourienne is one…
“I don’t like her very much, your Bourienne,” said Prince Andrei.
- Oh no! She is very sweet and kind, and most importantly, a pathetic girl. She has no one, no one. To tell the truth, I not only do not need it, but it is shy. I, you know, have always been a savage, and now even more so. I love being alone… Mon pere [Father] loves her very much. She and Mikhail Ivanovich are two persons to whom he is always affectionate and kind, because they are both favored by him; as Stern says, "We love people not so much for the good they have done us as for the good we have done them." Mon pere took her as an orphan sur le pave, [on the pavement,] and she is very kind. And mon pere loves her manner of reading. She reads aloud to him in the evenings. She reads great.

Vladimir Nikolaevich MININ (born 1929)- choirmaster, artistic director and chief conductor of the Moscow State Academic Chamber Choir, People's Artist of the USSR: | | | .

Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin was born on January 10, 1929 in Leningrad. He graduated from the Leningrad Choral School, and in 1945 entered the Moscow Conservatory. In 1948, V. Minin began working as an accompanist in the State Academic Russian Choir of the USSR. And already in 1949, the head of the State Choir A.V. Sveshnikov invited him as his assistant.

In January 1951, Vladimir Minin was appointed artistic director and chief conductor of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army in Poland, and in 1954 he entered the graduate school of the Moscow Conservatory.

From 1958 to 1963, V. Minin headed the State Honored Chapel of Moldova "Doina", and from 1965 to 1967 he worked as artistic director and chief conductor of the Leningrad Academic Russian Choir named after. Glinka.

In 1972, on the initiative of Vladimir Minin, who at that time worked as the rector of the State Musical Pedagogical Institute named after. Gnesins, from students and teachers of the university, an amateur chamber choir was created, transformed in 1973 into a professional team - the Moscow State Academic Chamber Choir. Here the rare artistic gift of V. Minin was revealed with particular brightness and fullness. In a relatively short period of time, the Moscow Chamber Choir became one of the leading artistic groups in the Soviet Union.

The creation and entire musical existence of the Moscow Chamber Choir has become a notable phenomenon not only in the creative biography of V. Minin, but also the brightest event in the musical culture of the whole country. V. Minin in 1972, the second after the famous choral conductor A. A. Yurlov, brought Russian sacred music to the concert stage.

For more than 30 years, V. Minin has been carrying out a special mission as the best interpreter of Russian church music. It was thanks to V. Minin's conducting skill and perseverance that spiritual works by Russian composers - Bortnyansky, Berezovsky, Chesnokov, Strumsky, cult works by Rachmaninoff - "All-Night Vigil", "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom", choral music by Tchaikovsky and Taneyev, were revived for listeners. Through his work, V. Minin made Russian church music available to listeners all over the world and revived it as an integral part of world musical culture. Russian Orthodox music sounded in the best concert halls of Europe, North and South America, Japan, China, South Korea, and Japan.

The revival of a huge layer of Russian culture brought to life an unprecedented interest of composers in choral music. V. Minin is dedicated to the works of Georgy Sviridov - the cantata "Night Clouds", Valery Gavrilin - the choral symphony-action "Chimes", which have become national classics, the works of Rodion Shchedrin, Vladimir Rubin, etc.

Throughout the entire period of the existence of the Moscow Chamber Choir, outstanding world performers - Irina Arkhipova, Elena Obraztsova, Montserrat Caballe. Evgeny Nesterenko, Zurab Sotkilava, Alexander Vedernikov, the orchestras of Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Bashmet, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Yuri Temirkanov were and remain V. Minin's stage partners.

Vladimir Nikolaevich MININ: interview

I will start the interview not with questions about your musical activity (there were many conversations with you on this topic). I would like to talk about the spiritual, religious side of your life. When did you come to the realization that you became a believer? Under whose influence?
- We must start from afar. Secretly from my parents, my grandmother baptized me at birth.

- This is the fate of most people of your generation, when believing grandmothers secretly baptized children from their parents.
- Yes you are right. My grandmother was very religious, and, despite all sorts of persecution, icons hung in our house. She prayed both in the morning and in the evening. But, basically, I grew up in an atmosphere of anti-religious propaganda, and when I grew up and began to understand something, I didn’t really joke, but at least I didn’t take it seriously.

Then my grandmother began to hold soul-saving conversations with me. In particular, she told me: “You are baptized, and once baptized, you have a guardian angel and you must treat God with a holy feeling. If you treat God like that, then the guardian angel will help you in life.”

I believed what my grandmother said, but this did not impose any obligations on me. Well, there is a guardian angel - and there is. Therefore, my life is, as it were, protected, and I am not subject to evil.

