Large children's choir. Auditions for the Bolshoi Theater When you got into the senior group

BIG THEATER

After returning from Germany, Rita found herself without work and without means of subsistence. By the time the singer arrived, another monetary reform in the country depreciated all her savings, which were in rubles. Friends at the conservatory suggested that she go to the audition directly to the Bolshoi Theater. If they don't accept you go to another.
“Rit, you just underestimate yourself,” they told her. - With such a voice you will shine on the stages of La Scala and Covent Garden.
But Rita was very self-critical about herself: “No, no,” she thought, “only very talented singers like Tamara Sinyavskaya, Elena Obraztsova, Evgeny Nesterenko sing at the Bolshoi, and who am I? No, this is out of the question." On one of these cloudy days, Rita received a call from a classmate at the conservatory, Elena Bryleva. She then already sang at the Bolshoi Theater, and says:
- Rita, we will start touring in Germany soon. Would you like to come with us? We ride under the cap: "Soloists of the Bolshoi Theater present!".
Rita at first began to refuse:
- Lena, due to the fact that I am not a soloist of the Bolshoi, I will not be able to go. How to deceive people?
- Come on, be modest! You will sing the best there. Nobody will notice. You see, we have one singer urgently needs to be replaced!
And Bryleva showed the conservatory recordings of the impresario, Rita was approved for the concert program. In Germany, she performed individual arias from operas, romances no worse than theater soloists. Therefore, during the tour, the guys from the troupe liked her so much that upon returning home, they took her under their wing and brought her to the theater for an audition. It was in the middle of the year. All competitions have already passed. But eminent soloists, especially Vladimir Bogachev, insisted before K. I. Baskov and E. T. Raikov, the leaders of the opera troupe, that they meet with Rita. And after a successful audition, she was accepted to the Bolshoi Theater as an intern, but without a salary.
- You sing for now as a trainee, and by the spring you will pass the competition on an equal basis with everyone else.
In her soul, joy knew no bounds. A wave of feelings and emotions splashed out. It was a very big milestone that she had to take on the path of her solo career. At home, from the threshold, she shouted:
- Mom, I was accepted as an intern at the Bolshoi Theater !!!
“It can’t be,” said the mother, and sat down on a chair.
...Big theater! So that's what you are, a giant with a front colonnade and a quadriga on the pediment, controlled by Apollo. One of the best theaters in the world, a treasure of musical art.
“To be an opera singer today is to be able to recreate the stage image of the era when the opera was written, to convey to the viewer the embodiment of the synthesis of music and drama. Rita thought. - One voice is not enough, you have to be a real artist. One has only to imagine that more than two thousand people are looking at you from a gilded hall with numerous tiers, it is so breathtaking. Will I be able to adequately show myself on stage? And Rita plunged headlong into the difficult life of the theater, with all its intrigues, undercurrents, the struggle for survival.
The Bolshoi Theater has always been under the patronage of the state. No wonder it was called Imperial, and now Academic, State. At one time, Stalin liked to patronize the theater, like the Tsar-father to his serf artists. Then the King died. Long live the new King! But serf relations with the soloists of the theater troupe remained.
In subsequent years, the attitude towards the Bolshoi changed for the worse: the high rates for the first soloists disappeared, and the size of the pension fell significantly. For the same money, it was possible to go on stage less often, and leading artists reached out to the clinic at the theater for sick leave. Then the same “jamb” of the best voices of Russia began to fly to “warmer lands” - to the west, where the material conditions of the artist are an order of magnitude higher. There was a "drain" of brains, voices and other important organs of the human factor in the country. What will be left? But what remains, we will live with it! And since that time, the Bolshoi Theater has been slowly rolling downhill: the ill-conceived repertoire policy of the opera's leaders, the low level of vocalists. As the new artistic director and chief conductor of the theater, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, said, the audience comes to the theater mainly not to watch a performance, but to admire the gilded walls of the hall, and a huge crystal chandelier "...
...But six months have passed since Rita has been working here. During this time, she played various small parts on stage in operas. However, in "Iolanthe", which ran two or three times a week, she managed to sing the part of Laura. The conductors already knew her vocal abilities and when it came to the competition in the spring of 1993, she was allowed to go straight to the third round, bypassing the previous two qualifying rounds. The day before the contest, the bell rang in the apartment. Rita picked up the phone, a friend of the theater soloists called. There are disservices, and this is some kind of crocodile advice:
- If you don’t give money “for the paw” to someone who needs it, then know that they won’t accept you!
- I don't have any! Rita answered in a low voice.
Yes, and where should they be if the trainee trainee in the theater works without a salary at all. Parents never had extra money. Maybe borrow from friends? No, I won't! Come what may! And in frustrated feelings I went to the competition.
