«Madrid Madrigal» or Spanish Passion in Russian Reality

Art

On December 2, the House Museum of Maria Nikolayevna Yermolova in Moscow hosted a literary and musical evening entitled “Madrigal Madrigal”.

The event was quite chamber-like, the venue was particularly atmospheric, which certainly set the mood. The performance began with a performance by Vladimir Aleksandrov. He read Kozma Prutkov’s poem “Desire to be Spanish”. Why Spain? Why does he wish to be a Spaniard? 

This country of the fiery tango and the spirit of the Duende burst into the Russian classics thanks to Alexander Pushkin, while Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol has Aksentiy Ivanovich Poprishchin, the hero of Diary of a Madman, as king of Spain. The widely acclaimed composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka travelled to Spain, where he found inspiration for his most striking works. Since then Russian music has been very much “aroused” with this country until the first half of the 20th century, when the songs “Grenada” and “Where’s the Spanish Sadness in a Cotton?” were written. by Mikhail Svetlov. In the realm of art, Russia had a rather “intimate relationship” with Spain. Vladimir Alexandrov called this influence the “Spanish virus”. “The most contagious thing in the world is love,” he paused to say. The audience then saw excerpts from scenes in the verses of The Ballad of the Mustard Seed by Vladimir Aleksandrov, inspired by the book Madrid Madrigal by Natalia Shushanian and Alexander Tolstikov. The poetess herself played the role of the Duchess Maria Caetana de Silva, while her lover Francisco Goyet was represented by the aforementioned Vladimir Aleksandrov.

Photo: Daria Bespalova

The lines were filled with Spanish passion and emotion. These experiences of the two characters, every line of their dialogues touched the soul. There was a light tragedy in the words. Staging was interrupted by musical interludes. Carina la Dulce (winner of international contests, performed under a pseudonym), a girl of unusual appearance, sang in Spanish and wore a matching costume. She was accompanied on the piano by Eleonora Teplukhina (also a prize-winner of international competitions). The melody is as passionate as the characters into whose conversation she intervened. Her mood was changing every moment, only to follow the trail. The singer’s voice was chilling. Even the song “Bésame Mucho”, familiar to every Russian ear, was played. Also during the performance, the works of Honoured Artist of Russia Felix Volosenkov could be seen in the background. His painting was also on the poster that was covering the event.

Such events allow you to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of other countries’ culture and fill you with vivid emotions. Thanks to Vladimir Aleksandrov’s speech at the beginning, interesting connections are made between works of art dedicated to Spain, inspired by it.