And then grief came to our family - when I was five years old, my mother drowned. It was 1934. And then, in 1937, my father was arrested. He worked then in militia on an economic part. I guess the reason for his arrest. He was an interesting man, a widower, and, therefore, the women with whom he communicated, as I understand it, claimed that he would marry one of them.

I remember that we went to visit his friends, where various companies gathered, but apparently my father did not want to marry into any. He loves my mom very much. And in retaliation for such steadfastness, he was slandered. In those years, the most common was the accusation of anti-Soviet propaganda. And he was imprisoned for a joke under article 58-10, for 10 years. Father was sent to a concentration camp near Pskov.

In the 38th year, his friend returned from Spain, the hero of the war against the Nazis, according to his current ranks - a general. He was a signalman and was given command of the School of Communications. They both come from fairly wealthy St. Petersburg families. During the Civil War, my father saved this friend's life - he carried him out of the shelling, out of the swamps.

Having learned that my father had been arrested, and having found out all the circumstances of this case, the hero of the Spanish war went to Moscow and turned to the prosecutor's office. You understand that in those years he risked everything - position, title, if you like, life. A miracle happened - my father was acquitted, and exactly one and a half years later he returned home. Grandmother said then: "It was I who prayed."

Perhaps, here was for me, firstly, a human lesson. And secondly, this miracle planted something in me that it is not necessary to treat faith and prayer so lightly. It all started, perhaps, with something so mysterious, unknown. But anti-religious propaganda still pressed.

Much later, the impetus for faith was the events in my personal life, when I met priests, in particular, Metropolitan Anthony of Leningrad and Novgorod of blessed memory. The man was holy. Elena Vasilievna Obraztsova introduced me to him. It was the end of the 60s.

After these conversations with Metropolitan Anthony, as well as with Alexander Alexandrovich Yurlov, who was the first in Soviet times to start performing sacred music in secular concerts, my whole gut revolted. How can any mortal person - whether it be at least a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU Suslov or someone else - ban the heritage of the nation? Who gave him the right?

This feeling has been growing in me all the time. I gradually began to comprehend faith, to go to church. True, as a student I went to church to listen. In particular, I first heard Sergei Rachmaninoff's Vespers in 1948. It was performed only in churches, but the choirs were small. Naturally, the executions were imperfect.

Then I got acquainted with the regents, in particular, with Nikolai Vasilievich Matveev - the regent of the temple "Joy of All Who Sorrow" on Bolshaya Ordynka in Moscow. It was the best ecclesiastical performance of Rachmaninoff's Vigil that I have ever heard. This was the beginning of my comprehension of the spiritual world. And then I, with my choir, began to prepare for performance and sing spiritual music.

Did you come to your first program of Russian sacred music already with inner faith, consciously, and not because it was becoming fashionable?
- It was not fashionable, but it was banned. It became fashionable in the late 80s, when the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' was celebrated. And in the 72nd it was not fashionable.

- The law of the "forbidden fruit", which is especially sweet?
“It's not that it was forbidden fruit. Rather, at first a purely internal, emotional sensation was born, and then an understanding and indignation that the people were being deprived of their own music. It's not in any frame!

When we began to sing our programs of Orthodox spiritual music, there were also acquaintances with Orthodox clergy. I had especially sincere conversations with Vladyka Theodosius, who at that time was Archbishop of Smolensk. Now he is the Metropolitan of Omsk and Tara. He had wonderful sermons, and I listened to them with great pleasure. These were the 74-76s.

Once, when we were walking with him, I asked him: "Tell me, Vladyka, you are just a person. Where do you draw strength from? I see how your day is full of various kinds of activity?" He replied: “You know, Vladimir Nikolaevich, sometimes I get so tired that I want to crawl into a crack like a bug, and so that no one touches me. But when I remember what is there (he pointed to the church) - behind these walls I my flock is waiting, I get up and go."

Since then, I began to go to church more often, and then I got to know all the members of the Holy Synod. Wherever I went, I always came to one of them for moral support. And I must say that the Holy Synod in the person of its individual representatives - I can name Vladyka Filaret of Minsk, Vladyka Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, not to mention His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II (I did not know Patriarch Pimen) always supported me.

It gives me great pleasure to talk with the regent of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Matthew - he is a wonderful person. At this point, I'm probably completely immersed. I will not say that I am a very zealous parishioner, but at least as far as possible, I try to observe everything that a believer is supposed to observe.

Are you a parishioner of a certain parish?
- I am a parishioner of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Krapivniki. It's near Trubnaya Square. Very cozy temple. Father John, the nephew of academician Sergei Vavilov, the former president of the USSR Academy of Sciences, is the rector there. This is a person who helped me spiritually a lot in my life, especially after the death of my wife. After her death, when our choir is not on tour, I regularly not only go to my wife's grave every Sunday, but also visit this church every Saturday and Sunday.

- How do you feel about the fact that today almost all choirs sing sacred music?
- It doesn't make me happy. When it became possible to perform sacred music in concerts, everyone rushed to sing it on the concert stage. Without realizing in the least: do you understand something in this matter or not, whether everything is worth performing in concerts or not everything, how it should be sung - just like in church, or observing the laws of the concert stage. Many questions arose, and I would say that the process of performing sacred music has gone in breadth, but, unfortunately, not in depth. It's not that something spoiled, but the taste was spoiled.

For me, for example, the concert in the church on the grave of Pushkin in the Svyatogorsk Monastery remains very memorable. Elena Vasilievna Obraztsova and Evgeny Evgenievich Nesterenko came there with our choir. The people were crowded - not to breathe: the church is small, everyone stood with candles. But not what they listened to - they listened to what we sang there.

Nobody dared to applaud. I'm not talking about tears in my eyes. Calling them is not the most difficult task. But when we went out, everyone bowed to us like that and said: "Thank you!" But that was 1976.

The next morning we went to the Pskov-Pechersk Lavra. We got on the bus. I knocked. The porter opened the window. I say: "We would like to visit the Lavra." "I'll ask the viceroy. And who are you?" I named myself, named the team. The porter went to the abbot of the monastery. A stern monk came out and asked: "Are you the ones who sang at Pushkin's grave yesterday?"
- Yes.
- Well, then, please.
Our singing served as a pass. In those years when everything was impossible, but we sang, it opened people's hearts to us and opened access to such places.

- You said that you understood: you can sing something on the stage, but you can’t sing something. So what is possible and what is not?
- This is my subjective point of view. From the concert stage it is necessary to sing that music that is of artistic value, and not to sing everyday life that is not the artistic creations of major composers. I have in mind, first of all, "The Vespers" and "Liturgy" by Sergei Rachmaninoff. I treat Tchaikovsky's works in sacred music with less reverence, but he also has something. The Chesnokovs have a lot of good music. There are many other composers who have worked in this area.

There are rooms that are truly artistic creations. It is necessary to sing them, from my point of view, obeying, first of all, the laws of the stage, and not the laws of the Church. In the church, music is one of the components of the impact on a person's personality. It acts along with the word, with catholicity (you are standing in a close community of people), with iconography, with architecture, with light, with smell, and finally,

Listening while sitting in a chair in a concert hall implies a slightly different perception of music than in a temple. Music here is dominant, self-sufficient. Therefore, here you must obey the laws of the concert stage and sing according to other canons, according to the laws that dictate any performance on the stage.

Some of the believers are categorically against any concert performance of music intended for the Church. What would you say to them.
- I can oppose them, and oppose not only with my personal opinion, but with our history. And in history there was a cycle of historical concerts in 1892, which were compiled by Stepan Vasilyevich Smolensky, the greatest connoisseur of church Orthodox music, one of the leaders of the synodal school. He compiled a program of 5-6 evenings, which became an anthology of our Orthodox music.

Second moment. The Tsar's Choir gave four secular concerts every year - two at Christmas and two at Easter. In these concerts she sang only spiritual music. This is also a historical fact.

Further. One of the largest regents of Russia, Nikolai Mikhailovich Danilin, in 1913 took the Synodal Choir on a tour of Europe - the trip was associated with the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty. On these tours, the Synodal Choir sang only sacred music. The tour program included works by Rachmaninov, Kastalsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, i.e. composers of the 19th century.

- Did the church choirs already perform Rachmaninov's liturgical music in 1913?
- His "Liturgy" was written in 1910, and "Vespers" - in 1915. On the tour of the 13th year they performed numbers from Rachmaninov's "Liturgy". This is not my personal opinion, but a historical fact.

Of course, one can be an orthodox believer and say that this is unacceptable. But I dare to assert that both the Vespers and the Liturgy of Rachmaninoff are part of world musical culture. And just as Rublev's "Trinity" belongs not only to the Church, but due to its pictorial merits belongs to the culture of the world, in the same way these two compositions belong to the world musical culture.

