Opera House: triad conductor-director-teacher in the creative activity of E. V. Kolobov

Efanova Marina ORCID: 0000-0002-8631-1066 Head of the Repertoire Department of the State Library of the MT "Novaya Opera" named after E.V. Kolobov" 127006, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Karetnyi Ryad, 3,str.2, kab. 301 efanov-mvk@list.ru

The problem of professional development and adaptation of representatives of creative specialties seems to be relevant in connection with the tasks that multi-level and diverse factors pose to modern theatrical art: the lack of social and economic stability, the need to form ideas about the spiritual sphere of a person and develop ideological positions, the problems of socio-cultural self-realization and self-presentation, as well as the spread of an instrumental consumer position.

The theater was and remains a kind of educational system aimed at transmitting the artistic experience of generations.  It is impossible to cope with this task effectively without training a creative team that would consciously and consistently engage in the spiritual and aesthetic education of the audience, using techniques and means of theatrical expressiveness.

There are contradictions between the need to implement the pedagogical direction in the professional activity of musicians and the insufficient study of its scientific, theoretical and practical characteristics.

The relevance of the study is to develop this problem from the perspective of two complementary positions. The first is connected with the analysis of pedagogical aspects of the professional activity of the conductor of the opera theater, the second – with the consideration of his author's style as a factor in the education of performers.

The purpose of the study was to identify the pedagogical foundations and pedagogical orientation of conducting activities on the example of the work of the founder of the Novaya Opera theater, E. V. Kolobov, who led the theater in the period from 1991 to 2003.

With sufficient knowledge of the history of opera, the nature of the conductor's influence on the musical material and stage action, as well as the conductor's creative role in the opera performance, rather than recreating, remain not fully investigated. The question of the director's functions of the conductor in the rehearsal process and during the opera performance has not been practically studied, and the study of the creative concept of E. V. Kolobov could have a positive impact on the practice of staging opera performances.

When studying the pedagogical aspects of E. V. Kolobov's activity, it is important to consider the staging of dramatic and theatrical tasks by the conductor, carefully study his editorial edits of the musical text made to the score, possible bills. A special role in this work belongs to the documentary heritage and, above all, the personal archive. The study of materials related to the activities of E. V. Kolobov at the Novaya Opera Theater makes it possible to highlight unknown pages of the history of the national musical theater and reveal little-known facets of the personality and creativity of E. V. Kolobov.

No less important sources for this work were the works on the staging process in the opera house, namely the multifaceted activity of the conductor. These were the monograph by E. A. Akulov "Opera music and stage action" ^[1], in which a fundamental vision of musical dramaturgy was proposed, as well as the research of the conductor-practitioner G. L. Yerzhemsky ^[6] and the work of B. Ya. Tiles "Conductor in the Opera Theater" ^[9], in which the author talks about a complex combination of roles conductor and stage director at the opera house. It should be emphasized that there are no works devoted to the work of E. V. Kolobov in Russian musicology, since no attempts have been made to analyze in detail the phenomenon of his personality and his creative activity.

The scientific novelty of the study consists in the fact that no previous attempts to study the phenomenon considered in this paper have been made. The theoretical and practical significance of the work is determined by the possibility of using its results in various courses in the history and theory of performing arts (vocal, instrumental, conducting), and, in particular, in the pedagogical activities of vocalists and instrumentalists of academic profile, as well as conductors.

An integral part of the opera performance is the symphony orchestra, whose function is not limited only to the accompaniment of vocal and choral parts and the reproduction of orchestral episodes. The extent to which the orchestra is able to reveal the multifaceted sides of the dramatic conflict underlying the performance depends not only on the author's score performed by the composer, but also on the conductor acting as a teacher, organizer and director. Currently, we can talk about the director's (author's, conceptual) opera theater, which forms a new type of opera art and a new artistic reality that requires comprehension and scientific analysis ^[7].

The expressive resources of the orchestra are realized in an opera performance exclusively through the figure and personality of its leader. From an external point of view, he coordinates the musical ensemble, ensuring continuous and coordinated interaction of orchestral groups, orchestra and vocalists. From the point of view of the internal logic of the performance, he, together with the performers, takes a leading part in creating the characters of the characters, in managing the entire stage action, in determining the tempo and rhythm of the performance.

The role of the conductor, who interprets the opera and solves all issues of performance management, is not limited to performing technological and musical-creative duties.

