Yevgeny Yevtushenko sang, danced, recited poetry, and composed songs at the "Slavianski Bazaar"

July 12, Vitebsk / Eduard Pivovar – BELTA/. If it were the 1960s now, the famous poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko would undoubtedly fill the Summer Amphitheater in Vitebsk. Alas, we live in the 21st century, the era of the "sixties" has passed, but fortunately, the interest in their work has not. This was clearly demonstrated by Yevgeny Yevtushenko's one-man show "A Romance with Life," which took place on the evening of July 11 at the "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" festival, reports a BELTA correspondent. Residents of the city on the Dvina hurried to the "Vitebsk" concert hall for a meeting with the poet. From the noisy festival streets, they entered an almost academic hall, where they involuntarily began to speak more quietly. The backdrop of the stage was draped in black fabric, with a scarlet grand piano and a coffee table as decorations. Suddenly, the lights went out completely, Andrei Petrov's waltz from the film "Beware of the Car!" began to play, and photographs of the poet appeared on a small screen. First, a young, spirited Yevtushenko, then one who was battered and hardened by life, and finally, a white-haired classic. And then came the lines that became the epigraph to the entire performance: "Among all deceptions, love is not a deception; there are no greater romances than a romance with life." The audience rose and applauded when the poet appeared on stage in a white shirt worn untucked, embroidered with a Slavic pattern. He immediately asked for the lights to be turned on: "Turn on the light, I want to see human faces." Looking at the hall and noticing small patches of empty seats, Yevtushenko lamented, "You've gotten out of the habit of poetry, it's noticeable." And, apparently, for this reason, he began not with poetry. With his characteristic humor, he told the story of the creation of the famous song "The River Flows," which adorned Lyudmila Zykina's early repertoire. The hit song had a remarkable fate. The fact that the lyrics of this song are perceived by many in the post-Soviet space as folk, although written by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, is, in principle, logical. It is surprising that these verses, translated into Hebrew, are also considered folk songs in Israel. This fact was confirmed by Israeli musicians, who demonstrated a foreign version of the song. And when the famous line "And I have enough suitors, but I don't have good love" sounded in Russian, the poet couldn't resist, grabbed the microphone, and sang loudly himself. And although he didn't always hit the right notes, thanks to his charisma, he received applause that many pop stars don't always get. Deciding that the audience was ready for poetry, Yevtushenko read his first poem, "A Walk on the Ledge." The title was inspired by a reckless act he committed in his youth. Next, he told the story of how he courted his current wife, Maria, 23 years ago. Maria, along with their two sons, had also come to Vitebsk and was present in the hall. The next dedication was to his Belarusian grandfather, Yermolai Naumovich Yevtushenko, a full Cavalier of the Order of St. George of the First World War, who fell victim to political repression, was shot in 1938, and rehabilitated 19 years later. The poet read a poignant story about how he traveled with the Belarusian playwright Andrei Makayonok to Polesie, to the village of Khomichi, to learn something about his repressed grandfather's two sisters. There, it turned out that half the village bore the surname Yevtushenko, and both grandmothers were alive, despite having endured the horrors of the Nazi occupation. The sisters themselves were also immensely surprised, as they believed that their great-nephew Zhenya had died during the war from starvation in Moscow. According to the poet's calculations, he had not performed in Vitebsk for 15 years, so he now read works written "during this separation." Among them were many completely new ones that had not even been published anywhere yet. These were mainly lyrics: "Jealousy," "Men don't give women away, they drink them like vodka...", "Whispers in the Kitchen," "Report from the Last Century"... In the poem "This Woman is Mine," Yevtushenko coined a neologism: "I was amorous, I was enraptured." By the way, as the poet recounted, this touching opus turned into song lyrics in Vitebsk: at the festival, Yevgeny Alexandrovich met composer Raimonds Pauls. "The music turned out very good, I liked it," assessed the classic of poetic word. Following this, the creative duo composed another song. Apparently, the collaboration of the two masters, born at the "Slavianski Bazaar," will continue. "Raimonds and I decided to have a joint concert," Yevtushenko shared his plans. The theme of songs became relevant again at the end of the almost three-hour evening, when the poet sang again. And he even danced. The hall once again rewarded him with loud applause. -0-