Boris Belenky: Today we clearly see that there are forces that want to dismember Russia

If “Princess Turandot” is a theatrical classic, then “Crystal Turandot” is a premium classic. 32 years ago, an award with that name appeared in the new Russia and did not sink into oblivion, like many others, but remained and firmly entrenched in the mind that it was legible and ageless. The man who invented Turandot made of crystal and other bright projects, Boris Belenky, is celebrating his anniversary.

Boris Belenky is a philologist and television director by education. But in the late 80s, he somehow got to the presentation of the STD professional award, and she struck him with her routine and the fact that the form was not much different from party or Komsomol meetings.

– There was no mention of any “Golden Mask” yet, but I had an idea to make a Moscow theater award, – recalls Boris Petrovich. – But then they told me that it was not up to the award, it was necessary to raise the country. Then I got sick, but somehow Vera Kuzminichna Vasilyeva called: “We really need an award, please don’t give up your idea” – and I thought that this was motivation to recover.

– Why did you choose the Vakhtangov name for the award?

– Because Vakhtangov believed that the theater is a holiday. And so our holiday called “Crystal Turandot” was born. At that time, I called the writers Anatoly Pristavkin and Yuri Chernichenko, the ballerina Ekaterina Maksimova, and the pianist Nikolai Petrov to the jury. At the meetings, they argued to the point of hoarseness, but the principle was always the same: “we agree.” There are no such people anymore: they learned to fly from eagles, not from sparrows… We held the first award ceremony in the Hall of Columns on May 29, 1991, back in the Soviet Union. The first laureate, of course, was Yulia Borisova.

— Every year “Turandot” sums up the results, discovers new names, celebrates the masters. Has your princess ever made a mistake?

There were people in front of whom I am still ashamed. For example, Maria Vladimirovna Mironova – she dreamed of getting “Turandot”, sent “Cossacks” to me, but something interfered with me, I don’t understand what. Now I think: “What kind of idiot am I, why did I rest?” There would be a time machine … But this mistake cannot be corrected. You can’t give it posthumously.

— Has your Turandot suffered from sanctions? After all, Czech glassblowers can no longer cast sculpture from crystal.

– Indeed, last year the Czechs who cast the sculpture warned that they would not be able to do this anymore. And now I order a figurine from us, in Gus-Khrustalny.

The new “Turandot” is made of pure crystal, slightly smaller in size, but, like the old one, weighs 3-4 kg.

“Turandot” began to arrange its own “Crystal Ball”, and for 12 years Yulia Borisova, Inna Churikova, Valentin Gaft, Vladimir Zeldin, Mikhail Zhvanetsky, Mark Zakharov became its heroes. This is theatrical Atlantis!

Well, now Turandot is thinking about a new festival. Today we clearly see that there are forces that want to dismember Russia, to bleed Russia, but there is one indisputable argument in the country – multinationality. Not emigrants live on this territory, but people who have become part of the empire with their land, their culture, language. A vivid example is Vladikavkaz: free Alans are the same Russians as the inhabitants of Ivanovo. And if someone wants to quarrel between a Caucasian and an Ivanovo weaver, then he can easily do it. And we need to work only for a common understanding that our strength is in unity.

There is such a beautiful plant, popularly called “red root”. This is a 50-centimeter bush, which is not afraid of any winds of the world, because its root is five meters deep. Bears, when they wake up after hibernation, first of all look for a red root. Tincture from it rejuvenates by 40 years! I just want to say that when there are roots, a person at the slightest danger does not want to leave for Kazakhstan or somewhere else. The main thing is that people understand: there is a country, there is a homeland, and a huge number of nations and nationalities live in this country, which are like a single family. And if, without any demagoguery, appeals from priests and rabbis, Khibla Gerzmava simply comes on stage and sings a Russian song, Vladimir Matorin a Caucasian one, and Denis Matsuev plays a Jewish melody, and everything else follows the same principle, then it will be powerful.