"This is a completely different Pinocchio
Alexey Rybnikov, one of the main composers of Russian cinema, turns 80 on July 17. In recent years, he has made his film directing debut, written music for the new version of Pinocchio, is staging the super-scale Tetralogy project and has planned his schedule for the years ahead. Izvestia talked with Alexey Rybnikov right during the next rehearsal and couldn't help but be amazed at the enormity of his ideas and the productions created in front of his eyes. At the same time, we received recommendations on how to properly listen to Verdi's Requiem and Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony.
"Karabas-Barabas performed by Etush was charming"
— We are talking at the Performing Arts Center, so we almost found you at your workplace. Everyone's on vacation, but you're at work. What are you working on? And how many projects are you currently involved in at the same time?
— The center is only a few months old. It's still a young organization. Although it had worked before, it had a different name and a different structure. Now the Performing Arts Center is not only a theater, it is also a concert stage and a platform for presenting new, experimental projects. And movies can be shown. Under this roof, there is the Art of Music Orchestra, the Ariel Choir, my creative workshop, my theater, and Alexander Gradsky's team of 18 soloists who give concerts.
We are now preparing to show my "Tetralogy" in the new season. We will show two parts here, and two in the Great Hall of the Conservatory. There is a theatrical production, a movie, a concert, a choral performance, and an oratorio. All musical genres are included in this work. And for me it is very responsible, because the work took almost 40 years. And for the first time, it will be shown to the public all together, although it has been shown in parts for some years. The premiere of "Liturgy" took place in the USA back in the 90s. There was a premiere of the symphony, one part was conducted by Gergiev at the beginning of the century, then Currentzis conducted the other. And all this will come together in November.
— And what other projects are planned?
— Of course, I continue to work in the cinema. And there is a landmark project there now: a new version of Pinocchio has been made. Fans of the old Pinocchio, which is already 50 years old, are very afraid of her. They are afraid that it will not be so charming and not so well done. But I must say that this is a completely different Pinocchio. There is no competition with that. This is a different story, told in a new way. And wonderful actors, it seems to me, not inferior to those who were in that film, in terms of their skill level.
"Pinocchio" will be released on January 1, 2026, 50 years after the release of the first one. No one guessed it, but that's how Pinocchio ordered it. This is, of course, a gift to the author, because everything has changed, but the music remains, the songs are the same. The arrangements just became completely different. These are new recordings, they play differently, they have become much more modern and relevant. Although I had to finish writing the new music for an hour, and it was very interesting for me to figure it out.
— Can we say that modern children, whether they were children in 1976 or in 2026, need the same thing? Do the same melodies sink into their soul?
— You know, it's very important to me that films for children radiate kindness. And that movie radiated a lot of kindness, even Karabas-Barabas, the negative character played by Etush, was charming. And now the Karabas performed by Bondarchuk is also wonderful. And this movie also radiates kindness. A very good, kind film for modern children. They will find it more interesting than the old one, because it is shot in a modern way, with computer graphics. The main character is an entirely work of three—dimensional computer graphics. A wooden boy, but with lively eyes! Now the work continues, it is in full swing. We are all waiting with trepidation for a new hero to appear and we will see him.
— In Soviet times, and I remember it, I was born then and was little, there were a lot of musical films. Even "Pinocchio" was more of a record than a movie for me. Because the movie was rarely shown on TV, but I had a record, I listened to it all the time. There are few children's musical films now. Do you think it's important for children to watch musical films?
— We were afraid of musical films, because statistically people went to them much less than even American musical, Hollywood ones. Less than for action and adventure movies. Therefore, it was unprofitable to film such a thing — they did not shoot it. But the fact is that musical films of those times — both "Pinocchio" and "Little Red Riding Hood" — were made for television. And when Pinocchio came out on the morning of January 1, 1976, tens of millions of people watched it at once. The audience was huge, and there was an immediate reaction, which was also huge. We don't have such projects on television right now. For some reason, they don't make New Year's two-part films. And this is the format that all the people watched. The tradition is a thing of the past, there are only concerts left. And everyone was always waiting for what would be shot now for the New Year, what other film would appear. Munchausen was also shown during the winter holidays.
— It is often said that for the author his works are like children. Do you follow your works? Many people pose them, many interpret them. Do you see what kind of life they live?
— First, you invest and spend your energy to create this work, and then it lives its own destiny and begins to give you energy back. Because when people listen to your music and the music affects them, they also pour their energy into this piece. And the work lives an independent life, of course. If not, then this is a failed child.
The same "Juno and Maybe", which was written a long time ago, in the 80s, is performed very, very often. Our theater has already played it much more than a thousand times. And they send me reports from each performance, as they were accepted. Standing ovation! Young people. We travel around the country. We used to travel abroad when it was possible. When I feel this reaction after so many years, it's certainly worth a lot. It gives you the strength to do something, to work, to exist now. Although sometimes the works have a terrifying effect on the fate of the composer. If you did something wrong, you can ruin a lot. But this is a special topic for conversation.
