User:OSVNEW/Alexander ORLOV (set designer, theatre artist)

Alexander ORLOV  (Russian: Александр Владимирович ОРЛОВ,  Alexander Vladimirovich Orlov) is a Soviet and Russian production/scenic designer, theatre artist, set designer. Born on June 1, 1952. Honored Painter of the Russian Federation (2006), Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1999), Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts (2007). He lives in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Biography
Born on June 1, 1952 in Leningrad, USSR. Father Vladimir Orlov (1928-2014), graphic artist; Mother Ariadna Smolikova (1928-2018).

Wife Irina Cherednikova (born 1950), theatre artist, costume designer; Son Dimitry Orlov (1973–2020), theatre artist;

Master's degree
In 1974 Alexander Orlov graduated from the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography (LGITMiK), Theater and production faculty. He studied at the course of Eduard Kochergin, the chief production/scenic designer of the famous soviet Theater “BDT”. This theater was led at that time by the great Soviet theater director Georgy Tovstonogov

“Kochergin brought us up in very simple criteria. The artist must think in his own categories: rhythm, proportions, color, light, composition, which has its own laws. These are all simple things, but today they are perceived by many even ironically. And more and more often there are options when directors, heads of posts, illuminators suddenly act as artists ... who else is there?” Alexander ORLOV

Career
He worked as the main artist and  set designer in the Riga Youth Theatre (1975-1980), Latvia  and in the Youth Theater on the Fontanka (1981-1986, 1989-1992) in Leningrad - St. Petersburg, Russia. As a set designer he collaborated and continues to work with leading theaters in Russia and abroad, including the Bolshoi Theater (Moscow), the Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg), the Bolshoi Drama Theater (“BDT”) named after Georgy Tovstonogov (St. Petersburg), the “Baltic House” Theater-Festival (St. Petersburg), the Lensovet Theatre (St. Petersburg), the «Maly Drama Theater – Theater of Europe» (St. Petersburg), the “Theater on Liteiny” (St. Petersburg) and others.

For 50 years in the profession Orlov has designed more than 120 performances in the main theatrical cites in Russia like as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Samara, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and outside of the Russia (USA, Poland, Germany, Norway, Israel, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia).

In 1992, as a set designer, he worked on the light and scenography of the concert program of Yuri Shevchuk and the Russian rock group "DDT", dedicated to the presentation of the album "Black Dog Petersburg" (the premiere took place in the St. Petersburg “SCC”-arene on November 14-16, 1992). Inexpensive, but expressive Orlov’s decoration decisions symbolically depicted the city walls with black eye sockets of windows. In addition, during the performance of some songs, a big ball on a rope was lowered from above sometimes turning for Shevchuk into a huge “Foucault pendulum” from St. Isaac's Cathedral, then into a kettlebell for the destruction of old buildings.

“DDT had three such large concert programs. The first is "Black Dog Petersburg", which may have been too serious for its time. It had its own plot, script, scenery. The main theme was "man and city" - it was the city of the 90’s: dying, without electricity, without heating, with a hard life, with realities on the streets and in the heads”. Yuri SHEVCHUK

In different years as a set designer Alexander Orlov worked together with famous theater directors: Lev Dodin, Roman Viktyuk, Vladimir Malyshchitsky, Efim Padve, Roman Kozak, Alexander Galibin, Sergei Artsibashev, Hans Henriksen, Evgeny Ratiner, Felix Deitch, Adolf Shapiro, Vladimir Tumanov, Semyon Spivak, Tatiana Kazakova, Valery Sarkisov, Grigory Kozlov, Yuri Butusov, Lev Stukalov, Alla Sigalova, Veniamin Filshtinsky, Vladislav Pazi, Anato Praudin, Viktor Kramer, Alexander Morfov, Igor Selin, Alexander Kuzin.

“There should be a team in the theater, the task of the set designer is to participate in the game on an equal footing, without pulling blankets on himself. I honestly don't like it when a play is written about without appetite, but "oh, what scenery!" Alexander ORLOV

Alexander Orlov works on many theatrical productions in tandem with his wife Irina Cherednikova, a famous St. Petersburg costume designer. Together, the artists designed, in particular, most of the productions of Rodion Shchedrin's operas at the Mariinsky Theatre (St.Petersburg). Both in 2021 became part of the jury of the DIGITAL OPERA festival, organized by "Petersburg Seasons Company”.

In 2000-2005, Alexander Orlov taught at the Department of Scenography and Stage Costume of the Faculty of Scenography and Theatrical Technology at the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theatrical Arts (SPbGATI).

