"Juno and Avos" - the legend of Lenkom

For the first time the work of Mark Zakharov and Alexei Rybnikov “Juno and Avos” was shown on the stage of Lenkom (Moscow Lenin Komsomol Theater) back in 1981, but this story is still incredibly popular, and tickets for “Juno and Avos” can be obtained only with hard work.

The rock opera genre was invented in 1969 by the musicians of the British group The Pretty Things, but their idea was not very successful. A year later, the cult rock band The Who repeated their experience a little more successfully, however, rock operas had a truly resounding success on the stage and on stage. In America, the rock opera Jesus Christ - Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, literally thundered around the world and changed both the film industry itself and our perception of this art form, was released in America in 1971. In 1975, the Lenkom stage hosted the premiere of the first rock opera "Star and Death of Joaquin Murieta" written by Alexei Rybnikov. The success of the production inspired the composer and two years later he offers Mark Zakharov one more general project. Zakharov wanted to stage a performance based on the annals of “The Word about Igor’s Regiment”, but the idea did not take root. Then Andrei Voznesensky proposed, as a basis for the future performance, his new poem Avos! About the Russian count and traveler Nikolai Rezanov, who goes on a trading expedition to unknown California on two ships, Juno and Avos.

The premiere of the performance took place on July 9, 1981. In 1983, a television version of the production was recorded and not only the residents of Moscow, but the whole of Russia could see it. The second version was released in 2001, on the anniversary of the play, already in a much changed cast. Only the main role - Count Rezanov - continued to play amazing Nikolai Karachentsov. Only in 2005, 24 years after the premiere, he was replaced by Victor Rakov and Dmitry Pevtsov. in 2012, Semyon Shkalikov joined them. The three of them today take turns playing this character. The role of Conchita is occupied by Alexandra Volkova and Anna Zaikova. In the production, you can also see Alexei Skuratov, Sergey Piotrovsky, Gennady Trofimov and other theater actors.

“Juno and Avos” thundered not only in the USSR, and later in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. The international fame of the production began with the fact that in 1983 the French fashion designer Pierre Cardin brought the performance to the capital of France. After Paris, the acting troupe went, as they would say now, on a world tour, and in every country, wherever they performed, the performance was incredibly successful. Spectators of the USA, Western and Eastern Europe applauded the talent of directors and actors. It is interesting that in 2011 in Poland, by order of the government of one of the islands of New Zealand, a special one-dollar coin was issued, on one side of which are Nikolai Karachentsov and Elena Shanina (Count Rezanov and Konchita), as well as the name of the performance in Russian. Their images are always recognizable, and the song they performed a duet is well known even to those who have never seen the performance itself or its television version.

The story told in the play - the story of true love - will never become obsolete. Even after thirty years and countless performances, the actors manage to maintain the purity of feelings and anguish that were originally laid down in this beautiful but tragic story. We will not delve into the details of the plot, it is better to go and see the performance yourself. Today it is shown about 7 times a month, on the stage of Lenkom and the Estrada Theater on Bersenevskaya Embankment. Tickets are best bought in advance. If you believe the information from the official website of the Lenkom Theater, all seats on "Juno and Avos" have already been sold before the end of the year, but there are still free tickets for performances in the Estrada Theater.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru