Famous Russian actress Komissarzhevskaya Vera Fedorovna: biography, personal life, theatrical roles

Komissarzhevskaya Vera Fedorovna is an outstanding Russian actress at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, whose work had a significant impact on the development of theatrical art. Her life was short, but very rich and bright. A lot of books, articles and dissertations have been devoted to studying its phenomenon. There is a theater named Komissarzhevskaya (St. Petersburg), it inspired poets to write poetry, a film was made about her fate. It remains a significant part of Russian art, even after more than 100 years after leaving.

Parents and early years

Komissarzhevskaya Vera Fedorovna was born on November 8, 1864 in St. Petersburg. Her mother, Maria Nikolaevna, was the daughter of the commander of the Preobrazhensky regiment, and her father was the famous opera singer of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. He studied in Italy, then returned to Russia. Parents of the Faith married in secret, it was a loud story in the city. Over time, Maria Nikolaevna's father reconciled to this. The couple were born almost three daughters in a row. Faith and sisters grew in an artistic atmosphere, in the house there were many actors, artists, musicians. Father was friends with M. Mussorgsky. Vera often participated in home performances and concerts. She had a good voice, and my father hoped that she would become a singer. Vera changed several educational institutions, but the captivating character prevented her from studying hard. In the end, my father took her for training at home.

Everything changed when the father of Marya Nikolaevna died, she bought a estate near Vilna for the inheritance and gave her elder daughter Vera to study at the prestigious institute of noble maidens. The husband remained in St. Petersburg, continued to sing and did not hesitate to start a new novel. Marya Nikolaevna took the blame for the divorce and, to pay the expenses, she sold the estate. The rest of her life she led a very poor life. Vera's mother was sure that the main purpose of a woman is her husband and children. Therefore, when her marriage broke up, she was broken for the rest of her life.

Vocation

Komissarzhevskaya Vera Fedorovna was always closer to her father, they were related souls with him, but when her parents divorced, she stayed with her mother, as her father quickly married again. To support the mother and sisters, Vera needed to marry, and she accepted the offer of Count Vladimir Muravyov. But it was immediately clear that the marriage was unsuccessful. Muravyov liked to drink, could raise his hand to his wife in an excited state. And then he started a romance with his younger sister, Nadezhda. Such a double betrayal dumbfounded the future actress. She, like her mother, took the blame for the divorce and even went to a psychiatric hospital. It was this suffering that led to the opening of the talent of the dramatic actress with great force. Doctors urged her to find something to distract her thoughts. And she began taking acting lessons from an actor from Alexandrinsky Vladimir Davydov. He saw in her a great talent and advised him to enter the theater school. But life has disposed of in its own way.

The beginning of the way

In 1890 Vera's father broke up with his second wife and his daughter moved to live with him. Vera plays a lot on the guitar, helps her father and pupils. Once a disciple named Stanislavsky asked her to help him in the performance in the Hunting House, where the actress fell ill. So Komissarzhevskaya Vera Fedorovna first stepped onto a real theatrical scene. At this time, the doctors found her chronic throat disease, this was the last impetus to her decision to become an actress. She plays the role of Betsy in the play "The Fruits of Enlightenment" in the "Society of Art and Literature" at the school in which he worked. Komissarzhevsky. The season of work in this theater under the leadership of Stanislavsky became a good school and a test for the beginning actress. Soon the "Society" ceased to stage performances because of material difficulties. But Komissarzhevskaya has already found her path. She was noticed at the play by P. Kiselevsky - an actor, a friend of his father. He invited her to play in Kuskovo roles in two performances, she brilliantly coped with the assignment.