The works of Alexander Orlov are in the collections of the A. A. Bakhrushin State Theatre and Music Museum (Moscow) and the St. Petersburg Museum of Theatrical and Musical Art.

His personal exhibitions were held in the St. Petersburg Gallery "Borey" (1999), in the Exhibition Hall of the editorial office of the magazine "Our Heritage" (Moscow, 1999), in the St. Petersburg Museum of Theatrical and Musical Art (2019). Alexander Orlov participated in the main  Art exhibitions in Moscow and Kazan, in the Baltic Triennale in Tallinn and Vilnius, in the exhibitions of scenography in the Novi Sad (Serbia) and the Prague Quadriennale ("PQ") (1983), in the exposition of works by members of the Department of Theatrical and Film and Decorative Arts of the Russian Academy of Arts in the Zurab Tsereteli Gallery of Arts in Moscow (2014);

Since 1980 he has been a member of the Leningrad organization of the Union of Artists of the Russia (St. Petersburg Union of Artists);

Member of the Union of Theatrical Figures of the Russian Federation since 1983, in the St. Petersburg branch of which he heads the Council for Theatrical and Decorative Arts;

Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts since 2007, Department of Theatrical and Film Decoration Art;

State awards
In 1999 he became the Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of theatrical art for the performances of the Russian State Academic Drama Theater named after A. S. Pushkin (Alexandrinskiy) "P.S. Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, its author and their beloved Julia" (cadences on the themes of works by W. A. Mozart and E. T. A. Hoffmann) and for the performances of the Theatre on Liteiny  "Forest", play by Alexander Ostrovskiy.

In 2006, for merits in the field of culture and art and many years of fruitful activity by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was awarded the title of Honored Painter of the Russian Federation.

Theatre Awards:
Diploma winner of the Prague Quadriennale (1983); Laureate of the international festival "Baltic House" (1993, 1998); Laureate of the St. Petersburg Golden Sofit Theatre Award (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021); Laureate of the National Award "Musical Heart of the Theater" (2007), Nomination for the Golden Mask Award for the artist's work in the play (1999, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2017); In 2021, sketches of Alexander Orlov's sets for Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Snow Maiden staged by the Mariinsky Theatre (2020) were nominated for the Golden Trezzini Award.

Main scenography works:
At the Irkutsk Youth Theater named after A. Vampilov (Irkutsk, Russia): "Flea" by E. Zamyatin (1973), «Karlsson-on-the Roof» by A. Lindgren (1973);

At the Riga Youth Theatre (Riga, Latvia): «Bumbarash» after the stories of A. Gaidar (1974), "Parental Saturday" by A. Yakovlev (1976), "My Love Elektra" by M. Jancho (1978);

At the Valmiera State Drama Theatre named after L. Paegle, (Valmiera, Latvia): "The Holy of Holies" by I. Drutse (1977), "Forty-first" by B. Lavrenev (1978), "The Nest of the Capercaillie" by V. Rozov (1979);

At the Akimov Comedy Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia: "The Flatterer" by K. Goldoni (1983), "The Country Wife" by W. W. Wicherley (2000), "Harold and Maude" by K. Higgins (2006), "The Pranksters of Windsor" by W. Shakespeare (2002), "The Cunning Widow" by K. Goldoni (2013);

At the Bolshoi Drama Theater (“BDT”) named after G. A. Tovstonogov, (St. Petersburg, Russia): "Cruel Games" by A. Arbuzov (1978), "Art" by Y. Reza (1998), "Before sunset" by G. Hauptmann (2000), "Lady with a Dog" by A. Chekhov (2007), "Ekaterina Ivanovna" by L. Andreev (2004), "A Month in the Village" by I. Turgenev (2009);

At the Maly Drama Theatre – Theatre of Europe (St. Petersburg, Russia): "Page from Pechorin's Diary" by M. Lermontov (1978), "MuMu" by I. Turgenev (1984), "Broken Jug" by G. von Kleist (1992), "Running Wanderers" by A. Kazantsev (1997);

At the Youth Theater on the Fontanka, (St. Petersburg, Russia): "And the day lasts longer than a century" by Ch. Aitmatov (1981), "Jamkhukh - the son of the Deer" by F. Iskander (1983), "Moon Wolves" by N. Sadur (1993), "At midnight hour, in the era of rebirth" by B. Deperier and N. de Trois (1994), "Late Love" by A. Ostrovsky (2009); "Fantasies of Faryatiev" by A. Sokolova (2012), "Guilty without guilt" by A. Ostrovsky (2017), "We are married by the tide..." J.Anouya (2018)

At the State Theatre of Musical Comedy of Belarus (Minsk, Belarus): "Ball of Madmen" by O. Felser and S. Steinberg on the comedy "Woe from Wit" by A. Griboyedov (1982);

At the Russian Drama Theatre  (Tallinn, Estonia): "Masquerade" by M. Lermontov (1986);

At the Tyumen Drama Theater (Tyumen, Russia): "The Master and Margarita" by M. Bulgakov (1988);

At the Novosibirsk Theater "Red Torch" (Novosibirsk, Russia): "Romeo and Juliet" by W. Shakespeare (1989)

At the Theater "Baltic House" (St. Petersburg Russia): "How do you like it" by W. Shakespeare (1992), "Diary of a provincial in St. Petersburg" by M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, (1997), "Chardym" by N. Sadur (1998), "Three Comrades" by E.-M. Remarque (2003);

At the Samara Drama Theater named after M. Gorky (Samara, Russia): "Pannochka" by N. Sadur (1992), "The Case of the Cornet of the Island" by E. Gremina (1993), "Profitable Place" by A. Ostrovsky (2002), "Guys, I am to you!" by A. Kuternitsky, (2005), "Monsieur Amilcar, or the Man Who Pays" by I. Zhamiak (2005), "Romeo and Juliet" by W. Shakespeare, (2007), "Forest" by A. Ostrovsky, (2008), "Peasant Lady" by E. Fridman after the novel by A. Pushkin (2018);

At the Omsk Academic Drama Theater (Omsk, Russia): "The Gambler" by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1993), "Cyrano de Bergerac" by E. Rostand (2014);

At the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, (Milwaukee, USA): “The Gambler” by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1994);

At the Theater of Young Spectators named after A. A. Bryantsev (St. Petersburg, Russia): "Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg" by M. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1996) - «Pollyanna» by E. Porter (2000)

At the Norwegian National Theatre, (Oslo, Norway): "The Inspector General" by Nikolai Gogol (1997);

At the “New Theatre of Oslo” (Oslo, Norway): "Mirandolina" by K. Goldoni (1997), "Heart of a Dog" by M. Bulgakov (1998);

In the Novosibirsk Theater "Globus" (Novosibirsk, Russia): "Two Small Tragedies" by A. Pushkin (1997), "Uncle Vanya" by A. Chekhov (1998), "Zhadov and Others" ("Profitable Place") by A. Ostrovsky, "The Marriage of Figaro" by P. Beaumarchais (2002), "Boulevard of Crimes" by E.-E. Schmitt’s "Frederick" (2002);

At the Alexandrinsky Theatre (St. Petersburg, Russia): "P.S. Kapellmeister Johann Kreisler, its author and their beloved Julia" by E.T. Hoffmann (1999), "Masquerade" by M. Lermontov (2001), "Little Tragedies" by A. Pushkin (2003);

At the Theatre on Liteiny (St. Petersburg, Russia): "The Forest" by A. Ostrovsky (1999), "Do not part with your loved ones" by A. Volodin (2002), "The Last Love" by I. Bashevis Singer (2002), "Pyshka" by G. de Maupassant (2006);

At the "Our Theater" under the direction of Lev Stukalov (St. Petersburg, Russia): "The Case of the Cornet of the Island" by E. Gremina (2001), "Pannochka" by N. Sadur (2001), "Woman in the Sands" by K. Abe (2003), "I am Medea!" by J. Anuya (2006), "Bench" by A. Gelman (2007), "Pygmalion" by B. Shaw (2008);

At the Zazerkalye Theatre (St. Petersburg, Russia): “La Bohème” by J. S. Williams. Puccini (2001);

At the Riga Russian Theatre named after Mikhail Chekhov (Riga, Latvia): "The Cherry Orchard" by A. Chekhov (2001), "Maria Stewart" by Y. Slovatsky (2002);

At the Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow, Russia): «Ruslan and Lyudmila» by M.Glinka (2003);

At the Vladimir Mayakovsky Theatre (Moscow, Russia): «The Karamazovs» by Fyodor Dostoevsky (2003), "Dead Souls" by N. Gogol (2005);

At the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre (St. Petersburg, Russia): "Don Giovanni" by J.-B. Moliere (2004), «Slaves» by A. Ostrovsky (2011);

At the Pushkin Theatre (Moscow, Russia): «Nights of Cabiria» by F. Fellini (2004), «Cosmetics of the Enemy» by A. Notomb (2005), «Madame Bovary» by G. Flaubert (2006);

At the Satyricon Theatre (Moscow, Russia): «Cosmetics of the Enemy» by A. Notomb (2005);

At the Latvian National Opera (Riga, Latvia): Tchaikovsky's «The Queen of Spades» by Tchaikovsky (2005, 2020);

At the Drama Theatre, Tromse (Norway): «Crime and Punishment» by Fyodor Dostoevsky (2005);

At the St. Petersburg Theatre of Musical Comedy (St. Petersburg, Russia): «Madame Pompadour» by L. Fall (2008);

At the Yaroslavl Drama Theater named after F. Volkov (Yaroslavl, Russia): «Woe from Wit» by A. Griboyedov (2009);

At the Aalto Opera House, Aalto-Theatre, (Essen, Germany): «Prince Igor» by A. Borodin (2009);

At the Vakhtangov Theatre (Moscow, Russia): «Measure for Measure» by W. Shakespeare (2010);

At the Gesher Theatre (Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel): «Don Giovanni» by J. B. Molière (2011);

At the Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater named after M. Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia): «The Cherry Orchard» by A. Chekhov (2012);

At the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre (Novosibirsk, Russia): «Faust» by S. Gounod (2012);

At the Ermolova Theatre, Moscow, Russia): «Hamlet»  by W.Shakespeare (2013);

At the Mariinsky Theatre (St. Petersburg, Russia): «The Queen of Spades by P.Tchaikovsky» (1998, 2015), «The Enchanted Wanderer» (2003, 2009) and  «Lefty» by R.Shchedrin (2013), «Eugene Onegin» by P.Tchaikovsky (2014), «Not Only Love» by R. Shchedrin  (2017), «The Snow Maiden» by N.Rimsky-Korsakov (2020);

At the Aalborg Teater (Aalborg, Denmark): «Ronia, the Robber's Daughter»  by A. Lindgren (2019), «The Marriage of Figaro» by P. O. Beaumarchais (2019);

Refereces
1.     Site of the Academy of Arts of the Russian Federation |«Orlov Alexander»

2.     Victor Berezkin | «ALEXANDER ORLOV»  | St. Petersburg Theatre Magazine | № 1(59) 2010

3.     Yuriy Shevchuk. |Interview «DDT - the history of the album “Black Dog Petersburg" (live, 1992-93)» | Sergey Kuriy's website "Kur.S.Iv.om"| 08.11.2012

4.     Ksenia Aitova| «Profession – Theatre Artist. Alexander Orlov»| Volga News | December 2012

 Publications in mass media: 


 * Lyubov Oves, "Dress an Actor in the Stage", Petersburg Theatre Magazine, No 6, 1994 Olga Svarenskaya "Big Brother", St. Petersburg Theatre Magazine, No 14, 1997
 * Olga Savitskaya, "Profession: Art", Petersburg Theatre Magazine, No 21, 2000
 * Nadezhda Khmeleva, "The Meaning of the Pulsating Form", Journal "Our Heritage", No 66, 2003
 * Ekaterina Gorokhovskaya "We want to get out of the underground", a conversation with students of Alexander Orlov, St. Petersburg Theater Magazine, No 2(52), 2008
 * Victor Berezkin, "Alexander ORLOV", Peterburg Theatre Magazine, No 1 (59), 2010 Marina Dmitrevskaya, "You can't replace the Nutcracker with Aibolit", Petersburg Theatre Magazine, No 1(59), 2010
 * D. Gustyakova, "Classical Opera in the Space of Mass Culture: "The Queen of Spades" staged by A. Galibin", Yaroslavl Pedagogical Bulletin, No 13, 2011
 * Ksenia Aitova, "Profession - theater artist. Alexander Orlov", Volga-News, 13.12.2012 Olga Sinelnikova, "The Opera "Lefty" by Rodion Shchedrin: the mystery of the Russian genius and the high "temperature" of the plot"; Vestnik KemGUKI, No 47, 2019·
 * Lyubov Oves, "Set designers of St. Petersburg A. Orlov and I. Cherednikova: meeting with the opera (1998-2019)"; Magazine "Questions of the Theater", No 1-2, 2020

Literature

 * Berezkin V. I. “The Art of Scenography of world theatre” URSS,  Moscow,  2015,  Volume 11:  “Set Designers of Russia. Stanislav Benediktov. Alexander Orlov. Alexander Borovsky” — 640 p. — ISBN 978-5-396-00600-3