Mirror and shards
Once upon a time there was an evil troll. Once he made a mirror, reflected in which, everything good and beautiful disappeared, and everything insignificant and disgusting was especially striking and became even uglier.
The troll's servants wanted to get to heaven to laugh at the angels and God. But the mirror flew to the ground and shattered.
If these fragments fell into people's eyes, people from that time onward noticed only bad sides in everything. And if the fragments hit right into the heart, it turned into a piece of ice.
Boy and girl
Under the very roof - in the attic of two adjacent houses - lived a boy and a girl. They were not brother and sister, but they loved each other like relatives.
A small bush of roses grew in boxes under the windows.
In the summer, children often played among the flowers. His name was Kai, and hers was Gerda.
In winter, they loved to bask by the hearth and listen to their grandmother's stories. Grandma told them about the Snow Queen.
In the evening, Kai looked out the window - and it seemed to him that one snowflake had turned into a beautiful woman with a cold face.
But one day, one tiny fragment of the cursed mirror hit Kai in the eye, and another - right in the heart. And the roses, and the words of his grandmother, and his sweet little girlfriend Gerda now seemed funny and disgusting to him. He mimicked everyone with evil and cruelty.
Summer has passed, winter has come. Snow fell. Kai went to the square for a sleigh ride and tied his sleigh to a large sleigh with beautiful white horses harnessed to it. He could no longer untie the rope. The sleigh carried him further and further.
In the sleigh sat a slender, dazzling white woman - the Snow Queen. Both the fur coat and the hat on it were made of snow. She put the boy next to her on a large sleigh, wrapped him in her fur coat and kissed him. This kiss finally froze the boy's heart. He forgot both little Gerda and grandmother - everyone who stayed at home.
Little Gerda
Gerda decided to find the missing Kai.
The girl kissed her sleeping grandmother, put on red shoes and went down to the river. She gave her red shoes to the waves because it seemed to her that the river, in exchange for a gift, would show her the way to Kai.
Gerda got into the boat, which brought her to the large cherry orchard. Here she saw a small house.
An old woman lived in this house, who helped Gerda to get to the shore. The old woman was very lonely and wanted little Gerda to stay with her. She bewitched the girl - Gerda forgot why she set off.
And the sorceress hid the rose bushes from her flowering garden underground so that they would not remind Gerda of who she was going to look for.
But Gerda saw an artificial rose on the old lady's hat and remembered everything! She ran barefoot out of the magical garden, where it was always summer, and ran barefoot along the road. And the yard was already cold, unfriendly autumn ...
Prince and Princess
It's already covered with snow ...
The girl met a talking raven and asked if he had seen Kai.
Raven said that a very reasonable and pretty princess lives in this country.
Many suitors wooed the princess, rich and noble. But she liked the brave boy, poorly dressed. He came on foot. And he said that he had not come to the palace to woo - he just wanted to talk with the clever princess.
The crow's bride lived in the palace. She helped Gerda to get into the palace through the back staircase. However, the chosen one of the princess only looked like Kai. It turned out to be a completely different boy.
“The next day Gerda was dressed from head to toe in silk and velvet; she was offered to stay in the palace and live for her own pleasure; but Gerda only asked for a horse with a cart and boots - she wanted to immediately go in search of Kai.
She was given boots, a muff, and an elegant dress, and when she said goodbye to everyone, a new carriage made of pure gold drove up to the palace gates.
Little robber
The carriage drove through a dark forest. The robbers hiding in the forest grabbed the horses by the bridle and pulled Gerda out of the carriage.
The old robber, the chieftain, wanted to kill Gerda, but her own daughter, the little robber, bit her mother's ear:
- Give the girl to me! I will play with her! Let her give me her muff and her pretty dress, and she will sleep with me in my bed!
Gerda told the wayward girl about everything she had to endure and how much she loves Kai.
Wild pigeons, rabbits, reindeer - all these animals were the little robber's toys. She played with them in her own way - she tickled them with a knife.