The third round took place on the main stage of the theatre. You have to sing with the orchestra without a rehearsal, just look at the conductor, who will show all the introductions and determine the tempo. This competition is held throughout the country. Hundreds of vocalists take part in it, but a few people who were sitting in the hall, waiting with trepidation for their fate, reach the third round. Rita decided to sing Rosina's aria from the opera The Barber of Seville. The excitement did not pass, but rather increased with the approach of the stage entrance. Is it a joke to become a soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre. She tried to focus only on Aria, but all the same, all sorts of disturbing thoughts entered her head. To hell with this money! Forward, and with your head held high! And Rita did as her teacher Nina Lvovna taught her: she got up early (she couldn't sleep anyway), came to the theater two hours before and sang for about an hour. Before entering the stage, the voice already sounded great, but the excitement again seized when her exit was announced. Her legs became wadded, internal tension grew, and she thought to herself: “Lord, if only not to forget the words!”. The aria was learned three days before the contest. But the experience of performing in the Children's Choir and from the stage of the Bolshoi Theater as an intern took their toll. Rita gathered herself, calmed down and put so many emotions and inspiration into the aria that her voice sounded beautiful, bright. She pronounced each word clearly, sending the sound to the farthest point of the hall.
“In the midnight silence, your voice sang sweetly to me, It woke up many new sleeping forces in my heart ...” Rita performed Rosina’s Cavatina in Italian at a calm “Moderato” tempo and felt how the hall froze, how attentively the members of the jury listened. The voice broke into a thousand small discords. Major turned into minor, then came the sad adagio. And after the quiet sounds of the night came a new wave of sounds of a sunny day. “I don’t care about barriers, I’ll set my own! I will deal with the guardian, he will be my slave! Oh, Lindor, my gentle friend, I will not part with you! When she finished singing the last note, there was a dead pause in the hall for literally a second, which seemed to Rita an infinity, and in the next moment it seemed to burst into applause. Stomp, scream. The orchestra gave her a standing ovation: "Bravo, Maruna!". And Rita understood - this is a victory! Luck did not change her this time either: contrary to all the forecasts of various "well-wishers", fortune was on her side. She left the stage like in a dream. They asked her something, congratulated her, but she did not remember anything. And when the jury announced that the mezzo-soprano Margarita Maruna was accepted immediately as a soloist in the opera troupe of the theater, bypassing the internship, Rita was simply shocked. It's like it didn't happen to her. She could not believe what had happened, in her success.
- Has the miracle that I wished for the New Year really happened ?!
At the time of admission, Rita was already twenty-eight years old. Great opportunities lay ahead. Which path will she choose? How favorable will fate be to her in the future? These and other questions swirled in her mind. Together with Rita, Olga Kurzhumova (soprano) entered the theater competition. They will become friends. Rita will introduce her to a wonderful young musician from the theater - Stas Katenin, and will be the godmother of their little Klim ...
Rita came to the theater at the time when the next wave of emigration of the best singers abroad ended. Patriots remained in the Bolshoi, continuing the traditions of the Russian school, despite all sorts of difficulties.
From the first days of work in the theater already as a soloist, Rita intensively studied new parts at daily rehearsals. Over the next year, she played and sang at the Bolshoi Theater such parts as Laura in Iolanthe by P. Tchaikovsky, Flora in La Traviata by G. Verdi, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro by W. A. ​​Mozart, Laura in The Stone Guest » A. Dargomyzhsky, Olga in “Eugene Onegin” by P. Tchaikovsky, Smeraldina-Arapka in “Love for Three Oranges” by S. Prokofiev. After listening to the parts of Lyubasha from the opera "The Tsar's Bride" and Polina from the "Queen of Spades", the theater conductor Andrei Nikolaevich Chistyakov invited Rita to go to the conductor's room. He asked her to tell about herself, where she studied, who was her teacher. And then he said:
- Rita, you sing excellently. Right now I would take you to all my performances, but I can’t: they will simply devour me. Please wait a few years. Your time will come, and we will definitely work with you again.
Rita was accepted into the theater when Kokonin V. M. was its General Director, and Lazarev A. N. was its Chief Conductor. Then Vasilyev V. V. replaced him, and in 2000 Rozhdestvensky G. N. came. G. Iksanov became the General Director. A., and the main conductor of the theater is Ermler M.F.
The Bolshoi Theater is like a huge golden beehive united into a single creative team. Here every person is a professional in his field. For more than two centuries, the theater has developed its own conservative laws, well-established strict rules. It seemed that a completely different life was going on behind the oak doors, distinguished by its dynamics, fuss, and change of power. It's just a state within a state.
