CHEKHOV. VOCABULARY

CHEKHOV

My favourite writer is Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. In my opinion, he is the greatest Russian dramatist and short-story writer. I'm never tired of reading and rereading his plays and humorous stories.

Chekhov was born in 1860 in Taganrog. In 1879 he went to Moscow, where he studied medicine. Though he practised little as a doctor in his lifetime, he was prouder of his medical knowledge than of his writing talent. While in college, Chekhov wrote humorous sketches for comic papers to support his family. He collected the best ones into a volume, Motley Stories, in 1886. The book attracted the attention of the publisher of the Novoje Vremja, Russia's largest paper, and Chekhov was asked to contribute stories regularly.

Chekhov, as an established writer, was able to develop a style of his own. Though he never gave up writing comic stories, he began working in a more serious vein. In 1887 Ivanov, his first play, established Chekhov as a dramatist. From then on, he concentrated on writing plays, as well as snort stories. Chekhov was seriously ill. He had tuberculosis and knew what it meant. By 1892 his health was so bad that he was afraid to spend another winter in Moscow. He bought a small estate near a village Melikhovo, 50 miles from Moscow. He spent 5 year's, there, and those were happy years in spite of the illness. He wrote some of his best stories I there, including Ward No.6, several well-known one-act comedies and two of his serious dramatic masterpieces, The Seagull and Uncle Vanya. The Seagull was first staged in the Alexandrinsky Theatre in Petersburg, it was a complete failure because of the dull and clumsy production. It was a cruel blow to Chekhov. However, the play was successfully performed as the first production of the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898. From then on, Chekhov was closely connected with this theatre and I with its founder, K.S.Stanislavsky. In 1901 he married an Art Theatre actress, Olga Knipper, who acted in his play The Three Sisters the same year.

Chekhov's health went from bad to worse and he had to spend the remaining years in the Crimea and other health spas.

The Cherry Orchard, his last play, was produced in 1904. Soon after the first night Chekhov died. He was 44. Chekhov had an immense influence on the 20th-century drama. Besides, several generations of writers both in Russia and abroad studied and imitated Chekhov to perfect their own literary style.

VOCABULARY

Motley Stories - Пестрые рассказы

Ward Na 6 - Палата №6

The Seagull - Чайка

Uncle Vanya - Дядя Ваня

the Moscow Art Theatre - Московский Художественный театр

the Crimea - Крым

The Cherry Orchard - Вишневый сад

in my opinion - по-моему

dramatist - драматург

humorous stories - юмористические рассказы

medicine - медицина

lifetime - (вся) жизнь

to be proud of - гордиться чем-либо

sketch - зарисовка, набросок

to support - поддерживать, содержать

volume - том

to attract attention - привлечь внимание

to contribute - сотрудничать (писать в газете, журнале)

established -признанный, известный

to develop - развивать

a style of one's own - собственный стиль

to give up - бросить, отказаться от чего-либо

vein — стиль, направление

from then on ~ с тех пор, с той поры, с того времени

estate - поместье

one-act comedy - одноактная комедия

masterpiece - шедевр

it was a complete failure - пьеса провалилась

dull - скучный, монотонный

clumsy - неуклюжий, грубый, неудачный

production - постановка

It was a cruel blow to Chekhov. - Это был страшный ^дар для Чехова

to perform - исполнять, играть

to go from bad to worse - становиться все хуже и хуже

spa - курорт (с минеральными водами).

to produce - ставить (о пьесе)

first night - премьера

immense - огромный

influence - влияние

generation - поколение

хо imitate - подражать

to perfect-совершенствовать

LEVITAN

Isaac Ilyich Levitan, the great Russian artist, became the first painter of the Russian scenery, who revealed all its beauty. He is a real poet of the Russian countryside. He continued and developed the traditions of painters of the Russian realistic school - Savrasov, Polenov, Serov. Levitan found significant meaning and poetry in what would seem the most everyday subjects.

He is a very individual sort of painter. You can't but appreciate his paintings, because there is something in his landscapes that reflects our own moods.

He deeply felt what he wished to express and his brush transferred these feelings to the canvas. It is interesting to note that a master of landscape, he never introduced figures into it. Though if you look at the Autumn Day in Sokolniki everything seems to bring out the loneliness of the figure in the centre: the trees losing their leaves, the remote, indifferent sky, the path going off' into the distance. But the fact is that it was not Levitan who painted the figure. It was Checkov's brother Nicolai who did it.

His travels over the Volga region influenced Levitan's art, the impression made on him by the great Russian river was unforgettable. For his life and painting he chose Plyoss - a small beautiful town on the Volga. Hrs paintings Evening, Golden Plyoss, After Rain reflect his love for nature.

Last summer I visited Plyoss and saw the places where the great pictures were painted. Many people admire his pictures Deep Waters, Evening Bells, Springtime, The Last Snow and, of course, his famous Golden Autumn. All his paintings are very emotional, lyrical and realistic.

In the closing years of his life Levitan made several journeys abroad to France, Italy and Germany where he painted a number of landscapes, although his best works of the period were devoted to Russia. He was only 40 when he died in 1900.

Levitan's influence on the painters of lyrical landscapes was great. Levitan's feeling for nature, his great love for his native land, his ability to reveal and depict the poetry of the Russian land have won his paintings the love and gratitude of people.

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