The arrival of Gergiev, the departure of Tregulova, Vakhtangov’s house, the epic “Trinity”: ambiguous results of the year

APPOINTEE OF THE YEAR — Valery Gergiev, artistic director and general director of the Mariinsky Theater, an outstanding musician, one of the greatest conductors who stood at the helm of the world’s great symphony and opera orchestras, has been appointed general director of the Bolshoi Theater. This personnel decision is in itself a significant event: for the first time in many years, the Bolshoi Theater has found a leader who is adequate in personal and professional level to the status of the country’s flagship theater. In addition, the very context of the appointment, its preparation, the abundance of stuffing, fake statements and scandalous publications in the press provided the final point with the effect of a long-awaited resolution of the protracted, as the musicians say, instability in the major tonic. It can be assumed that the specialists responsible for such personnel action have conservatory diplomas.

But the public tensely followed not so much the advancement of Gergiev’s figure as the overthrow of Vladimir Urin, the general director of the Bolshoi Theater in the last 10 years. It seemed that the position of the most experienced manager was unshakable, and even his signature on the famous anti-war letter, in which a number of theater functionaries appeared, did not shake his power. We parted with the former leader of the Bolshoi Theater in a civilized manner, without revelations, even with thanks, although we limited ourselves to a small fuss over the odious sales of tickets to The Nutcracker. However, what happened, happened. What is important is what will happen and what it will become under the new leader of the Bolshoi Theater at the current stage of development of world history.

“ROAD MAP” OF THE YEAR — the transfer of “Trinity” by Andrei Rublev to the Russian Orthodox Church — looks like this. The church has long sought the removal of the masterpiece, and in the summer of 2022 the icon is sent to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. After a three-day “tour”, it rests for six months on the table of restorers in the Tretyakov Gallery, which preserved the icon for almost a hundred years. In May 2023, the Ministry of Culture gives permission to display the image in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (CHS), despite the protests of restorers who found 61 significant changes. In June, “Trinity” stayed in the KhHS for three weeks, and Patriarch Kirill announced the president’s decision to return the icon to the Russian Orthodox Church. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture signed an agreement with the Russian Orthodox Church, according to which the icon was transferred to the church for long-term storage. Art critics are sounding the alarm – the decision could be fatal for the fragile image. From the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the icon is delivered to the Grabar Center for examination and conservation, where it remains to this day, awaiting the creation of a climate capsule in which in the future it will be displayed in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. However, the transfer of the “Trinity” from the church museum is already a precedent, as is the transfer of the Alexander Nevsky shrine to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. This means that other museum objects for religious purposes can leave exhibition halls and funds and go to churches, despite the risks of losing them.

RESTORATION OF THE YEAR – the family nest of the genius of the Russian stage Evgeny Vakhtangov in Vladikavkaz, which began in 2015, has finally ended. It’s hard to imagine the best gift for the Master – 600 square meters of stylish space filled with unique exhibits, a restored terrace, and an art cafe that successfully operates as a concert venue. The effect of the presence of Evgeniy Bagrationovich has been achieved in the house. Vakhtangovsky invested his own 250 million rubles in the restoration of the house, this is the work of every Vakhtangov resident. However, it should be recognized that the locomotive of this project was director Kirill Krok, who was in charge of the house of the theater founder day after day.

EXTRAORDINARY OF THE YEAR is associated with the convening of the congress of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia – for the first time in 147 years of its existence. IX in a row, it was devoted to only one issue – the re-election of its chairman. Alexander Kalyagin, elected to this post in 1996, had full credit of trust from his colleagues for 27 years and kept the oldest Union, unlike other creative associations, in decent condition: real estate, development of the theater business, and more than one generation of artists and theater workers will remember Kalyagin period with gratitude. The post of chairman was taken over from him by Vladimir Mashkov, who, invested with power, in his first speech promised not to break, to preserve, to develop.

DRAIN OF THE YEAR. The series “The Boy’s Word. Blood on the Asphalt” by Zhora Kryzhovnikov, which captured the minds of his compatriots, became a victim of ill-wishers and accusations of romanticizing violence. However, the number did not go through, Roskomnadzor protected the “Boys”. The final episodes were leaked online in rough form, so the final episode had to be re-shot. Many did not understand what it was. Malicious intent, censorship quibbles, because of which we had to make a new version that suited everyone. And most importantly, putting a good face on a bad performance, proving that there was no pressure on the directors. It is also possible that this was a clever PR move for the advertising campaign.

INTELLIGENCE OF THE YEAR – artificial. New technologies, especially neural networks, have become more accessible, and anyone can generate anything without training. Artist Artyom Filatov, using AI, launched a project to create “living” landscapes, where flowers grow and snow blows before the viewer’s eyes. And street artist Misha Most surprised with the ARTOMATIKA project: for three days a robotic hand painted on the walls instead, and the process filmed was immediately converted into an NFT. Not a single fair, not a single large art show could do without digital technologies. Yet AI is still far from perfect and cannot replace humans. Two cases are indicative: the first is with the attribution of the painting “Tondo De Bresi”, which the AI ​​unconditionally attributed to the brush of Raphael. However, in the end, independent experts (people) came to the conclusion that this was a mistake – the picture was painted in the 19th century. The second precedent is the refusal of the American court to recognize the algorithm as a co-author of its creator Stephen Thaler. And yet the question has already been raised bluntly: last year the robot artist AI-DA asked the British Parliament to equalize man and machine in the matter of copyright. However, along the way it froze and had to be rebooted.