Novocherkassk

In 1893, Vera signed her first artistic contract for work in the N. Sinelnikov Entreprise in Novocherkassk. Helping Vera Kiselevsky highly, but narrowly assessed the ability of the actress. He believed that her destiny was comedy. In addition, he did not build on her account of the big plans, as he expected that she would only replace the ill actress for a while. The work in the enterprise was hellishly heavy. For the first five months she had to play 58 roles. This despite the fact that she had no experience, and each role required elaboration and reflection. And Komissarzhevskaya still managed to learn from her colleagues, kept a diary of watching their game, and analyzed the plays. Sometimes she had to play two performances a day, for a night it was necessary to master the role. During the day there were rehearsals, in the evening - playing on stage. Such streaming work did not give freedom for creativity and search for its method, but gave the skill of playing on the stage, helped to accumulate experience. Roles at this time, she got the most insignificant, empty vaudeville, which were put on the stage and did not assume the depth of dramatic experiences. But Vera treated them with all seriousness, considering each as an important lesson. She herself had to be her dressmaker, make-up artist and even a director. But the work did not go unnoticed, and criticism begins to celebrate her game, first in a few words, then in whole paragraphs. Her authority grew with skill.

During the year, Komissarzhevskaya was able to sort out a little in herself, had worked out receptions and began to think about more. She started her career too late, at 29, and begins to hurry to realize herself. At this time she reads a lot of serious dramaturgy and dreams about real creativity. Entreprise strongly depended on the tastes of the public, and they were very unpretentious, the Cossacks did not want the theater to seriously reflect, but only entertainment. But the theater Sinelnikov, who was at that time the best among such, still sometimes decided on serious productions, for example, "Woe from Wit" and "Fruits of Enlightenment."

For the year of work, the actress was able to show herself, but this did not add to her love for her colleagues. Communication with her was not an easy matter, as she was very demanding both to herself and to others. The season was over, but Komissarzhevskaya did not receive the expected offer to extend the contract. The pained Medvedev returned to the troupe, Kiselevsky saw that Vera did not want to be content with roles in vaudeville and lost interest in her, her colleagues on the stage envied her and did not understand her. All this led to the fact that Komissarzhevskaya had to leave Sinelnikov's entreprise.

Tour

All the actresses of the Russian Empire at that time, in order to maintain their financial situation, cooperated with entreprises. The stationary theaters were few, mainly in large cities. Therefore, there were quite a few touring troupes. After leaving Novocherkassk, Vera Komissarzhevskaya, at the invitation of the Tiflis Artistic Society, goes with them on tour. Here she managed to play 12 roles, including comedy "Tornado", "Money Ace" and others. Criticism and the public take the actress well, even her father praises her play. Despite the success, Vera herself was not completely satisfied with herself, she continues to dream of a more serious repertoire. This lack of self-confidence prevented Komissarzhevskaya from finding a good engagement. After the tour in Tiflis, she returns to Moscow in the hope of finding a job, but she is afraid to go to the agency and sadly sees how the troupes fill out and leave, and she is left without work. Unexpectedly, a colleague from Tiflis suggests that she take part in the tours in Ozerki and Oranienbaum. This entreprise was distinguished by a more serious repertoire, which Vera liked very much. Here she manages to play 14 new roles in 3 months in plays such as "The Insidiousness and Love" by F. Schiller, "Vasilisa Melentyeva" A.N. Ostrovsky, "Steppe Bogatyr" I.A. Salova.

Its success was very noticeable, which confirmed the invitation to work at the Alexandrinsky Theater. But she, again frightened of her inexperience, decided to accept the invitation from Nezlobin's entreprise in Vilna. The audience and the repertoire of this troupe were much more serious than all previous ones in which Komissarzhevskaya worked. Here for 2 years she played 60 roles, among which there were already undoubted successes: Larissa in "The Dowry" A.N. Ostrovsky, Sophia in "Woe from Wit" by A. Griboyedov, Louise in "The Insidiousness and Love" by Schiller. Here her game is appreciated by Nemirovich-Danchenko, Kachalov, Brushtein. At Nezlobin Komissarzhevskaya fully developed and demonstrated her dramatic talent, in which she had previously been refused some criticism and her innovation. But she lacks a good director who could manage her game.