Wild pigeons told Gerda that they had seen Kai - probably, he was carried away by the Snow Queen.
The reindeer volunteered to take Gerda to Lapland, the land of eternal snow and ice. The robber allowed him to leave her cave, where he languished in captivity, and the deer jumped for joy. The little robber put Gerda on it, returned her boots, and instead of a muff gave her mother's big mittens. And I also loaded up some food with me ...
Lapland and Finca
An old Lapland woman living in a small dark hut decided to help Gerda: she wrote a few words on dried cod. It was a letter to a Finnish friend of hers who knew where the Snow Queen lived.
Finca read the letter and began to conjure. She soon learned everything she needed:
- Kai really is with the Snow Queen. He is happy with everything and is sure that this is the best place on earth. And the reason for everything was the fragments of the magic mirror that sit in his eye and heart. You need to take them out, otherwise Kai will never be a real person.
- Can't you give Gerda something to cope with this evil force? The deer asked.
- Stronger than it is, I cannot make it. Can't you see how great her power is? Can't you see how people and animals serve her? After all, she walked around half the world barefoot! She should not think that we gave her strength: this strength is in her heart, her strength lies in the fact that she is a sweet, innocent child.
The deer carried Gerda to the Snow Queen so quickly that the Finnish woman did not have time to dress her.
And so poor Gerda stood without boots, without mittens in the middle of the terrible icy desert.
And here is the purpose of her journey - the palace of the Snow Queen.
Snow Queen's Palace
“The walls of the palace were covered with snowstorms, and the windows and doors were blown by violent winds. The palace had more than a hundred rooms; they were scattered at random, at the whim of the blizzards; the largest hall stretched for many, many miles. The entire palace was illuminated with bright northern lights. "
And in the middle of the deathly cold hall, Kai fiddled with sharp-pointed flat pieces of ice, wanting to make up the word "eternity" from them.
The Snow Queen told him: "Put this word down, and you will be your own master, and I will give you the whole world and new skates." But he couldn’t fold it.
Gerda entered the ice hall, saw Kai, threw herself on his neck, hugged him tightly and exclaimed:
- Kai, my dear Kai! I finally found you!
But Kai did not even move: he sat still the same calm and cold. And then Gerda burst into tears: hot tears fell on Kai's chest and penetrated into the very heart; they melted the ice and melted the shard of the mirror.
Kai looked at Gerda and suddenly burst into tears. He cried so hard that a second shard rolled out of his eye. Finally, the boy recognized Gerda:
- Gerda! Dear Gerda! Where have you been? And where have I been myself? How cold it is here! How deserted these huge halls are!
Gerda laughed and cried with joy. “Even the ice floes began to dance, and when they got tired, they settled down so that they formed the very word that the Snow Queen ordered Kai to lay down. For this word, she promised to give him freedom, the whole world and new skates. "
Kai and Gerda joined hands and left the palace.
The deer and his deer friend took them to the borders of Lapland.
The little robber rode out to meet them. How she has grown!
Kai and Gerda told her everything.
“Kai and Gerda, holding hands, went their own way. Spring greeted them everywhere: flowers bloomed, grass turned green.
Here is my hometown, home! Walking through the door, they noticed that they had grown and become adults. But the roses were still blooming, and my grandmother sat in the sun and read the Gospel aloud: "If you are not like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!"
The writer Hans Christian Andersen did not position himself as a children's storyteller, because philosophical motives are often found in his stories. Therefore, the genius of literature declared that he wrote not for little boys and girls, but for adults.
The manuscripts of this talented person are known by heart almost all over the world, because it was he who invented "", "", "", "Wild Swans" and "The Princess and the Pea". And the tale of a cold-hearted ruler, of a brave one and of Kai, who found himself in the palaces, became the longest work of the writer.