One can speak not only of the "Trinity", but also of the works of Western composers who wrote for the Church, and whose work went far beyond the church walls. J. S. Bach had a tremendous influence on the entire development of music. Alfred Garrievich Schnittke said in a conversation with me: "Bach is the epicenter of music. Everything aspired to him, and everything came out of him." But secular music is an insignificant part of Bach's musical heritage.
- I don't even take that. Now I want to operate only with Russian arguments. But you can also look to the West. I came to Mexico and visited a Catholic cathedral there. In the aisle of the cathedral - by the way, I was amazed at the luxury of decoration - the walls were covered with gold - against the background of this gold, I see a picture on a biblical story and I perceive it normally, like a picture. This is not because everything is possible in this faith, but because there are works that, in terms of their level, rise above, relatively speaking, the purely pragmatic purpose for which they were created.

Sacred music of Rachmaninoff is not only church music. Although, it is permissible to recognize it as suitable or not suitable for the church. But I think that for modern man Rachmaninov's spiritual works should be performed not only in church.

You perform quite a lot of sacred music of an earlier time - the 17th-18th centuries, intended only for the church. What is the difference between performing that music in church or on the stage?
- In the church, I never heard the music of these centuries. In all my life I have never heard this sung in churches. True, I have not been to Russian monasteries, where it may be heard today.

I don't think there is any difference. Because in these cases it is very important to convey to the listener the deep, philosophical meaning of these chants. If you want, the atmosphere of that time, and how it was then sung. It is difficult to imagine this today - only by indirect signs. There is nothing directly. Some of the rules are written - for example, "a beautifully sung word." But how this "beautiful sung word" is also a question. Therefore, the more concentrated it is to sing, the more deeply immersed in the meaning of the performed word, the closer the performance will be to authenticity. The one that was then, in the XVII century.

You said: "Attention to the word." But all sacred music is written to texts in the Church Slavonic language, which few people understand today. Today, even believing and churched people, all the time, being in church or praying at home, do not understand well the meaning of what they hear, sing or say in the form of a prayer. Are you working with your choristers to make sure they understand the meaning of the words they sing?
- I will say that it even gives us pleasure. Try to translate Church Slavonic texts into modern literary language, and the flavor will be lost. Let's say the word "speech" is translated - "says". But this is a completely different perception.

Our modern language serves us in mundane, everyday communication. In order to perform spiritual music, you need to rise above everyday life. When you sing the word "reche" - it makes you yourself be a little higher.

- So, the choristers understand the content of what they sing.
- Certainly. In each composition, you need to live a certain life, then you get what should be for real. For example, there is a monody "Bless my soul, the Lord." If you sing "bless my soul" - only replace one "a", - and everything would be perceived differently. This sound combination of a person is already a little uplifting.

In your choir, as far as I know, there is very little turnover of members - most of the choristers have been singing with you for a long time. Is the tradition accumulating?
- You're right. And those who come - quickly join the tradition. Thus, it is preserved.

In the 17th century, a church schism occurred, and a fairly significant part of the ancient Russian "pre-schism" music fell out of the official Church's use and was preserved only by the Old Believers. And in general, the whole structure of music has changed significantly - polyphony appeared, which had not been practiced before. Do you refer to this ancient tradition, to church music before the schism?
- Certainly. We sing this music - there is both monody and male three-part. This music gives us even more pleasure now. It is more strict, harsh and less concert. These chants do not shimmer with all the colors of the musical rainbow. They are like Pskov frescoes: you look at them, and the saints look at you searchingly.

- Is the music that came to us from Byzantium available for performance today?
- I haven't met one. Perhaps, at the initial stages in Rus', she was. But a person who was brought up in a circle of certain intonations, from the very first steps, the music he brought in began to remake them in his own, more familiar way. The Russian principle of singing syllables was different in that it affected the influence of local, folk intonations. Therefore, it became easily remembered by subsequent generations. After all, the tunes had to be kept in the head - we didn’t have a musical alphabet then. Everything was perceived by ear. Later they began to record - what is today called the "hook" letter. But these records also require decoding - now they are tormented by this problem.

The Old Believers preserved the methods of deciphering these hook records. Have you tried to work more closely with them?
- No, I didn't try.

You perform a lot abroad. Descendants of Russian emigrants come to the concerts of your choir. Many of them retained the faith, the rite of worship, which they transferred from pre-revolutionary Russia. How do these people evaluate your concerts?
- I want to give you one example. It was in France, in Marseille. I ventured to start the concert with a monody. End of the 16th century. Why not take a chance? Took a risk. We sang at Notre Dame du Marseille. This is a 3rd century cathedral. Today it no longer functions as a cathedral. It has a museum. The audience also sat in the stone altar part. When, after 4 minutes of male monophony, there was a thunder of applause, I was stunned and at first did not understand what had happened.

And only then it dawned on me - but after all, Gregorian chant sounded in these walls. And our monody was in its place there. Male voices. Alone at first, then the choir enters.

