THEATER IS COMMUNICATION

Dmitry Aleksandrovich BERTMAN was born in Moscow. The list of performances staged by the director is impressive. In a little over ten years, he has released more than forty opera productions, worked in Austria and France, Germany and Canada. And, of course, in "Helikon-Opera" - a charming and hooligan theater in a good way, which Dmitry created 12 years ago, just in April. However, despite his fame and merits, Bertman is not at all inclined to build a "big, big artist" out of himself. It still shows a domestic boy, adored by his parents and not alien to humor. Even his email address begins with the word Dimochka.

THEATER - SCHOOL OF LIFE

It seems to me that before the theater imitated life, but now life imitates the theater. I think that staging performances is not work or work, it is a way of life, probably like, say, a church.

In general, actors, directors, people of art, theater are very happy people, because they do not have a monotonous job, they do what they love. They are doing idleness in fact, and for this they are paid money.

Although I do not believe that art will save the world. This is a bluff. Today's world can be saved only by money and nothing else. Another thing is what art can do today for a person? Really - to give an opportunity to rehearse some kind of life situation. Here a person comes to the theater, and if he suddenly believes that he exists on the stage, he can live a piece of some situation that will someday come to him in life, but he will already have experience. The performance is a dialogue with oneself.

It seems to me that I am now approaching a purely creative task. Now conceptual performances are very fashionable, although this fashion has already passed in the world, but, as always, it comes to our territory later. And here is the concept - the uniform. Why is the uniform yellow? This is the color of betrayal, this is a sign.

Theatrical art is a direct contact with the heart, with the soul of the viewer, bypassing the brain.

CELEBRITIES FROM CHILDHOOD

My parents took me to the theater very early. The first performance I saw, in my opinion, was two and a half years old. He was in the Moscow Youth Theater - a children's fairy tale. I said after the performance: "The fox sings badly, the wolf sings better." Mom wrote this phrase on the program. Everything, of course, comes from the family. My mother took me to the Great Hall of the Conservatory, I listened to Richter's concert as a child. I went to all the concerts of Nina Arkhipova and Elena Obraztsova. Dad played all the instruments, he was not a professional musician, but he played and composed songs.

A lot of interesting people came to our house. We first lived in a communal apartment, then in a "Khrushchev". We had a dissident company. We had records: "Eugene Onegin" with Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich (I learned this record by heart) and others. Mom said: “Listen, but you don’t really need to say that we have such records at home.” At that moment they were no longer in the country and could not be bought anywhere. And it never occurred to me that I would be lucky in life and that I would be able to work with Rostropovich, that he would conduct my performance. I could never imagine that Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya and I would be very close friends and that I would stage performances in her theatre.

I did not imagine that with Gennady Nikolaevich Rozhdestvensky, whose concerts I reviewed everything when I was still a schoolboy, we would also do a performance. I had no idea that Zara Dolukhanova, already an elderly person, would become a fan of my opera theater. Her students sing in my theatre. I had no idea that with Pokrovsky, to whom I ran secretly at rehearsals already in high school, paying three rubles, I would be able to communicate, learn from him.

I could not imagine that I would be a postgraduate student with Matvey Abramovich Osherovsky, whom I also knew from Odessa legends, and that before I left for the Odessa theater, he would give me a full briefing. I was then 21 years old.

I was lucky, I caught that generation.

ODESSA THEATER

I remember the first rehearsal in Odessa. It was very hot in the rehearsal room: the windows did not open. The whole choir came out (there were a hundred people) - and I was so scared, because it was the first rehearsal in my life with so many people. I turn, and everyone is talking - and then I stood on the table and began to conduct a rehearsal, like Kutuzov.

It took a long time before I was accepted. Although in fact my entrance to the Odessa theater was also very interesting. When I crossed the threshold, an earthquake began.

The theater was great. I remember with great love the atmosphere in the theatre. This theater introduced me to Igor Nezhny, Tanya Tulubeva, with whom I still work together. It was our first performance - "Presidential Elections".

And when I came to the theater to stage my play, Grinshpun had just left "for the war." I remember there was a play called The Golden Web. And someone did not work there, because everyone left with Grinshpun. I was asked to make an introduction to the play. I said that I did not know this operetta. Well, what to do? Something must be done, because one director is now in the theater, there is no one.

And so Ivnitsky (an amazing artist) called me to his office and said: “Dima, you see, now is such a difficult time. I can't contact Gentle, let's make a decision somehow. Maybe think of something, talk and change the scenery? No money. We don't have a forest to make the scenery."

But the artist Seryozha Vasiliev told me: “And I will play in this performance. I will make a forest." He stole a wagon with wood, and scenery for this performance was made from this wood. I remember the premiere, I remember how television filmed. I still have the cassette, and sometimes I look through it. There is a recording of interviews with artists.

HELICON

The task was not to create a theater. We put on a performance with friends from GITIS, then the next one. Then they decided not to leave. And they didn’t part, probably because, as a rule, after the performance it was pleasant to sit down to drink beer, eat duck. Everyone just wanted to be together. They began to think: what should we call our company of five people? What is the name of the theatre? We took a dictionary. We read: Helikon - a mountain in Ancient Greece, where the god Apollo met with his muses, the "solar mountain". Well, they called it "Helikon". This is a good name. Now it is no longer a mountain, but a theater.

AWARDS AND RANKS

The first title - "Honored Art Worker" - I received in Russia from Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin for the creation of the theater. I was then 30 years old. The theater was already known abroad.