History of creation
The work appeared in bookstores in the winter of December 21, 1844 and was included in the collection New Fairy Tales. Volume one ". Anderson's creation instantly became popular among fans of book pages, but few people knew that the writer put into the plot far from joyful motives arising from his personal experience. As the biographers of the storyteller say, Andersen never knew love in his life: he did not make a marriage proposal to the lady he liked and was not even in a romantic relationship.
A spark flared in the heart of the genius of literature when he was in love with the opera singer Jenny Lind, who accepted the writer's gifts and courtship, but gave her heart to another person. Jenny was 14 years younger than her admirer, but she still addressed him as "brother" or "child." Andersen understood that a relationship like that of a brother and sister is still better than nothing.
This woman, who gave Andersen unrequited love, became the prototype of the cold and callous Snow Queen. The singer received from Hans a fiery recognition of her feelings, but she never responded to the letter of the lover, who is not finding a place for himself a writer.
When Lind became engaged to the young pianist Otto Holshmidt, the author of the tales had the courage to look his rival in the eye. After this incident, Andersen no longer met Jenny, but felt like Kai, associating the city of Copenhagen, where the ill-fated acquaintance with the artist took place, with the boundless cold kingdom.
The Tale of the Snow Queen is popular with adults and young readers. But the guys who grew up in the Soviet Union saw the abridged manuscript, because there are religious motives in Andersen's story: because of the politics of those years, the mention of biblical stories was considered unacceptable.
Therefore, the Soviet editors removed from the story the scene where Gerda reads the prayer "Our Father" to save herself from the icy winds. There was also a mention in the original tale. Some researchers believe that with the help of the Snow Queen and Gerda, Andersen wanted to show the struggle between science and the Christian denomination.
It is noteworthy that, despite the censorship, the fairy tale gained crowds of fans, and eminent directors borrowed the plot to create films that delighted moviegoers with actors and their roles. In the 1966 film of the same name, the characters went to Vyacheslav Tsyup, and in the film "Secrets of the Snow Queen" (1986), Nina Gomiashvili and Yan Puzyrevsky were reincarnated as the main characters.
Biography and plot
Kai is the main character in the fairy tale "The Snow Queen". Thanks to this character, the plot of the work develops. Kai grew up in a big city, where there are many houses and people (the author does not indicate where Kai and Gerda lived). The boy grew up and was brought up in a poor family. Kai's mom and dad loved gardening, so there was a wooden box in their attic with onions, peas, and rose bushes. The boy loved these beautiful but thorny flowers.
However, not only the plants were pleasing: in the neighborhood, in another attic room, lived a girl Gerda, whom Kai loved like his own sister. Children often went to visit each other and watered roses together. And in winter, when the plants went into hibernation, the children sat at home and listened to the tales of their old grandmother. Sometimes Kai and Gerda warmed up iron coins and applied them to the window decorated with winter patterns.
Kai had kind character traits and was a sympathetic boy, always ready to lend a helping hand. But, unfortunately, one day he became a victim of witchcraft. The fact is that the evil troll made a devilish mirror that distorts reality. Thanks to this magic item, everything good seemed evil, and everything evil acquired new frightening colors.
The disciples of the mountain troll decided to play with the mirror, and eventually their fun went to extremes: they ascended into the sky "to laugh at the angels and the Creator himself." But the magical attribute could not control itself, so it escaped from the hands of the kidnappers and fell to the ground.
The mirror shattered into millions of pieces, and the wind blew these small diamonds all over the world. Those unfortunate people who got a splinter in the eye saw the bad sides of life. If a piece of the mirror rushes into the very heart, then it will turn into a piece of ice.
Little Kai was the least fortunate: when he was sitting near bushes with roses, something hit him in the eye and pricked in his heart. Since then, the boy's character has undergone changes: he begins to laugh at his grandmother and mock Gerda. The main character no longer admires flowers, but he is attracted by the beauty of snowflakes, which have a perfect geometric shape.