As for the Russian emigrants, I met there both with their regents and with singing in the church. I would not say that it was impressive - there is no choir. There are some ensembles.

- And how did they perceive your choir?
- With pleasure. But some expressed their feelings, and some did not. But there was no rejection. There was only one demarche. A man came up and said: "Yes, you sing, of course, well. But I do not accept Bolshevik Moscow." Well, it's his own business - to accept or not. It was in Paris.

You mentioned Gregorian chant. Your choir mainly sings Russian music. Do you think there should be some kind of national specialization or can you sing anything you like? Wasn't there a situation when you were aware that with all your professionalism, your mentality for many years is closer to Russian music? Despite the fact that you play the music of Western authors very professionally, how deeply do you delve into it?
-I used to think that in order to learn how to play Western music, I would buy records and CDs. I started my trips abroad by spending money not on rags, but on music and equipment on which it could be well listened to.

I listened to a huge number of records of music, in most cases of spiritual content. Out of 100 records, I could pick five that I liked. 95% is rubbish.

I thought that if you release a record, you are interested in buying it. But so much trash is being published in the West! There are too big differences. Here are Karayan's recordings - by the way, I have never been a fanatical fan of him - some are good, some are not very good. I have a recording of Mozart's Requiem, published in the West, so there the soloist sings frankly out of tune!. As they say: recorded - and okay. I would never put my signature under such a record.

Regarding your specific question. It is difficult for me to judge what was successful in the performance of Western music and what was not. One example is that we took Rossini's Little Mass to Italy. Italian critics generally believe that only Italians can sing Italian music, and that everyone else sings it badly. Frankly, they criticized the soloists, and some of them even quite sharply. And about the choir, oddly enough, they said that he sings well. Of course, this is a special case and cannot be based on it.

We are always criticized for the vibration that is in the nature of Russian voices. It is pointless to criticize for this. This is the nature of our voices, coming from the phonetics of the Russian language. And they have a "direct" school, German. Sound like straw. How can two such songs come together? Why do the Balts love to sing seconds (the smallest musical interval, for example, do-re)? Because their German vocal school with their direct voices creates a certain flavor in these seconds.

You can't do that with our voices, no matter how hard you try. To achieve this is to impoverish oneself. To express feelings, it is necessary that the voice trembles. And they don't have to express their feelings. It is important that the solfeggio line be observed. Therefore, it is difficult to say here how much they like it, how much they do not like it, whether it is necessary to believe their assessment of our singing of their music.

- Based on your words, we can conclude that it is still more organic for the Russian voice to sing our music.
- Undoubtedly.

- And you are guided by Russian music in the work of your team?
- Yes. Although we also sing Western music. I will give you a reverse example - the wonderful Riga band "AveSol". When they sang their music, I enjoyed it. As soon as they sang the music of Georgy Sviridov, I could hardly listen. How can one sing "Arise, fearful one" with these direct voices? Solfeggio is obtained.

- Have you tried to get acquainted with modern religious music?
- Had tried. I looked at the notes of some authors who live in the West and write modern liturgical music. What I held in my hands made a depressing impression on me, except for the music of Krzysztof Penderecki (a contemporary Polish composer). Modern methods of composer's writing, superimposed on religious texts, did not satisfy me. But Penderecki is good. It has a linearity that creates harmony.

After meeting Rachmaninov, I am not impressed by either Western or our native authors who write on Orthodox texts. They try to put all the achievements of modern composer art into this music. This is contrary to the meaning of the word. It turns out like a saddle on a cow, in a word.

-In this regard, the attitude to the music of Gia Kancheli is curious? After all, it is not directly ecclesiastical, but spiritual.
- Wonderful music. We will have a premiere of his work in April. Musical fresco on a biblical story. It is remarkable in that for Kancheli it is important what lives inside a person. He knows how to find that string, which suddenly begins to vibrate. Appeals to the spiritual strings of the human soul.

But offhand I wouldn't name anyone else. Russian soil must, apparently, rest. Two years ago, I was in a choral concert of young composers as part of the Moscow Autumn festival. After the first separation, I forced myself to stay. But he didn't finish the second part. Do you know what struck? Young people can do everything. They fold the notes very competently - the technique is wonderful. The most important thing that kills is the wretchedness of thought.

Unfortunately, not only thoughts. But also the wretchedness of feelings, souls. A thought is a thought, it is a ratio. But the basis of spiritual music is different...
- When I say "thought" - I do not mean Beethoven's profundity. It was important to me where you come from and where you come from. What is this all for? It turns out - there is no need. They pound water in a mortar.

