the Season is in “charge” was supposed to be phenomenal on the key names and projects: sir John Eliot Gardiner, rené Jacobs, Joyce Didonato, Magdalena Kozena, Ian Bostridge, Mikhail Pletnev, the outstanding Baroque groups, Russian and foreign Symphony orchestras, music marathons, and more. Now, in a situation of post-pandemic, waiting for the audience in this very contemporary musical hall in Moscow, he changed his poster for the new season, whether to keep the conditions of his special comfort to the public? About it the General Director of the Concert hall “charge” Olga Zhukova told the Explorer, “RG”.
three and-a-half month hall “charge” is closed. Both survived the quarantine period?
Olga Zhukova: the Hall was closed to the public, but we did not stop their activities: they worked on construction, technical equipment, planning of concerts. Someone worked remotely, someone came into the hall. We completed that at the time did not have time to finish, when the hall opened in 2018. For example, many appreciated our acoustics: it is really great for live voices, solo instruments to Symphony orchestras. But in cases when it is necessary to elektrorazvodka, there were problems. Now we’re working on it, and the beginning of the season we have a big hall there will be acoustic curtains that allow the genre to expand the Billboard, to give high quality jazz concerts.
it took you to the beginning of the season technical modification in connection with the new circumstances – for example, the installation of the system, disinfecting the air?
Olga Zhukova: “charge” – a new and technologically advanced room, therefore it was equipped with air-conditioning with disinfection and ionization of the air, and the staff in the offices equipped with a special lamp. Even before the pandemic in our room was safe for the public. But due to antivirus measures, we are now set on the bar in the ticket hall walls of glass. With regard to the conditions of the beginning work in concert halls and conducting rehearsals, in the order of the Moscow Department of culture has clear requirements: all those who come into the room, have to use sanitizer, masks, gloves. This Protocol severely performed. I think this is important, because nothing is over, people continue to hurt.
At the concerts the audience will also be sitting in with gloves and masks?
Olga Zhukova: Yes, if the situation will not change dramatically. This condition will be spelled out in our requirements: the person should be in the hall to come in mask and gloves. These funds we have available, but until we decide how to organize everything. It is unlikely we will be able to offer them for free: we have only lost moneyand not make money for many months.
In that way, in economic terms resulted in these three and a half months of quarantine in “charge”?
Olga Zhukova: We’ve lost enough money, I’m not going to say it: it’s big. We continued to receive a state subsidy from the Department of culture of Moscow, but extra-budgetary income that we are earning, was not. And it is these funds, as we have spelled out the state task, are going to organize our concerts and the payment of bonuses to employees. We lost, but employees received the same salary as before the pandemic. My position on this issue is firm: people are not to blame, they should get their money. In the same way as the audience does not have to be victims: we are obliged to refund them the money for the tickets. For many of them even two-three thousand roubles can be a critical amount, especially in such a difficult time. This is our audience, and we want it then come to us in the hall.
July 1, in “charge” of the newly opened offices and began selling tickets for next season. You consider the requirement of a chess Seating?
Olga Zhukova: We sell is not yet complete hall: an average of 500 people for the concert. Waiting for the CPS will be given specific recommendations on the occupancy of the halls. If allowed to operate normally, immediately open all the seats. But the exact information will appear not earlier than August, and to keep the sale we have no way. We are the big concert hall, we have a long-term planning, and I have to catch all agree, to prepare a concert to sell tickets. The CPS supports us, understands our problems. But the point is that, as we had not thought through all the necessary measures – social distance, separation, separation of flows of people, to make people less in contact at the entrance, in the locker room, in the cafeteria, – no one in hall one in the world guarantees absolute security can not give. In “charge” at least a large space in comparison with other Moscow facilities. But what we’ve seen in the Mariinsky theatre at the opening of “Stars of the White nights” every spectator measured the temperature: at the entrance lined wild place, without any distance. But, if something happens, no one to understand the details will not be: one hundred, two hundred, five hundred people sat in the hall or, suppose a man came sick to the concert was with a patient in contact. To seal able any site. So I’m in no hurry to open the hall.
Therefore, in contrast to other Moscow halls you the poster of the new season has formed since October.
Olga Zhukova: Yes, we decided to open the international Day of music 1 October great concert Hibla Gerzmava and Alexander Knyazev, who will play the organ. But �� September we plan to hold a big charity concert for doctors. I hope the municipality will support us. The program has already formed: will be prominent Opera singers and classical musicians under the leadership of Vladimir Spivakov.
meanwhile, the poster for the third season completely changed. Will definitely be a performance by the famous Freiburg Baroque orchestra and rené Jacobs, who was at the opening of the season to perform Mozart’s Opera Cosi fan tutte?
