Monumental painting of “Verdi’s Opera”

About project

My work is dedicated to the work of the great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. This is a monumental panel for the theater foyer of the Rostov Musical Theater, consisting of 3 parts - 3 Verdi’s operas: "Macbeth ", "Aida", "Rigoletto".

Verdi's work is a unique phenomenon in the history of world music. Arias from Verdi's operas were sung by ordinary people in the streets, street musicians, the lyrics of arias were written on the walls of buildings, and the "Choir of Captive Jews" from the opera "Nabucco" became the second national anthem of Italy. Tchaikovsky, who loved Verdi very much, could only dream of it, so that opera would become closer to the people, and the language of opera would become the language of the people. Verdi came from a peasant family, so his music was dedicated to the people. He was called the "Singer of Freedom", he sang the ideals of freedom and independence in his works. Verdi's work is inextricably linked with the era of the Risorgimento, with the time when Italy was fragmented and was under the yoke of Austria. The early period of creativity is especially acutely imbued with the spirit of the struggle for freedom and the liberation of the people from foreign invaders.

Macbeth

The left part of my triptych is the opera Macbeth, in which Verdi shows us the image of a usurper enslaving the people and shedding blood in order to achieve power. Often the premieres of operas of the early period ended with uprisings against the Austrian invaders. Verdi's music was imbued with a revolutionary spirit and uplifted the people.

Canvas, acrylic, 200х250 cm. 2020

Aida

The central part is dedicated to the pearl of Verdi's work - the opera "Aida". Verdi wrote the opera as a mature composer and combined the themes of the struggle for the freedom of the people, the independence of the country, gods and slaves, enslaved people and oppressors. Moreover he told the themes of human relations, raising questions about love, loyalty and betrayal. So, in the central part of my composition the main theme of Verdi's work, the theme of the revolutionary struggle for the liberation of the people, is concentrated. It was important for me to show this revolutionary spirit in my work, which permeates all of Verdi's work. Therefore, in the image of the opera of Hades I mainly show the juxtaposition of a group of slaves begging for freedom and a pharaoh, kneeling slaves and towering huge Egyptian gods. In the opera Macbeth, the blood-red Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, plotting their atrocities, are contrasted with the bloody shadows of those they killed. And Rigoletto, surrounded by bayonets aimed at him, conducts a silent dialogue with his mask of a buffoon, personifying his dark part, for which he has to pay with great grief ...

Canvas, acrylic, 300x375 cm. 2020

Rigoletto

The right part of my work is the opera Rigoletto, which belongs to the period of Verdi's work, dedicated to the themes of social inequality, the struggle of good and evil in the human’s soul. The cruelty and cynicism of the jester boomerang back to him and the permissiveness and impunity of the duke raise the eternal question: what humanity is…

Canvas, acrylic, 200x250 cm. 2020