Currently, we can talk about a director's (author's, conceptual) opera theater, which forms a new type of opera art and a new artistic reality that requires comprehension and scientific analysis ^[7]. This theater refused to strictly follow the author's text in favor of a certain autonomy of the text of the work and the stage text, expanding the boundaries of interpretation and asserting the right of the conductor-director to create his own theater.

An attempt to systematize and generalize numerous, including controversial, problems of opera conducting was made by B. Y. Tiles. Paying great attention to the performing analysis of various operas, he formulated some fundamental provisions that an opera conductor should be guided by ^[14].

The problems related to the practical activities of conductors were revealed by G. L. Yerzhemsky, who considered the complex of psychological mechanisms of communication between the conductor and musicians to be the most important component of the creative process of artistic interpretation ^[6].

The Novaya Opera Theater created by E. V. Kolobov can be confidently ranked among the director's (author's, conceptual) opera theaters that form a new type of opera art and a new artistic reality that requires comprehension and scientific analysis.

The problem of dual leadership – director and conductor – is a specific opera situation that arose in the twentieth century. At the artistic level, the psychological confrontation caused by the fact that both the director and the conductor are independent creative personalities can be solved in one way – to unite the director and the conductor in one person. In this case, an opera production that has emerged from a single plan can become an integral and self-sufficient work.

In the activity of E. V. Kolobov, directing and conducting functions were combined, which led to new creative interpretations of the author's decisions in the form of edits of the score, which have long been recognized as permissible. Changing the author's text is not only acceptable, but also characteristic of the modern performing tradition.

Systematizing the interpretative and aesthetic principles that made up the author's style of E. V. Kolobov, four main ones should be distinguished: the principle of architectonics, the principle of conflict and end-to-end action, the principle of duality and the principle of contamination.

By the architectonic principle, we understand the spatial and temporal organization of musical material and the artistic and semantic logic that the author lays down in his editorial. Architectonics, that is, the construction of a work of art, includes the comparison of parts taking into account their parameters, their harmonious combination and, as a result, the formation of a single whole - a complete and balanced opera performance. It is a very important part of the conductor's interpretive art, and therefore, when listing the components of the author's style, it is brought to the first place.

The principle of conflict and end-to-end action implies a consistent and continuous solution of a number of artistic tasks, which allows for unity in the construction of the performance, a high concentration of action with simultaneous emphasis on the key points of the author's idea. Not only the storyline of the opera performance becomes end-to-end, but also the process of conflict movement, the development of images, and at every moment of the stage action, the viewer observes a continuous, the only possible psychological duel. Emphasizing the conflict at the instrumental level, E. V. Kolobov takes it out of the plot into the space of style and genre, and therefore it begins to transform into a confrontation of philosophical categories: sublime and material, life and death, love and calculation.

To ensure internal communication and the implementation of the principle of end-to-end action in his musical edition, E.V. Kolobov used the techniques of recomposing and reordering the material. Working on his own musical editing of each performance, he actually created new musical and stage works by rearranging the usual musical and psychological accents regarding tempo, dynamic nuance and emotional coloring.

By the third interpretative-aesthetic principle, the principle of duality, we mean the introduction of a sign of separation, which in the opera are paired conjugations of factors such as: randomness and predestination, dreaminess and rationalism, depth and superficiality of feelings, etc. In his productions, E. V. Kolobov purposefully emphasized the contradictory characteristics of the characters, which allowed him to successfully implement the principle of duality. By alternating, juxtaposing and clashing musical images, the conductor represented the leading opposing forces of the drama, comprehensively revealing the main idea.

The conductor's use of the principle of contamination, that is, the appearance of a new work by combining several finished works, corresponds to the very synthetic nature of the opera genre, focused on complex sensory perception in accordance with the main trajectory of theatrical and stage realization. As an example, we will give the performance of the Novaya Opera theater "O Mozart, Mozart!", which represents a combination of the unconnected: N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov's chamber opera "Mozart and Salieri" and "Requiem" by V. A. Mozart.

Opera, in its essence, is the result of contamination – the unification of performing, musical, and plastic arts, and therefore the combination of musical and dramatic texts, each of which is perceived by the interpreter as insufficient for the embodiment of an artistic idea, should be regarded as an appropriate expressive technique. It can be considered as an assembly technique that performs a formative function.

As a director, the maestro was aimed at finding the visible characteristics of opera action, as a conductor — at recreating symphonic dramaturgy. In the activity of E. V. Kolobov, these aspects of the conducting craft were combined with pedagogical factors.