Then I received an award from French President Jacques Chirac - the golden "Academic Palme" for services to the culture of France. It was very solemn. Worship there is much more pleasant than here. When I cross the border and take the first step on the territory of France, then I (besides the fact that I have an order, I am also an officer) are saluted. An officer is not a military officer, this is France's highest cultural award. For them, the children of culture are something high.

They awarded me for my work in Russia. I have done a lot of French repertoire that has never been performed here. Plus, we tour France almost every year. Our theater is probably the first in the world to play at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées (the most important theater in Paris): during the week every day Carmen, and the next week Hoffmann's Tales. We played Carmen in France more than 300 times.

We also made a very interesting project for the anniversary of St. Petersburg. The French found the manuscript, restored it, prepared all the material, paid for the scenery and costumes. And on the day of the anniversary, France made a gift - a production of the opera "Peter the Great".

Then I received the Maltese Cross for creating a musical theater in Kaliningrad. We made our branch there. There are regular, daily performances. And the embassy of the Order of Malta is located in the European part of Russia.

I think these awards are important for the theater that I run.

WISH…

My plans are related to the fact that we together did the reconstruction of the building. This is a unique project. And then we can do a lot while we are young. Historically, unfortunately, it is typical that people are given when they no longer need it.

I don't want anything else. If I came to work in someone else's theater, then, probably, I would like to climb a step higher, and then - the Bolshoi Theater. Absolutely uninteresting: have your own. Moreover, there are a lot of invitations, I put them abroad. They even offered to head the theater there. But I absolutely do not need it now and will not need it.

MY FAMILY - THEATER

When I talk to student directors, I always tell them: it's impossible to combine, it's unrealistic. Art does not tolerate competition. If I have to be in the theater before 5 am, then I will be there until 5 am. Or should I say: “Oh, I need to go home, they are waiting for me”? And there I will have a scandal, because I came late anyway, and I didn’t finish it in the theater either.

Theater is a constant communication with people, it is not working with a machine tool. This causes jealousy, because a person cannot belong to someone. And I don't regret that I don't have a family now. I breathe freely, well, I like it. I can come home when I want, I can communicate with whom I want. I belong to the theater and myself, I am an egoist.

It seems to me now that such a thing as dignity has disappeared from human life, and because of this, the theater has a great prospect of returning it at least a little bit.

In 2003, Dmitry Bertman was awarded the French National Order of the "Academic Palm Branch" (officer's degree) for his merits in the field of culture and art. In December 2003, for his contribution to the development of world culture, he was awarded the Maltese Cross and the title of Count of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Rhodes and Ecumenical Malta.

A well-known director is talking with a responsible official - he is interviewing a doctor who is not alien to the muses, Deputy Mayor of Moscow Leonid Pechatnikov. Unusual format, I read with interest. True, the question arose when the conversation turned into a toast: on what occasion did you meet? The answer was: a big gala is being prepared for the Medical Worker's Day. Dmitry Bertman is directly related to him.

On the site of the rebuilt theater "Helikon-Opera" with brilliance, there was once a Medical House with an opera studio, which was headed by his father - Alexander Semenovich.

Offer this dialogue to readers of "RG"? But we must be more honest with the truth of life: while court chronicles become cultural news, while the optimization of medicine twists the fate of many doctors and frightens individual patients ... these two say how good it is for them to live in Moscow.

The wise Vladimir Pozner came to the rescue: today, to say a kind word about power and remain shaking hands - one must have strength and courage. Yes, they think so, they work this way, they want to change our lives for the better. And most importantly, they really change it.

Reading. Are we outraged? We admire? We just work together.

Yadviga Yuferova

"Helikon-Opera". The longest building-theatrical drama. The winners are Sergei Sobyanin and Dmitry Bertman. Photo: Arkady Kolybalov / RG

Place of attraction - Moscow

Dmitry Bertman: Moscow carried out a theatrical reform. But, Leonid Mikhailovich, will it not turn out that the three years for which the new grant system was calculated will end and the grants will be taken away and only one subsidy will be left, that, they say, here we pay you the entire communal apartment, and you yourself continue to earn. We will definitely not survive, especially musical theaters, we will not be able to earn money for the maintenance of the orchestra, choir, troupe, workshops ...

Leonid Pechatnikov: Dmitry, do you have any concerns? Fears for the theatrical reform, of which we may well call ourselves co-authors? Probably, someone does not know that the main idea of ​​this reform was to make the theaters as independent as possible from officials, so that the money that the theaters received was tied to the objective indicators of their work. For a year and a half, together with directors, artistic directors of theaters, we have been developing formulas for calculating the financing of theaters so that each director, each artistic director knows how much money he will receive for his theater from the city budget. In my opinion, the Moscow government, headed by Sergei Semenovich Sobyanin, proves that theaters are a priority for the city. Despite the fact that there are a number of unsuccessful and inefficient theaters in Moscow, not a single one has been liquidated during this time. We consider it our task to think not about liquidation, but about how to resolve the issue with directors and artistic directors so that these theaters become successful. None of the theaters can say that they have reduced funding. I myself am a theatergoer and I go to Moscow theaters as a spectator, and not as an official, I myself talk with all artistic directors and study problems from the standpoint of your shop.

