- Anastasia Aleksandrovna, your father performed in a suit of Sad Pierrot. Why exactly this image?
- In the costume of Piero, the father first appeared in pre-revolutionary Russia and caused his appearance and his own style of speeches an extraordinary interest among the public. His face was pitted with makeup, eyebrows tragically raised up, scarlet mouth. This character was needed by him, because, as he himself said, he was terribly shy of the public.
Later, the image of "Black Pierrot" appeared: Dead-white makeup on the face changed the mask domino, a black dress with a white scarf on her neck came to shift a white suit on her neck. The new Pierrot became ironic in his songs. Every song he turned into a small play with the completed plot and one or two heroes. His "arrietics" was greatly popular, and he was rightfully called "Russian Piero". But the father did not have time to enjoy his pre-revolutionary success, he left Russia and spent twenty-five years old in emigration, because he did not accept the revolution.
- Do you know a lot about his life in emigration?
"Fortunately, his work turned out to be in the emigration in demand, he acted a lot. I visited all the cities of France, Germany, Italy, America. Having removed the Pierrot costume and change it to an elegant fracture, he became like a French chanson. Unlike pre-revolutionary topics, his songs became long, meaningful, there appeared the topic called nostalgia. Maybe if he did not emigrate from Russia, all the memories associated with their homeland would not be such important for him, therefore, as Nabokov, he carefully collected all the memories. But in 25 years he returned to the Soviet Union along with his beautiful wife, my mother. She was 34 years old younger, and, at the time, it was Mesallians, it is not surprising that grandmother, my mother's mother, was categorically against this marriage. But love turned out to be stronger, they got married and returned to Russia with a little Marianna in her arms, she was only three months old. And already in the forty-four year, I was born in Moscow.
In Suite Piero Alexander Vertinsky first appeared in pre-revolutionary Russia, which caused an extraordinary interest among the public. Photo: State Literary Museum.
"You probably have a happy childhood thanks to your father." Tell us a little about it.
"I want to say that the most unique mentioned feature of my father was all the best kindness to people, I did not meet more than such people. He was not the father-tutor in the adopted sense of the word, because he applied to us as with young women. For example, he wrote his wife: "Lily, yesterday a little daughter told me:" Folder, you are a fool. I am shocked, how does she know? " He had a very subtle humor. And most importantly, there was enough wisdom not to make criminal cases from our children's misconducts, because it hurts children.
Returning to Russia from the emigration, he toured a lot, gave a huge number of charitable concerts, then they were called chefish. And once he was told that the director of one school on the chef money bought in his cabinet. It was with me, I remember. He got up, turned pale, threw a coat and went his big steps to school, grabbing on the move Validol. We fled behind him. He entered the school, opened the door and entered the office, closing the door behind him. Then we did not hear anything, just everyone learned that the director had to sell the carpet and return the money to the appointment. Of course, for a person such high decency it was an incredible shock. For the Father, the question of honor was very important.
I must tell you that his rare visits to the house for us were a real holiday. When he returned with the tour, her grandmother baked cakes, she was a stunning cocooner, covered the table. When he entered the house, we rushed to him, and then there was a presentation of gifts. He never returned without gifts, and we, children, always looked forward to him. The father knew perfectly well what to give us, almost everything was equally, otherwise there would be a terrible fight.
Father stunningly told fairy tales, he had his own fairy tales according to modern concepts, these were real series. I remember my father as a person with an infinite imagination and the ability to forever instill in the children's soul faith in the beautiful.
In 1957 he did not become, he died in Leningrad, in the house of veterans, after a charitable concert. And our life has already flowed differently, we have become lonely. Mom was very hard for his death, and I also could not accept his loss.
Alexander Vertinsky with his beloved wife Lily. Photo: State Literary Museum.
- Did your father wanted you to choose an acting profession?
- Mom said that Alexander Nikolayevich did not want his daughters to become actresses, probably because he knew not a mustache, what a heavy bread.
But when I was fifteen years old, the director Alexander Ptushko, who had Mom starred in the "Sadko" film, persuaded her to bring me to the sample. I was approved.
The next was the film "Man - Amphibian". These two films I relate in the unconscious period of my work, because I was still not an actress and understood little, something worked out, something did not work. It seemed to me that we shot some kind of boring picture, and that she would never come out, but I was wrong. When the picture came out, the success she had, it can not be called success, it was some kind of madness that fell on me completely unexpectedly and undesirable. Then we did not have bodyguards, there were no closed machines, we were available to everyone and anyone, and for me it turned out unbearable torment.