The Alexandrinsky Theater

In 1896 she herself began to work on entering the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater. She did not like the role of the petitioner, she had to worry and ponder about the play for the debut. All this for the 32-year-old actress was already difficult. But she successfully played the debut play "Fight of the Butterflies" and was highly appreciated by the critics. The actress brought a new style to the stage of the theater, built on an inner experience. For six years in Alexandrinsky Komissarzhevskaya played her best roles, making her a celebrity and pride of the Russian theater: it's Larissa in "The Dowry", Nina Zarechnaya in "Seagull", Desdemona in "Othello", Marikka in "The Lights of Ivan's Night", Margarita in " Faust ". The performance "The Seagull" was highly appreciated by Chekhov, who until the end of his days believed that this was the best embodiment of his author's design. He corresponded with the actress for a long time, together they discussed the development of the psychological Russian theater. The play "Seagull" was not accepted by the public and criticism, this failure was a huge blow for the playwright and actress.

In the theater, Vera found a comrade-in-arms - director E.P. Karpov, with whom they were not like-minded, but together they made their way on a new stage, together they were looking for the right ways. Thanks to this cooperation, the actress realized how great the role of the director in the fate of the actors. In this collaboration, Vera was able to understand her views on art, which led her to seek a new path.

The search for a new theater

The actress passionately dreamed of a new theater, she once got this idea from Stanislavsky and cherished the dream of her own theater, in which she could be fully realized. The Alexandrinsky Theater imposed too many restrictions on it, it had its own conservative policy. In her letters and diaries there constantly appears the theme of the path, the search for a new theater. The acting theater of Komissarzhevskaya was built on psychology, and in Alexandrinque it is required mainly external manifestations, without immersion in the depths of the character's soul. She feels that she is wasting her time in vain, that her work on the Imperial scene leads her to nowhere. Therefore, in 1902 she decided to leave Alexandrinka. She has no money for her own theater, and therefore she has to go on a long tour, she travels almost the whole country, she works in Yalta, Kiev, Siberia, Kharkov. But the repertoire was weak, the direction was low-quality. She needed her director, and she found him in the person of V.E. Meyerhold.

Own theater

The drama theater Komissarzhevskaya appeared officially in 1904, for him it takes the building off. But the lack of money makes her immediately go on tour and 2 years she travels around the country, earning money and playing in second-rate performances for the public. Heroic efforts and help from like-minded people collected an amount of 70 thousand rubles, and Komissarzhevskaya finally begins to create a stationary, repertory theater in St. Petersburg. Its goal is a new artistic ideology, a "theater of the soul", for this she needed a special repertoire and troupe. Komissarzhevskaya reads a huge number of modern plays, she chooses for her theater Ibsen, Chekhov, Gorky. In the theater there is a troupe of like-minded people who are eager to show the world a new look at theatrical art. In 1906, Meyrekhold agreed to work in the theater, he put 13 performances, among them innovative versions of the plays "Gedda Gabler", "Balaganchik", "Life of Man". But the relationship between the actress and the director is very difficult, which, together with the failures of the performances, leads to a break. The drama theater Komissarzhevskaya is taken in a mixed way by the public, here there are real scandals. But this was the natural result of the revolutionary actions of the company. Working in his theater, Vera had to face misunderstanding, betrayals, failures, but also with a grandiose success.

The best roles

Komissarzhevskaya Vera Fedorovna, whose roles are still examples of the psychological school, during her heyday played a lot of brilliant, innovative characters. Her manner of playing was exceptionally suited to the embodiment of Chekhov's heroines. So, her Sonya from "Uncle Vanya", Sasha from "Ivanov" and Nina Zarechnaya from "The Seagull" were subtly feeling, struggling natures. Komissarzhevskaya understood the author's intention, felt his artistic design. And despite the fact that many viewers did not accept this interpretation, the playwright himself considered her interpretation the best.

Also to the number of outstanding roles Komissarzhevskaya attributed her Larissa from "The Dowry" to A. Ostrovsky, Natasha Bobrov from the "Fairy Tale" I. Potapenko, Norah in the "Doll House" G. Ibsen, Varvara in the Gorky "Summerers". In each image, she found her own interpretation, she knew how to discern the grain of the role and convey the deepest emotions of the character.

Disappointment in the theater

In 1908, the Drama Theater, already known as the Komissarzhevskaya Theater (St. Petersburg), toured the US, where Vera receives extremely praise reviews. She is called one of the greatest actresses of the 20th century. But Komissarzhevskaya herself feels bitter disappointment from her theater. Working with the symbolist Meyerhold killed the spark in the actress, she did not feel her talent in demand. Vera sees that the conceived almost never takes place in performances, that actors and directors do not understand each other, misinterpret the expressive ideas of the new theater. Every new play by Komissarzhevskaya seems to be a failure. In 1909, she made a very difficult decision to leave the theater.

