The phrase sounds, perhaps, attractive. Lures by unusual, extraordinary, dissimilarity. Such are his internal promises. Maybe it is from the concepts of rock music, rock culture, which immediately set up a "protest wave".
But if you suddenly have to plunge into the depths and essence of the issue of rock opera, then suddenly it turns out that there is not much information and music itself, but on the contrary there is enough uncertainty and nebula.
In the top five
The term itself first appeared in the 60s of the 20th century in Europe, and is associated with Pete Townsein (England), the leader of the rock band The Who. On the cover of the album "Tommy" were written the words - rock opera.
In general, another British group used this phrase before. But since The Who's album had a good commercial success, then Townsend was assigned authorship.
Then there was "Jesus Christ - superstar" E. Webber, another rock opera album The Who, and already in 1975. in the USSR, her own rock opera Orpheus and Eurydice by A. Zhurbin was performed.
True, the genre of his work A.Zhurbin defined as a zong-opera (song-opera), but this is solely because the word rock was banned in the USSR. Such were the times. But the fact remains: the fourth rock opera was born with us. And the top five world rock operas closed the famous "Wall" of Pink Floyd.
Pro hedgehog and pro prizh ...
Recall a funny riddle: what happens if you cross it ... So the situation with the rock opera is about the same. Because by the 60s-70s, the musical history of the opera genre was 370 years old, and rock music, as a style, hardly existed for more than 20.
But apparently, rock musicians were very brave guys, and took into their own hands everything that sounded good. So it came the turn of the most conservative and academic genre: opera. Because more distant musical phenomena than opera and rock music are hard to find.
Compare, in the opera a symphony orchestra plays, the choir sings, sometimes there is a ballet, the singers on stage perform some kind of stage action and all this happens in the opera house.
And in rock music - a completely different type of vocal (not academic). Electronic (microphone) sound, electric guitars, bass guitar (the invention of rock musicians), electronic keys (organs) and a large drum set. And all rock music is designed for large, often open spaces.
Indeed, it is difficult to combine genres and therefore difficulties remain to this day.
Do you remember how it all started?
The composer A. Zhurbin has many academic works (operas, ballets, symphonies), but in 1974-75, a 30-year-old musician was actively looking for himself and decided to try his hand at a completely new genre.
This is how the rock opera Orpheus and Eurydice, staged at the opera studio at the Leningrad Conservatory, appeared. The performers were the ensemble "Singing Guitars" and soloists - A. Asadullin and I. Ponarovskaya.
The ancient Greek myth about the legendary singer Orpheus and his beloved Eurydice is used as a plot. It should be immediately noted that a serious plot basis and a high-quality literary text will become characteristic features of future Soviet and Russian rock operas.
A. Rybnikov and A. Gradsky devoted their works in this genre to the tragic events in Chile in 1973. These are "The Star and the Death of Joaquin Murrieta" (verses by P. Neruda in P. Grushko's translations) and "Stadium" - about the fate of the Chilean singer Victor Hara.
"Star" exists in the form of a vinyl album, was long in the repertoire of Lenkom M. Zakharov, a musical film was shot. "Stadium" A.Gradsky also recorded as an album on two CDs.
What happens to the Russian rock opera?
Again it is necessary to recall the "hedgehog and the snake" and state that the creation of a repertoire rock opera is a very difficult matter and requires, among other things, a great talent from the author of the music.
That is why today "old" Soviet rock operas are on the stage of the theater, including another "Juno and Avos" by A. Rybnikov, which can be called one of the best Russian (Soviet) rock operas.
What is the matter here? Rock operas are composed since the 90s. There are almost 20 of them, but again, the music must somehow manifest the talent of the composer. But this is not happening yet.
“Juno and Avos” - Hallelujah of love ... Why did we get to Earth?
There are attempts to create a rock opera based on the literary genre of fantasy, but the fantasy culture is aimed at a limited circle of listeners, and in terms of the quality of the music - there are questions.
In this respect, anecdotal rock fact is indicative: in 1995. the Gaza Strip group composed and recorded the 40-minute rock punk opera Kashchey the Immortal. And since all the musical numbers (except for one) are cover versions of well-known rock songs, the composition is of some interest in combination with a decent level of recording, the characteristic, original vocal of the performer. But if it were not for street vocabulary ...
About the works of the masters
E. Artemiev is a composer with an excellent academic school, electronic music, and then rock music is constantly in the sphere of his interests. For more than 30 years he worked on the rock opera "Crime and Punishment" (after F. Dostoevsky). In 2007, the opera is finished, but you can only get to know it on the Internet on music sites. Before the statement, the case never came.
E. Artemiev - “Crime and Punishment” - Sonya: “With faith, love, with quiet hope ...”
A. Gradsky, finally, finished a large-scale rock opera "The Master and Margarita" (after M. Bulgakov). In the opera, almost 60 characters, audio recording. But then there’s just a detective story: everyone knows that the opera is finished, the names of the performers are known (there are many very famous musical people), there are music scores (but very mean), and you can’t even find a fragment of the composition on the Internet during the day with fire.
Music lovers say that the recording of "The Master ..." can be purchased, but personally from maestro Gradsky and on terms that do not contribute to the popularization of the work.
Summing up, and a little about music records
Rock operas are often confused with musicals, and this is not the same thing. In a musical, there are usually dialogues and a very important dance (choreographic) beginning. In the rock opera - the main are vocal and vocal-ensemble beginning in conjunction with the stage action. In other words, it is necessary for the heroes to sing and act (do something).
In Russia today there is the only theater of the Rock Opera in St. Petersburg, but it still does not have its premises. The repertoire is based on the rock operatic classics: "Orpheus", "Juno", "Jesus", 2 musicals by A. Petrov and works by V. Calle, the musical director of the theater. Judging by the names, musicals in the repertoire of the theater prevail.
There are interesting music records related to rock opera:
- "Orpheus and Eurydice" entered the Guinness Book of Records as a stage work, played the maximum number of times by one team;
- B. Vivcharovsky (St. Petersburg) - the only Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, who received this title for working in a rock opera;
- "Star and Death of Joaquin Murrieta" - the only rock opera in Russia that exists in three forms accepted in world practice: an album, a play, a film;
- in honor of the Lenkom performance "Juno and Avos" in 2011. a memorial silver coin of 1 New Zealand dollar was issued.
It turns out that the creation and production of a rock opera today is an extremely complicated matter, and therefore, among Russian fans of this genre, the choice is not very large. In the meantime, it remains to recognize that the Russian (Soviet) 5 rock opera samples exist, and then you have to wait and hope.
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