Have you tried to expand the repertoire of the Moscow Chamber Choir to Protestant music? I do not mean the Lutheran Bach. And to less well-known Protestant music, which exists in Protestant churches in the West. Let's say Luther's chorales, from which Bach grew?
- I don’t know anyone except Bach, but you get such pleasure from Bach that you don’t want anyone else. And Luther no longer wants. In Russian music there is Sergei Rachmaninov and there is Alexander Grechaninov. We tried to sing Grechaninov's spiritual compositions and refused. With all due respect to his opera, romances, children's plays - I even love them, Grechaninov's sacred music cannot compete with Rachmaninoff. After pineapple, you do not want to chew black bread.

- What are your plans in the genre of sacred music? Are there any reserves?
- Today I lost the desire to sing spiritual music, because now everyone sings it. I do not see the material that would be at the level of the music that our choir has already performed, especially Rachmaninoff. If you climbed Mont Blanc - where next? He is alone. The rest is hills.

Now we rarely perform spiritual music, we try not to sing. I think so - if you want to listen to spiritual music - go to church. True, the level of performance is not the same. In addition to Father Matthew from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

There is another consideration that influences the decision to rarely perform sacred music. Despite the fact that this is a concert performance, you cannot afford to go beyond the church canons that limit you internally. It's a little daunting. No! I would not like to sing a full concert of sacred music now.

I don't quite agree with you. New generations are growing up, and they are deprived of the opportunity to hear Russian sacred music in a highly professional performance, which people of my age were lucky to hear. Yurlov, and then for many years - you.
- You have the right to disagree. But 30 years (from 1972 to 2002) of singing spiritual music is enough. When you don't eat it for a long time, it's another matter...

Recently, our choir took part in a Sunday afternoon concert in the Great Hall of the Conservatory, led by Svetlana Viktorovna Vinogradova. We performed several numbers. What a pleasure it was to sing a male monophony, a three-voice! And what a wonderful reception the audience had! When there is an opportunity to sing not a complete concert with a program of sacred music, but only a few numbers, this gives us joy.

You once were the rector of the Institute. Gnesins. In those years, holding such a post, it was impossible not to be a member of the CPSU. How did you combine the performance of church hymns, which you performed with a sense of faith, with membership in a party, one of the slogans of which was militant atheism? Did it interfere? Was there a sense of a split personality?
- None! He treated this as a necessary evil, so as not to interfere with doing his job. But the Vilnius events of January 1989 (the bloody attack of troops on the building of the Vilnius television center) overflowed the cup of patience.

I went to the secretary of the party organization and put a statement on his desk: “I joined the ranks of the CPSU after the 20th Congress, after which I believed that now the party would live according to different, honest laws. The events in Vilnius once again confirmed that, as before, everything was - deceit and lies, and now. Please consider me retired from the members of the CPSU. "

I didn't have any split personality. He couldn't be. I didn't feel like I belonged to this organization. Pay your dues and they'll get rid of you. There was deep resentment. In 1948 I went to work as an accompanist in the choir of Alexander Vasilyevich Sveshnikov. In 1949 he made me his assistant. Then the secretary of the party organization came up to me and said: "You should join the party." And I, with all my naivete, say: "Well, what are you! I have not yet matured." I sincerely believed in it then. All this was pure business for me. In all seriousness.

The 20th Party Congress is underway. Quite different, I think. I want to participate in this business. I'm submitting an application. Then I see that everything practically remains the same. Once we were sitting with Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov - like everyone else in those years in the USSR - in his kitchen, he said: “Here is the river of life flowing, and in the middle of it is a browed log. Maybe it will rot, or carry it away? "

The party, since the conversations in Sviridov's kitchen, ceased to exist for me as that ideal organization for which I, an idiot, in 1949 believed that I had not yet matured. As for the split - I ask you to fire me.

- I apologize for the not very pleasant question.
- There's no need for an apology. The question is quite appropriate. Moreover, I am very grateful to you for this conversation. She helped me articulate my position more clearly.

Parents were natives of St. Petersburg. Nikolai Yuryevich volunteered for the front in 1915, then served in the 1st Cavalry Army as a signalman. After the end of the war, he went through many different professions. In 1927 he married Maria Vyacheslavovna Sokovnina.

Vladimir grew up as a musically gifted child. His first musical impressions are preserved in his memory: peasant songs in the village where he spent the summer, the singing of cadets of the artillery school, opposite which their house in Leningrad was located. With pleasure, he himself sang in the school choir.

On the recommendation of a school teacher in 1937, A.V. Sveshnikov accepted the boy to the children's choir school at the Leningrad Chapel. But then Vladimir did not yet connect his future with music. He, like all the teenagers of Leningrad, dreamed of the navy, and in 1942 he sent an application to the Jung school.