Dmitry Bertman: Yes, this reform had different slogans at different times, but in Moscow it was carried out in such a way as to save all the theaters, so that no one went under destruction. I remember meetings of the Council of Artistic Directors of Moscow theaters, where the position was clearly defined: to do everything to only improve the system, not to remove anything, not to cut, not to organize a battle on the ice. Your participation and assistance of the Department of Culture of the city and its head Alexander Vladimirovich Kibovsky in this process were extremely important and valuable. The work was carried out on a large scale. And in addition to the reform, the mayor of Moscow and you have made, in my opinion, a grandiose gift to all folk and honored artists.

Leonid Pechatnikov: This is the merit mainly of Sergei Semenovich. Frankly speaking, my idea was that the pension increase of 30,000 rubles should concern only people's artists who, due to their age, are physically unable to go on stage, but Sergei Semenovich added well-deserved ones. Today we can say that these people can afford to be free from some kind of work, if this work is already physically beyond their strength.

Dmitry Bertman: I remember when Sergei Semyonovich became mayor, many were afraid of the future, of possible changes. Nobody knew what would happen and how. And you know, one of our artists, who no longer worked in the theater, came and said: "It's so great that Sergei Semenovich comes as mayor. My dad was the chief conductor in Tyumen, and Sergei Semenovich constantly came to concerts." I was surprised by this, I did not see anywhere in his biography that he was fond of music. And I was also very afraid for the theater. At that time, the reconstruction of this building was going on, which caused a lot of criticism, people went out into the street, and it cost nothing for the new mayor to close the construction site, thereby earning popularity. And there was a moment when the reconstruction was suspended, I was very worried. But in the end, Sergei Semenovich himself came to us, looked and decided to build. Such personal involvement and the ability to make decisions without succumbing to outside pressure are wonderful qualities for a mayor.

Leonid Pechatnikov: He is by no means a soft-spoken and very demanding person. From his employees, from members of the government, he demands the maximum.

Dmitry Bertman: And he knows how to take a hit. It's no secret that people criticize tiles, corks, everything, but the mayor goes and does it. Does really amazing stuff. Now come out to us on Bolshaya Nikitskaya. No stretch marks, beautiful lanterns, illuminated street, cafes - beauty. And this does not go unnoticed. Recently, we corresponded with the director of the theater in Dusseldorf: "Will you be in Moscow next week? - Yes, I will. And what happened? - Then I take a ticket. Just walk around Moscow. For two days." When was this? It seems to me that the biggest conquest is that Moscow has become an attractive city. Everyone dreams of flying to Moscow to see the changes, to feel the new pulse of the city.

Leonid Pechatnikov: It seems to me that you ministers of Melpomene have nothing to complain about. Now we are taking into reconstruction both the Mayakovsky Theater and the Pushkin Theater. Sovremennik and the Reichelgauz School of Contemporary Play will start the new season in their historical buildings. The work is going on, and everything is done calmly, without hysteria. Dmitry, it is always a pleasure for me to be in your theater, in a new building. It is pleasant to realize that this theater is not just a product of building and theater technologies, but a place in the creation of which a lot of heart and soul was invested by various people. A place with a rich history. Maybe not everyone knows, but at one time in this building there was the House of Medical Worker, which I adored in my youth, the director of which was your father Alexander Semenovich Bertman. I, being a student of the First Medical Institute, went here with my friends and classmates to wonderful concerts that could not be heard in other halls. Bards famous at that time sang here, who were not allowed anywhere. Do you remember those times? Is there anything left in the theater from the Medical Worker's House?

Dmitry Bertman: Certainly! I practically grew up in this building. Went here as a child. I remember how Academician Sakharov spoke here, there was the first headquarters of Boris Yeltsin. The history is indeed rich. Many talented doctors performed at the House of Medicine. Amateur groups worked here, there was a literary creative association of doctors, a choir of veteran doctors, and the People's Opera Studio. In it, by the way, I took my first steps as a theater director. This opera studio still exists within the walls of the "Helikon-Opera" theatre.

When there is a dream

Leonid Pechatnikov: Have you ever wanted to be a doctor yourself?

Dmitry Bertman: And I think I'm a doctor. Those who deal with culture are also doctors in a sense. “The aching spirit heals the song,” said Pushkin in The Stone Guest. The human voice is a natural, divine gift. The voice says a lot about a person. When an artist comes to me for a competition and starts to sing, literally after a few notes - like after an MRI - I can tell everything about him! There is character, intelligence, and even eroticism in the voice. Everything! Voice, music, timbres of musical instruments can amazingly affect people. Leonid Mikhailovich, since we are talking about medicine: now in the press and in conversations there is information that there is a reduction and closure of psychiatric hospitals, people are afraid that patients from these clinics will take to the streets of the city. We also often read on social media that it is you who are closing hospitals and reducing beds. Forgive me for asking you this question directly, but people do talk about it.

Leonid Pechatnikov: Dmitry, I am first and foremost a doctor. I will never be able to personally cause any danger to the health of any person. And everything that I do and my colleagues do, we do, first of all, not as officials, but as doctors. As for psychiatric hospitals, this is absolutely not true. Severe psychiatric patients who pose a danger will be in the hospital, and in Moscow today there are enough hospitals of this profile to provide emergency assistance, to take the patient out of an attack of illness. But during the period of remission, that is, the absence of the manifestation of the disease, a person should be in his usual environment, under outpatient supervision. Your theater, like some other Moscow theaters, is participating in the ART THERAPY project, and you can see the results yourself. Society should help patients with a mental profile in socialization. This is also supported by foreign experience.