One winter Kai went to the square to go sledding. Suddenly, the main character saw a beautiful woman in a snow-white suit - the Snow Queen, who chose the boy because the fragments had bewitched his heart. Kai was fascinated by the stranger and clung to her sleigh, and the queen wrapped the child in a fur coat, then kissed him, and disappeared home. Being in the arms of the owner of the icy throne, the child forgot about his parents and Gerda, who believed that her friend was still alive and went in search.
The girl had to go through fire, water and copper pipes to find Kai. Meanwhile, blue from the cold, Kai, who did not feel the frost because of the kiss of the Snow Queen, was putting together various figures from pieces of ice. The boy wanted to put together the word "eternity", then the kidnapper would have presented him with gifts. The girl melted the ice in Kai's soul with the help of tears and her favorite psalm: the boy cried and a shard fell out of his eye. When Kai and Gerda returned home, it turned out that the main characters had matured noticeably.
- The fact that book heroes are used as psychological types is no longer news. For example, in the writings of researchers there is a psychotype, and even Kai became the center of scientific works. It is said that a person who has the type of a boy from a fairy tale is afraid of feelings and does not believe in his own happiness.
- In the animated Soviet film, which was released in 1957, the drawing of the Snow Queen differs from other characters. This feature is explained by the fact that the heroine was created using the "rotoscoping" technique, which in Russia was called "eclair".
- The musical "The Snow Queen" delighted the audience on December 31, 2003. The main roles went to Quotes
“A tiny splinter hit Kai right in the heart. Now it should have turned into a piece of ice. The pain passed, but the splinter remained. "
"The Snow Queen kissed Kai again, and he forgot both Gerda, and grandmother, and all the family."
"This rose is being sharpened by a worm!"
“Look into the glass, Gerda,” he said.
Each snowflake seemed much larger under the glass than it really was, and resembled a luxurious flower or a decagonal star. It was so beautiful!
- You see how cleverly done! - said Kai. - Much more interesting than real flowers! And what precision! Not a single wrong line! Oh, if only they hadn't melted! "
Sometimes conventional statements can be refuted. It is believed that one cannot enter the same water twice, but The Story of Kai and Gerda at the Mariinsky Theater is the theater's second appeal to this opera Sergey Banevich and perhaps more successful than the first.
"COLD TOPS"
The choice of the director was already successful - Alexey Stepanyuk... Perhaps he is now one of the few directors who knows how to penetrate deep into both music and the libretto, finding hidden meanings in them, carefully and delicately treating the author's position. And Banevich's music, complex in its subtexts, complicated musical moves, concealing both the temperament and the intellectual power of the composer, required just such an interpreter tuned to the same wavelength.
A year ago, before Christmas, Stepanyuk had already staged at the Mariinsky Theater Banevich's opera "Scenes from the Life of Nikolenka Irteniev" based on the first part of the biographical trilogy Lev Tolstoy.
It was a tragic performance about the fact that a person's life path is never without loss,
that one of our very first losses is an irretrievably gone childhood, inevitably losing it, we lose a lot of things dear to us - from the voice of our mother to the joy of a ray of sun gliding on the pillow in the morning.
Libretto of "The Stories of Kai and Gerda" written Tatiana Kalinina, as it is clear to everyone, based on the "Snow Queen" Andersen... Fairy tales, a must-read for any child growing up in a more or less loving family. But Andersen, whom we are reading now, is not quite the Danish storyteller that the whole world knows. Our Russian Andersen is adapted for children's perception by translators.
The original Andersen, who was published in Russia before 1917 and can now be read in reprinted editions, is a rather tough writer with a mystery beginning. In his worldview there is both tragedy and a kind of admiration for the charms of Thanatos. However, upon a thoughtful reading, echoes of this can be found in some modern translations, remember at least "The Little Mermaid" or "Flowers of Little Ida".
The Snow Queen of the unadapted Andersen is the quintessence of indifference and the embodiment of all inhuman principles in the personality,
it is a cruel beauty, the admiration of which dooms to destruction. All of this is not found in modern translations of Andersen into Russian, but somehow there are flashes in the music of Sergei Banevich.
