"We are very Western today. What should I do with mine?"
Alexander Rosenbaum is convinced that a man with a guitar has stood, stands and will stand on stage for a million years. The performer actively follows modern music and new trends. Maybe that's why, according to his calculations, the fifth generation of listeners goes to his concerts. He reads online forums, recognizes the right of people not to tolerate his work, but invites all haters to his concerts. In September, the musical "Waltz-Boston" is released with songs by Rosenbaum and a hero with whom the poet has a lot in common. Shortly before the premiere, Izvestia had a conversation with the author about the play and what he was most concerned about today.
"My departure from medicine to become an artist is also a kind of foolishness"
— The idea of the musical "Waltz‑Boston" has been around for a long time, but it has only just come true. What was the impetus for starting the project right now?
— I've been thinking about a performance based on my songs for a long time. Since the days of my great friend Arkady Weiner. We wanted to make a play based only on Odessa songs. But, unfortunately, he passed away pretty soon after our invention.
And then the Red Square media group and Yandex Afisha offered me this story. Naturally, I agreed, but with certain reservations, that I would participate as much as possible and that I would fix everything that was not very close and dear to me. Premiere on September 6 at the Variety Theater. We're all worried, and I'm a little apprehensive, because everything has to be according to the rules of art. But the guys are working hard, and we still have time.
— Why is the play set in Rostov—on-Don in the 1920s? What does this city mean to you?
— That's what the screenwriter decided. I have nothing against it, because it is my favorite city after St. Petersburg on the territory of the Russian Federation. I've been friends with Rostov for a very, very, very long time. The location in this case is natural and successful.
— There will be 23 of your songs in the musical. How did you choose them, and what topics did you want to cover?
— The guys chose it themselves. I cleaned, cleaned, and offered something. I have a lot of songs, but 23 is nothing at all. It wasn't easy for them, but neither did I. In my opinion, the selection of songs is quite successful, because it covers not only the criminal theme, but also the themes of war, Cossacks, love and life in general. They made the script so that the story takes quite a long period of time. And there's such an incest of situations! It is also observed in my work. The play concerns prison, freedom, and human relationships in different situations.
— A lot of people auditioned for the role of the main character. Why choose Alexander Yatsko?
— I really appreciate Sasha as a spectator. I really like him as an actor and as a person, because it can't be otherwise. For me, a person cannot exist outside of creativity. Creativity and personality should be side by side. Sasha is a very good actor and a very good person. He approached this job judiciously and beautifully, with fervor, as Yacko can do it. He looks organically in the role of a storyteller, a wanderer, the main character who remembers his life.
Actor Alexander Yatsko
Is this character your alter ego?
— This is a collective image. I'm not that autobiographical, but every song, of course, has me, especially if the pronoun "I" exists in the song, it means there will be a part of me. Even if I sing a song on behalf of the Rusty Chest, do you understand?
— And what exactly does Yatsko's character have from you?
— Everything that happens to this young man happened to any normal kid. Love, isolation, recklessness, stupidity sometimes, which changes your life. My leaving medicine to become an artist is also a kind of fool, you know. That's what the Lord decided, and that's what I decided. Different things happen to people who absolutely didn't want to do what was happening. It's unlikely that my hero, being a medical university student, wanted to become a criminal, right? But fate decreed it.
— What difficulties did you encounter during the preparation?
— So far everything is going fine. I am watching the process and making my own adjustments, I advise you. The troupe works with a director, a choreographer, and vocal coaches. I have nothing to do with it. I'm not a director, an artist, or a vocal teacher. I am the person who wrote the works that were included in this play. An author who looks at what is happening from the outside.
— What should the audience understand after watching the musical? What kind of emotions should I leave the gym with?
"To make him enjoy himself." Everyone will find something different in these songs. Someone likes the "Duck hunt", someone will like the "Cossack Hunt", someone will find their happiness in the "Quarter". All the songs are quite well known to people. The fifth generation of people go to my concerts. That's it! Yours will be the third, or even the fourth.
And I would like people to come out first of all with pleasure, because here, unlike my concert, there is more of a show. I have a completely different story at a concert with the same songs. I invite people to my place not to a concert, but to empathize, to talk about life in its various forms and manifestations. There is a show, a musical, a musical performance designed for a wide variety of people. A completely different form of performance of my works. Don't expect my concert from this performance. These are completely different genres.
"I'm a Russian Jew, you know. That's why I write Cossack songs"
— How do you feel about the development of a new variety — collaborations with young artists, genre experiments? How interested are you in this?
— I see myself on stage only with those people who carry certain valuable things for me, and not just "I want to be a star." Russian Russian notes and issues should be heard in their works, and I need people to be thoughtful. I really love rock and roll. I can play it. And the blues, too. And jazz. Anything.
Today, all singers have the same melismatics — a la Whitney Houston. And the music is the same. My friends, it's all cool, it's all great, but give me something for this land. Imagine if Joe Cocker sang "Oh, frost, frost" all the way. Well, I would have sung it once or twice for concerts in Moscow as a compliment to the audience. And then he would sing what he sings, which he has done all his life. We are very Western today. It's just that you can't find us further west. What should I do with mine? I'm not against the West in music. I am for. Only in moderation.
— Some musicians include folklore elements in their music.