For example, in Canada, in Toronto, social housing for rehabilitated drug addicts is provided precisely in the city center, where museums, theaters are located and all active cultural life takes place. Precisely so that these people feel needed and can integrate into normal life under the supervision of doctors. As for the reduction of hospital beds and the closure of clinics, today medicine has taken a big step forward. If earlier, during heart surgery, the patient had to stay in the hospital for up to two months, now, a few days after endoscopic surgery without opening the chest, he goes home. This is true for both abdominal surgery and traumatology. Today, Moscow medicine is doing everything possible to ensure that the patient leaves the hospital "on his own feet" as soon as possible under the supervision of a polyclinic doctor. This is correct in every way. The whole civilized world is now following this path, and I think we are on the same road with him.

It's no secret that people criticize tiles, corks, everything, but the mayor goes further. Does really amazing stuff

Dmitry Bertman: Yes, in the ART THERAPY project we are now really working with children with oncological, narcological diseases, mental disorders, and, perhaps, for the first time, I very clearly felt the real return from art. When we say: "beauty will save the world" - it sounds good, but these are words, and when a child in front of you is fond of the theater, what happens during the preparation of the performance, and the doctors say that some drugs have been removed from him, is the real result. Guys who have been or are undergoing treatment at the Moscow Narcology Center come to us, we show them the theater, tell them how everything works here. Recently finished shooting a small feature film with their participation. Amazing guys! Wonderful, talented! In the process of our communication, their lives literally change. Someone has already decided to enter the theater school, someone has joined our team of volunteers and works in the theater. And when we talk with them, we understand that in many respects the appearance of addictions in them was due to the fact that they could not find something in life that would resonate with those around them, with loved ones, in the family, at school. And in the theater they do what is not only interesting to them, but also what, by definition, is aimed at giving joy and awakening in other people the imagination and the best impulses. The theater is changing these guys, and it seems to me that in this sense we are your colleagues.

Leonid Pechatnikov: When did you get the idea to become a theater director?

Dmitry Bertman: Straightaway. I studied music and piano since childhood. However, the loafer was terrible. It's necessary to play Czerny's etudes every day. I didn't like it very much. And my absolute pitch saved me. I started the records and took off the record by ear completely everything that the great pianists played. My teacher was very happy. But after 4 years of such training, everyone suddenly realized that, although I was playing a program, I did not know a single note. And it all started all over again. It was very painful. But I can say thank you to my mother, who is very tough, even sometimes cruelly forced me to study. I am very grateful to her for this. Because then the moment came when I enjoyed acting, and then I fell in love with the opera and already in the 5th or 6th grade I dreamed of staging performances in the opera. At the age of 16, I graduated from school, but I understood that they would not take me to any university at the directing department. He came up with a whole scheme of how to become a director: "I will go to the highest directing courses after I enter the Faculty of Philology at Moscow State University. If they don’t take me there, then I will go to the Institute of Culture to become a director of amateur theaters, and then to the Higher Directing Courses " ... In general, a lot of options and workarounds were thought out, but I was lucky - the first time I entered GITIS at the faculty of musical theater to Georgy Pavlovich Ansimov, People's Artist of the USSR. I found amazing teachers: Boris Alexandrovich Pokrovsky, Evgeny Alekseevich Akulov. I have been very lucky in my life, and now I even head this department. I can't imagine any other profession that I could do. It happened and I'm happy.

Leonid Pechatnikov: By the way, they also tried to teach me music. The experience was very bad. Previously, doctors did not carry money. Candies were sometimes worn. One of my mother's patients was, to my bad luck and misfortune, the head teacher of a nearby music school, who, in gratitude, said that she would like to take me to study music. And since my parents with great difficulty by that time bought the piano "Lira" on credit (I remembered it for the rest of my life - a polished, beautiful thing!), I was taken to an audition. True, the examination committee issued a verdict: "Your boy has perfect pitch and he needs to study the cello," but his mother retorted: "We haven't paid off the loan for the piano yet. Learn the piano for now." There was such a textbook "School of Nikolaev", I got to the French dance Rigadon. It was the pinnacle of my musical education. I could not move further. My mother could not accept this for a long time, tried to find other teachers and ultimately decided that she should teach me herself. But for this she had to learn how to play. I will never forget how my mother, coming home from work, and she worked for one and a half rates, sat down with a teacher at the piano.

Yours among yours

Dmitry Bertman: I know, Leonid Mikhailovich, that among your patients were outstanding musicians and artists - Mstislav Rostropovich, Galina Vishnevskaya. And until now, the artists know: whoever got sick - you can always turn to. How do you manage to find time for this, being also an official?

Leonid Pechatnikov: After all, I have been an official for more than seven years, and when people remember that I am also a doctor, I am incredibly pleased. This is a vacation for me. And when I conduct monthly clinical reviews with Moscow doctors, for me this is not part of the job. This kind of medical practice is a breath of fresh air. I can't imagine myself outside this profession.

Dmitry Bertman: By the way, it amazes me when I read some comments on social networks or individual publications in the media, as you get it. Many people have no idea who is in charge of medicine and the entire social sphere today. I have known you for a long time and I can say that the leader is an amazing doctor, an educated and intelligent person who is fluent in words, recites Akhmatov, Mayakovsky and Yevtushenko by heart, composes poetry himself, goes to theaters and knows firsthand what theater is.