The chief conductor and directors of the opera and ballet have unlimited power over the artists, who can afford a lot of things in relation to their subordinates: early dismissal, despite the contract, and rudeness, regardless of the age, experience and skill of the soloist. Artists - people with bare nerves, with "thin skin". They are very sensitive to any manifestations: both good and bad in their address. And therefore, for a small, positive attitude towards himself, the artist is ready to turn inside out, working on the role. And, on the contrary, with every unfair attitude towards himself, he can get a nervous breakdown or even a heart attack, which lead to loss of voice in singers or not closing ligaments or other occupational diseases, and in ballet dancers - pain in the back, in arms and legs. How many times did the soloists have a tantrum after the performance because of the rude, even if fair, relations of the leadership? No one knows about it and will never know, but it happens to almost everyone. No wonder they say that any artist must first be praised, praised and praised, and only then, very gently, point out his mistakes in his work.
For some time now, an extraordinary and difficult situation has developed in the theater. Why did this happen in the Bolshoi? Maybe it's beneficial for someone!?! Conservative forms of government and the absence of a multi-talented leader - the new Diaghilev, led the once best theater in the country into decline.
Rita studied and recognized artists, employees. She liked some, some did not, but with everyone she tried to stay even, adopting everything positive and valuable from them. She had to perform in performances with such famous soloists as M. Kasrashvili (soprano), V. Motorin, E. Nesterenko (bass), Y. Mazurok (baritone), Z. Sotkilava, V. Tarashchenko, V. Voinorovsky (tenor) and other great vocalists. I had to work with such conductors as Chistyakov, P. Sorokin, A. Stepanov, P. Feranc, F. Mansurov and many other remarkable musicians.
For some time now, the Bolshoi Theater has introduced a contract system according to the Western principle, which, however, is of a formal nature. The contract is for the season, that is, for ten months. The soloist must be constantly ready for the fact that he will be called to a rehearsal or to replace a sick artist in a performance, at any time of the day, so everyone must be within the telephone and mobile communication with the theater office.
To participate in the play, the artist must pass an audition at the competition and, after the approval of your candidacy by the director or conductor of the theater, sign a contract. In the theater there are no restrictions on rehearsals or lessons with accompanists, study as much as you need. Rita worked mainly with pianists Valery Gerasimov, Alla Osipenko and Marina Agafonnikova - excellent musicians. A few years later, she knew almost all the parts written for her voice. Soloists have a bad omen, if in an opera you stumble on some note once, then almost always the soloist will have a quirk at this place, and he overcomes this milestone with great difficulty. Once one of the employees in the theater asked Rita:
What is your interesting last name? Ma-ru-na!? Are you Moldovan by any chance?
- Almost yes! Gypsy blood just boils in me! I sing and play Carmen without makeup!
"Carmen" is Rita's favorite party, and the pearl in it is "Habanera". Every woman in the soul of Carmen. But at Wise, Carmen does not love Jose until his last breath. A woman like Carmen cannot love a man for long. She is a gypsy and loves freedom more than José.
Rita perceived the new role as another offer of a new life. She reproduced the feelings, emotions of her hero, experiencing his life with him. Stanislavsky's system is a system of "experiencing", this is how they were taught at the conservatory, and experience came from performance to performance.
Performing on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater or at concerts, Rita has always sought to instill in her audience a love of classical music with her performance. She sang with her soul, bewitching the audience. Of course, she understood that opera was mainly the lot of the rich and intelligentsia, the audience for opera has always been small: not everyone understands classical vocals. The heavy legacy of the communist time also affects, when classical music was turned on mainly when one of the leaders of the CPSU died. And today it is difficult to rebuild the subconscious of a Russian person, in whom the classics are sometimes associated with a funeral march. But, nevertheless, the audience is happy to go to concerts to listen to opera singers Lyubov Kazarnovskaya, Nikolai Baskov. Opera is a very expensive pleasure and costly. Even sold-out performances do not pay off, so they must be subsidized in order to somehow stay afloat.
An artist does not necessarily need to have his own theater. You can work with different teams under the contract. But an artist must have his own audience, which adores him and without which the artist is not an artist.
Recently, Rita has increasingly come to the conclusion that a modern good singer can and should work in different musical genres: classical, romance, folk songs, with a chamber choir, lyrical pop music. At the Bolshoi Opera, the repertoire is limited, young soloists also want modern music.
After her performance, one leading singer was told every time: “Today you sang wonderfully as always!”. However, professionals know that no singer sings great all the time, for a lot of reasons, especially for women.
Opera soloist Sergei Gaidei (tenor) recalled that once in a performance, one pretty soprano diligently sang to the audience in a love scene with a cold look, turning away from her lover. Who will believe her that she loves him?
The star should not only shine from the stage, but also warm the soul of the viewer with her singing.
And yet, fans and soloists of the Bolshoi live in the hope that, along with the overhaul of the theater, not only the foundation and walls will be updated, but the level of the best theater in the country will rise to the proper height.

