Rendering №15

The article “In Iceland, a Festival of Present andFuture” was published on April 23, 2013 in “The NY Times”. The author Steve Smith discusses how Marching members of the Icelandic National Youth Band playing in a lobby of the Harpa complex in Reykjavik. It is interesting to note that the Iceland Symphony Orchestra presented its second annual Tectonics Festival at the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center here on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Approaching historic Reykjavik by the main harbor road, every traveler will encounter Harpa, a glittering iceberg of a building designed by Olafur Eliasson and built by Henning Larsen Architects. The correspondent mentions that this visionary space ideally suits Tectonics, the brainchild of Ilan Volkov, the Iceland Symphony’s 36-year-old Israeli chief conductor and music director. The orchestra played just one concert at full strength, on Friday night in Eldborg (literally, Fire Castle), the Harpa complex’s gorgeous, acoustically stunning 1,800-seat auditorium. It is necessary to point out that Ms. Gudnadottir, a cellist and vocalist best known to ambient-music devotees, was among several guests whose careers mostly lay outside of classical music circles. Others included the violist Eyvind Kang and the vocalist Jessika Kenney, American performers whose work fuses elements of early music, Asian classical styles, black metal and improvisation; Vicki Bennett, a British artist who creates media-collage art under the name People Like Us; and Eli Keszler, an American composer, percussionist and installation artist.

It is an open secret that the festival’s principal guest was the composer Christian Wolff, the last surviving member of the so-called New York School surrounding John Cage and Morton Feldman. It is necessary to note that Some of the festival’s greatest pleasures came in witnessing Mr. Wolff’s delight as he watched two of his works determinedly undertaken by youth ensembles in Harpa’s spacious lobby: Kammerkor Suderlands in “Wobbly Music,” on Friday, and the Icelandic National Youth Band in “Burdocks,” on Saturday. Those performances and others showed the extent to which Mr. Volkov meant to celebrate Harpa by using its magnificent spaces and resources to their fullest. On Friday the Icelandic Flute Ensemble and its members’ young students set the main lobby aglow with Henry Brant’s haunting “Mass for June 16.” It is signed that later that night, and again on Friday, the Icelandic ensemble Duo Harpverk played Mr. Keszler’s “Breaker — Neum” along with one of his rattling, moaning piano-wire installations. Spread over two long nights and one well-packed day, Tectonics could feel breathless, with little time to reflect between events. Intimate recitals, a solo performance by People Like Us and a closing event that included the former Sigur Ros keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson were well filled, but audiences for the Eldborg concerts seemed woefully sparse.

The reporter makes a conclusion that any concert of modern works and premieres that draws more than a hundred listeners can’t be deemed a failure, especially in a nation whose population is a fraction of New York’s. Through it all, Mr. Volkov was tireless and omnipresent, not only conducting and performing, but also giving informal chats, moving furniture and directing traffic. I agree with the doubt which the author raises because we go not know how well the concept will travel remains to be seen. But a complex as visionary and audacious as Harpa begs for an equally bold signature event, and Tectonics fit the bill. 

Rendering №14

The article “On 75th Birthday, Legend Vysotsky’s Iconic Status Endures” was published on January 30, 2013 in “The St. Petersburg Times”. It discusses the events, which are dedicated to the 75th birthday of Vladimir Vysotsky. Alexander Bratersky notes that while not writing a single song that would praise the authorities, he wrote ballads about World War II and was a symbol of patriotism for many Russians. It is mentioned that Vysotsky’s birthday was widely marked by Russian and foreign fans over the weekend. The author points out that several concerts and exhibitions in honor of Vysotsky took place across Russia, including in Tambov, Penza, St. Petersburg and Moscow. In Rostov, fans placed a rock on the spot where they will later erect a monument to the singer. Moreover, Vysotsky’s son, Nikita, attended the opening of a museum to his father in Yekaterinburg, where locals and visitors can see the poet’s restored Mercedes, his wax statue, clothes and personal trinkets. It is interesting that Channel One showed the film “Vysotsky: Thank God I’m Alive,” which is based on a real-life episode in the artist’s life.

 It is necessary to mention that the staff of Poland’s Vladimir Vysotsky Museum in Koszalin held an international festival of documentary films and organized an exhibition of archived materials, including footage of Vysotsky rehearsing his role in “Vishnyovy Sad” and photographs from his Taganka Theater’s French tour in 1977. It is an open secret that one of the documentary films shown on Rossia 1, titled “Vladimir Vysotsky: A Letter to Warren Beatty,” shows Vysotsky appealing to the acclaimed American actor in English. The correspondent makes clear that Vysotsky, who died in 1980, has cult status in Russia. The legendary Soviet chess master Boris Spassky never crossed paths with the singer but explained his appeal the best. Vera Shirokaya explained that his songs made many people think, do they really live in the world’s best country?’ Under the influence of his songs, she started to realize that that was not the way it was. Yury Saprykin lamented in an article in Afisha magazine that the younger generation doesn’t recognize a lot of the famous quotes from the poet’s songs. 