But his fate was different. Vladimir lost his mother early. She died in an accident in 1934. My father, who had served in the NKVD since 1930, was arrested in 1937 and sentenced to camps under Article 58-10 - counter-revolutionary propaganda. At that moment, Nikolai Yuryevich was saved by his friend - A.S. Yakovlev (also a military signalman), who commanded the communications school. He, risking a lot, came to Moscow and achieved a review of the case.

In 1939, Nikolai Yurievich Minin returned home. But this was another, broken man. On March 4, 1942, he died in Leningrad.

At the beginning of the war, the choir school where the future conductor studied was evacuated from Leningrad to the village of Arbazh, Kirov Region. Of the 30 students of two classes admitted to the school in 1937, by 1944 only 10 remained. After moving to Moscow, they made up the first graduation of the Moscow Choir School - the graduation of 1945.

Communication with the teachers of the choir school largely determined the conscious choice that Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin made much later, choosing the profession of a conductor as his life's work. Its leader Alexander Vasilievich Sveshnikov "formally" did not conduct individual lessons. But he encouraged the desire to independently master the secrets of professional skill.

Another teacher, Pallady Andreevich Bogdanov, who conducted all the music classes and had a huge influence on the students, brought up in children a responsible attitude to learning and healthy professional ambition. Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin recalls how once the whole class did not learn a lesson. “... Pallady Andreevich led us to the window. “Look,” he pointed to the janitor, who was raking horse manure into a scoop, “what you can count on in the future if you don’t learn lessons.”

Having become a student of the Moscow Choral School, Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin, like other graduates of the Sveshnikov school, enthusiastically devoted all his free time to classes, especially in the piano class. During this period, Minin was greatly influenced by his piano teacher V.M. Shaternikov.

After graduating from college, the entire graduate was accepted into the conducting and choral faculty of the Moscow Conservatory.

The first place of professional work for Minin was the State Choir of the USSR, where he was accepted in 1948 as an accompanist. Then, in 1949, he became choirmaster.

In 1954, Minin was called up for service in the Soviet Army and sent as artistic director and chief conductor to the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Northern Group of Forces in Poland. After demobilization, he entered the graduate school of the Moscow Conservatory and at the same time worked as a choirmaster in the State Choir of the USSR.

After completing his postgraduate studies at the Moscow Conservatory in 1958, he received an offer to become artistic director and chief conductor of the honored chapel of the Moldavian SSR "Doina". Five years of successful work with this highly professional team brought Minin an order and the first title, commendable articles appeared in the newspapers. But success and professional recognition did not give him complete satisfaction.

During these years, the friendship with Georgy Vasilievich Sviridov had a decisive influence on the formation of the conductor's creative views.

Their first acquaintance happened back in 1957, when G.V. Sviridov brought his oratorio "The Poem in Memory of Sergei Yesenin" to the State Choir of the USSR. Sveshnikov, who led the choir at the time, commissioned V.N. Minin. Sviridov created his works for the choir, considering singing a cappella a truly deeply national tradition, fraught with great opportunities for the composer. Sviridov's music, his views on choral art opened up new creative prospects for the young conductor, served as an impetus for the realization of his profession as a true vocation and life's work.

In 1963, Minin left the Doina Chapel and moved to Novosibirsk, where he headed the Department of Choral Conducting at the Novosibirsk Conservatory. In search of new creative ways, he includes modern Russian music in the choir's repertoire - first of all, the music of the Novosibirsk composer A.F. Murov.

In 1965, the Ministry of Culture of Russia offered Minin to head the Leningrad Academic Chapel named after M.I. Glinka. For two and a half years, his creative views were never embodied in work with a long-established team, and in 1967 he moved to Moscow. At this time, he teaches at the Department of Choral Conducting at the Gnesins State Musical and Pedagogical Institute.

In 1971, Minin became the rector of this educational institution, and in 1972, within the walls of the institute, under his leadership, a chamber choir, composed of students, graduate students and graduates of the Gnesinka, began its activities.

The work of the collective was based on the idea of ​​creating the Chamber Russian Contemporary Choir. “I wanted to create a choir that would not be composed of choristers, but artists, - says V.N. Minin. - So that it was not so much a choir in the generally accepted sense of the word as an ensemble of soloists. Not elementary, unfaltering fusion of voices, developed by mechanical labor, but the harmony of individualities and the most complete and vivid disclosure of the abilities of each within the framework of ensemble singing and the task set ... And, perhaps, the most important thing: I would like this art to return its ancient spiritual significance, its true place not only in our culture, but also in everyday life".