Musical Theatre. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko for many years dreamed of having his own children's choir. The participation of children was demanded by "Carmen", "La Boheme", "The Nutcracker", "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", "Tosca" ... And in February 2004, two dozen excited parents brought two dozen frisky and much less excited children to the audition. The desired turned into reality, and children's voices began to ring in the classrooms and corridors of the theater, which had not yet been opened after the reconstruction. And soon the first performance took place. May 6, 2006 in the Hall. Tchaikovsky Opera Company of the Musical Theater presented the opera "Carmen" in concert in French and with colloquial dialogues. This day became the birthday of the children's choir, its first participation in the play, albeit not yet on the native stage.

And since the autumn of 2006, when the theater opened after reconstruction, classes, rehearsals and performances have become a real adult work. They now perfectly understood what stage, orchestral rehearsals are, they learned how to perform the most difficult directorial tasks, they knew that they had to come to make-up in advance, and they also learned many other theatrical secrets.

Now, more than 10 years later, our children's choir are real, experienced artists. They themselves can tell a lot about the theater, dedicating the secrets of the choir recruits. And they not only participate in theatrical performances, but also perform solo choral concerts. And also adult artists, directors, conductors now know for sure that the theater cannot do without a children's choir. The children's choir participates in theater performances: " " , " " , " " , " ", " ", " " , " " , " " , " " , " " .

Children's choir leaders: Tatyana Leonova, Marina Oleinik, Alla Baikova.
The children's choir is attended by children aged 9 to 14 years.Class days: Tuesday and Saturday.

Schedule:

Tuesday:
17.00 - 18.30 (choir - junior and senior groups)
18.30 - choreography

Saturday:

16.00 - 17.00 (choir - junior group)
17.00 - common choir

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SCHEDULE:

Dear parents, we congratulate everyone on the start of the new season! We wish you good health and creative energy for the whole year!

FOR NEWS:

Bring children to class 10-15 minutes before the start. You need to have a change of shoes and a choir folder with you. Passage of parents to the theater (with the exception of parent meetings) is prohibited.

Performances of the first half of the year:

29.10 (Tuesday) – no classes

NOVEMBER
1.11 (Friday) – rehearsal of the play "Aladdin's Magic Lamp" from 11:30 to 14:30
2.11 (Saturday) - no classes
9.11. (Saturday) – NO CHOIR CLASSES, performance "Aladdin's Magic Lamp" (gathering of "Tomboys" at 12:00, closed until 16:30, gathering of "Emeralds" at 14:00, closed until 16:30)
13.11. (Wednesday) - performance "Tosca"

DECEMBER
07.12. (Saturday) - performance "The Queen of Spades"
11.12. (Wednesday) - performance "Othello"
12.12. (Thursday) - performance "The Nutcracker"
13.12. (Friday) - performance "The Nutcracker"
25.12. (Wednesday) - performance "Aida"
26.12. (Thursday) - performance "Aida"
27.12. (Friday) - performance "La Boheme"
28.12. (Saturday) - morning and evening performance "The Nutcracker"
29.12. (Sunday) - morning and evening performance "The Nutcracker"
30.12. (Monday) - morning and evening performance "The Nutcracker"
31.12. (Tuesday) - morning and evening performance "The Nutcracker"

For questions, please contact the choir inspector

All performances may have additional rehearsals. Class times and days are subject to change!

On the eve of the anniversary of the department of choral conducting of the Moscow Conservatory. P.I. Tchaikovsky, celebrating its 90th anniversary next year, the Orpheus radio station begins a series of interviews with artists, graduates of the famous department. In the first issue of the anniversary series - a meeting with Yulia Molchanova - head of the children's choir at the Bolshoi Theater.

- Yulia Igorevna, please tell us what is the history of the emergence of the children's choir at the Bolshoi Theater?