Of course, this terrible "chill of the peaks", as the poet wrote about another Scandinavian, Henrik Ibsen, is in the director's concept. However, it seems to split into parallel lines - if this performance is watched by children, then for them it is a fascinating fairy tale-adventure. If the “Story of Kai and Gerda” is watched by adults, for them on the stage there is a tragic story of loss and miraculous gain, the story of a lost generation (Kai and the Little Robber), which became such from a lack of love and which only love can save. Because, as the Gospel says, without love, a person is "ringing copper", cold metal with an empty sound.
The complexity of the "Stories of Kai and Gerda" by Sergei Banevich and Alexei Stepanyuk in its apparent simplicity.
But as if between the lines, at the level of intuition (and the appeal to the viewer's subconscious is traditional for the performances of Alexei Stepanyuk), the viewer goes from the particular to the general. The mirror shattered by the trolls is a global catastrophe in the Mariinsky Theater production, it is the infection of the world with the bacillus of indifference and inhumanity, when traditional values are leveled. And the world loses young hearts, which then take a lot of work to revive.
SNOW FALLS…
The third bell sounds, the lights go out and the conductor appears in the orchestra pit ( Zaurbek Gugkaev). He smiles, makes a slight bow to the audience and ... takes off his top hat - an absolutely uncharacteristic piece of clothing for conductors. This tiny detail, invented by the director, immediately sets the audience's attention to something extraordinary. In this context, the maestro is like a storyteller, because the orchestra led by him will “tell” the enchanting music of Sergei Banevich, rich in non-trivial melodies, for two hours. And Gugkaev does it elegantly and with inimitable passion.
The bulk of the performers involved in The Story of Kai and Gerda are students of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers, artists,
fostered Larisa Gergieva... Her taste, tact and ability to work with soloists are felt in the performance. In principle, the performances that have appeared on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater in recent seasons, where the students of the Academy are engaged, are all successful projects by Larisa Gergieva that are very necessary for both future “stars” and the public.
In "The Story of Kai and Gerda" there is no strict adherence to the plot of the "Snow Queen", a number of plot lines are omitted, in fact, Sergei Banevich and Tatyana Kalinina created a completely independent work based on Andersen's fairy tale. For example, they introduced a new character - the Lamplighter ( Maxim Bulatov), which seems to "coordinate" the action, giving it magic.
Scenography of the play (set designer and author of costumes Elena Orlova) - lightweight moving structures that turn the stage into a city square, where Kai ( Savva Khastaev) caught the eye of the Snow Queen, then to Grandma's house (very contagious and charming Elena Vitman), then to the camp of robbers.
And the "leitmotif" of the video is falling snow. Either prickly and ominous, now light, fluffy, cozy.
Another detail is the traditional Lappish sleigh, on which the Snow Queen appears (a charming owner of a strong voice Anna Kiknadze). On such a sleigh, the Little Robber ( Regina Rustamova, who created a very ambiguous image) escorts Gerda ( Anastasia Donets) in search of Kai.
The scene of the Little Robber and Gerda is one of the most touching in the performance. Gerda - Donets - pure, sincere and touching, at some moment in the eyes of Rustamova - Little robber, sadness slips. Sadness that she does not have such a great love in her life, saving which you can jerk without making out the path, even to the ends of the world. And she gives Gerda to accompany the brave reindeer ( Enkhbat Tuvshinjargal). Elena Orlova put on the performer of this part an almost authentic Lappish folk costume, thus, as if “humanizing” this faithful knight Gerda.
"The Story of Kai and Gerda" is a fairy tale inhabited not only by the main characters, but also by trolls, townspeople, robbers, creating a special magical atmosphere and, as always in the performances of Alexei Stepanyuk,
mimans does not have a single passing character, each of those who appear on the stage is individual, endowed with his own character.
