Video: The story of a lifetime in one portrait: what secrets of the composer Mussorgsky Repin managed to capture
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The only lifetime portrait of the great composer Modest Mussorgsky was famous portrait by Ilya Repin … The artist wrote it in just 4 sessions, 10 days before the death of the composer, while he was in the hospital. Repin was able not only to photographically accurately and realistically capture the external features of the posing, but also to convey the very essence of his character. This is exactly how Mussorgsky was seen by his contemporaries, and this is how he appears now - with a proud posture, but a heavy dull look, disheveled hair and a swollen face - traces of long years of alcohol addiction.
Repin did not flatter the composer in any way - he portrayed him in a hospital gown, thrown over his underwear, with a reddish nose, clearly indicating a lip habit, with unkempt hair. Moreover, his face and posture are full of dignity and masculinity. He seems to have a presentiment of an imminent death, but is ready to accept what awaits him.
The light background, reminiscent of clouds, contrasts with the appearance of a hospital gown. From this, the atmosphere of the picture becomes even more dramatic, but not gloomy, not depressing - on the contrary, it gives the impression of grandeur and grandeur. Thanks to Repin's desire to reflect reality in all its ugly truth, this portrait is called the best and most "similar" of all the images of Mussorgsky.
The portrait conveys both the physical and mental state of the composer. The ideologist of the “Mighty Handful”, of which Mussorgsky was a member, Vladimir Stasov, was shocked by this work: “This is incredible! And just think, it was written in just four sessions! Of all those who knew Mussorgsky, there was no one who would not have been delighted with this portrait - it is so vital, so similar, so it faithfully and simply conveys the whole nature, the entire external appearance of Mussorgsky."
The painting was painted a few days before the death of the composer. And this portrait became a kind of summing up, as if it captured the history of Mussorgsky's entire life. Some critics wrote that in the eyes of the composer his music sounds indomitable and powerful in this portrait. V. Stasov's daughter recalled: "Secular in appearance, so elegant and as if superficial, Mussorgsky became his music, his unforgettable deep performance to cause such deep reflections, such deep feelings …".
Mussorgsky's interests were not limited to music - he was fond of philosophy, history, literature. But in music he managed to reach unprecedented heights. Explaining the main theme of his opera Boris Godunov, the composer wrote: “I understand the people as a great person, animated by a single idea. This is my task. I tried to solve it in the opera. " And the plan was a success - both the premiere of the opera and all subsequent performances took place in overcrowded halls. "Boris Godunov" is called the pinnacle of the composer's work, a work on a par with the masterpieces of world opera.
It's hard to say what was the decisive factor that broke his will. The composer had a chance to endure devastating reviews of music ahead of its time, the death of his mother and the death of his beloved woman, whose name he never mentioned to anyone, and the constant need for money. Despite occasional binges, he continued to create with inspiration: the Suite Pictures at an Exhibition, the operas Khovanshchina and Sorochinskaya Fair, which remained unfinished - how many more genius works could have appeared if Mussorgsky had not been taken away by death in 1943 life. The consequences of alcoholism were fatal: cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease and inflammation of the spinal cord.
The story of another portrait by Repin's brush is also interesting: Varvara Ikskul - baroness who worked as a sister of mercy
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