One of the interesting phenomena of our time in the field of culture and art was the opening after a long restoration of the historical stage of the Helikon Opera musical theater. This event took place on November 2, 2015. Since then, a year and a half has passed. The theater is gaining popularity among guests and residents of the capital.
What's in a name?
The unusual name of the theater was not given by chance. What is a helicon? Helikon is a hill in a mountain range called Parnassus. Parnassus himself is mistaken for the mountain, but, as you see, this is not entirely true. In any case, the Parnassus mountain range and the individual Helikon peak are associated with Greek mythology. Helikon is the "residence" of Apollo, the god who patronized the arts, and the Muses who accompanied him. At Helikon they were going to play music. Among Muses, the majority have a special relation to theatrical art. We do not think that it is necessary to clarify their purpose in relation to musical theater. So, we can conclude that the name of the theater is symbolic and in this case has the value of allegory: Helikon is an unattainable pinnacle of mastery of opera art, demonstrated to the audience from the stage of "Helikon-Opera".
There is another version of the origin of the name of the theater. They say that Helikon is a huge wind musical instrument. It is made of copper and has a curved body tube. Helikons were previously used only in military musical groups. The shape of the instrument makes it possible to play on it, even while riding a horse, since the helicon can be hung on the shoulder, and the hands will remain free. An absolute analogue of helicon in modern orchestras is the tuba.
The ancient Greek philosophers Aristide and Ptolemy also mention the ancient helicon - a quadrangular string instrument. According to various sources, he had 4, 7 or 9 strings. With this instrument, ancient musicians could study musical intervals.
However, these versions are less convincing.
Theater Feature
"Helikon Opera" - the creation of Dmitry Bertman - was born in 1990.
In the old building on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, the Bertman Theater was located in the year of its foundation. And existed there until the restoration of the mansion, which began in 2006, began. Only eight years later, the theater returned to its native stage.
The performances of Helikon-Opera differ from the traditional ones. They are full of irony and grotesque, farce and parody, brilliant carnival. The interpretation of images and events is ambiguous and provides an opportunity for reflection and the formation of a personal attitude to them. Bertman actively uses the elements of the game, the style of the musical and theatrical language, close to the modern audience, while maintaining loyalty to classical traditions. Theater performances are democratic and are based on the eternal theme of the struggle between good and evil. Lyricism, deep tragedy, personal moral author’s position, and the psychologism of images make performances an important moment in understanding life in general.
Since childhood, a little wizard ...
The founder of Helikon-Opera is a graduate of GITIS. Dmitry Bertman first became interested in theater in four years. He "fell ill" with him after visiting the Moscow Theater for Young Spectators with his mother. A little later, with the permission of his parents, he designed a mock scene.
According to Bertman, the theater he built at home was located under the sofa. It had backstage and scenery that hid in the sofa, and the actors were colorful figures. There were more and more productions, and the theater ceased to fit under the sofa. Then he was moved to the shelves of a nearby rack. During performances, the light in the room was turned off, but turned on on the "stage", the musical effect was achieved using the plate with the opera. Guests could not watch such performances for a long time and very quickly left the "theater space".
The first home-grown theater of Bertman became interested in the Moscow theater theater director Kama Mironovich Ginkas, who often came to visit his parents. He even used a fragment from the play Swan Lake in his Car. The next admirer of Bertman's home theater was the theater director Henrietta Naumovna Yanovskaya, who also often visited their home. Yanovskaya helped ten-year-old Dima make lifting decorations with the help of school rulers and threads. And Vladimir Bugrov gave the boy a huge mockup for his birthday with a rotating stage circle, a ramp, spotlights. A variety of coatings could be secured with pins on the polystyrene with which it was lined. And mother allowed to use her wedding dress to create the curtain.
Historical building
Address of "Helikon-Opera": Moscow, Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 19/16. The theater is located in the historical estate of the noblemen Glebov-Streshnev-Shakhovsky.
From 1759-1761, Nastasya Mikhailovna Dashkova reigned here - a passionate lover of organizing entertainment events. In 1768, the owner became Fedor Ivanovich Glebov, and then - the widow of Elizaveta Petrovna (father - Streshneva). Since 1864, Yevgenia Fyodorovna Shakhovskaya became the mistress of the estate, during which basic reconstruction works were carried out. Italians and French, the operetta of Vienna, constantly presented their performances in the estate. After the owners moved to Europe, the building was rented, and at the beginning of the next century there was a small stage venue for concerts.
Concert halls of the estate
The Helikon Opera gave its first performance in the Pokrovsky Hall. It houses the harpsichord, made by Dmitry Belov according to the project of I. Ryukkers in 1617. The main stage of the theater was the Bell Tower. It managed to restore stucco decorations, marble columns, a unique wooden ceiling. Now the most striking hall is considered to be the Helikon-Opera Hall, named after the composer Stravinsky. He is famous for his ceiling in the form of a starry sky.
Reviews about the "Helikon-Opera" of guests and patrons are invariably enthusiastic. The architecture and interior of the historic building, where in the warm period performances are organized even in open courtyards, amazes with its splendor. No less magnificent are the theater's productions, known to the whole world for their quality of performance, brilliance of direction and entertainment.