Among them, for example, we unexpectedly see two familiar heroes - a brave tin soldier and his beloved ballerina. Their dance (choreographer of the play Ilya Ustyantsev) - as if a reminder of the tragic love story told by Andersen.
In general, the story, which began with a mirror smashed by the trolls, ends brightly and joyfully. First, the words “I love” light up on the backdrop, like Gerda's prayer, which helped her to disenchant Kai, warm his heart, and then the heroes are transported to their city, to the square.
And here everyone on the stage has a candle in their hands, and one of the final phrases of the performance becomes almost a spell: "May there be happiness in every home!" The very candle, which is sometimes invisible, but here it is quite real, Aleksey Stepanyuk likes to introduce into his performances, and here it corresponds to the light and kind music of Sergei Banevich. A candle of hope, a candle that conquers the darkness of despair and the cold of indifference and despondency. Let there be joy in every home. Let it be.
Photo: Natasha Razina, Valentin Baranovsky / Mariinsky Theater
Hans Christian Andersen ... how many children grew up on his fairy tales! And although the Danish writer is often reproached for cruelty, it is impossible to imagine the childhood of our contemporaries without Thumbelina, The Steadfast Tin Soldier or The Snow Queen. Without protecting children from fear or from tears - these integral parts of life - Andersen's tales reveal eternal truths to children. It is not surprising that the work of the great Danish storyteller attracted the attention of Sergei Petrovich Banevich, because from the first years of his creative activity he created works addressed to children: operas, musicals, ballets, many songs for children's stage.
Sergei Petrovich created the opera The Story of Kai and Gerda in 1979 (the original title was The Story of Gerda and Kai). The Afghan war began, and, according to the composer, such a plot contradicted "the official public sentiment." But maybe it is at such times that people especially need such stories, telling about the boundless power of the heart's warmth that can melt the ice of indifference and cruelty.
Creating the opera, Banevich was faithful to the main principle of his composer's work - for children he writes in an accessible way, but not simplified. Opera is dynamic enough to captivate a child. Vivid melodies characterizing the composer as a "direct heir" attract attention and are etched into the memory. Leitmotifs that are easy to remember for young listeners help track the action. But at the same time, the opera also has a deep meaning - the same one that is present in all Andersen's tales. It may not be fully understood by children, but it will certainly be understood by adults. Parents who bring their children to such a performance do not just “sit out”, waiting for the end of the children's spectacle - they also enjoy a wonderful piece, full of deep, eternal ideas.
While retaining the general outlines of Andersen's tale, the opera does not follow it exactly, for example, a character appeared in the work, which is absent in the fairy tale - the Lamplighter, acting as the narrator. It is in his mouth that a heartfelt song is put in, revealing the main idea of the opera - "Dislike kills us." In Soviet times, when the opera was being created, it was impossible to reveal the religious subtext of Andersen's fairy tale, but in Banevich it does not acquire a sugary tinge - even the happy ending is imbued with the charm of sadness. At the same time, the composer does not seek to "intimidate" the children with this "terrible fairy tale" - for example, the robbers seem not so much scary as ridiculous (the part of the Atamanshi is entrusted to the bass, which in itself cannot but seem funny), but the Snow Queen remains so, what it should be - cold and repulsive. The images of the Trolls are interpreted in the spirit of a frightening grotesque. The antithesis to negative characters is Gerda, whose party is full of soulful melodies. A special place in the drama of the opera is occupied by the song that Kai and Gerda sing in their home in Odense - in the final act, this melody helps Gerda penetrate into the Snow Queen's castle.
The premiere of the opera "The Story of Gerda and Kai" took place in 1980 at the Theater. S.M. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theater). The work did not leave the stage for many years, and the composer, thanks to the success of the opera, received an offer from the director Leonid Menaker to create the music for the film Niccolo Paganini. In 1996 Banevich created a new edition called “The Story of Kai and Gerda”. In 2009, the third edition appears - "The Story of Kai and Gerda (The Snow Queen)". In 2014, the opera entered the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater.
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