Boris Petrov Valaam choir biography. The head of the choir of the Valaam Monastery, Alexander Bordak: “The main thing is born in sounds - purification and faith. Triptych of spiritual chants “Russian Golgotha”

Olga MIKHAILOVA 2016-11-19
Exclusive interview with artistic director of the Valaam Monastery choir Alexander Bordak
In Cherkessk, the famous choir of the Valaam Monastery performed to a full house.
By the beginning of the concert, there were no empty seats left in the hall, and the audience occupied the aisles, some even sat on the steps of the stairs.
Concerts of the choir of the Valaam Monastery began in the cities of the Crimean peninsula - Yalta, Simferopol, Yevpatoria, Sevastopol, Kerch. The tour continued with concerts at venues in the cities of the Black Sea coast of Novorossiysk and Sochi. Next are Krasnodar, Armavir and the Stavropol Territory: Nevinnomyssk, Kislovodsk and Pyatigorsk, as well as North Ossetia and Ingushetia. In the coming days there will be concerts in Chechnya and Dagestan. The choir’s performance schedule can be so intense that concerts are held on the principle of “every subsequent concert in a new city.”
At each concert, a message from the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin is read out: “Traveling through the regions of Russia, the choir of the Valaam Monastery introduces the public to the rich cultural and historical heritage of our people, with magnificent examples of ancient Russian singing art, traditional and modern sacred music, military-patriotic works, original essays,” says the welcoming speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I am confident that the performances of this unique, original group will leave the kindest and brightest impressions in the memory of the audience. And of course, such socially significant events as concerts of the Valaam Monastery choir largely contribute to the consolidation of society around humanistic, spiritual and moral values, patriotism, citizenship, selfless service to the Fatherland,” Vladimir Putin also notes in his welcoming speech to the participants, organizers and guests of the concerts of the Valaam Monastery choir as part of the All-Russian tour with the “Light of Valaam” program.
Before the concert, we met with the artistic director of the choir, Alexander Bordak. For his beautiful children's voice, at the age of ten he was accepted into the third grade of the Choir School. M.I. Glinka at the State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg, then graduated from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory with two specialties: choral conducting and academic vocals. His voice has always been capable of complex opera arias, Russian folk songs, ancient and modern romances, and works of Soviet song classics; in addition, Alexander himself composes beautiful melodies - and a year ago he led the choir of the Valaam Monastery
- Alexander, as I understand it, despite the fact that the choir is called Valaam, its soloists are not monks, are they?
- There has been a monastery brethren choir on Valaam for more than 20 years, very well-coordinated and friendly, but the singers of this choir do not leave the monastery walls and do not tour. Our team includes professional musicians from St. Petersburg, graduates of the Choir School at the State Academic Chapel named after. M.I. Glinka and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after. N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, certified conductors and vocalists, leading singers of vocal, choral groups and musical theaters of St. Petersburg, laureates of international vocal competitions.
- Whose singing is better – monastic or professional?
- We always tell the audience: “If you want to fully enjoy the beauty and soulfulness of ancient Valaam and church chants, come to the temple, come to the island of Valaam.” The singing of the brethren is unique. Unlike the singing of professionals, it reflects the meaning of liturgical chants and texts. We cannot think like people living a monastic life until we ourselves begin to take a living, constant participation in liturgical life. Even as a believer, a professional during worship pays more attention to breathing and correct performance than to his spiritual state. The community and parish should sing in church, and fraternal choirs in monasteries. Although, on the other hand, if secular people sing in churches, they are at least somehow in contact with the Church. But the concert performance of both liturgical repertoire and original sacred music carries, in my opinion, a special missionary meaning.
- How did the singing tradition of Valaam chant develop?
- Valaam chant is a local tradition of znamenny singing, the peculiarity of modern Valaam church singing is precisely that Russian chants are performed in the Greek manner, with sustained lower tones. A third of the “Light of Valaam” tour program consists of liturgical singing and sacred music.
- What is your repertoire? How often does the program change?
- I would call enlightenment the leading idea of ​​the concert work. Our concert “From Byzantium to Russia” includes liturgical singing from Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia, and ancient Russian chants. “The majestic tones of Valaam” are
original melodies of the Valaam Monastery and their polyphonic presentations. “Russian Spiritual Concert” - spiritual works by Russian classics of large form, these are Bortnyansky, Degtyarev, Arkhangelsky. “Melodies of the Russian Soul” - Russian folk songs and romances by Alyabyev, Bulakhov, Vertinsky, songs of the Russian army and Cossacks of the 19th-20th centuries, lyrical and patriotic songs of the Soviet period. “The Forgotten War” - original hymns, songs and romances of the First World War, Russian classical and modern sacred music. “Faith and Victory” - Easter chants of Russian classics and modern Russian composers Rachmaninov, Chesnokov, Bordak, songs about the Great Patriotic War by Miguli, Tukhmanov, Molchanov. “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone!” - Old Russian and Valaam chants of the Nativity of Christ, Christmas songs from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, England, France, Argentina.
