The article raises the problem of preserving the choreographic heritage of Marius Ivanovich Petipa in the restorations and resumptions of his ballets. The possibilities of using some recordings of Petipa’s choreography in modern stage practice are analyzed (Stepanov’s system), as well as statements of the master of classical dance about the staging process and opinions on authentic productions, renewals and reconstructions of Petipa’s ballets belonging to famous Russian choreographers and dancers (P. A. Gusev, F. V. Lopukhov, K. M. Sergeev, Yu. N. Grigorovich, etc.). The article also contains recommendations for the correct pedagogical approach to classical choreography in preparing students for performing parts in ballet performances (for example, the variation of the fairy Candide in the revival of “The Sleeping Beauty” by outstanding choreographers of the 20th century).

The article examines the period of formation of the association “Dramatic Ballet”, which existed in Moscow in the 1920s and 1930s, and, first of all, the performances created in the second half of the 1920s: “The War of Toys” to the music of F. Schumann, concert programs “Games in Dances” and “Sports Dances” (choreographer A. M. Messerer), “Ivan the Painter and Four Dandies” by Yu. S. Milyutina (choreographer N. A. Glan), “Murzilka and Mazilka” and “Mazilka Found!” for musical editing from the works of E. Grieg, A. K.Lyadova, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M. P. Mussorgsky, P. I. Tchaikovsky, R. M. Gliera (choreographer N. Bolotov), “Mischievous” to music by R. Schubert (choreographer K. Ya. Goleizovsky). The article examines the activity of the association «Dramatic Ballet» which was existing in Moscow at the 1920s–30s and first of all performances created in the second half of the 1920s. The main milestones, the principles and forms of interaction with other contemporary institutions are also represented. The basic theoretical ideas by which the teachers and choreographers working in the studio were guided are formulated. On the basis of materials of the press and memoirs the shape of the most significant statements is restored. Special attention is paid to how contemporaries perceived performances of studio. Following the results of the conducted research the author comes to a conclusion that activity of Dramatic Ballet studio had considerable impact on formation of an esthetics and the directions of search of ballet theater at the end of the 1920s–30s years. It is especially noted that from the end of studio activity a lot of things which were created there became a property of the other academic troupes.

The article observes specific features of nereid’s scene from the second act of “The Sleeping Beauty”. Based on the review of actions and expressive features, used by ballet master, the author proves the self-sufficiency and uniqueness of this fragment, which continues the tendency of Romanticism of the 19th century.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the concept of “classical heritage” in the ballet theater. During the analysis, the article examines various positions in relation to the idea of authenticity and authenticity in classical ballet. This problem is one of the most urgent, since the preservation of heritage, and to this day it seems to be of paramount importance in the art of choreography. The experience of dealing with the classical heritage has been enriched over the years and the ways in which this happened were sometimes mutually exclusive. Analyzing the various approaches of choreographers to the classical heritage and its interpretation, the author concludes that the topic of authenticity remains open to this day.

The article deals with the problems of the critical works of Akim Volynsky, written in 1913. The opposition of the ballets created by Marius Petipa and the Mikhail Fokine’s productions clearly sounded in Volynsky’s works. Volynsky repeatedly raised the question of the destructive influence of Fokine’s new plastics on the old school of classical dance in the art of ballet dancers of that period. Volynsky’s criticism accompanied all of Fokine’s 1913 premieres. At the same time, Volynsky predicted eternal life and glory for the ballet  asterpieces of Marius Petipa, in which he saw a demonstration of great spirituality and purity. The article contains quotations from the reviews of Volynsky, unknown to the general public, published in the newspaper “Birzhevye Vedomosti”.

The article is devoted to modern dance teaching methods, some educational issues and practical study of the discipline in specialized educational institutions. Modern dance is viewed as a tool to influence the process of training, educating and developing students so that they could master professional competence in the system of classical ballet dancers’ skill formation. The technical guidelines for modern choreography are largely mirrored by the corresponding principles of classical dance. The author finds similarities and ifferences between classical dance teaching methods and those of modern choreography that, in fact, achieve common learning objectives. Some details in planning and implementing training sessions are explained. A specific nature and sequence of mastering
modern dance elements in the system of ballet dancer’ skill formation are also taken into consideration.

The article is devoted to the history and conditions of the emergence in the United States of the direction of modernist painting, inspired by technical aesthetics. Precisionism united various American artists, whose subjects of paintings were urbanism and the attributes of the modern technogenic world. The article analyzes the work of M. L. Schamberg, who depicted machines, who became the first artist in this direction. His paintings conveyed the mentality of a pragmatic Puritan American. Ch. Schieler, who was also the author of numerous industrial photographs, continued Schamberg’s beginnings, in fact becoming the creator of the “precisionism” direction.