The Children's Choir is one of the oldest troupes of the Bolshoi Theatre, almost 90 years old. The appearance of the children's choir falls on the years 1925-1930. Initially, it was a group of children of theater artists who took part in opera performances, because almost every opera performance has a part for the children's choir. Later, when the theater was evacuated during the Great Patriotic War, a professional creative team of the Bolshoi Theater Children's Choir was formed, and strict selection began to be made into the groups. After that, the choir received a powerful creative development, and today it is a bright strong team, which, in addition to participating in theatrical performances, now also performs in concert halls not only with the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, but also with other famous orchestras and conductors.

- That is, the children's choir is not tied only to theater performances?

Of course, the choir is closely connected with the theater, but in addition to theatrical, it also conducts an active independent concert activity. We perform with major Moscow orchestras, we are invited to significant concerts, both in Russia and abroad. The choir has its own, solo program, with which we have repeatedly traveled abroad: to Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Japan.

- Does the choir go on tour with the theatre?

No not always. Since it is quite difficult to take out a children's troupe on a theatrical tour. On tour, the theater usually performs with a local children's group. To do this, I arrive in advance, and for about a week and a half I study with the local children's choir, learn the parts with them, introduce them to the performance. And by the time our theater troupe arrives, local children are already well versed in the repertoire. This is also part of my job as a choirmaster.

- How many people are employed today in the children's choir of the Bolshoi Theater?

Today the choir has about 60 members. It is clear that all together the guys go to performances extremely rarely after all, different performances require a completely different number of choir members.

- And in what composition does the team usually go on tour?

The optimal number is 40-45 people. It doesn’t make sense to take a smaller line-up (because you need to understand that someone can get sick, someone for some reason will suddenly not be able to perform), and taking more than 45 people is also not good this is already overload.

- How do you solve the issue of parental permission to travel for children under 18?

Here, of course, we have worked out everything for a long time. We take children abroad from the age of six. In addition to the conductor, a doctor, an inspector and an administrator must accompany the group. Of course, touring really unites the team. Whenever there is preparation for the tour and the tour itself, the children become more friendly, more independent. Although, of course, we have a very friendly team in general the children have a common goal and idea, to which they are very touching and careful.

As you know, the process of “breaking the voice” is different for everyone. We have very good phoniators in the theater, and children have the opportunity to visit them. In addition, I myself also monitor this moment very carefully, and if the breakdown is quite serious and is difficult, then, of course, you need to be silent for a while .. In this case, the children really go on a short academic leave. If the breaking occurs smoothly, then we gradually transfer the child to lower voices. For example, if a boy sang a soprano and had a treble, and then the voice drops gradually, then the child moves into the alto. Usually this process goes pretty smoothly. In girls, if they sing with the right sound extraction, and if they have the right breath, as a rule, there are no problems with “voice breaking”.

Has it ever happened that the children of your group, who are basically aimed at the classical repertoire, suddenly start going to pop vocal studios as well? Or is this basically impossible?

Here, the opposite is happening. There were times when people from various children's pop groups came to us for audition, and we even took some children into our team. It is clear that pop and classical vocals are still different directions, so it is impossible to combine them. This is also difficult for a child because of the difference in the manner of singing. I note that we are not now talking about which style of singing is better or worse. We are only talking about the fact that the directions are different, so it is almost impossible to combine them, and I think it is not necessary.

- Yulia Igorevna, please tell us about the schedule of rehearsals?

Of course, we try to stick to a single schedule, mostly our rehearsals take place in the evening. But situations are different. Of course, we are very tied to the theatrical schedule, so if the rehearsals are orchestral (for example, in the morning), then it is quite understandable that children are called to them. Or if the children are busy in the production they are also called to the performance in the schedule in which it is on the poster. Example: when the opera "Turandot" was on (there some children sing, and some children dance on stage), the children were busy literally every other day. And there's nothing you can do about it. But when the production is over, we, of course, let the children rest for a few days.

- It is clear that the choir is for children. Perhaps some organizational difficulties are connected with this?

Of course, there are certain difficulties in the organization, but I want to emphasize that despite the fact that the team is for children, I immediately try to accustom them to the fact that they are already adults. Since they came to the theater, they are already artists, which means that they already have a certain share of responsibility. I try to educate them in such a way that here they should behave like adult artists. Firstly, it is connected with going on stage, with scenery, discipline. That is, with great responsibility. Because when you go out somewhere in a kindergarten or at school to read a poem it is one thing, and quite another when you go on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. In any case it is very binding. That is why they should feel like adult artists, feel their responsibility for every movement made and word sung and it seems to me that even small children at the age of 6-7 are already becoming adults very quickly and, in general, they feel their responsibility.

- Are there any restrictions on food before a rehearsal, a performance? Can they all eat?