In the course of working with performers, E. V. Kolobov used various means of relaying his creative ideas to the creative team. During the period of preliminary development of the concept of the production, which has always been given a lot of time, the main means was speech and conducting itself. At the maestro's, they organically complemented each other, helping to explain the nuances of performance to the musicians. The verbal form of communication between the conductor and the orchestra during rehearsal has always been of great importance. With the help of images clothed in speech forms, he was able to explain the general idea, comment on the structural features, content and nature of the images of a musical work.

The conductor, following his own logic of working with the opera score and his interpretative and aesthetic maximums, realized the creative concept while working with the orchestra, soloists, ensembles and choir.

His conducting art was characterized by the unity of tact, that is, the techniques of managing a musical group, and the conductor's influence on the expressive side of the performance, which had a pedagogical nature. The show of introductions, the removal of sound, the definition of dynamics, caesur, pauses, fermat — everything was permeated with emotional content, realized in the form of names understandable to musicians.

The notes that can be seen in the scores of E. V. Kolobov, stored in the Novaya Opera Theater, indicate exactly this, figurative and metaphorical upbringing: "calmly floating curly clouds", "naked nerve", "golden epaulettes", etc.

 By "curly clouds" (such a note is on the margins of the score stored in the theater), he meant not touching the sound, but a special state of mind. He deliberately put himself into a psychological state that resembled a kind of trance, and through it he tried to achieve the same in the sound of the orchestra. In the orchestration, he used special techniques for this, but the nature of the notes allows you to get into the essence of the master's work with the score and with the collective.

E. V. Kolobov left room for free creative expression of performers. His explanations were constructed in such a way as to inspire the orchestra members to search for the necessary technical means of playing, but in some cases he gave specific instructions on which technique, or stroke, it is necessary to perform this or that place. As an example, we can cite written comments preserved in the score of the opera by J. Verdi's La Traviata to Germont's aria. For example, E. V. Kolobov characterized the performance of the interlude to the 4th act of the opera as a "naked nerve", and by various methods of explanation he sought from the musicians the correct performance.

A significant addition to the verbal instructions was a personal performance display, since in the art of music not everything can be explained and described in words.

The conductor has always attached great importance to the rehearsal stage, realizing that during the performance his conducting guidance will be carried out exclusively with the help of manual techniques. The peculiarities of E. V. Kolobov's manual technique remain a little-studied area of his pedagogical style, but its priority over other forms of influence on performance is obvious.

The maestro owned his own original system of conducting technique, used such timing schemes that were understandable to the orchestra members. The question of whether the conductor's gestures should be restrained or, on the contrary, free from any restrictions, was solved by him as follows: gestures should be expressive to such an extent as to have an adequate effect on the orchestra and on the audience.

The nature of the expressiveness of the conductor's gesture performed by E. V. Kolobov can be the subject of a separate study. His conducting art embodied a number of diverse abilities. These include a special, conducting talent, that is, a unique ability to express the content of music in gestures, visualize the musical fabric of the work, and pedagogically the talent to influence performers. Working with a large musical group and exercising constant control over its activities, E. V. Kolobov successfully coped with all his tasks due to a perfect musical ear, an acute sense of rhythm and personal qualities.

His movements were emphatically rhythmic, and his whole body, including not only his hands, but also his eyes, facial expressions and pantomimics, transmitted rhythm to the orchestra. He felt the rhythm as a separate expressive category, and with gestures he indicated the generalized rhythmic structure of the work, its architectonic rhythm.

E. V. Kolobov's conducting technique has always served the main purpose – to convey the musical dramaturgy of the work, its conflict and dialectic. The ability to infect performers with the emotional structure of the work, the desire to create vivid, imaginative musical performances found an equally imaginative reflection in the conductor's gestures. These gestures helped the performers to delve deeply into the music, its content, ideas, and eventually create a common concept of its performance with the maestro.

Analyzing the maestro's gestures, one can see that all technical movements — such as showing accents, phrasing, staccato and legato strokes, tempo changes, dynamics, sound quality determination - go far beyond timing and acquire expressive meaning.

Without figurative concreteness and without a certain musical meaning, his gestures would not have such an impact on the performers and would not have formed certain musical images. Using the whole set of means of expressive technique, he gave his gestures a figurative concreteness, turning them into means of emotional order and volitional influence on performers.