Obviously, this flour was called glory. But my true attitude to the profession began with the film "Hamlet", who removed the director of Kozintsev.
- Can you tell you more about work on this film?
- Kozintsev invited me to the samples, and I did not hope that I would be approved for the role of Ophelia, because this role, as a rule, played actresses with colossal experience.
The director erased from my face all the colors, my hair was pulled by terrible hydrogen peroxide, removed eyelashes, plucked up all the eyebrows, thereby seeking a "revived" face.
For the first time at the site, I met Smoktunovsky, he left an indelible impression. When he rehearsed Hamlet, he even in his life for himself on himself, almost with anyone without communicating, never disconnecting from the image, and asked not to talk to him. And then I realized that this profession consists not only of crafts, but from art. Smoktunovsky treated me very tremendous to me, he told how to play that it was necessary to feel what acting art, and I am incredibly grateful to him, because without him I would not have played so much.
Alexander Vertinsky with daughters. Photo: State Literary Museum.
- Then you had the theater. Vakhtangov?
- No, not immediately. After "Gamlet" I was invited by Sergey Bondarchuk to play the princess Lisa in the "War of War and the World", and I have long refused, the list of Roman, because, as you know, the princess Liza gives birth and dies like childbirth. I was not ready for such a serious role, but Bondarchuk said, "You don't worry, Nastya, it is not enough that you haven't gone to you, I will teach you ... After that, I was invited to the Wakhtangov theater.
I very quickly realized that I do not want to stay in this theater, because it is the theater that all manil. It was a "contemporary". And I decided to seem. In front of me, Tabakov, Efremov, Wolchek, Cossacks, Evstigneev, Lavrov. I play an excerpt from "Antigona" and I do not remember anything, only the fact that the leg is shaking from fear. Then I was told that we took me unanimously. I was very happy and two years in the "contemporary" played in the extras of the chrome and oblique girls, already playing the main roles in the movies. I call this period "My Universities", it was a difficult period, but he gave me a lot.
Photo: State Literary Museum.
- Then you went to MCAT?
"When Oleg Efremov left the" contemporary "and headed MCAT, I switched to his invitation to this theater. Here I was waiting for the classic roles, I beat all Chekhov, and the relationship with Efremov, who lasted as much as the emigration of my father lasted, did not bring me any joy, but became a colossal school for me. I believe that he was, and there is my teacher. And of course, it was a starry hour of my stay in Mkate.
Then the confirmary years came, the conflict was called in Mkhat, and I left, but before that I starred in the movie "Unnamed Star". My favorite picture of the director Mikhail Kazakova, where we played with Kostoloshvsky. The film was removed very quickly, but then it was closed and put on the shelf, where he lay down for many years and then began to go out only with parts, then came out late at night, and then, when ideological slabs were collapsed, the film began to show more and more often, and he got up In a number of great paintings that spectators loved.
I want to say that I no longer came across such roles. There is nothing more to boast, the cinema collapsed, and, together with Alexander Kalyagin, went abroad, teach in the theater school.
The exhibition presents photos, manuscripts, notes, posters, rare plates, personal belongings and memorial furniture from the Cabinet of the Moscow apartment. Photo: State Literary Museum.
"Anastasia Aleksandrovna, you can say, repeated the fate of the Father: He emigrated, you emigrated. He returned, you returned. And was there a desire to stay?
- Teaching was wonderful time when you did not "hang" any collective body, dictating how to live you. For many years I stayed in America, in France, in Switzerland, but then it exhausted myself and wanted to return. And now I am glad to play the role of a loving grandmother. I have three grandson, and I have a ball like that, as my father was injured at one time. It can be said that everything is good that I have - from my father, and everything is bad - from life ... Also successfully fulfilling the role of daughter. After daddy death, I collected the whole archive, restored it and handed over to the museum. Now the wonderful voice of the Father can be heard clean on modern media. I reprinted the book of the poems of Alexander Vertinsky. The exhibition presents photos, manuscripts, notes, posters, rare plates, personal belongings and memorial furniture from the Cabinet of the Moscow apartment. The leitmotif of the exhibition is the image of the poet who will appear on numerous photographs, and the voice sounding on the exhibition will introduce visitors to the world of his art. You can see the movies with the participation of my father. Come - you like it.