- So, as I understand it, you sing in many languages?
- Yes, the choir soloists sing in Greek, Georgian, English, Serbian, French, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Spanish.
- Tell us more about the work of the choir.
- The choir of the Valaam Monastery, working with the blessing of the abbot of the Valaam Monastery, Bishop Pankratius of Trinity, is at the same time a liturgical singing and concert creative group. He participates in festive services at the Valaam Metochion in St. Petersburg. The church of the courtyard is the only place in the city where authentic ancient Russian chants are performed according to the ancient custom “antiphonally”, that is, alternately by two “faces” and by one common choir together. The team accompanies Patriarchal services on Valaam, ceremonial receptions on the island of the President and members of the Government of the Russian Federation, and other high-ranking guests of the monastery. During the summer pilgrimage season, the choir singers help the choir of the brethren of the Valaam Monastery sing and give charity concerts, introducing the numerous guests of the monastery to the traditions of Valaam church singing. The choir's tour began in January with a performance for Russian troops at the Khmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia.
- Who is in the choir? Are its participants young?
- The average age of the participants in the choir of the Vaalam Monastery is 35 years. In total, 16 singers and accordion player Alexander Korbakov are participating in the tour. Many rare voices. Mikhail Kruglov's bass profundo is very rare. Such singers are called octavists: they sing “an octave below the bass,” more precisely, one octave below the lowest note of the chest register, to the E-Sol counteroctave. Dmitry Popov has the highest of male operatic voices - a countertenor. Its range is from “E” of the small octave to “E” of the second. Viewers love the ringingly clear voice of Artem Khamatnurov, the gentle tenor altino of Anton Nesterov, and the soft baritone of Boris Petrov.
- You are performing with the program “Light of Valaam”. What does it consist of?
- The current concert program of the choir consists of ancient church chants, lyrical and patriotic songs of the First World War and the Great Patriotic War, poems by poets of the “Silver Age” and modern authors.
...And here are the musicians on stage. Everything about them is beautiful: a modest, dignified manner of performance, restrained suits with gold-woven collars, and a sincere, sincere presentation of the material, and the power, strength and purity of male voices. Two people attracted special attention - Alexander Bordak himself, superbly leading the choir, and accordion player Alexander Korbakov, a virtuoso performer, winner of the title “Golden Ten Harmonists of Russia”, who simply won the hearts of all the women present, and not only with the brilliant chords of the talyanka, but also amazingly noble appearance.
From the first notes taken, from the first bars, the audience plunged into the deserted God-filled measured monastic chants, then - in the troubled years of the First World War, remembering the sisters of mercy, shed tears and the blood of Russian soldiers, above whom the images of Christ, the Mother of God and Holy Rus' invisibly rose. “The Light of Valaam” is not just a concert, it is an impulse of the soul, prayer, the power of sound, the power of spirit and the power of words. The audience greeted each performance of each soloist with applause, and the further the choir sang, the louder they became, turning into applause, and at the end the audience stood and chanted. The most complex program, performed in one breath, without a single mistake or overlay, completely and irrevocably captivated the audience. At the finale, the entire audience gave a standing ovation, the musicians were not released, and shouts of “Bravo!” Another minute - and the singers would simply have been carried in their arms.
After the concert, Nadezhda Pivovarova, the first deputy head of the Administration of the Head and Government of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, came onto the stage and excitedly addressed the choir participants.
“On behalf of the Head of the Republic, allow me to welcome you to the hospitable land of Karachay-Cherkessia, to express gratitude for the unique opportunity to listen to such works performed by, one can safely say, a legendary choir. Your program “Light of Valaam” for Karachay-Cherkessia is not only a cultural event, but also a spiritual one. People of different nationalities and religions live on the territory of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. The oldest Christian churches are located here. And every resident of the republic respects the cultural values ​​of our traditional religions. Your words to the Almighty, words of love for each other are close to us. I would like to thank you for the fact that your activities are aimed at educating young people in the spirit of patriotism,” said Nadezhda Ivanova. As a farewell, each member of the choir was given books about Karachay-Cherkessia and paintings depicting the Face of Christ as a souvenir of their stay in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

The musical and poetic program “The Light of Valaam” was shown on the stage of the regional philharmonic - members of the famous group performed ancient church chants, Russian classical and modern sacred music, as well as patriotic songs from the times of the First World War and the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

The concert of a unique creative group, created in 2005 in Karelia, took place the day before on the stage of the Birobidzhan Philharmonic. Despite the ongoing socio-economic crisis in the country and the significant prices of entrance tickets (400-1000 rubles), many Birobidzhan residents decided to join spiritual values. By the beginning of the concert, there were practically no empty seats left in the Philharmonic concert hall. Among the spectators were representatives of the Birobidzhan diocese, the regional government and the governor of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Alexander Levinthal.

