Nina Shatskaya was “infused with the spirit” of Lyudmila Zykina

“Lyudmila Zykina. Confession. 17 Years of Mystery” is the name of a unique project, the purpose of which is to remind the Russians of what scale the stars shone for them, and to understand who deserves to take this place today. When, if not now, during a period of large-scale reassessment of values, the names of brilliant artists, who, due to various circumstances, were tried to be scrapped by history, must not only be returned to the public, but also allowed to sparkle with new colors. It is not easy to do this and only the most prominent representatives of Russian culture can do it. This new project, which will be presented to the audience in April, is now being implemented by truly talented people. The production was staged by the Lyudmila Zykina State Academic Russian Folk Ensemble Rossiya together with the Russian playwright, screenwriter and director Dmitry Minchenko. The role of the People’s Artist of the USSR, the Hero of Socialist Labor, the great singer of the era of Lyudmila Georgievna Zykina, is played by the Honored Artist of Russia Nina Shatskaya.

The play was staged by Dmitry Minchenko, winner of the Lavr Prize, the TEFI Prize, and the Prize of the People’s Artist of the USSR Irina Arkhipova Foundation for the best book about music and musicians in 2001.

“The decision on such a production was made by the ensemble team very cordially. The material is amazing, and it has been asking for the stage for a long time. This is the first serious literary comprehension of the rich creative heritage of the great singer, which we in the ensemble are trying to preserve and increase; reflection of her extraordinary fate and life. Dmitry Minchenok, in my opinion, is a wonderful playwright, who feels the music subtly and knows how to handle it very well, ”says the artistic director of the Rossiya ensemble named after A. L.G. Zykina, Honored Artist of Russia Dmitry Dmitrienko.

Of course, the main intrigue is who will play the role of Lyudmila Zykina: a singer with a phenomenal voice and inimitable manner of performance. After all, an actress applying for this mission must be worthy in all respects. And this performer was found. Nina Shatskaya is a brilliant singer who deserved the title of “Russian Romance Diva” with excellent vocal skills, amazing performance skills and incredible female charisma. Who, if not her, can combine the impossible in the project: the power of the past era and the sharpness of the present?

About how the performer decided on such a difficult role in all respects and what place Zykina herself occupies in her life, Nina told the readers of MK.

– Nina, why Zykina, what connects you with this name?

– I remember this name, probably from the very first early years, because I recognized it when I was very small.

– Were you attracted by the voice of this singer, the manner of performance?

– To my great regret, in my childhood this name was a household name, as something uninteresting, something that is imposed, that the child does not want to listen, but is forced to. And this feeling of such violence, it lasted quite a long time. And only when I grew up and moved from St. Petersburg, where I studied, to Moscow, I once found myself in a small concert club hall, where Lyudmila Georgievna sang literally next to the audience. And she sang romances, which is amazing, because it always seemed to me that she sings only folk songs. One romance was called “Come back, I’ll forgive everything”, he shook me to the core.

– Did you shock with the performance, the content?

– Everyone. And by the feeling with which Lyudmila Georgievna sang, and by the fact that every word had tremendous weight, and, most importantly, I physically felt the power and beauty of her voice live. And this huge colossus of voice absolutely obeyed Lyudmila Georgievna. She used a huge number of nuances.

And you became her fan?

– I became not only a fan, I became her fan overnight. I bought everything I could – then it was still impossible to listen online, it was the 90s – so I scooped out everything I could find on Gorbushka and listened to songs and romances performed by Lyudmila Georgievna avidly.

– Romances are not the most famous genre performed by Zykina, in general, it is interesting how many unknown songs sung by her remain.

– I still sometimes come across songs that I have not heard. Most recently I was in Krasnoyarsk and asked the girl who met me and accompanied me from the Philharmonic: “Are there any songs about the Yenisei?” And she suddenly put on me a completely amazing song performed by Lyudmila Georgievna. And already as an adult professional, listening to this song, I understood how much feelings were invested, how much mastery in this sound, in addition to the natural beauty of the timbre.

– Did the offer to reincarnate at some point in Lyudmila Zykina on stage come as a surprise to you?

– For a very long time I nurtured the idea of ​​making some kind of dedication to Lyudmila Georgievna. But it is very difficult to do something so as not to repeat itself, because there are a lot of worthy singers around who sing programs from the repertoire of Lyudmila Georgievna. And when Dmitry Minchenok approached me with an offer to participate in the project that he wrote, I expressed my doubts about the fact that I don’t want to repeat myself and I don’t want, of course, to try to sing Lyudmila Georgievna, to sing her repertoire. Especially in a project dedicated to her fate. But Dima, a very talented person, an excellent playwright, told me not to worry about this, that he had a very interesting idea. And he asked me to send him recordings of songs that I would like to perform, which I love from my repertoire, what I like. And so we took “The Volga River Flows” directly from the repertoire of Lyudmila Georgievna, because I also have my own attitude to this song.

– Why did “The Volga River Flows” hook you so much?

– The author of the words, the poet Lev Oshanin, lived for a long time in Rybinsk, where I come from. And when I sing this song, I have a feeling that I am singing about the Volga that the author saw. We decided that this song should be in any case. Then Dima sent the script, and when we were at the first rehearsal, I was struck by how skillfully and very accurately he entered my repertoire into an illustration of the fate of Lyudmila Georgievna. That is, the songs are not her repertoire – they seem to illustrate the life of a great woman. In our project, she is not so much an artist as a human and feminine principle. It is covered with great delicacy. There is no yellowness, there is no attempt to climb into someone else’s life.

– Do you think this performance can “modernize” Zykina’s work? Do these songs have a chance for a second birth?

– As for the modernity of Lyudmila Georgievna’s repertoire, it seems to me that now they are acquiring a special sound and many of them are reborn.

I recently traveled through Siberia, the Urals: when you see these open spaces, when you meet people in distant regions, in the outback, a lot is revealed in a different plane. From Yekaterinburg we traveled six hours by bus with musicians – with a magnificent orchestra of folk instruments. This is the Ural State Russian Orchestra, the chief conductor there is the Honored Art Worker of Russia Leonid Shkarupa. We arrived first in the city of Irbit. The next day we traveled six hours to the city of Krasnoturinsk. And the residents met us with such love, with such incredible warmth! They know these songs, they sing along, they encore, they begin to applaud when the songs just start to sound. And you understand that the relevance of such huge figures, such blocks as Lyudmila Georgievna, is eternal.

What is the most important thing for you in this project?

– In this project, a huge role and significance for me is that the project is completely accompanied by the Rossiya ensemble, with which Lyudmila Georgievna performed, and there are still musicians who personally knew her. This connection of times is very important to me. I am happy that Dmitry Minchenok invited me to participate in this project and Dmitry Dmitrienko supported our project, and now it is starting its bright life. And the premiere of the implemented project “Lyudmila Zykina. Confession. 17 years of mystery” the public will be able to see on April 21 at the House of Music.