Any Russian/Russian speaking Caftards who feel like helping me translate this interview? Not verbatim, just a general idea. It's not just personal indulgence. (Well, not
totally...
) It's probably brilliant stuff that would enrich the Caf. I'm such a Reizen fangirl I've watched it many times even though I'm clueless.
The musical excerpts are brilliant, of course.
"Repeal reassuranes, not what they are missing. Heroes on the border! Spoilt the rape morsels along reasonable at the bull crap, proportionate, last year old wardrobe."
...so says youtube's auto translated transcription.
Maybe you've seen it or got it all by now, but someone translated it in the comments section. It seems right to me, but I'm no more of a guarantee than youtube's captions, so I asked a friend who's generally hard to please when it comes to translations & she said it was alright.
So here's the user's PticaLetit's translation:
"I first appeared on the opera stage in Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky - it was in Kharkov. In the autumn of 1921, Alexander Yakovlevich Altshuller called me and asked if I would sing Pimen in their production. They had the rest of the troupe complete already. I thought a bit and agreed.
"For the first time in my life I heard not just a sound, but a musical speech with phrases, intonations...with living words...with just the same intonation as if you speak the lyrics. What a genial truth there is in it! Since then, Mussorgsky has always been with me. Later I sang Khovanshchina and finally the part of Boris Godunov.
"When I was 13, I visited my sister at the village. I remember the old believers I saw there. Their solid gait, big beards, their dialect...The role of Dosifey was something I felt very close...The scene begins with a majestic instrumental music, just like Bach.*
"Dosifey for me is a character with huge moral power. He kept his beliefs until the end and thousands of people trusted and followed him.
"In 1924 I debuted in the former Mariinsky Theatre, and in 1928 I was offered the role of Boris."
* obligatory link!
I'd never heard Khovanshchina but am now not sure how you follow it. It's probably passé but When I am laid in earth from Dido and Aeneas remains one of my favourite pieces (despite having to spend hours studying the ground bass!) & one of the few times I don't mind Janet Baker's voice (blasphemy)?
--
--