It seems appropriate to highlight the features of the author's conducting style of E. V. Kolobov.

A characteristic gesture of Kolobovsky conducting is wide—spread arms, as if covering pain and heaviness, pacifying the riot of an open score to an improbable pianissimo, "silence to sound" or hiding it.

The second gesture, which can be confidently considered part of the maestro's author's style, is a gesture in the form of a "thunderstorm" – a thunderstorm tearing musical time with lightning from the bottom up. This movement, executed precisely and sharply, symbolized a sharp transition.

The third Kolobov technique is a wave gesture. When there was an imperceptible increase in the musical-stage action, the tension increased and a transition from one register to another occurred, or only due to a small modulation, the movement from the epic to the tragic was carried out, E. V. Kolobov used another gesture – the wave gesture. He expressed the transition from the regularity of the step to polyrhythmy, to climbing and flying.

The ladder gesture is another sign of the author's style in working with performers. Hands and fingers, as if stringing sound like pearls, and then - germination, as if a mysterious blue flower hangs in the air and there is a dawn silence – this is how you can figuratively describe this movement of the conductor.

 When E. V. Kolobov was directing the orchestra, all the experiences, thoughts and emotions were combined in the frenzy and concentration of his face. It itself became a living score that breathed and thought with sound, and it was impossible to fake it.

E. V. Kolobov, a teacher, was characterized by strong-willed qualities. At the preparatory stage of work on the performance, his professional activity was the activity of a teacher who patiently explains to the performers the creative tasks facing them, coordinates the actions of the orchestra among themselves, orchestra members and singers, indicating the correct technological techniques of performance and forming creative motivation. E. V. Kolobov noticed the slightest inaccuracies of performance and was able to identify their cause and find a way to eliminate. This extended not only to technical errors, but also to inaccuracies of the artistic and interpretive order. The maestro spared no time for detailed explanations of the structural nuances of the opera, the nature of its texture, analyzed together with the orchestra and singers those places that did not immediately evoke the necessary musical performances from the performers. In this analysis, he very often used figurative comparisons.

Using a variety of pedagogical techniques, the maestro seemed to immerse the orchestra in his state. Such interpenetration was possible due to the preliminary selection of colleagues who were like-minded conductor. Before the orchestra was recruited with the personal participation of E. V. Kolobov, the orchestra was a rather weak team, but in the process of working with the maestro, who was always honest and straightforward in assessing the abilities of one or another employee, the orchestra turned into a creative team sharing common values.

Infecting colleagues with his enthusiasm and exerting pedagogical influence on them, the conductor promoted their self-realization, the growth of their creative self-esteem, the transformation from artisans into artists. He gave musicians the opportunity for the same self-expression and familiarization with art that he aspired to, and set them the same tasks that he set himself.

The role of the conductor of the opera house should not be limited only to the musical, that is, the sound sphere. The conductor is obliged to lead a musical performance, accentuate the key events of the performance with music, describe the psychology of the characters with its help, distribute the tempo gradation in accordance with the development of the characters of the actors. In order to combine the variety of destinies and specific human characters into a single concept of the performance with musical and dramatic ones, he needs to educate such a creative team that will understand and share all his creative ideas.

Under the conductor's gesture of E. V. Kolobov, not only sounds were born, but also theatrical images, and the musical interpretation of the images made the stage action vital and real, despite the remoteness of the represented epoch from the everyday life of the viewer, thanks to the enormous pedagogical efforts that he directed to work with musicians. In interaction with the performers, the maestro achieved amazing artistic results, as he possessed not only musical, but also pedagogical abilities.

The work of E.V. Kolobov is an example of a successful combination of conducting and directing functions with the possibility of transmitting interpretive thoughts by their own means, which illustrates the interpretive and conceptually independent essence of the profession.

The tradition of the opera house, which has been characterized by dual leadership for a long time, is changing, and the degree of convergence of directing and conducting is getting higher, but there are very few creators who are able to combine two artistic qualities with the same degree of professionalism.

It is important not only the ability to create author's interpretations of works, but also the ability to convey your idea to performers.

The original author's style of E.V. Kolobov was based on his interpretative and aesthetic principles, however, there were also pedagogical grounds for the professional activity of the conductor, which are provided by the integration of pedagogical techniques into the creative process of preparing the performance. The criteria of effectiveness are the internalization of the attitude to creative self-improvement and the formation of stable beliefs in the educational function of theatrical art, and the education of performers becomes an important component of the conducting profession.