The long-awaited acquaintance of the Russian public with the opera of Moses Weinberg Automatic translate

ST. PETERSBURG. The premiere of "The Idiot" by Moses Weinberg at the Mariinsky Theater.

Only 20 years after the death of Moses Weinberg in Russia, the full version of his opera The Idiot was staged. 25 years ago, a version with significant notes appeared in the Boris Pokrovsky theater. The great merit in the fact that this work has finally received residence on the Russian stage belongs to Thomas Sanderling. His father, the famous German conductor Kurt Zanderling, who emigrated to the USSR after the Nazis came to power, stood behind the conductor’s console in the Evgeny Mravinsky orchestra for about 20 years. Work in the celebrated team gave Zanderling a friendship with Dmitry Shostakovich and the opportunity to perform his 7th symphony in Novosibirsk. Weinberg was also part of Dmitry Dmitrievich’s close circle of friends, who greatly appreciated his composing talent. It was Shostakovich who extended a helping hand to the composer during the most difficult period for him. After a five-year ban on the profession in connection with allegations of formalism, Moses Samuilovich was arrested as part of the fight against cosmopolitanism. A three-month stay in Butyrka ended thanks to the intervention of Dmitry Dmitrievich, who stood up for the disgraced friend and defended his good name in front of Beria.

It is not surprising that Thomas Sanderling, who continued the family dynasty, is a longtime admirer and popularizer of Weinberg’s work. Almost unknown at home, despite the large number of works written by him. Only cinema allowed to get acquainted with his music, albeit off-screen: “Cranes are flying”, “Winnie the Pooh”, “Afonya”, “Boniface’s Holidays”. The world premiere of "Idiot" took place in 2013 in Mannheim thanks to the efforts of the German conductor. The success of staging the opera Passenger in Bregenz three years earlier was repeated.

At the conductor’s console at the premiere performances at the Mariinsky Theater (July 6 and 9), Sanderling again stood. The production of the director Alexey Stepanyuk demonstrated the harmony of carefully and accurately recreated dramatic collisions of the novel by Dostoevsky, the brilliant music of Weinberg, a decent level of vocals and magnificent acting works by Alexei Mikhailov, Elena Vitman, Yuri Vlasov, Oksana Matorina, Maria Bayankina.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru