"See Paris - and die!"
"To see Peterhof and to rise from the dead"

The winemakers often say: "The grapes should suffer its wine". It means that the most expensive and tasty wines are made of the grapes that grow on poor soil and in bad climatic conditions when the grapes struggle for life and wins this struggle. You cannot but compare this situation with the history of Russia. The country have suffered, struggled and searched for 10 years and finally managed to return to the source of its traditions and spirituality, to think it over creatively and to make a huge step forward. The vivid example of it are the festivals in Peterhof on the Main Cascade, where our past, present and future are incredibly brought together.

Peterhof parks, fountains and cascades were created in the best "star" hours of our country when barocco reigned in architecture, Peter I opened "the window to Europe", the new esthetics of Peter's assemblies and festivities was created and the new Russian traditions that were preserved and given over from one generation to the other over three centuries.

On June 12 in 1995 after long restoration works the first mayor of Saint-Petersburg opened and blessed the wonderful Big Cascade. The ceremony was accompanied by the sounds of music, dancing and singing. The Big Cascade in the gold almost mysterious glimmering of statues, melody of the water falling and the wind from the Finnish Gulf determine the rules and the laws of the festivals. The performances should bring together the elegance of the times of Peter I, the pomp of barocco and the intellectuality of the 21st century. The classical music should be the background for the classical and historical ballets and for the wonderful voices of the singers.

The director of such performances should have deep knowledge and understanding of the certain period in history, the dances and the costumes of that time. Every festival should have its face its original script. And the task of the director is not only to set this script, but also to bring together architecture, golden statues, the music of water, the music of orchestra with the voices of the soloists and the movements of the dancers, in the evenings - with the light of the big and small For the director the terrace of the Big Cascade is his stage. From May till the end of September the spectators may see "The day of opening of Peterhof fountains", "The Day of Peterhof", the holiday dedicated to the favorite dog of Ekatherine the Great - Zemira, the festival "The Renaissaince of the "Samson" fountain", the festival of the Russian flag, romantic and mysterious "Autumn Ball of the fountains". And the final festival of the season is "The closing of fountains", the glimmering "black diamond" in the crown of Peterhof festivals.

The festivals first celebrated by Peter I are creatively organized by the artistic community of "Petrodvoretz" complex. This artistic community is headed by Znamenov V.V. Anner J.V. and the director of all the festivals Sokolova V.V. Over the past years more and more citizens and guests of the city are coming to Peterhof not only to look at the fountains but also to hear wonderful concerts and to see unforgettable shows.

This year director Sokolov, who was at that time busy organising the other city festival, "The Festival of Bread", did not take part in the night performance of the "Autumn Ball" of fountains of September 22and the resulted in the drastic change in the design of the show, its music and video image, that turned out to be even tragic and demonic in some moments, when the persons in black cloaks appeared. You could not but asked yourself: "Is it really Peterhof?" Of course every artist has the right to experiment. But can such experiments be justified in Peterhof?

Great final fireworks excelled in beauty the same festivals in Versaille. It is impossible to find exact and simple words to describe it. It was the birth of the new galaxy, the shimmering of blue, pink and champagne-coloured diamonds. But alas, if art is the multi-stage staircase to the sky, then this time it has proven to be several steps shorter. The change of design and director does not always mean the victory of the old over the new. The grapes should suffer its wine.

And I want to believe the Peterhof cascade will always not only inspire and make happy the citizens of Saint-Petersburg and tourists coming to the city by its festivals, but also preserve its artistic company, the company of artists, for whom the cascade has become not only work, but also their life. And then every person visiting the festival will complete the saying "To see Paris - and to die" by "but to see Peterhof and to rise from the dead".

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