On the stage, glowing crimson, the artistic director (regent) of the choir of the Valaam Monastery, Alexei Zhukov, appeared and bowed to the audience. Applause rang out in the ranks.

Your Excellency, your Eminence, beloved brothers and sisters, residents, workers and guests of Birobidzhan! We are sincerely glad that the Valaam monastery, represented by its choir, has arrived on your blessed Russian land. Today secular singers of the Valaam Choir, not monks, will perform before you. But these are people who devoted a significant part of their creative life (more than 20 years) to the Valaam Monastery, said Alexey Zhukov.

Then he spoke about the concert program. Listeners were treated to ancient chants in honor of the Venerables Sergius and Herman (the founders of the Valaam Monastery), as well as chants in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos.

You will hear not only ancient chants, but also Russian sacred music (Sergei Rachmaninov, Pavel Chesnokov, modern St. Petersburg composer Alexander Bordak). Several chants will be performed in honor of the Resurrection of Christ. The dedication of our soldiers who gave their lives on the battlefields is akin to Christ’s sacrifice. You will hear songs and poems from the First World War, as well as songs in honor of the glorious victory of our entire people in the Great Patriotic War. They will form the main part of our concert program,” said Alexey Zhukov.

After this, 16 members of the Valaam Monastery choir (middle-aged men) came out from behind the scenes, whose appearance was greeted with friendly applause. First, ancient chants were performed, where the overall magical picture was created by the clear and strong voices of the vocalists. In a bright sound palette, bass profundo, baritone, tenor and other “natural instruments” miraculously complemented and enhanced each other. At times, theatrical elements and situational performances were woven into the mesmerizing musical outline.

Christ is Risen! - one of the vocalists suddenly addressed the audience, throwing up his hands.

The response from the audience was a powerful threefold “he is risen indeed.” After this, the invisible barrier between artists and listeners disappeared - everyone became participants in the “sacrament” of living art, an extraordinary mystery of the spirit.

I've never heard anything like this before. The soul sings and rejoices from these songs, one of the spectators shared her impressions.

The concert of a unique creative team, reminding that man does not live by bread alone, left no one indifferent. The audience gave a standing ovation to the talented artists who performed more than 20 creative numbers marked with the stamp of eternity.

Ulyanovsk and Dimitrovgrad residents were impressed by the performance of the Valaam Monastery choir. “The skill of the singers is so high that one gets the impression that the choir of Valaam is a single soul,” “It was a divine performance,” “It was wonderful, multifaceted - and mournful, and joyful, and pacifying: the whole gamut of human feelings at one concert!” , “I would like to hear Valaam’s choir more than once, feel pride in the history of our Rus', feel incredible joy and inspiration,” viewers write on social networks.

More than a thousand people attended the concert of the Valaam Monastery team at the Lenin Memorial alone. The audience heard the program “Light of Valaam”. Before the performance, artistic director of the Valaam Monastery choir Alexander Bordak answered several questions.

- Alexander Valerievich, how many years has the choir been in existence?

The choir that you will see today has existed for more than 20 years, and it consists of secular people. The fraternal Valaam choir is always on the island. According to the canons of the monastery, they do not leave it, so only the secular part of the choir can lead a touring concert life. On Valaam, of course, we also work: we help the brothers of the monastery at services, we sing small concerts for pilgrims who visit the island, we tell them about the Valaam ancient musical tradition. And our full composition sings at the main service in honor of the founder of the monastery of St. Sergius German on July 11, which is headed by His Holiness the Patriarch.

- How was your choir, which is on tour, formed?