Leonid Pechatnikov: Thanks! We have already talked about the reforms that we had to carry out in healthcare... Thank God, today we understand that we did everything right. There have never been such demographic indicators in Moscow - today we are approaching 78 years. This is a major achievement. We have achieved very serious success in reducing mortality among working age, which is very important for us. But the reforms were painful. And there were rallies, and the coffin was carried with my last name. And all this was extremely difficult for me. I had to make unpopular decisions, often involving my colleagues, many of whom I knew well. But such is fate.

Leonid Pechatnikov: What do you think: is medicine a science or an art?

Dmitry Bertman: Art.

Leonid Pechatnikov: I am also absolutely sure that this is art, using the most modern achievements of science. And to become a man of art, you still need some talents given by the Almighty. Therefore, not every person who has received a medical education and put on a white coat can be called a doctor.

Dmitry Bertman: I completely agree. If I am asked about the problems in medicine today, then let the doctors not be offended, I will say - the human factor. This is precisely the attitude to one's work that is instilled in the family, in the environment, depends on education and a sense of tact, self-confidence and one's choice. There are many examples from our theatrical life. Recently, at Pervaya Gradskaya, my deputy underwent a most complicated neurosurgical operation. Fantastically done. As they say, not for fear, but for conscience.

Leonid Pechatnikov: Is free? Didn't ask for anything?

Dmitry Bertman: Is free. Nothing.

Leonid Pechatnikov: Well, not entirely disinterested. Last year, you organized an amazing concert for the Day of the Medic just in First Gradskaya.

Dmitry Bertman: For us, such concerts are a pleasure! By the way, about medicine as an art. I was examined in the 23rd hospital and was amazed! Each room is painted in a different color. Paintings by Ruslan Khandamov hang in the corridors.

Leonid Pechatnikov: Copies, perhaps?

Dmitry Bertman: No, in the originals, as far as I know.

Leonid Pechatnikov: There is a very brave leader.

Dmitry Bertman: Elena Yurievna, who was probably presented with paintings throughout her life. She brought everything to the hospital. It's an amazing experience, it doesn't feel like a hospital.

Leonid Pechatnikov: I am sometimes called a reformer of Moscow health care - some with anger, some with understanding. Although I did not make any reform - the reform was made long before me, when health care became insurance from the budget and we had to adapt to new conditions. But can you consider yourself a reformer in your profession?

Dmitry Bertman: Fate gave me the opportunity to work in different theaters of the world, and when I come to a theater, I always look at what I like and transfer it to our theater. In the late 90s, I was doing a play in Ireland and saw that in the hall, programs were sold not by grandmothers, but by young men in tuxedos. Spectators can, for example, order a glass of champagne and it will be brought on a tray. I was told that this is the sturd system. And we made such a system at home. Among our stewards there are future doctors, musicians, and historians. They are trained in first aid and fire safety.

Leonid Pechatnikov: And tell me, are we still within the framework of the Stanislavsky system?

Dmitry Bertman: Is always! Stanislavsky's system is philosophy, the main formula. I think that this formula should be used by all people so that there is peace, happiness, joy. This is a magic formula: if it were with me, how would I behave.

Dmitry Alexandrovich Bertman was born in Moscow on October 31, 1967. In 1984, at the age of 16, he entered GITIS named after A. V. Lunacharsky (now the Russian Academy of Theater Arts, the course of the People's Artist of the USSR, Professor G. P. Ansimov), where he received the specialty of a musical theater director. Diploma work and production of the musical Renato Raschel "Turtle Day, or Marriage Idyll" (Tver Academic Drama Theater 1988). While still a student, he staged a number of musical and dramatic performances in professional theaters in Moscow, Tver, and Odessa.

Since 1994 Dmitry Bertman has been teaching at the Opera Studio in Bern (Switzerland). Conducts master classes at the Moscow State Conservatory. P. I. Tchaikovsky. Since 1996, he has been the artistic director of the workshop, and since 2003, he has been the head of the department of directing and skill of the musical theater actor at the RATI (former GITIS).

In 1997-2000, he was three times a laureate of the National Theater Award "Golden Mask" in the nomination "Best Director of Musical Theater" (for the performances "Carmen", "The Tsar's Bride", "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"). The performances and the troupe of "Helikon" also received this award in the nominations "Best Opera Performance" ("Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"), "Innovation" ("Voices of the Invisible"), "Best Opera Actress" (Natalya Zagorinskaya - Carmen, Anna Kazakova - Katerina Izmailova), "The best conductor in the opera" - (Vladimir Ponkin "Lulu"). In 2001, Dmitry Bertman headed the musical jury of the Golden Mask. In 2000, the play The Tales of Hoffmann became a laureate of the Moscow Opera Festival dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the opera in the Best Performance nomination, and Dmitry Bertman became a laureate in the Best Director nomination. In 2003, Dmitry Bertman was awarded the National French Order of Academic Palms (officer degree) for his services in the field of culture and art. In the same year, for his contribution to the development of world culture, he was awarded the Maltese Cross and the title of Count of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Ecumenical Knights of Rhodes and Malta.

In 2005, the theater award STD "The Highlight of the Season" was awarded to the performance "Dialogues of the Carmelites". In 2006, the same prize was awarded to the performance “Fallen from the Sky” based on the opera “The Tale of a Real Man” by S. S. Prokofiev. In 2005, Dmitry Bertman was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia. At the end of 2005, Dmitry Bertman became the laureate of the Prize. K. S. Stanislavsky in the nomination "Director's art" for his contribution to the development of opera directing. In 2007, Dmitry Bertman was awarded the Moscow City Literature and Art Prize for staging performances in the 2004-2006 season and a significant contribution to the musical culture of Moscow. On February 23, 2008, the President of the Republic of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, awarded D. A. Bertman the Order of the Land of St. Mary (Maarjamaa Cross), IV degree, for staging the anti-fascist opera Wallenberg by Erkki-Sven Tüir at the Estonia Theater in Tallinn. In October 2008, Dmitry Bertman was awarded the academic title of Professor of Directing and Musical Theater Actor.