Screening of the rock opera "Juno and Avos"
— Not so long ago, many of your tracks were removed from online platforms due to copyright infringement, and this is also a kind of life of works. Has the problem been resolved?
"I don't do that." The RAO (Russian Copyright Society. — Izvestia). A team of lawyers from RAO decided to finally understand how composer's work is paid all over the Internet. It turns out that everything is done by accident, it is unclear how. And now they're trying to figure it out somehow. It's not just me who needs this, all composers want to understand how their music is used, through which channels it is accounted for, and who pays whom. It turns out that the wrong people and organizations are being paid. Nothing reaches the composers. They started asking questions, but they don't get answers, they say it's a trade secret. So it's not my problem, it's a common problem. I think they will unravel everything in July, and it will all be on the Internet. Then the platforms will be more responsible about it. But to be honest, I'm not up to it right now. I am glad that very experienced and good lawyers are doing this. And I have enough worries of my own.
"I need the absolute quality of orchestras and conductors"
— A few years ago, you started directing films. Why only now, and not before?
— In my opinion, I am the only composer who has done this. For the whole history. Because this is not a composer's business. A completely different profession. And I didn't think that I would do it. But I needed a director who would understand what a film opera is, where music is from beginning to end and everything is subordinated to music. I won't mention the names of the directors I know, but I realized that people don't know how to do it, how to approach it. For them, musical films are movies that have musical numbers. Someone sang something, someone danced something.
But a film opera is something else altogether. And now they are giving funding, but there is no one to put it on. Well, all I have to do is go to the embrasure with my chest. Don't give up. I was filming only because I needed to capture the author's vision of Joaquin Murieta's "Liturgy of the Catechumens." Then I also recorded "War and Peace," our new play. Theatrical productions go away, disappear with time, but cinema remains.
Musical performance "Le prince Andre. Prince Andrey Bolkonsky"
Mark Zakharov and I worked together. Where are his theatrical productions? But "The very Munchausen", "An Ordinary Miracle", "The Formula of Love", "The Twelve Chairs" — all this remains. We can judge his work by the films. I concluded from this that I needed it too. And he went out onto the set. And he began to direct the production. I've had over 100 films, I've been to their venues, I've seen everything. But to lead this process myself, I can tell you, it was a very brave, reckless, irresponsible decision. But I had no choice, and I handled it with flying colors. I met the deadlines, I met the money. I was proud to show the film at the Cannes and Berlin film markets.
But such films cannot be shown in shopping malls or cinemas. It's a special genre. And now the "Liturgy of the Catechumens" will be shown, in which the film is shown in full, and the action is taking place on stage. This is a theatrical event, not a movie event. This year we will make "The Spirit of Sonora" based on Joaquin Murieta. We will also combine the theater with the big screen.
"The Liturgy of the Catechumens" 2018
Once the first experience has turned out, you can continue. But now I don't want to direct anymore, to be honest, I want to be a composer and write music.
— Do you have time for composing?
— Since I made these films and wrote the works, they need to be implemented. I can't give them to someone else, because they are very specifically written and they need to be implemented the way I see it. I'm going to release the Tetralogy now, and there will still be Joaquin Murieta, which is a few years away. And then the process of new writing will go on. I think that these loads won't hurt if you manage to do everything right. If you install the system correctly, it works by itself. And yes, I really want to write music now.
— Do you have something so large-scale in the genre of vocal, choral, opera, comparable to "War and Peace" in your work?
— Just the "Tetralogy". We have 60 people involved here. And there will be a continuation in the Great Hall of the Conservatory, there will be under 300 people. Two orchestras, a choir. The action takes place in the Great Hall, then the audience moves to the next hall, where an even larger event takes place. No one is doing this right now: there are too many headaches, too many problems to deal with, and no one even sets such tasks for themselves. It's an ambitious project that I'm looking forward to. The conductor will be from Hungary, and the soloist will also be from Hungary. There will be a Jewish chapel. In other words, it will be an international event.
The Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory
— What kind of music are you listening to now? Maybe one of the new performers?
— To be honest, I'm not listening to anything new right now. Maybe it's related to age, but I really love classical jazz performers. Classics, very selected and in selected versions. Verdi's Requiem, I only listen to Toscanini, and I can't listen to anyone else. Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony — so that there would be a Furtwangler. I need the absolute quality of orchestras and conductors to listen to the classics. I listen to and study sacred music a lot — Coptic chants, Greek. I've been wondering for a long time how a person expresses his spirituality in music. And of course, our Russian Orthodox musical tradition is very important to me.
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