Our choir began to emerge in the 90s, at the moment when the monastery began to be revived. And to this day we work together and praise the Lord. There was never any audition for the team. People really found themselves on Valaam by God's grace. For example, I myself came to Valaam in 1993. At that moment, I was invited precisely because they needed a good professional singer who could quickly sight-read any music. Then they knew my attitude towards the church. At that time, the choir director Mikhail Ruzanov was in charge of the choir. As soon as I arrived in Valaam, I was given notes, and literally within a few minutes I was already performing in front of a pilgrimage group. And from that moment I began to serve, work, and pray there. Then we learned that there was such a person with a rare singing voice - bass profundo Mikhail Kruglov. They also called him, Mikhail happily responded and came. Then singers began to come there every year, for whom this place became close. This is how an independent team was formed. In fact, there was no need to look for him. But these are not just familiar people. Everyone has a musical education, almost all graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, so our team combines both high professionalism and sincere faith. We are distinguished, in addition to what I said, by very good friendly relations within the team. This gives us the opportunity to sincerely devote ourselves to the work with which we delight people. The viewer feels this, so he always opens his heart very quickly and listens with all his soul.

- Do you tour a lot?

The geography of our tours is very extensive: from the Far East to Kaliningrad. Over the past few years, we have sung more than 330 concerts throughout the country. Our performances resonate in the hearts of our listeners, and this makes us happy.

- The main goal of your performances?

Our task is to bring people to church, to say that God is alive, that he is among us, and therefore we try to convey this in an accessible language. At some point we realized that the choir should have its own identity not only in its voices, but also in the recognition of its repertoire and works. Now there is not a single piece that has not been processed specifically for our team, given the wide range of voices: from countertenor to profundo bass. Spectators can hear the sounds of violins and wind instruments. And there is no falsehood, not only musical, because the main thing is born in the sounds - purification and faith.

- What is special about your chant?

On Valaam, like not many monasteries and even less so in ordinary parish churches, the tradition of singing in ancient chants is preserved: znamenny, pillar. The Valaam chant itself arose from them. It is mostly sung by one or two voices. Only on major holidays, such as the Day of Remembrance of Sergius Herman, the Wonderworker of Valaam, is it allowed to perform polyphonic harmonizations or original compositions in the church, which are based on the Valaam chant. And our main repertoire is Valaam chants. An entire program called “Majestic Tones of Valaam” is dedicated specifically to this unique ancient singing. It took us a long time to learn to sing the way the monks sang back in the early 20th century, when the choir in the monastery was large, more than 100 people sang in it. All this became possible thanks to the surviving audio recordings made by Swedish radio; they published a whole collection of Valaam chants exactly as they sounded at the beginning of the 20th century.

- What are your plans?

Of course, visit as many Russian cities as possible with concerts. In March we will begin preparing for a new program, which we will present on May 12 at the Kremlin Palace.

Irina Antonova

Photo provided by Lenin Memorial

A sought-after concert group consisting of lay people, touring a variety of halls in Russia - no, this story is not about show business, but about serving God and people. The choir of the Valaam Monastery performs in front of people, many of whom have the most superficial understanding of Christianity and the Church. The choir’s original concert programs are not only an invitation to touch ancient culture and enjoy the more familiar works of modern composers, but also evidence of the penetration of Orthodoxy into the consciousness of the people of Russia. The director of the choir, Alexander Bordak, talks about the history of the creation of the group and its everyday life.

– The monastery on the island of Valaam arose at the beginning of the last millennium. As soon as the flame of faith began to glimmer on the harsh northern land, hearts filled with love began to sing, giving praise to the Creator. Greek missionaries Sergius and Germanus came to the land of Valaam, and with the charter of the Greek service they introduced the singing of the Byzantine tradition. The peculiarity of singing in one voice was passed on from generation to generation. In the era of Peter I, polyphonic chants began to be sung in churches and monasteries of Rus', but the brethren of the Valaam Monastery remained faithful to the ancient Znamenny tradition. Many pilgrims traveled thousands of kilometers to find themselves on the island and immerse themselves in prayer, listening to a strict monophonic chant.

Gradually, the partes began to sound on Valaam. Arrangements of monophonic chants were sung more often, which is confirmed. There is an audio recording on Swedish radio - the monks who left Valaam due to the historically difficult situation recorded fragments of divine services, and there we hear exactly the Valaam chant in a polyphonic presentation.

Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Valaam has been in terrible desolation. Military operations, then boarding school. And only in the 90s, with the revival of the monastery, the ancient monophonic chant began to sound again. With the blessing of Bishop Pankratius of Trinity, professional musicians were invited to Valaam to help the fraternal choir. In addition to singing at services, the “secular” part of the choir daily participated in small concerts and lectures, during which they introduced pilgrims and tourists to the history of Valaam chants. The tradition of these performances has been preserved to this day.

Gradually, the Valaam Monastery acquires the status of the center of Orthodoxy in the North of Rus'. The Patriarch serves on the island annually. Many guests come, among them are members of the country's government. The choir is increasing in size for a more spacious and colorful sound, and at the moment sixteen people in its composition praise the Lord at services and sing concerts.