PERSONNEL OF THE YEAR were replaced in all the main museums of the country: the place of Zelfira Tregulova in the Tretyakov Gallery was taken by the official Elena Pronicheva, the chair of Marina Loshak in the Pushkin Museum was taken by Elizaveta Likhacheva, who previously headed the Museum of Architecture, and the position of general director of the Russian Museum, which was headed by Vladimir Gusev since 1988, was taken by an official from the Ministry of Culture Alla Manilova, whose appointment occurred against the background of the investigation of her former assistant Olga Yarilova, accused of embezzlement and abuse of power. Of all the appointees, only Elizaveta Likhacheva has an art history education, which has a positive effect on the quality of museum policy. The changes did not affect only the Hermitage: Mikhail Piotrovsky did everything to retain the director’s chair and paved the way for handing over the museum to his chosen successor in 2025, when his contract ends.

HEROISM OF THE YEAR demonstrated by Moscow writers who voluntarily became members of the SVO: poet and critic Alexey Shorokhov and poet Alexey Polubota. In fact, behind these two names there are dozens of writers of varying degrees of fame, for many of whom the battles did not begin today, but only continued this year. These are the poet Dmitry Filippov, writer and artist Kirill Chasovskikh (in Donbass – since 2014), poet and playwright Dmitry Artis (fought in 2022-2023), poet Grigory Egorkin, poet Alexander Sigida (junior, militia member since 2014). At the same time, the writer Anatoly Gonchar (Anatoly Eremenko), poet and prose writer Nikolai Popov, writer and musician Denis Semyonov and other sons of their Fatherland who died at the front deserve eternal glory.

STRIKE OF THE YEAR Hollywood screenwriters and actors paralyzed the American film industry. The releases of many films were delayed, some projects had to be closed. The film industry’s weekly losses amounted to about $150 million. The writers went on strike for 148 days, the actors – 118. As a result of complex negotiations between the US Actors Guild and the producers’ alliance, it was possible to achieve an increase in the minimum fees, as well as a unilateral ban, at the will of the producers, on the full nudity of the actor on the screen. Importantly, a ban has been introduced on the use of artificial intelligence in creating doubles of actors. For the first time in forty years, contributions to pension and insurance funds in favor of actors and screenwriters have increased.

FILM OPERA OF THE YEAR created at Helikon Opera. This is the film version of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades. For the first time in many years, not a broadcast of a repertory theater performance, or even a video version of it, appeared on the big screen, but a completely original production, brilliantly synthesizing the possibilities of theater, music and cinema. Director Dmitry Bertman, in collaboration with Valery Spirin, creates on the screen the magical world of the most mystical opera in Russian classics. The luxurious mansion of Princess Shakhovskaya, turned into a film pavilion, became the ideal setting for a film in which the mystery of the art-house details of a psychedelic thriller is combined with the effects of blockbuster film technologies. The impeccable sound of the orchestra (conductor Valery Kiryanov) and the voices of the soloists in their ideal balance, a separate track with noises, creaking floorboards, the sounds of footsteps, delicately integrated into the score. But the most valuable thing is that Dmitry Bertman restored historical justice in “The Queen of Spades”: for the first time in Lisa’s famous aria, the final note was sounded, which was originally in Pyotr Ilyich’s version, but which all sopranos, considering it too low for themselves, always performed replaced with a higher one. Elena Mikhailenko in the role of Lisa forever recorded this discovery of the director.

RECORD OF THE YEAR The Bolshoi Theater troupe set the speed at which its artists move up the career ladder. It was replenished with the youngest prima ballerinas and premieres in the history of theater and ballet in general – they were Dmitry Smilevsky and Elizaveta Kokoreva, who at the age of 22 reached the highest level of the ballet hierarchy. And at their age, even the god of dance Vaslav Nijinsky was just a luminary of the Mariinsky Theater and did not even reach the rank of soloist. True, Rudolf Nureyev became a soloist at the age of 22, but the title of premier exceeds the title of a simple soloist by several positions, and even he was far from such a record. The own creative evenings of the youngest primas and premieres in history (hers on the new stage of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, his at the Bakhrushin Museum) are a worthy finale for them in 2023.

ROLLING OF THE YEAR we lost several domestic films at once. The first to be distributed was “The Fairy Tale” by Alexander Sokurov. The film about the afterlife of dictators of the 20th century was screened in many countries, but in Russia it was canceled: first at a festival in Moscow, and then the film was generally refused a distribution certificate. After the famous director’s harsh speech, he was credited with saying he was retiring from his career. But through the efforts of Ksenia Sobchak, “The Fairy Tale” was released on her YouTube channel with a subsequent discussion of the film, thereby creating a precedent for an alternative “closed screening.” The highest-grossing Yakut film “Aita” by Stepan Burnashev, in which, as it seemed to officials, a Russian person was offended, also lost its distribution certificate. Roman Mikhailov’s “Let’s Go with You to Macau” was checked for gambling propaganda and a distribution certificate was issued only for the duration of the film’s participation in the festival. Without explanation, they did not give “Brother-3” a ride. Obviously, because it was not filmed by Balabanov.

COMPROMISE OF THE YEAR was observed during the summing up of the “Big Book”, which, after the “shuffling” of the expert council, remains the country’s leading prize in the field of prose. In any case, the decision on the winner, which was made by the jury of 104 people, satisfied everyone. Without a prize, the “academics” left both a liberal writer who does not openly speak out against Russia, but keeps a “fig in his pocket,” and Zakhar Prilepin, known for his radical calls, including in the field of cultural policy, for his voluminous volume about Mikhail Sholokhov. The winner of “BC”-2023, Evgeny Vodolazkin, is a neutral figure who has never been noticed in political “showdowns”. Instead, he is engaged in literature, and only literature, being neither a “professional oppositionist” nor a “professional patriot.”