Of course, in ordinary life they eat everything, like ordinary children. Although during performances, when the theater feeds them (children are given special coupons for which they can take something from food for a certain amount). These days, I specifically go to the buffet and warn that the children have a performance today, so I categorically forbid the sale of soda and chips to children. As you know this is what children usually buy at the buffet instead of taking, for example, a full meal.

This is bad for the ligaments from the chips there is a sore throat, hoarseness, and carbonated sweet water is very “planting the voice” the voice becomes hoarse.

- In addition to serious everyday life, there are probably some funny cases?

Yes, of course, there are many such cases. For example, during the opera "Boris Godunov" children take part in the scene at St. Basil's Cathedral (where they sing with the holy fool). In this scene, children play beggars, ragamuffins, and they are made up accordingly dressed in special rags, they draw bruises, abrasions, characteristic pallor And before this exit there is a scene of a completely different nature a ball at Marina Mnishek, a scene by the fountain with very magnificent solemn dresses depicting the richest audience, and a beautiful fountain is installed in the middle of the stage. Before the beginning of this picture, the curtain, of course, is closed so the children, already dressed in ragamuffins for their next exit, went backstage they are interested in seeing - there is a real fountain here! And so they ran up to the fountain in their costumes of the hungry and began to splash in the water, to catch something from there and the stage director, not seeing the children on the stage, gave the command to raise the curtain And just imagine the curtain opens - the secular audience, the expensive decoration of the palace, everything is sparkling and there are about ten hungry people washing and splashing in this fountain.. it was very funny

- I wonder if a make-up artist is also allocated for children?

Necessarily and make-up artists and dressers. Everything is like adults. They make up in a special way, help them dress, figure out the costume. The dressers, of course, make sure that all the children are ready to go for the right scene. Moreover! When a new production comes out, each of them has their own costume sewn, the children go to try on, this is also always very interesting for them.

- Were there cases when soloists grew out of the children's choir?

Certainly! It is quite natural - the children who start working here are very attached to the theater. After all, the theater is very attractive. And, as a rule, many children who have come here try to link their fate with music in the future. Therefore, many then enter music schools, the conservatory, the institute Children here sing very well, have the opportunity to listen to the leading opera stars, sing with them in one performance, and learn from them on stage. Someone from the children's choir then goes to the adult choir, someone becomes a soloist, someone becomes an orchestra artist In general, many return to the theater one way or another, or simply connect their lives with music.

- Until what age can a young artist sing in a children's choir?

Up to 17-18 years old. If there is a desire to sing further, already in an adult choir, then in this case, of course, they need to go through the qualifying competition for an adult choir, just like everyone else. To enroll in an adult choir, you must already have a musical education. At least a music school. And you can enter an adult choir somewhere from the age of 20.

- Probably, all members of the children's choir receive a musical education in music schools?

Of course, definitely. Almost all children go to music schools. After all, this is a theater, not a music school. The choir is an absolutely concert group and, of course, such subjects as solfeggio, rhythm, harmony we do not have in the program Naturally, children should study at a music school, and it is very good when they study there.

- As far as I know, you yourself also sang in the choir of the Bolshoi Theater as a child?

Yes, for quite a long time I sang in the children's choir of the Bolshoi Theater. In addition, the director of the adult choir, Elena Uzkaya, was also an artist in the children's choir of the Bolshoi Theater as a child. For me personally, singing in a children's choir largely predetermined my future fate.

- Yulia Igorevna, are your parents musicians?

No. Although my dad is a very talented person. He plays the piano very well and improvises. He is very musical. Although he has an absolutely technical education.

- And what was your way to the profession?

I studied at the ordinary music school No. 50 in piano, then through a competition (there was a very serious competition - several rounds) I entered the children's choir of the Bolshoi Theater. Then she began to study more seriously, first entered a music school and then to the Moscow Conservatory as a choir conductor (to class of Professor Boris IvanovichKulikova, - approx. author).

The kids are busy all the time on different days different bands, you call individual ensembles to rehearse Do you personally have fixed days off?

Yes. I have one day off like in the whole theater Monday.

Interviewed by special correspondent of radio "Orpheus" Ekaterina Andreas

Julia Molchanova ( director of the children's choir at the Bolshoi Theatre.)
: "Many artists of the children's choir of the Bolshoi Theater continue to try to connect their fate with music"

Not a single large-scale opera production at the Bolshoi Theater can do without a children's choir. Radio Orpheus correspondent Ekaterina Andreas met with Yulia Molchanova, head of the children's choir at the Bolshoi Theatre.

- Yulia Igorevna, please tell us what is the history of the emergence of the children's choir at the Bolshoi Theater?

