LIGHT-MUSIC IN THEATRE AND VARIETY:
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALL-UNION SEMINAR

Kazan, Russia, 1991. 136 pp.

Reviewed by Bulat M. Galeyev, KAI, SKB
'Prometei', ul. K. Marksa, 10, Kazan
420111, Russia.

This seminar was held in the framework of the annual "Readings of Prometheus" that is traditionally held in Kazan by the staff of the "Prometei" studio. Before the theses are presented, there is an introduction about relevant experiments in Russia and the USSR. This introduction was written by me, as the scientific editor of the collection. In the book there are about 50 reports. One section of the edition is dedicated to pre-revolutionary experiments of Russian musicians and artists who, 80 to 100 years ago, were already experimenting with light-music staging (A. Rimsky-Korsakov in the "Mlada" opera; "Prometheus" and "Preliminary Action" of A. Scriabin; "Der gelbe Klang" ("The Yellow Sound") and "Pictures from an Exhibition" by V. Kandinsky; optophonic concerts of V. Baranov-Rossine, etc.). In the Proceedings, much attention is paid to the world practice of light-music - the color-musical symbolism of Japanese Kabuki theatre, the monodrama "Lucky Hand" by A. Schoenberg, the audiovisual performance of "Politop" by I. Xenakis. And, of course, ample space is given to the practice of modern Soviet art groups - Studio "Prometei" (in Kazan), groups "Dvizhenie" ("Movement") and "Mir" ("World") (in Moscow), the Studio of Dynamic Light-Painting (in Kharkov), the Color, Poetry and Music Club (in Odessa), SKB "Poisk" ("Search") (in Vladimir), group "Erebuni" (in Erevan), stage designers from theaters in Sverdlovsk, Tbilisi, Poltava, Riga, etc. A separate report is devoted to the original theater "Laterna Magica" from Prague. In the technical section of the Proceedings, there are descriptions of different lighting-effects projectors, stage laser devices and other apparati dedicated to light-sound staging, museum expositions and planetariums, where methods of translation of environment are now actively used. In the Appendix of the collection there is a wide-ranging bibliography on the theme of the seminar (in the editions in Russian) as well as a list of the publications of Soviet authors in "Leonardo".

Published in "Leonardo Music Journal", 1992, v.2, N1,
pp.119-120.
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