Greetings from the Rector.

Ballet "Giselle" is rightly considered the most perfect creation of dance genius. This article describes the path to Giselle's ballerina party: from Myrta's party to the main character, various stages of performing work on the image. Ballet "Giselle" is presented as a live performance, to which it is interesting to return and live every situation, stage and dance, anew. The author compares various performing interpretations of Giselle, including the French version of the Grand Opera, and the Russian version of the Mariinsky Theatre, compares the features of the choreography, presenting them in detail, from within their own ballet practice.

The article considers one of the directions of development of contemporary dance — the Dance Theater. The author explores the main ways of developing the synthesis of artistic techniques that began in the drama theater and continued in the choreographic art. Based on the analysis of the work of P. Bausch, the author identifies the main components of the aesthetic paradigm of the Dance Theater, and considers them in application to the work of modern choreographers in Russia.

The article examines the life and work of ballerina Félicité Virginia HullinSor. A General assessment of Moscow theatrical life in the first third of the 19th century is given. The author examines the circumstances of the invitation of Hullin-Sor and her husband, the composer Fernando Sor, to Russia, to Moscow. On the basis of archival documents, the exact surname of the ballerina is determined, her contract with the Ministry of the Imperial court is analyzed, and the circumstances, dates of birth and death of the outstanding FrenchRussian ballerina Félicité Hullin are specified.

Continuation.

The research of the Italian anthropologist Noretta Nori focuses on tarantella, its history, contemporary music and choreography. She emphasizes two types of tarantella — tarantella of Cilento and tarantella of Pollino, that are both typical of the Basilicata region and of a small area of Calabria region.

The article is dedicated to A. Vaganova and observes her attitude and deep knowledge of character dance. Her interest in the development of all styles of dancing, that form ballet performance, the ability to give a good advice on the technique of character dance performance reveals Vaganova’s new littleknown side.

An analysis of the notes of the ballerina Olga Lepeshinskaya made by her during the first tour of the Soviet ballet to Japan in 1957 is the focus of this paper. “Japanese impressions” were published in three issues of the magazine “Soviet Woman” (No. 1-3, 1958). These notes describe the tour of the USSR Bolshoi Theater troupe in Tokyo and Osaka. These notes are interesting as a historical document, in addition to information about the details of the trip. The note “Japanese impressions” shows the changes that happened in the understanding of ballet by the 1960s. In particular, they demonstrate the new place of ballet in the space of Soviet everyday life as its most important part, as well as the role of ballet as an element of Soviet culture, which has been represented abroad since the mid-1950s.

The article is dedicated to one of the parts of The 10th International “Diaghilev. P.S.” Festival held in November 2019. The Festival marked two anniversaries: 110 years after Diaghilev’s “Ballets Russes” and the 130th anniversary of Vaslav Nijinsky’s birth. “Hommage à Nijinsky”, analyzed in the article, consists of four ballets created by various choreographers and features contemporary interpretations of the great dancer’s most illustrious roles.

The article is devoted to the theatrical and dance component of the work of the outstanding French composer. Little-known facts of his stage activities are highlighted, namely: the experience of his participation in theatrical performances as a dancer and mime; highlights the experiments of staging choreography by the composer. The historical role and significance of Lully as a reformer of theatrical dance is revealed; the influence of the composer’s creative activity on the development of dance genres and the interpretation of their character, including the genre of the European orchestra suite, is noted. The specifics of cooperation, due to the synthetizm of the compositor’s ideas, are revealed. The conclusion is drawn about the innovative nature of Lully’s achievements in the field of musical drama of theatrical dance, in the formation of the unity of the dramatic content of the musical staging performance.

The article is devoted to the premiere of the Opera by J. Verdi’s “Macbeth” at the Kaunas state musical theatre (December 2019). The new production of a landmark work for the composer, in which he made his first attempt to reform the Italian Opera tradition about 200 years ago, is considered in the context of a long-standing controversy about the phenomenon of “director’s opera” and methods of identifying author’s meanings based on classical musical material. The author comes to the conclusion about the undoubted artistic integrity of the performance, in which the director’s conception is based on the principles of consensus of tradition and modernity, realistic and conventional forms. Skills and productive interaction of the Director (G. Zelvis), conductor (I. Janulevicius), choreographer (A. Jankauskas), set designer (T. Khyzha) allowed the authors Kaunas productions to bring in music and plastic images own response to the challenges of the theatre of our time.

