Nazarov Theatre, Musical Theatre of National Art

The State Musical Theatre of National Art under the leadership of Vladimir Nazarov was born on February 22, 2002, when the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Mikhail Shvydkoy signed an order on its foundation. However, the history of the Theatre and its leading artists begins a quarter of a century before this event: it begins in 1975, when freshman Vladimir Nazarov created an ensemble of folk instruments from students of the Institute of Culture. Thirty or forty people participated in the performances of the ensemble. However, this cumbersome and poorly managed formation Nazarov soon transformed into an ensemble of wind folk instruments "Zhaleika", which consisted of only seven people: Alexander Grigoriev, Vasily Porfiriev, Anatoly Tormosin, Sergey Molashenko, Alexander Ageev and Yuri Vorobyov and Nazarov himself. They played pits, Vladimir horns, keys and other instruments. In 1977, the ensemble went on tour to France for the first time as part of the participants of the theatrical performance “Songs and Dances of Russian Revolutions” (staged by director Joseph Tumanov). In 1978-1979, "Jaleika" actively collaborated with the ensemble "Russian Song" by Nadezhda Babkina. In 1979, the ensemble "Jaleika" became a laureate of the All-Russian competition in Leningrad and the International Festival of Youth and Students in Havana. In all their tours to different countries and regions of Russia, the musicians searched for and learned local songs, melodies, techniques of playing rare musical instruments, and bought instruments. After processing, the found melodies replenished the repertoire of the ensemble. In 1982, on the basis of musicians of the ensemble "Zhaleika" Vladimir Nazarov founded the ensemble of folk music with a wider range of musical instruments. At this time, new talented musicians join the ensemble, such as Konstantin Kuzhaliev, Andrei Baranov, Alexander Shishov, Tamara Sidorov, Mikhail Kanevsky and others. With the new concert program “About Love in All Languages”, the ensemble successfully toured in many countries of the world. In 1983, at the VII All-Russian competition of pop artists, the Ensemble was awarded the first prize. In 1988, the Ensemble received the status of the State Ensemble, and Vladimir Nazarov was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia. In 1990, Vladimir Nazarov expanded the team to 50 people by recruiting young musicians and created a musical theatrical program “Between us, brothers, speaking”. The State Ensemble of Folklore Music toured the country and abroad, performing music and dances of the peoples of the world. Vladimir Nazarov and the musicians of the ensemble have accumulated a rich professional experience, replenished their repertoire with melodies, songs and dances of different peoples of the world, collected a unique collection of rare musical instruments and playing techniques on them, put several mini-performances. Vladimir Nazarov wrote more than three hundred songs, music for many films, cartoons and theatrical performances, in particular, for the play “Forest Song” based on the play by Lesya Ukrainka, staged at the Moscow Art Theatre by Roman Kozak and for the play “Players” based on the play by N.V. Gogol in the production of Oleg Menshikov. All this allowed Vladimir Nazarov to become the initiator of the creation and artistic director of a new theater - the State Musical Theater of National Art. The name “Theatre of National Art” implies the reflection in the work of the Theatre of the characteristic elements of the culture of the peoples of the world. The purpose of the Theatre is to reveal and convey to the audience the diversity of cultures of the world and their national characteristics, to create an atmosphere of live communication between artists and musicians with national cultures and the auditorium, to share their joy from this communication. This is particularly important in an age of national disparities, unification and globalization. The purpose of the Theatre is not to copy folk music and rites, not imitation, but the creative use of folklore motifs and national color in its productions and concerts. In the first year of its existence, the Nazarova Theatre released two musical performances “On Love in All Languages” and “Russian Frescoes of the Twentieth Century” and organized the First International Festival of National Art of the CIS member states. This festival was attended by leading musical and choreographic groups from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia. He contributed to the preservation of the common cultural space of the former Soviet republics, the strengthening of friendly ties between peoples and the mutual enrichment of cultures. The basis of the troupe of the Theatre, its frame, is formed by mature artists and musicians who have gone from the Ensemble of Russian folk wind instruments "Zhaleika" to the State Ensemble of Folklore Music. The youth part of the troupe was prepared at the target course of the Gnesin Academy of Music, recruited by Vladimir Nazarov in 2000, as well as within the walls of the Theatre itself. The teaching staff consists of experienced musicians of the Theatre and invited teachers from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts. The Nazarov Theatre is a team of like-minded people passionate about their work. In addition to musical talent, an indispensable requirement for theater artists is versatility (singing, dancing and playing musical instruments) and the constant development of new professional skills. The troupe of the Theatre is multinational, the set of artists is produced all over Russia. Within the walls of the Theatre, a program for teaching each artist vocal skills with various methods of sound extraction inherent in different cultures, possession of exotic musical instruments, the melody of languages, dances is implemented. Acting skills, stage speech and other disciplines necessary for a universal actor of the Theatre are taught. In 2002-2005, Vladimir Nazarov staged four musical performances at the Theatre: Russian Frescoes of the Twentieth Century, About Love in All Languages, Forest Song (based on the play by Lesia Ukrainka) and Memorial Prayer, or Violinist on the Roof (based on the play by Grigory Gorin). “Memorial Prayer, or Violinist on the Roof” is a synthetic musical performance that combines the subtle and witty dramaturgy of Gregory Gorin (based on the stories of Sholom-Aleichem), the music of Jerry Bock to the famous Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof” and Jewish folk melodies. It organically coexist lyricism, humor and tragedy - the main colors, the combination of which creates a variety of shades of human life. “Forest Song” is a story about love and death, about how passion, having passed the test of jealousy and separation, matured for self-sacrifice and turned into Love. This is a spectacular performance that combines dramaturgy, poetry, original author music, folklore motifs, live vocals, expressive choreography, expressive scenography, modern light effects and diverse humor. In 2003, Vladimir Nazarov was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Russian Federation and awarded the third prize "Ovation". In 2006, Vladimir Nazarov began work on the music for the play “Spring in the Desert” (Andrey Khokhlov’s play based on Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s fairy tale “The Little Prince”).