The first program of the choir, shown on April 23, 1972 in the hall of the Moscow House of Scientists, was purely Russian. It was composed of folk songs in author's adaptations and original compositions by Sviridov, Shchedrin, Kalistratov, Blyakher, Nikolsky.

According to Minin, "the choir was brought up and grew up on the music of Sviridov and other modern Russian composers."

In subsequent years, the choir's repertoire included such major works by G.V. Sviridov, as "Pushkin's Wreath" (1979), cantata "Night Clouds" (1980, dedicated to V.N. Minin), "Kursk Songs".

In 1973, the first performance of the program of church works - chants took place, which continued the tradition of performing Russian sacred music, founded by Alexander Yurlov.

The creation of the Moscow Chamber Choir became a notable phenomenon not only in Minin's creative biography, but also an event in the musical culture of Russia. A team appeared with a bright, unique performing aesthetics. It was performed by the choir under the direction of V.N. Minin revived at the world performing level previously banned spiritual works by Russian composers: Rachmaninov’s compositions “The All-Night Vigil”, “The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom”, “not recommended for performance” works by Tchaikovsky, Grechaninov, Chesnokov, Taneyev and other Russian composers.

At the beginning of 1974, the Minin choir became professional, and in the fall the first foreign tour took place. The performance of the then unknown group created a sensation at the choral festival in Czechoslovakia.

In 1975, the first recording took place at the Melodiya company.

In 1979, the performance of such major works as Rossini's "Little Solemn Mass", Vivaldi's "Gloria", Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater" began.

Of particular note is the performance by the choir under the direction of V.N. Minin of the symphony-action "Chimes" by V. Gavrilin. For writing this essay, the author was awarded the State Prize.

For more than 30 years of the existence of the Chamber Choir, outstanding world performers: I. Arkhipova, E. Obraztsova, E. Nesterenko, Z. Sotkilava, A. Vedernikov, as well as orchestras conducted by E. Svetlanov, V. Fedoseev, Yu. Temirkanov, M. Pletnev, V. Spivakov, Yu. Bashmet - remain Minin's stage partners.

Significant recent events are the reference recording of the Anthem of the Russian Federation together with the P.I. Tchaikovsky, the first performance in Russia of G. Sviridov's "Songs of Timelessness", participation in a concert with Montserrat Caballe, the Easter Festival held by V. Gergiev in Moscow.

Minin has a special mission as the best interpreter of Russian sacred music, which, thanks to his conducting skills, becomes the property of listeners all over the world. In the best concert halls of Europe, North and South America, China, South Korea, Japan, the immortal creations of Russian geniuses sound.

In 1997, His Holiness Patriarch of All Rus' Alexy Minin was awarded the Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir for the revival of church music.

As a teacher, Professor Minin managed to instill in his students not only professional, but also spiritual, moral values, which is confirmed by his work V.G. Zakharchenko is the artistic director of the Kuban Cossack Choir.

The team entered the 21st century with new opera productions. Rubinstein's The Demon, Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina are staged at the Zurich Opera House, at the summer festival in Bregenz (Austria), the stage of which is located on the water of Lake Constance, Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Puccini's La Boheme.

In the summer of 2003, at the Bregenz Festival, the Minin Choir took part in a production of the opera Chanterelles by Janacek and Bernstein's musical West Side Story.

In 2003, the famous recording company Deutsche Grammophone for the first time released the Russian Voices CD of the Moscow Chamber Choir with Russian secular choral music a cappella. The European audience was presented with the works of S. Taneyev, M. Mussorgsky, S. Prokofiev, G. Sviridov. In general, the discography of the choir under the direction of Minin is more than 30 titles.

The English company NVC also released video cassettes of Russian sacred music performed by the Moscow State Academic Chamber Choir.

The performance of Russian folk songs in collaboration with famous singers, the performance of the oratorio "Ivan the Terrible" by Prokofiev with Alla Demidova is evidence of the fullness and dynamism of the sensations of today, which are inherent in Minin.

“In the hands of Minin, the choir is an orchestra of the most ancient and eternally most expressive musical instruments, on which he performs great music, great passions and great sufferings with noble emotionality. Minin knows how to make people sing not words, but the immortal melody of the human soul. ... The Minin Choir is an Art Theatre, whose chief director not only puts on performances, but also plays himself, cannot but play. Minin is a great artist, a great musician, a great artist” (E. Kotlyarsky).

For merits in the field of choral art, Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin was awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1982), the titles "People's Artist of the USSR" (1988) and "Honored Art Worker of the Moldavian SSR", awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" III and IV degrees.