- The Children's Choir is one of the oldest groups of the Bolshoi Theatre, it is already almost 90 years old. The appearance of the children's choir falls on the years 1925-1930. Initially, it was a group of children of theater artists who took part in opera performances, because almost every opera performance has a part for the children's choir. Later, when the theater was evacuated during the Great Patriotic War, a professional creative team of the Bolshoi Theater Children's Choir was formed, and strict selection began to be made into the groups. After that, the choir received a powerful creative development, and today it is a bright strong team, which, in addition to participating in theatrical performances, now also performs in concert halls not only with the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, but also with other famous orchestras and conductors.

- That is, the children's choir is not tied only to theater performances?

- Of course, the choir is closely connected with the theater, but in addition to theatrical, it also conducts an active independent concert activity. We perform with major Moscow orchestras, we are invited to significant concerts, both in Russia and abroad. The choir has its own, solo program, with which we have repeatedly traveled abroad: to Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Japan ....

- Does the choir go on tour with the theatre?

- No not always. Since it is quite difficult to take out a children's troupe on a theatrical tour. On tour, the theater usually performs with a local children's group. To do this, I arrive in advance, and for about a week and a half I study with the local children's choir, learn the parts with them, introduce them to the performance. And by the time our theater troupe arrives, local children are already well versed in the repertoire. This is also part of my job as a choirmaster.

- How many people are employed today in the children's choir of the Bolshoi Theater?

- There are about 60 people in the choir today. It is clear that all together the guys rarely go to performances - after all, different performances require a completely different number of choir members.

- And in what composition does the team usually go on tour?

- The optimal number is 40-45 people. It doesn’t make sense to take a smaller line-up (because you need to understand that someone can get sick, someone for some reason will suddenly not be able to perform), and taking more than 45 people is also not good - this is already congestion.

- How do you solve the issue of parental permission to travel for children under 18?

- Here, of course, everything has been worked out for us for a long time. We take children abroad from the age of six. In addition to the conductor, a doctor, an inspector and an administrator must accompany the group. Of course, touring really unites the team. Whenever there is preparation for the tour and the tour itself, the children become more friendly, more independent. Although, of course, we have a very friendly team in general - the children have a common goal and idea, to which they are very touching and careful.

- And when children break their voices, do they continue to sing, or do they take a creative break?

- As you know, the process of “voice breaking” is different for everyone. We have very good phoniators in the theater, and children have the opportunity to visit them. In addition, I myself also monitor this moment very carefully, and if the breakdown is quite serious and is difficult, then, of course, you need to be silent for a while ... .. In this case, the children really go on a short academic leave. If the breaking occurs smoothly, then we gradually transfer the child to lower voices. For example, if a boy sang a soprano and had a treble, and then the voice drops gradually, then the child moves into the alto. Usually this process goes pretty smoothly. In girls, if they sing with the right sound extraction, and if they have the right breath, as a rule, there are no problems with “voice breaking”.

Has it ever happened that the children of your group, who are basically aimed at the classical repertoire, suddenly start going to pop vocal studios as well? Or is this basically impossible?

- The opposite happens here. There were times when people from various children's pop groups came to us for audition ... and we even took some children into our team. It is clear that pop and classical vocals are still different directions, so it is impossible to combine them. This is also difficult for a child - because of the difference in the manner of singing. I note that we are not now talking about which style of singing is better or worse. We are only talking about the fact that the directions are different, so it is almost impossible to combine them, and I think it is not necessary.

- Yulia Igorevna, please tell us about the schedule of rehearsals?

- Of course, we try to stick to a single schedule, mostly our rehearsals take place in the evening. But situations are different. Of course, we are very tied to the theatrical schedule, so if the rehearsals are orchestral (for example, in the morning), then it is quite understandable that children are called to them. Or if the children are busy in the production - they are also called to the performance - in the schedule in which it is on the poster. Example: when the opera "Turandot" was on (there some children sing, and some children dance on stage), the children were busy literally every other day. And there's nothing you can do about it. But when the production is over, we, of course, let the children rest for a few days.

- It is clear that the choir team is for children. Perhaps some organizational difficulties are connected with this?

- Of course, there are certain difficulties in the organization, but I want to emphasize that despite the fact that the team is for children, I immediately try to accustom them to the fact that they are already adults. Since they came to the theater, they are already artists, which means that they already have a certain share of responsibility. I try to educate them in such a way that here they should behave like adult artists. Firstly, it is connected with going on stage, with scenery, discipline. That is, with great responsibility. Because when you go out somewhere in a kindergarten or at school to read a poem - this is one thing, and quite another when you go on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. In any case, it is very binding. That is why they should feel like adult artists, feel their responsibility for every movement made and word sung ... and it seems to me that even small children at 6-7 years old are already becoming adults very quickly and, in general, they feel their responsibility.

