25 Facts About Alexander Tairov

1.

Alexander Yakovlevich Tairov was a leading innovator and theatre director in Russia before and during the Soviet era.

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2.

Aleksandr Tairov was born Aleksandr Yakovlevich Korenblit on July 6,1885, in Romny, Russian Empire.

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3.

At the age of 10, young Alexander Tairov moved to Kiev and settled with his aunt, a retired actress.

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4.

Alexander Tairov took part in amateur performances and assumed the name Tairov as a pseudonym.

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5.

In 1906 Alexander Tairov was invited by the famous Russian actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya and joined her theatre as an actor under the directorship of Vsevolod Meyerhold.

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6.

Alexander Tairov concurrently continued his studies in law at St Petersburg University.

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7.

Alexander Tairov collaborated with Vsevolod Meyerhold on a joint production of a play by Paul Claudel.

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8.

Alexander Tairov felt that the work of Meyerhold's actors was dictated by the production concept and that the actors were mere puppets.

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9.

Soon Alexander Tairov left to join Pavel Gaideburov's company as a director.

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10.

Alexander Tairov created a prototype of his Chamber Theatre as "synthetic theatre" with high goals in mind.

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11.

Alexander Tairov used the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Frederic Chopin as a way of helping his actors achieve a special state of mind during their performances.

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12.

In 1912 Alexander Tairov was invited to direct a play in collaboration with the Russian Drama Theatre in Riga.

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13.

Alexander Tairov prevailed, he stayed and completed his work for the Russian Drama Theatre in Riga.

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14.

Alexander Tairov was the first director in Russia to stage The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht.

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15.

Alexander Tairov staged classical play of Kalidasa - "Sakuntala", plays of Valery Bryusov, Eugene O'Neill, J B Priestley, Oscar Wilde, and other contemporary writers.

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16.

Alexander Tairov collaborated with such artists as Alexandra Exter, Pavel Kuznetsov, Sergei Soudeikin, Mikhail Larionov, Natalya Goncharova, Vladimir Pohl, Inayat Khan and others.

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17.

Alexander Tairov's Acting Studio became extremely popular among aspiring actors such as Vera Karalli, Yevgeni Lebedev, and others.

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18.

Alexander Tairov worked with composers Sergei Prokofiev, A Aleksandrov, Georgi Sviridov, and Dmitri Kabalevsky.

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19.

Alexander Tairov tried to defend his theatre, he stated that theatres must be established on the level of research institutes.

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20.

However, unlike many other enemies of the regime, Alexander Tairov survived the Great Purges in which millions were imprisoned or executed.

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21.

Alexander Tairov was granted a personal pension and soon was hospitalized with brain cancer.

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22.

Alexander Tairov died on September 5,1950, in Moscow, and was laid to rest in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.

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23.

Alexander Tairov developed what he called "Synthetic Theatre" which incorporated ballet, opera, circus, music hall, and dramatic elements.

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24.

Alexander Tairov believed theatre was its own art and was not merely a means for transmitting literature.

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25.

The acting school Alexander Tairov developed was to train a company of "master actors" who would excel in all of the elements of Synthetic Theatre and become the primary creators of performances.

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