How did you become the director of the Valaam Monastery choir?

– I graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in choral conducting and vocal class, and have been engaged in solo practice for a long time. In 2013, he was invited by the leadership of the Valaam Monastery to create new musical programs. In the fall of 2016, with the blessing of Bishop Pankratiya, he was appointed artistic director of the group.

During our cooperation, a number of spiritual and patriotic programs have been created. The first was the program “Faith and Victory,” which premiered on May 9, 2013 in the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Further, the programs “The Forgotten War” were prepared for the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War, “The Light of Christ Enlightens Everyone”, dedicated to the Nativity of Christ. All works are created taking into account the specific voices of our singers. For example, the hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos “It is Worthy to Eat” was written especially for our bass Mikhail Kruglov, owner of a rare bass profundo voice. Such a voice is, of course, the adornment of our team. Like all voices, of course, which create the very recognizable color of our choir.

What is your choir performing with now?

– Currently we are performing in different cities of Russia with the “Light of Valaam” program. The concert features ancient Valaam chants, arrangements of ancient melodies, and original music by Russian composers. Then we sing works in which, in simple song form, we talk about God’s commandments, mercy and sacrifice. And it is in the songs of the war years - known and unknown, loved and forgotten - that this topic is especially acute. Two thousand years ago, the Savior gave His life for the salvation of all mankind. And on the battlefields, thousands of heroes gave their lives in the name of peace and in the name of love, about which the Lord Himself said: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

How often should a choir rehearse to sound good?

“We try to record each concert, then we listen to it, analyze it, and make adjustments before the next concert at rehearsal. Thus, during the tour we have rehearsals every day. Before, when we didn't have a lot of gigs, we met two or three times a week. Now that we are in St. Petersburg much less often, our rehearsals only take place on tour.

What tunes and works of which composers do you personally like? And does your taste influence the choir’s repertoire?

– First of all, these are, of course, ancient monophonic chants, which are an integral part of the worship service on Valaam. We perform them at every concert. Works by Sergei Rachmaninov and Pavel Chesnokov are often played. To realize creative goals, we sometimes compose musical compositions ourselves.

Is anyone, besides you, involved in compiling the programs?

– Until today, we have coped with the tasks ourselves. But there is a new work ahead, the working title of which is “100 years of the country’s life: 1917-2017.” The premiere will take place on July 27 in Valaam as part of the Enlightener festival. In addition to the choir, the concert will be attended by singer-songwriter Elena Frolova, singer Oleg Pogudin, as well as a chamber symphony orchestra. Video support will be provided. Of course, we alone cannot cope with such a volume of work. Directors and video engineers will be invited, and with joint efforts, I am sure, it will be possible to create a new interesting program.

Where do new singers come to the choir from? Do they have to be churchgoers?

– The main composition of our choir has been preserved since the 90s. We have been working together for more than twenty years, and therefore we understand each other well from half a word, half a gesture.

Of course, new people come too. Faith is a very personal matter. When a person comes to an audition, no one asks him whether he believes in God or whether he is a church member. If a person decides to work in our choir, he understands that he is going not only to work, but, first of all, to serve God, since we are engaged in spiritual and educational activities. God brings us the people we need. As a choir director, I do not look into the personal space of the singers. But the attitude of the guys, of course, shows.

For example, we were in Kerch. The concert “on the mainland” was in jeopardy because the ferry crossing was closed. Suddenly a priest unknown to us appeared and began to serve a prayer service. We didn’t even notice it all right away, because we were in a different place. I began to participate in prayer. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that several more of our guys had joined. Then I heard the bass singing. After a while the whole choir was singing. Therefore, it seems to me that we breathe the same air, look in the same direction and do one common thing.

Are you often invited to participate in worship services?

– Not often at the moment. And this is justified, because we have concerts every day, travel every day. There are purely physical limitations. The guys need to get enough sleep to work fully. We sing services on Valaam. Our ministry now is at concert venues. And this is very important.

At concerts you use audio. Are there any nuances to this part of your work?

– The halls have very different acoustic parameters, so we use microphones. We try to “sound up” each singer so that sound losses are minimal. We appealed to Bishop Pankratiy with a petition that the benefactors of the monastery help in purchasing headsets for each member of the choir. I am sure that such a moment will come, and this will give us the opportunity to get a full range of sound colors.

A very important point: our sound engineer is in the hall, but in the choir one of the singers is also a sound engineer; in his folder with notes there is a tablet with which he controls the sound directly from the stage. This is our little feature.

Interviewed by Igor LUNEV