By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 781 dated June 29, 2010, for his merits in the development of national culture and art, many years of fruitful activity, the artistic director of the Helikon-Opera Dmitry Aleksandrovich Bertman was awarded the Order of Friendship.

On October 23, 2011, by the decision of the VI (XX) Congress of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation, the artistic director of the Helikon-Opera theater, People's Artist of Russia Dmitry Bertman, was unanimously elected as the secretary of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation.

Awards and achievements

• Laureate of the International Prize of K. S. Stanislavsky

The theater under the direction of Bertman was awarded the Golden Mask National Prize in the following categories:

• "Best Opera Performance" ("Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" 2000)
• "Innovation" ("Voices of the Invisible" 1999)
• "Best Opera Actress" (Natalya Zagorinskaya "Carmen" 1997, Anna Kazakova "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" 2000)
• "Best Conductor in Opera" (Vladimir Ponkin "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" 2000)
• "Best Conductor in Opera" (Vladimir Ponkin "Lulu" 2002)

• In 2000, the Helikon Theater became a laureate of the Moscow Opera Festival for the 400th anniversary of the opera in the Best Performance nomination, and Dmitry Bertman became a laureate in the Best Director nomination (The Tales of Hoffmann).

• In 2003, for his contribution to the development of world culture, he was awarded the Maltese Cross and the title of Count of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Knights of Rhodes and Malta ecumenical

The creator of the theater "Helikon-Opera" is a very open and hospitable person. He willingly showed his apartment on the Arbat and told many interesting stories.

Sergey Kozlovsky

Cream walls, flowers, a huge library, photographs of famous musicians, sheet music and a chic white piano in the middle of the living room - a creative person can be seen right away. The owner has just returned from New York, but despite the time difference, he is cheerful, treats us to tea and gives us a tour of his property. From each foreign trip, Dmitry Alexandrovich tries to bring some kind of souvenir as a keepsake. In his opinion, the house should be assembled from such gizmos and memories dear to the heart. And then it will be comfortable and cozy to be in it.

Dmitry Alexandrovich, why did you like this place and how long have you been living here?
Dmitry Bertman:“Yes, for seventeen years already ... You know, Alexander Blok lived in this house, but I found out later. I was looking for some accommodation in the center, closer to the theater. My grandmother died, leaving me a small Khrushchev house at the River Station as a legacy. And I had my own odnushka in the Park of Culture area. I sold both apartments and began to consider options. It was the second one. Seeing this house, I realized that I had found what I was looking for. For some reason, I immediately felt positive energy. There is not much light in the apartment, and I am not a fan of indoor plants, but I regularly harvest pomegranates and tangerines. (Laughs.) It was a communal apartment, four families lived here, all very good people. In general, the main motivation was a confectionery store nearby - I love sweets. He resettled people, converted a four-room apartment into a three-ruble note and made repairs. For seventeen years, little has changed here, only the walls have been tinted. This kitchen set, by the way, is domestically produced, but still looks like new.”
It's probably because you're on tour all the time. Interior designers?
Dimitri: No. Ukrainian builders worked here, for whom I painted everything myself. I had to increase the area of ​​​​the kitchen - it was tiny, I wanted a spacious living room, a library where all my books could be placed. I got all this and I feel very comfortable in my house.”

Is this an old building?
Dmitry:“Yes, pre-revolutionary, and after the war three more floors were erected. Then they worked hard. The structure is good, solid, thick walls, high ceilings. I like. Then, the fact that Alexander Blok lived here pleasantly warms the soul. Nothing has been written about this, but there are still grandmothers who remember the poet. By the way, the house was scheduled for demolition, and the realtor who sold me the apartment warned me about this. But I decided to take a chance. And he did not lose: they left him.

Probably, the fact that the house is a historical heritage gave you the idea to decorate the living room in the style of the last century?
Dmitry:“No, probably, it’s still a matter of taste and personal preferences. Even then there was a fashion for high-tech, which I really dislike. It brings back memories of hotels where I spend a lot of time anyway. (The Helikon-Opera Theater gives concerts all over Europe, performs in China, Lebanon, the USA, participates in such festivals as Salzburg, French Radio in Montpellier, Ravenna, etc. - Approx. Aut.) Therefore, I wanted something it's more comfortable. The house should still be “jammed”, there should be things with a history associated with some pleasant memorable meetings. I feel a bit sorry for those people who buy installations in designer shops. This means that they do not have a picture that would come "naturally."

Do you have things with history?
Dmitry:"Certainly. Wherever you go, history is everywhere. Here, for example, hangs a metal plate. It was presented to me by the artists after the premiere of the play “Prince Igor” in Istanbul. This is an exclusive handmade item, it was made by a master. It even has an engraving. But this vessel was presented to me by the former mayor Luzhkov. And this is generally my first plate, I ate from it when I was a baby. I got an old buffet from my grandmother. She used to open it, there these piles were stored. The buffet is the most important invention of mankind, so many things fit there! And at first glance it seems very compact. I bought this watch in Sweden when I staged my first performance at the Royal Opera in Stockholm - the opera Eugene Onegin. Other memories are connected with the black grandfather clock. I bought them for a production of The Queen of Spades, where the action took place at a gambling table. The clock was part of the composition."

