An Italian collector presented the Bakhrushin Museum with a one-meter sketch of the scenery for the legendary opera by Puccini
La Scala is one of the most performed operas in the world and was staged at La Scala in 1946. This legendary creation by Puccini for the famous stage in Milan was set by the hereditary artist Nikolai Benois. And now the master’s model measuring 100 * 77 * 80 cm can be seen in the Bakhrushinsky Theater Museum in Moscow. The fragile graphics were preserved for posterity by a friend of the artist who lived next door to him in Milan, Pietro Pittaro. At the suggestion of Benoit, he became a keen collector – he will donate a unique drawing to the museum on June 10.
The most popular operas by Puccini – not only La Scala, but also Floria Tosca and Manon Lescaut were staged on the stage of La Scala in the design of Nicholas Benois. And also – “Faust” by Gounod, “Werther” Massenet, “Favorite” and “Lucia di Lammermoor” by Donizetti.
Pietro Pittaro has seen many of them. And he even built a separate house for the collection, which began just with collecting the works of a friend. It contains not only drawings by the famous Pittaro’s neighbor Nicholas Benois, but also large-scale exhibits, such as antique gondolas or fragments of old palace interiors.
Benois, the heir to a famous family of painters, created the stage design for Puccini’s opera La Boheme, just in the palace style. And when the chance turned up, the Italian bought a unique drawing at an auction. However, Benoit himself donated many of the works to his neighbor. Together with the model for “La Boheme” he intends to transfer a few more works – so far a secret that it will be. This will not be the first gift of the Italian to Russia: in 2016, in the presence of Vladimir Putin, he donated one of the artist’s works to the Benois Museum in St. Petersburg.
“This theatrical model is unique in itself,” says Dmitry Rodionov, director of the Bakhrushinsky Museum. – This famous production at La Scala is a symbol of the theatrical cultural ties between our countries. Pietro is our bow. What Benoit did at La Scala is inscribed in world history. The artist also staged performances at the Bolshoi Theater, some of which went on for decades. He built massive grandiose structures – palace decorations. You know, if a performance is “difficult”, the stage workers try to quickly remove it from the repertoire. However, Benois’s scenography had such a refined beauty that delighted both specialists and ordinary workers and neophiles who first came to the theater … Such was La Bohème. This beautiful work of the artist’s heyday will now be in our museum.
Before the public can examine the layout in detail, it will have to be restored. This will be done by specialists from the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, headed by Ivan Glazunov, a descendant of the Benois clan. The restorers will need several months to work with the model, it will be done free of charge. “I am happy that in these difficult, covid days, which hinder many undertakings, we are doing a great job,” said Ivan Glazunov at a press conference on the occasion of donating the work to the Bakhrushin Museum. He added that his mother Nina Vinogradova-Benois was in active correspondence with her grandfather Leonty Nikolaevich, another famous representative of the creative dynasty, and, perhaps, he will soon publish some letters for the first time.
“Nikolai Benois, while remaining a Russian artist, lived in Italy and collaborated with La Scala for about 25 years,” emphasized Mikhail Shvydkoi, special representative of the President of the Russian Federation for international cultural cooperation. – The relations between Russia and Italy, not only in the sphere of culture, but also in the economy and public life, differ from relations with other states. And the current excellent occasion confirms this well. The Benoit model will become one of the gems of the theatrical museum’s collection.
Italian Ambassador to Russia Pasquale Terracciano added in tone to his colleague that indeed a strong cultural bridge has existed between Italy and Russia for a long time, and this year for countries is a cross year of museums. In this regard, many events are planned, including the upcoming exhibition of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci in St. Petersburg, which has already opened a project in the Hermitage for the 500th anniversary of Raphael.
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