Ru
EnK. Zhabinsky
Grigory Kozintzev and Kara Karaev: artistic dialogues in the “space of tragedy”
The published article is devoted to multifaceted conjugations and figuratively-semantic “call-over” of the creative activity between two outstanding artists of the 20th century – film director G. Kozintsev (1905–1973) and composer K. Karaev (1918–1982). Their joint project – the film “Don Quixote” (1957) – entered the history of world art as one of the most striking screen versions of the classic novel by M. Cervantes. After finishing work on the film, G. Kozintsev and K. Karaev were connected by friendly correspondence for 16 years, during which the urgent problems of modern art were discussed. One of the most important motives that occupied a central place in these “epistolary dialogues” was a deep comprehending of the tragic phenomenon through the prism of world literary and theatrical classics current interpretations. For both G. Kozintsev and K. Karaev, Shakespeare’s work was a truly all-embracing “space of tragedy”. The first artist staged and then filmed “Hamlet” and “King Lear”, the second composed music for several dramatic performances based on the plays of W. Shakespeare (including the famous production of the historical chronicle “King Henry The 4th”, realized by G. Tovstonogov). At the same time, other artistic concepts of the past and present could be purposefully considered through the prism of Shakespearean tragedy: from the aforementioned masterpiece by M. Cervantes and its peculiar “carrying” in literature of the late Romantic era – “Cyrano de Bergerac”, E. Rostand’s “heroic comedy” – to creative work by F. Goya and his life path (musical “The Violent Gascon”, Symphony No. 4 “Goya” by K. Karaev and F. Karaev).
Key words
tragic in art, G. Kozintsev, tragedies and historical chronicles by W. Shakespeare, K. Karaev, “Don Quixote” by M. Cervantes, “Cyrano de Bergerac” by E. Rostand, “Goya, or Painful Way of Cognition” by L. Feuchtwanger, modern interpretations of the world classics.
For citation
Zhabinsky K. Grigory Kozintzev and Kara Karaev: artistic dialogues in the “space of tragedy” // South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2022. No. 4. Pp. 39-47.