How did you get these antique chairs?
Dmitry:"ABOUT! This family heirloom lay in a barn in a country house in a terrible state. No one treated the chairs as antiques. It was believed that this was just junk that needed to be shaken off to the dacha. And when I was in France, I went to the Versailles Museum and saw exactly the same chairs there, one to one. I think: “Wow, but they are gathering dust in our barn.” He came, found the restorers and returned the chairs to their original form. This is a real tree. The large mirror is also antique. Previously, it stood in the country on a chest of drawers. My grandfather painted the frame with floor paint, I had to clean off this "beauty".

Have you staged plays in France?
Dmitry:“I have a lot to do with Paris. France gave "Helikon" international recognition, every year we go on tour there. My "Carmen" was on French stages about two hundred times. Paris gave me a meeting with Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich. We did Die Fledermaus together in Evian."

I noticed the notes with his autograph ...
Dmitry:"Yes. And look at the date - from the twenty-ninth to the thirtieth. We rehearsed at night."

A white piano is the decoration of your living room. How did he get to you?
Dmitry:“Imagine, there is also a curious story connected with this. I am a pianist by my first education, I graduated from a music school. And my first piano is Zarya. I loved him very much. Although my dad, who worked with me, scared me with a creaking pedal. If I played badly, he pressed it and said that the instrument was angry with me. And when we moved to live in another apartment, the workers broke the instrument during transportation. Then I bought myself a Schroeder grand piano. At one time, the composer Sergei Rachmaninov chose him for the mistress of Fyodor Chaliapin. She was the director of a children's library in Moscow and at the same time loved to play music. And I bought it from the daughter of this lady. It was a huge black piano, very beautiful, I tried to practice on it, but nothing worked. There were simple mechanics (professionals understand). So the disobedient instrument eventually had to be parted. And the Seiler brand grand piano that you see now was presented to me as a gift by the hostess herself, Frau Seiler. Madame is a terrible fan of our theatre. Traveling the world, she attended all our concerts. She also stayed in Moscow, where she also has her own business. Once I invited her home. We were sitting, drinking tea, talking, and then she went up to the wall and took a photo, I didn’t even understand why. Catching my puzzled look, Frau Seiler remarked: “Don't worry, I'm just setting up my camera.” And after a while they called me and said that a package had arrived from Germany. I was away, said: "Leave it downstairs, at the concierge." They say: "It's impossible, it's too big." When the drawer was opened, it turned out that there was a beautiful piano, the same color as the wallpaper in my room. It was Madame Seiler who gave me such a gift. Later, she herself called and asked that they not touch the instrument yet - a master from Germany would come for the first tuning. It's a great instrument and I still play it to this day. When friends come, we sing."

A fireplace for creating a chamber atmosphere is also very handy ...
Dmitry:“Having a fireplace in my house was my childhood dream. Although it is not wood-burning, but electric, all the same, sitting next to it, as if you feel warm. It becomes very comfortable. There is a large candle next to the fireplace. When I bought it, I asked the seller: “How long will it burn?” He laughed: “Enough for your life.” I used to light it often, but now I save it.

In the best traditions of antiquity, you have a ceremonial portrait of the owner of the house hanging on the wall ...
Dmitry:“I brought this portrait from Lebanon. In fact, it does not depict me at all, but some unknown person. Although friends say that a certain similarity between us is visible. My portrait (albeit a child's) is also available. It was once painted by the artist Dmitry Ikonnikov and presented to me seven years ago. My paintings are selected spontaneously, not for the design of the apartment. The picture is such a powerful energy! I don’t understand how it’s possible to hang some kind of IKEA crap in the place where the “energy transmitter” should be? No, I think the house should take shape."

Do you have a favorite place here?
Dmitry:“Probably the library. I love to read, I have a lot of rare books. Now, anything can be downloaded from the Internet. But flipping through the pages of a book is a completely different experience. Here I keep notes, claviers. I have a lot of old ones. Once, as a student, I bought them in a store on Neglinnaya Street for mere pennies. These are sketches for my performances. Photos and portraits of famous people whose life was connected with theater and music - Konstantin Stanislavsky, composer Dmitry Shostakovich, singer Fyodor Chaliapin.

No wonder they say that a house is a reflection of a person's personality.
Dmitry:“Yes, but the house is also assembled thanks to the people who surround the owner. I'm not in solitary confinement. (Laughs) I have many friends who live on different continents. And when we meet, everyone brings some kind of souvenir as a gift. I didn't even buy the photo frames myself. See how they are all different? It would be possible to purchase the same, under the design. But it doesn't work. There are porcelain figurines of Colombina, Pierrot. These are characters from various performances. Artists give them to me after the premiere, there is such a tradition. Just like these cats. I don't collect them on purpose, I swear. Just once someone gave me a cat, then another. Then people noticed that I had these figurines, and they began to give them one after another. And now they have multiplied, there is already a whole showcase of them.

There is an expression: "My house is my castle." How would you characterize your home?
Dmitry:“You can’t call it a fortress. I don't really need to defend myself. Not from anyone. On the contrary, this is the place where my friends and colleagues come. Meeting house.