The article reveals the role of Italian impresario Domenico Barbaya in the development of opera forms in the first half of the 19th century. Although Barbaya became one of the most powerful and influential theatre managers of his time, he still remains almost forgotten historic figure. Today his outstanding skills in administration of the leading European theatres deserve proper studying. Included in important processes of theatrical life, where singers and composers were starring, he established standards of operatic performance and management that stimulated public interest to Italian opera, to the soloists and, finally, to his person. In his work, the competitive impresario effectively used all available resources of the theatre industry (infrastructure, logistics, administration), adding to them his own individual findings and solutions. According to his logic, art and business, profitability and quality of the artistic product were equally important. Introduced into empirical management practice they still retain unconditional value and are able to serve professional development of modern managers.

The article deals with the manuscript of the mid16th century, which is the album of color drawings with images of genuine small-format jewelry from the family of Bavarian dukes. Images of jewelry – pendants, chains, bracelets, necklaces, agraphs for headdresses, belt details, pendulous bag – are compared with contemporary portraits of German nobility, making clear their purpose and use cases. As far as drawings were made by the Bavarian court painter Hans Milich, Albrecht V and Anna of Bavaria (jewelry owners and the “Book”
customers) portraits painted by him also, are of particular interest. The study of this monument keeping in Bavarian state library and became accessible thanks to creation of its digital copy, helps to appraise better the role of jewelry in the costume complex of the German Renaissance.

The possibility to interpret musical compositions in multiple ways and, as a consequence, the existence of different ways of intoning (pronounce) the same composition (in other words, its semantic varying) raises the question of the limits of meaning of the given composition. There are various conditions of the existence of musical compositions: a) the conditions of the oral tradition, b) of the written one, in which the recording of the pitch and rhythmic aspects of a musical composition in their entirety has not yet been established, c) of the written tradition in full effect, not allowing additions to a composition by performers, d) of the written tradition, which reflected the musical realities of the 20th century. The wide coverage of the material assumes the use of the comparative historical method. In issues of generating of the musical meaning, it was most expedient to turn to the phenomenological-dialectical method. The author segregates the concepts of a textual and semantic invariants of a musical composition. Conclusions, which contain new provisions: a) as a semantic invariant of a composition is understood a sound image (model), which has a genre-style nature and determines all possible ways of intoning with the continuity of the oral performing tradition; b) in the music of the developed written tradition, the expansion of the range of interpretations is determined by the complex interweaving of various and even opposite genre models in a score, which, nevertheless, shaped the directions (vectors) of meanings, preventing the transition to “bad infinity.” (Refs. 15)

This article proves that due to research in the field of acoustics and development of electronic music, completely new principles, new forms, and new ideas emerged in the piano work of Tristan Murail that related to the handling of sound, interactions with time, volume, and texture. Computer technology and new knowledge in the field of acoustics became a resource that largely determined the development of the instrumental academic music in the second half of the 20th century. In this article “Works and Days” cycle and other piano compositions by Tristan Murail were analyzed through the prism of models developed in the field of electronic music and acoustics. For each analyzed model, the modes of its application were explained. The abovementioned models include those like echo and reverberation model, loop method, ring modulation, time remapping.

Very often, the concepts of musical comedy, Soviet operetta and operetta are used as synonyms in critical and journalistic texts. In musical theaters (operetta theaters, musical comedy theaters), the concepts of “operetta” and “musical comedy” do not mix. The article examines a number of characteristics of the musical and dramatic basis of the works, reveals the common and different in operetta and musical comedies. The author analyzes the production traditions, identifies trends that strengthen the position of musical comedy as a completely independent genre.

The article is dedicated to the influence of the Italian art of bel canto on the vocal melodics by M. I. Glinka. Examples from the operas «A Life for the Tsar» and «Ruslan and Lyudmila» are used to show the combination of Italian bel canto techniques with Russian song intonations. Due to this stylistic synthesis, a unique phenomenon of Russian bel canto emerged, signs of which have been preserved in Russian music for a long time.

This article is devoted to the work of Russian composer and guitar player Sergei Ivanovich Rudnev. In the introduction the status of the classical guitar is considered. Amid the growing interest in this instrument in our country, occurrence of the masters of their craft and the lack of the diversity of national repertoire leads to the emergence of examples of composing practice among performers. One of the guitar players whose composer’s styles was formed on the basis of the performing manner was S. Rudnev. The main part of the article describes the prerequisites of forming the individual composer’s style, demonstrating the influence of the leading figures of Russian seven-string guitar of the 19th century. Definitely, the main source of inspiration for the musician became the Russian song. It is shown that the language of Rudnev’s compositions was formed at the intersection of Russian musical traditions and modern performances on the classical guitar. The composer uses elements of modern performing styles in his variations such as fingerstyle and stryde. The result of his tremendous mastery of the instrument was the composer’s findings in the field of timbre, which he uses for creating the effect that highlights the national flavor (bells, imitation of folk instruments and Cossack choir). Rudnev’s compositions
are original works in which national traits are brightly expressed.

This article is dedicated to the singing of the famous Chinese composer Liu Song. His work is regarded as the background of Chinese music in the new century. The author analyzes the characteristics of the composer’s music language from the perspective of the original refraction of the Chinese folk music tradition, and establishes the characteristic theme, image and performance characteristics of the composer’s vocal works.