New Hopes

Komissarzhevskaya, an actress of incredible talent who dreamed of a beautiful, psychological theater, realized that with the actors brought up in the old traditions, nothing could be done. And she comes to the idea of opening a theater school to educate the actors of the new formation. She planned to recall the lessons of her father, who was a good theater teacher and the experience of Stanislavsky, who created his system of artistic play. She wanted to teach herself to pass on her experience, obtained with such difficulty, and also to invite her outstanding friends-actors and directors, she also wanted to invite A. Bely, D. Merezhkovsky, V. Ivanov to teach subjects that broaden the horizons. Inspired by new ideas and hopes, Komissarzhevskaya goes on the last tour of Siberia in her life.

Private life

Vera Komissarzhevskaya, whose biography is so short and so full of theater, did not dare to marry again. Too much of a blow was inflicted on her by her first husband, Vladimir Muravyov. But in 1887, during treatment in Lipetsk, she met Sergey Ziloti, an officer, a highly educated person, a lover of literature and theater. Between them are very warm relations, Sergei even brings Faith to his estate to his parents and presents as a bride. In this house Komissarzhevskaya was always very warm and cozy. She had been friends with the whole family of Ziloti all her life, often visited them in Znamenka. But married to Sergei and did not come out.

Komissarzhevskaya Vera Fedorovna, whose personal life was dramatic, devoted a lot of time and effort to experiences on the stage and that was enough for her. Contemporaries said that A. Chekhov was in love with her, but he did not dare to confess her to it. Although, it is possible that he was in love with her talent as an actress, not as a woman. She had several novels: with the director E.P. Karpov, with a young actor N.P. Roshchin-Insarov, with diplomat SS. Tatishchev, with the poet V. Bryusov, but none of them grew into a marriage, since the main thing in her life was always the theater.

Care

Tours in Siberia and the Far East greatly tired Komissarzhevskaya, she complained to the doctor for pain in the ears. These feelings did not allow her to sleep, she every day felt worse. Invited to her doctor offered her the only method of treatment - trepanation of the skull. The malaise did not pass, and when in Tashkent several actors of the troupe became ill with smallpox, Vera Feodorovna's condition also deteriorated, it turned out that she also had smallpox. Her pain was unbearable, on January 27 she lost consciousness. Ulcers covered her whole body, the pains only intensified. In mid-February, the actress dreamed AP. Chekhov, she regarded it as a good sign. But after a few days the condition deteriorated significantly, on February 23, a heart paralysis occurred and the great Komissarzhevskaya died. According to her will, letters and diaries from her box were destroyed in the first hour after her death. She told me to bury myself with a closed face so people would not see how her illness disfigured. Komissarzhevskaya Vera Fedorovna (1864-1910) was buried in the Tikhvin Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Memory

The departure of the greatest actress was a real shock for Russia, only after the loss suddenly realized the incredible value of her artistic method and the magnitude of talent. Komissarzhevskaya's memory is still preserved by her native country. The Komissarzhevskaya Theater (Novocherkassk) proudly recalls the times when this actress shone here. Just like the theater in Ussuriysk. The cause of her life is the Komissarzhevskaya Drama Theater in St. Petersburg. It is known all over the world. Komissarzhevskaya street is in Tyumen, Donetsk and Voronezh. Her image is embodied in a number of poems by A. Blok and V. Bryusov. Her talent inspired the creation of music, so A. Knaifel wrote a composition for string instruments "Faith", P. Gapon wrote a waltz of her memory "Torn Strings". Her life and work is devoted to a wonderful feature film "I am an actress" by Viktor Sokolov. The role of Faith was perfectly performed by actress Natalia Saiko. The director did not want to shoot the chronological picture, he chose an innovative method - he created the film from separate episodes that were not related to each other, which reveal different facets of the actress's deep nature. The film shows the tragedy of life, in which the price of talent is peace and personal happiness.