— Yes, today's young musicians are turning to the genetic, the spiritual. I'm loving it. I'm not a musicologist, not a critic. Every artist has his own audience, and that's a good thing. I just want people to understand that they live on this earth. It is very important. It's important to know who you belong to, which world you belong to, along with rock and roll, rap, and so on. But you must clearly understand and love the land you live on. Those people who live on earth, think about them in some way, in this case creatively. This is a difficult conversation.
I'm a Russian Jew, you know. That's why I write Cossack songs. Do you understand what an interesting story it is? And if I were an American Jew, like Bob Dylan, and he was Zimmerman when he was a girl, I would write spirituals and rock'n'roll. But I'm not an American Jew, I'm a Russian. Love for one's homeland is not patriotism, it is an instinct. The instinct! Either it is there, or it is not there.
For me, the steppes, the wind, and the sky are not cowboys, but Cossacks and Gypsies. Do you understand? Therefore, being very fond of country music, I can afford two country music pieces in the program as a compliment to fans of this genre. But no more than that.
It's a prop. What about the land you live on? How about without her water? How can it be without her light? How to live without her people? I don't want to talk to strangers, but I'd love to show respect to strangers by playing some kind of bluesong.
— Do you think the "poet with guitar" performance format is still available to the new generation today? Do you have a connection with him?
— A man with a guitar stood, stands and will stand on stage for a million years. And his word will be heard if it is needed. I understand what you're talking about — the term "author's song" — but any song is an author's song, because it has authors. But I don't really like that stigma. It all depends on how a person sings what they put in. That's all.
If it pushes on your pain points in your soul, in your head, in your heart, in your stomach, then everything is fine. So this person will be standing. And if not, it went in one ear and out the other. Even if a person has a guitar, a flute, or a symphony orchestra, nothing will work. Uselessly.
— It requires a certain amount of courage from the viewer to agree to such a conversation.
— And everyone chooses this for themselves. If you want to have fun, go to a party. You know, journalists keep talking to me. And I tell them: "You go to a concert once. Well, just like that. Come, take a look and listen. You'll have all the questions later." I have at least half of the deep youngsters in the hall right now. I'm telling you this as a doctor. And then the brains thicken, the heart and soul open. For what? Their genetic economy, their language, their blood, their fields, forests and vegetable gardens.
You don't start thinking about Justin Timberlake, who is very good and whom we all love, a good guy, handsome, but you start listening to Joseph Kobzon, including with a song about anxious youth, because you were born here, and at the age of 14 you didn't think about it at all. But a lot of 14-year-olds come to me. Why? Because their parents listened to my songs in their parents' car. Then they spin them in the car for their children today. And these children give birth to the next children, who are also in this car listening to my songs. Why? I don't know, ask them. Because it's probably close to them.
There are people who can't stand me. Well, just fierce hatred. And this is also normal. And that's great. So I represent something of myself. Because everyone likes a man who is nothing like himself. He doesn't touch anyone, he doesn't hurt anyone. And everyone is fine.
— Do you take criticism lightly?
— If it is correct, yes, I recognize it. I always go crazy when people worry that someone doesn't like them. Listen, what's the matter with you? That's how it should be. You can't please everyone. Well, it's indecent.
If a person says that "I can't stand Rosenbaum's songs," he has every right to do so. I welcome him and am always open to him. And I say: darling, how can I help you? Just to invite you to the concert. Come to the concert, and after the concert we'll talk. If you continue to hate me, I'll leave you alone. But come first.
"We are the last people who lived like humans"
Are you very hard on yourself?
- of course. I try to always be strict with myself. I think I can do it. If not, I am corrected by close people whom I trust. I have them, thank God.
— You have published an extensive collection of compositions united thematically: the philosophy of war, the philosophy of love, loneliness, etc. Which philosophy is closer to you personally today?
— The philosophy of summarizing life, probably. The results of what I have lived, what my country has lived, how my friends have lived, how they live today. What do people need today? This is just a summary of what happened to me, to my country, and to the people who live with me, who have lived for almost four years now.
— Do you think there are more positive or negative outcomes here?
— There are a lot of positive things. And, of course, a lot of negative things. But I'm always for the predominance of positivity, you know? As long as there is hope, as long as there is love, and as long as there is a desire to strive for the best, we live.
I really like today's youth, with whom I disagree in many ways, but I understand where the reasons are. We were exactly the same ourselves. But, on the other hand, we must not forget about our traditions, about the life of the elderly. I think we're probably the last ones who lived like humans. That's a scary phrase, isn't it? I'm explaining. Then you will have a new life. Artificial legs, hearts, livers. You don't know the taste of corn today, the one that was. Now it's all sweet, watery, one-to-one seeds, all genetically modified. The music is all genetically modified. Unfortunately. But that's not a reason to grumble. Such a life.
— Is that a reason for fear?
— No, it's just going to happen. Listen, this mobile phone has performed a miracle in 30 years, we have lived without all this. Today we can walk around the Louvre with visors. There is no reason to be afraid, it will just be a different life. Today we are drinking milk with a shelf life of eight months. I'm sorry. We are probably the last people who have lived like humans in this sense. We weren't talking on the phone. There is a good joke: the evening at the restaurant was a success — the Wi-Fi was not working. But that's no reason to grumble. That's life. These are the realities. There will be more to come. New.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