In conclusion, it is necessary to mention that the 2011 film “Vysotsky: Thank God I’m Alive,” which collected $27.4 million in theaters but disappointed critics. It happened because the film, based on the real-life episode of Vysotsky’s clinical death in Uzbekistan during a concert, focuses more on his romantic relationships and love of racing his Mercedes than on his songs. In my opinion, Vladimir Vysotsky deserved that his birthday is celebrated. Russian people like his songs and the films with him and every year on January, 25 they remember the popular artist.

Rendering №13

The article “Commemorating Vladimir Vysotsky -Russia's best-loved bard poet” was published on January 24, 2013 in “Russia Beyond the Headlines”. It contains memories of this timeless icon and his legacy. Benjamin Hutter pays attention that today, more than 30 years since his death in 1980, Vladimir Vysotsky continues to draw crowds in Moscow. The author met his son and several other Russian performers at the Jan. 19 tribute concert at Crocus City Hall, which commemorated what would have been his 75th birthday. It is an open secret that Nikita Vysotsky did not know his father well, since he divorced and remarried the French actress Marina Vlady in 1969. It is necessary to mention that for what would have been his father’s 75th birthday, Nikita has brought together a sprinkling of famous performers to sing, reminisce and revive Vysotsky’s art on stage at Crocus City Hall. The son He recalled the first time his father made a recording, when he was still an actor at the Taganka Theatre in Moscow. However, Vysotsky’s songs were never officially permitted in the Soviet Union; he was only recognized officially as a theatre and cinema actor.The reporter makes clear that on stage, wearing a pullover, he gave a revolutionary performance of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” and he made a lasting impression on the big screen with “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed” (1979).

It is not necessary to explain that Vysotsky couldn’t make records legally but  “Even without posters and leaflets, everyone knew when and where his next underground concert would take place,” says actor Sergei Bezrukov, who played him in the film “Vysotsky, Thank You for Being Alive” (2011). Vladimir Shakhrin, leader of the group Chaif, did not discover Vysotsky through the secretly made cassettes; his father used Vysotsky’s songs to help teach him how to play guitar. The author points out that Shakhrin’s friends and he insisted that their street should be called Vysotsky Street, and they succeeded. By way of summing up, Shakhrin makes an interesting comparison: “Europe had its Beatlemania. We didn’t have the Beatles at that time – but we did have Vysotsky.” Ilja “Chjort” (a devil) Knabengof considers about Vysotsky that through his attitude and his deep, intellectual lyrics, he created Russian rock in the way it exists today. Vysotsky was the first Russian rocker. The article revealed that Vysotsky’s legacy is so profound that some see him as untouchable in terms of the heights he reached.

In conclusion the correspondent gave an opinion that the audience is also enchanted by this legacy. Moreover, this jubilee was attended by thousands of Muscovites, offering Vysotsky that which he desired above all else during his lifetime – immortality. As for me, I like Vladimir Vysotsky because he was very talented in music and cinema. The films with him are popular in our time and his songs are heard very often. He was and he is the legend for Russian people, even for us, people who had not found him alive.

Review №4

Almost Famous (2000)

Director: Cameron Crowe

Cast: Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup , Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand ,Jason Lee

Synopsis: A boy from an ordinary family with a strict mother dreams to be a great journalist. He gets a chance to work with the popular music band StillWater but to write an article he needs a permission which he has not got.

Review

The action takes place in nearly our time in the US when William, a boy dreaming to become a reporter, meets the music band StillWater and make good relation with them. By coincidence he is to accompany StillWater to make a good article. And plunging into their atmosphere he recognizes a lot of things about these men but can’t include them into the article because StillWater trust him, William can’t be honest and disturb the rule of journalist ethics. However the permission from one of the StillWater’s members William tells truth, he becomes a good journalist.

It is interesting to note that the main characters, band StillWater, live without rules, restrictions and liabilities, they just want to become famous and play good music. William is their opposition; he lives with the strict mother and dreams to be a good journalist. I think that this difference in the main characters adds originality to the film and helps to recognize pros and cons of every member of them.

The performance of the actors here is great. The men from StillWater showed the necessary style of life with specialties which are presented them as a music band without rules. Patrick Fugit was successfully in his role of William who is in search for his way in life. The actor could convey the boy’s rueful feelings, his character and doubts. The director made his work very good and the film issued interesting.

I can’t say that “Almost Famous” is one of the best films I have ever seen but anyway I like it. I like it for freedom, music, relationship, love, truth. It shows a life of ordinary people with fame and a boy with a dream. The music band helps William to make his dream real and changed in a better way.