- Are there any restrictions on food before a rehearsal, a performance? Can they all eat?

- Of course, in ordinary life they eat everything, like ordinary children. Although during performances, when the theater feeds them (children are given special coupons for which they can take something from food for a certain amount). These days, I specifically go to the buffet and warn that the children have a performance today, so I categorically forbid the sale of soda and chips to children. As you know, this is what children usually buy at the buffet instead of taking, for example, a full meal.

- It's bad for the ligaments ... chips cause a sore throat, hoarseness, and carbonated sweet water is very "planting the voice" ... the voice becomes hoarse.

- In addition to serious everyday life, there are probably some funny cases?

Yes, of course, there are many such cases. For example, during the opera "Boris Godunov" children take part in the scene at St. Basil's Cathedral (where they sing with the holy fool). In this scene, children play beggars, ragamuffins, and they are made up in an appropriate way - they dress them in special rags, draw bruises, abrasions, characteristic pallor for them ... And before this exit there is a scene of a completely different nature - a ball at Marina Mnishek, a scene by the fountain - with a very magnificent solemn dresses, depicting the richest audience, and in the middle of the stage there is a beautiful fountain. Before the beginning of this picture, the curtain, of course, is closed ... and so the children, already dressed in ragamuffins for their next exit, went backstage - after all, they are interested in seeing - there is a real fountain here! And so they ran up to the fountain in their costumes of the hungry and began to splash in the water, to catch something from there ... and the stage director, not seeing the children on the stage, gave the command to raise the curtain ... And just imagine - the curtain opens - a secular audience, expensive decoration palace, everything is sparkling… and about ten hungry men, washing and splashing in this fountain….. it was very funny…

- I wonder if a make-up artist is also allocated for children?

- Necessarily - and make-up artists and dressers. Everything is like adults. They make up in a special way, help them dress, figure out the costume. The dressers, of course, make sure that all the children are ready to go for the right scene. Moreover! When a new production comes out, each of them has their own costume sewn, the children go to try on, this is also always very interesting for them.

- Were there cases when soloists grew out of the children's choir?

- Certainly! It is quite natural - the children who start working here are very attached to the theater. After all, the theater is very attractive. And, as a rule, many children who have come here try to link their fate with music in the future. Therefore, many then enter music schools, the conservatory, the institute ... Children here sing very well, have the opportunity to listen to leading opera stars, sing with them in the same performance, learn from them on stage. Someone from the children's choir then goes to the adult choir, someone becomes a soloist, someone becomes an orchestra artist ... In general, many return to the theater one way or another, or simply connect their lives with music.

- Until what age can a young artist sing in a children's choir?

- Up to 17-18 years old. If there is a desire to sing further, already in an adult choir, then in this case, of course, they need to go through the qualifying competition for an adult choir, just like everyone else. To enroll in an adult choir, you must already have a musical education. At least a music school. And you can enter an adult choir somewhere from the age of 20.

- Probably, all members of the children's choir receive a musical education in music schools?

- Of course, definitely. Almost all children go to music schools. After all, this is a theater, not a music school. The choir is an absolutely concert group and, of course, we don’t have such subjects as solfeggio, rhythm, harmony in our program ... Naturally, children should study at a music school, and it is very good when they study there.

- As far as I know, you yourself also sang in the choir of the Bolshoi Theater as a child?

- Yes, for a long time I sang in the children's choir of the Bolshoi Theater. In addition, the director of the adult choir, Elena Uzkaya, was also an artist in the children's choir of the Bolshoi Theater as a child. For me personally, singing in a children's choir largely predetermined my future fate.

- Yulia Igorevna, are your parents musicians?

- No. Although my dad is a very talented person. He plays the piano very well and improvises. He is very musical. Although he has an absolutely technical education.

- And what was your way to the profession?

- I studied at the ordinary music school No. 50 in piano, then through a competition (there was a very serious competition - several rounds) I entered the children's choir of the Bolshoi Theater. Then she began to study more seriously, first entered a music school and then to the Moscow Conservatory as a choir conductor (to class of Professor Boris IvanovichKulikova, - approx. author).

Children are busy all the time on different days - different groups, you call individual ensembles to rehearse ... Do you personally have fixed days off?

-Yes. I have one day off - like in the whole theater - Monday.

Interviewed by special correspondent of radio "Orpheus" Ekaterina Andreas

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