The purpose of the article is to study the history of the appearance of electric lighting in the Imperial theaters of St. Petersburg in the XIX century. Electricity was first used to light the stage of the Bolshoi (Kamenny) theater in 1849. Electric lighting of the auditorium first appeared also in this theater in 1878. The author considers the historical background used for creating a new type of lighting in the Imperial theaters of Russia, as well as various stages of this process, including the very first unrealized projects. The participants and equipment of the electric lighting system of the Bolshoi (Kamenny) theater are described in detail. The main sources of information are documents from the archives: RGIA, CGIA SPb, CGANTD SPb, RGA VMF, as well as publications in the open press. The features of the first electric lighting systems of the Imperial theaters are noted.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the piano miniature genre (such as mazurka, impromptu, song without words, humoresque, etc.), its place in the instrumental music of the 19th century. Lyrical piano miniatures in this period of time become an expression of the very essence of the romantic worldview. The most important role in the development of the piano miniature was played by the rapid improvement of the instrument itself. Over a century, the piano has come a long way, turning into a concert instrument. The pianist began to have a rich range of shades in the areas of touché, dynamics, articulation, intonation, which also stimulated the imagination of miniature composers. Among various genres of the piano miniatures (mazurka, impromptu, song without words, humoresque, etc.), a nocturne originated from the fusion of the tradition of vocal “night music” and lyric-dramatic miniatures. The first composer to approve the nocturne genre in a similar vein was the prominent Irish-Russian pianist, teacher and composer John Field. Comparing the nocturnes of Field and Chopin, the author comes to the conclusion that in the lyrical component of the creativity of the Field, he still remains at the level of everyday music making, while Chopin explores the depths of the genre, focusing on the internal component, human feelings and emotions. These two approaches, nocturne more as a form and nocturne more as an internal content, largely determined the development of the genre in Russia.

The article is devoted to the main issues of opera drama and the “historically reliable” director’s decision based on the analysis of Tatyana’s writing scene. In the introduction to the article, the relevance of the chosen topic is substantiated; the importance of the director’s interpretation of a musical work for a modern audience is proved. In the main part of the work, from the point of view of the director’s reading, the scene of Tatyana’s letter is analyzed. In conclusion, the conclusion is drawn about the complexity of the director’s decision in opera performances, the need for competent work of the director with the vocalist.

The article expounds the main prerequisites and axiomatics of the musical sign concept. As the initial semiotic definition of a sign, the one of Ch. Pierce is chosen, according to which a sign is recognized as anything that replaces something else for someone by some property or ability. The denotate of a musical sign is an emotion (music is the language of feelings). In music there are signs-icons, indexes, conventional signs and symbols. The main and most important type of sign is icon. Information in music is transmitted by co-designating different types of signs. The most important features are expounded by which one can judge introspectively about one’s own emotions and in perception about the emotions of another person. Among these features are physiological vegetative changes, changes in sensory perceptions of the external world, expressive motions, speech and its temporal, acoustic, logical and semantic characteristics. The recognition of emotions by their symptoms is also investigated. For recognition, it is essential to know the situation in which a person is located.

The article is devoted to the study of the epistolary heritage of the singer and vocal teacher of the 19th century Enrico Delle Sedie, who had a great influence on the preservation of the foundations of Belcanto in the art of Italy and France. The materials presented in the article are first introduced into the practice of Russian national musicology. Selected letters make it possible to understand the pedagogical view of the maestro on the education of singers, as well as to describe the author’s life in the context of historical and cultural events.

The term of a “post-irony” is becoming more and more influential, especially among bloggers, teenagers and hipsters. The article is devoted to phenomenon of post-irony in the context of musicology. Post-irony is understood as the reverse irony, irony which is inside out and «a new directness» allows us to take a fresh look at a number of modern musical phenomenon and at the same time highlights in a new way some of phenomenon of music of the past.

The article is devoted to the study of the performing arts of the now almost forgotten chamber singer Zoya Petrovna Lodiy. Possessing a rather modest “baseline” data, she not only raised her art to the highest level, but also took one of the first places among the founders of the national chamber singing school.

An analysis of the artist’s creative biography showed that a number of key positions can be identified that directly contributed to the construction of her successful stage career. Among them are a good starting base, orientation of vocal training, the highest professionalism, bright personality, unique performing style, etc.

An interdisciplinary approach has been taken to objectively address this issue. This allowed us to consider the activities of the singer, including through the view of modern research in the field of theory and psychology of success.

The authors conclude that a comprehensive study of the performing phenomenon of Z. P. Lodiy, which today would be a vivid example of a successful “careerist” (in the good sense of the word), could serve as a reliable guide for a new generation of musicians.