The theater director Bertman Dmitry Alexandrovich, the creator of the unique theater "Helikon-Opera", is known all over the world for his productions. His performances are distinguished by lightness, grace, originality, improvisation and great respect for musical material.

opera prodigy

Dmitry Bertman was born on October 31, 1967 in Moscow. Already from childhood, his mother enrolled him in a music school in the piano class and took him to theaters several times a week. Dmitry Bertman, whose family had many acquaintances in the theatrical environment, remembered his first performance "The Bunny-Knaughter" at the Youth Theater, which he watched with great spiritual empathy. And during the intermission, his mother took him backstage and the boy was surprised to see that Baba Yaga was Uncle Volodya, who often visited their house. Dmitry says that since then he has ceased to be an ordinary spectator, and now he understood that the theater is a convention, a game, and watched with pleasure how the actors did it.

Little Dmitry had a toy - a model of a theater on a rotating circle, and on it, already in childhood, the future director played his first performances. Already in the fifth grade, he knew that he only wanted to be an opera director. The best pastime for a teenager was a secret visit to Pokrovsky's rehearsals at the Bolshoi Theater. Every day he went to the theater and knew all the productions by heart, he remembered all the artists. So already from childhood, Dmitry's fate was sealed.

Studies

At the age of 16, Dmitry Bertman, whose biography, it would seem, is predetermined, makes a fateful decision - he submits an application to GITIS. Although before that he was going to enter Moscow State University, he went there for preparatory lectures, and only after that he intended to go to directing courses. Everyone around insisted that it was unrealistic to act as a director at the age of 16, and the selection committee was very skeptical. But the explication exam was able to convince professionals of the unconditional talent of the applicant. During all the years of study, special attention was riveted to Bertman, and he had to prove his right to exist in the profession every day.

Already in the years of study, Dmitry is looking for every opportunity to stage performances. He works in the provincial theaters of Syktyvkar, Odessa, Tver. He leads an amateur circle in the House of the Physician, teaching doctors and nurses to sing in the choir, and for this he receives a rehearsal room in which the first performances of the future famous troupe are born.

Theater of life: "Helikon-Opera"

Already in the last years of the institute, a small team of like-minded people formed around Dmitry, they put on an opera for four people - “Mavra” by I. Stravinsky. And after graduating from high school, the idea of ​​​​his own theater arose by itself. And something unprecedented happened - a young 23-year-old man creates his own. Gradually, the troupe develops an interesting repertoire of works by composers of the 20th century. These were extremely difficult times for the country in general and for theaters in particular. But Bertman did not want to back down, he urged sponsors with great energy to invest in recordings and productions. They are joined by a 12-member choir, which allows Leoncavallo's Pagliacci to be staged and attract a wider audience.

In 1993 "Helikon-Opera" receives the status of a state theater and begins to develop actively. Initially, the troupe consisted of 30 full-time units, today more than 300 people work in the theater. The audience appreciated Bertman's directorial search and fell in love with the new unusual theater. The director was called a revolutionary and a hooligan, he puts on the classics, but always finds a new reading, and this is very attractive to viewers and critics.

The theater rests on the charisma of Bertman, he is an extremely sociable person and the theater has become more like a club for fans of his work, outstanding artists, celebrities, politicians come here. So, for example, Valentina Matvienko watched some performances seven times, brought many friends and official delegations.

Today the repertoire of "Helikon-Opera" consists of the classics: "Aida", "Boris Godunov", "Carmen", "The Queen of Spades", "Sadko" and modern works: "Gershwin-Gala", "Doctor Haas", "Cartoon opera". It is impossible to buy tickets at the premiere of the theater at the New York Metropolitan Opera, the theater is actively touring the world with constant sold out.

For a long time the theater huddled in other people's premises, but thanks to the incredible and heroic efforts of Dmitry Bertman, in November 2015, Helikon-Opera moved into its own building on Bolshaya Nikitskaya. Now the theater has a modern stage and a lot of opportunities for further creative searches.

Directing work

Bertman Dmitry Alexandrovich, in addition to Helikon-Opera, is actively working in many theaters around the world. For over 20 years of creative activity, he staged about 90 performances in the best theaters. Among his finds are "The Naked King" in Rome, "Faust" in Tallinn, "Nabucco" in Dijon, "Mermaid" in Toronto, "Othello" in Sweden. Bertman's creative method is of great interest in the world, he is invited to festivals, to the jury of competitions.

Since 1994, Bertman has been teaching abroad, and since 1996, RATI has been running his own workshop and head of the directing department.

Creative achievements and awards

The main achievement of Dmitry Bertman is an incredibly successful modern innovative opera house all over the world. In "Helikon-Opera" there is always a full house, the audience is happy to look at the creative finds of the director. Theater tours in London, Paris, Stockholm, New York attract a huge number of spectators, critics talk about the formation of a new Russian opera, which is created by Bertman.

Bertman's talent has repeatedly received well-deserved awards. He has several "Golden Masks" as the best director of musical theater, has twice been awarded the "Highlight of the Season" - the award of theatrical figures, has been presented to several foreign awards and prizes, and is also the owner of the Order of Friendship. In 1998, Dmitry Bertman became an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, in 2005 he became a People's Artist of the Russian Federation.

Private life

Dmitry Bertman, whose personal life is of keen interest to journalists, is so busy with work that he apparently has no time to think about his family. He is very sociable, in his house, which reflects the ebullient and inquisitive nature of the owner, there are always many guests.

If there are people obsessed with work, then this is Dmitry Bertman, his personal life is a theater, he reads a lot, travels, attends performances of colleagues and works - this is his life.