"Rivers and Streets by Arthur Smolyaninov"

“What do you love most in the world? —

Rivers and streets are the long things of life...”

1. Brodsky "Thames in Chelsea"

  A unique musical and poetic performance “Rivers and Streets. Joseph Brodsky” will be presented by actor Artur Smolyaninov, cellist Yevgeny Tonkha and pianist Varvara Chirkina. The author of the production is Artur Smolyaninov, who brilliantly plays the role of the main lyrical hero of the play. Together with professional musicians, he created a special musical and poetic structure, which organically included I. Brodsky's poems of different years, fragments from the works of A. Schnittke, I.S. Bach, I. Stravinsky, S. Rachmaninov, F. Chopin and other composers, as well as compositions of his own composition. But this unusual production is not just reading poetry to the accompaniment. This is real theatrical performance. Here, poems, songs, music and theater - everything is built into a dramaturgically harmonious performance, consisting of separate stories intertwined together.

Joseph Brodsky, performed by A. Smolyaninov, known to viewers from the films “Heat”, “9th Company”, “Duhless”, “White Guard”, is an eternal, restless wanderer in search of shelter, in search of love, in search of himself ... Sea, urban vanity, the boundaries of one room - all this is an abyss in which the hero cannot find peace. Today, the themes of the search for the meaning of existence, honor and honesty with oneself, nostalgia, lost love and friendship, choice, raised in the performance, acquire additional meaning and sound especially relevant. Arthur Smolyaninov's voice plunges the listener into the oceanic abyss of I. Brodsky's poetry. In addition, in the performance, some of Brodsky's poems became songs, the music for which was written by A. Smolyaninov himself. On stage, the actor appears in a new role, demonstrating masterly possession of the guitar.

The cello of the world-famous musician Yevgeny Tonkha is not just an accompaniment. This is a certain state, mood, something elusive and at the same time inseparable from the poetic content. The cello in the hands of E. Tonkha is an instrument to which almost everything is subject - from virtuoso passages to the rumble of a ship's whistle, women's laughter, and the cry of sea gulls.

The piano part (Varvara Chirkina) gives the overall architectural stability to the musical and literary composition.

The performance "Rivers and Streets", according to the artists themselves, is not only about the writer Brodsky, but also about the world with its drinking and the constant need for choice, about a person's place in this world, about a journey to oneself. The performance has been staged for several years in well-known theaters and philharmonic societies and is always very warmly received by the audience.

"Rivers and Streets. Joseph Brodsky" - May 18 in Lauderhill.