Olga Zhukova: All projects with foreign musicians and groups we moved on to the next season and tried to carry on the mirror date. The Freiburg Baroque orchestra will perform at the opening of the next, fourth season – September 4, 2021. Tickets that were purchased for all postponed events are valid in the following year. It was important for us to keep the concerts in the playbill, so the audience still heard the outstanding musicians who were invited to us. In any case, planning this year will be very difficult. It is still unclear when the borders will open again when we will come to musicians, whether they obligatory quarantine.
How could it possibly look poster of the new season, given that a large number of projects in the “charge” was linked with Baroque music, with a reputable European teams?
Olga Zhukova: this year we are happy to accept our beautiful Russian teams. Don’t think it’s “import substitution” because many of them are not inferior to the European. Of course, we know that there is a concept of the school, performing traditions, and interesting to listen to those musicians who for many decades specialised in the Baroque repertoire. In the spring, I hope European teams will appear in the poster.
the rules of the CPS severely limits the number of musicians on stage, and “charge” stated in the third season of an exclusive project with Symphony orchestras “15 of Shostakovich’s symphonies”. Is it feasible such a project in the new environment?
Olga Zhukova: We have moved it entirely for a fourth season, to realize in today’s circumstances it is impossible. As for the teams, and their placement on the stage, the room “charge” was in a better position than others – Philharmonic or Conservatory, because we are a modern hall-transformer. The chair in our room and go down automatically, you can clean the stalls, to increase the stage that will allow musicians to keep their distance. But the issue with large Symphony orchestras hanging in the air. I’m afraid a Beethoven Symphony we will play in the hall.
Before the start of the quarantine, when already in Europe fchicosci unfolding pandemic, you had to hold the inauguration of the authority in the international format. Then it was stated dozens of performances of European organists. Now who will play the organ?
Olga Zhukova: With on we really had at the last steam locomotive: the inauguration took place on 29 February and 5 March, the mayor announced limitations. But on to this story was our salvation: we laid in autumn a lot of organ concerts, because they clearly are, even when in the room sits 500 people. And psychologically it doesn’t hurt, as, for example, the situation when the performance of the Symphony orchestra sits a third of the room. We came up with a Christmas marathon of organists, the organ run of the tour, which formed during a pandemic. Before the new year in “charge” will be the Russian organists, and from January-February in the poster appears foreign musicians.
You sell tickets to concerts that will take place in the usual format, in two parts with intermission? After all, there are options to play a one-hour program without intermission, no wardrobe, no cupboard.
Olga Zhukova: I want to see the spectators who will run for such concerts. The concert hall is a ritual, it is the atmosphere, a special mood. And the music you can listen to online. People during the pandemic have become accustomed to this format. I understand musicians all want to work! And we want to see in our hall there was music. Sometimes it seems that it was in another life, when our hall was filled with a Symphony orchestra. But human health is paramount. I’m not sure that in September people will run in halls, in theaters, and everywhere is sold out. People will go later, when you remove all restrictions, when you can come to the concert without masks, without gloves, to exhale after a day of work. The people in this room, like ours, come to relax, listen to beautiful music, not to implement a bunch of protocols, rules and requirements. Of course, to recover our market will be long and we will be even more difficult, because we only began to gain its audience, its audience. We worked only two seasons, and now we need to actually re-open to entice the public: come visit us! But I think it is very important that the leaders of theaters, halls could tell the public: don’t be afraid, we will create for you all conditions!
Obviously, this season will be unusual, even extreme. But probably we know many Russian musicians, who in other circumstances wouldn’t be in the near future in the hall of “charge”?
Olga Zhukova: Yeah, I think this season will be the support of our Russian musicians. They also were without speeches, without tour and will play now Russian square.Kah. Sure we will open new stars. Overall, a good story.
October 3. The Moscow chamber orchestra Musica Viva under control of Alexander Rudin. Soloists Dilyara Idrisova (soprano) and Maria Uspenskaya (organ, harpsichord).
October 6. Piano duets. Boris Berezovsky and Alexander Ghindin.
22 Oct. a Concert of organ music. Lada Labzina.
October 27. Russian national orchestra under Mikhail Pletnev. Soloist Timothy Chu (violin).
31 Dec. Russian national orchestra under Mikhail Pletnev. Soloist Dmitry Shishkin (piano).
