VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Mr Gergiyev, we are going to discuss various topics today, including the issue that you are concerned about the most, the reconstruction of the Mariinsky Theatre.
At the beginning of our conversation I would like to note that support for music will always be one of the government's top priorities in culture. A total of 6.4 billion roubles will be allocated from the federal budget for musicians and choreographers in 2010.
I'm sure you know that your colleague and I introduced grants for musicians as a new form of support. This programme has been under way since 2001. I hope that it has played a positive role in ensuring the integrity of many national and regional companies.
This work has been continued into this year, with priority given to support for young musicians. Over half of the four billion roubles appropriated for grants will be allotted for young musicians, choreographic and music schools, conservatories and so on.
We are certainly going to support touring musicians. People living in remote Russian regions must not feel alienated from the country's cultural life.
I know that you also work very hard on improving the situation. I would like to thank you and the entire Mariinsky Theatre Company for it. You tour the country a lot, and don't go only on foreign tours.
Valery Gergiyev: True, we have had a lot of tours round the country recently.
Vladimir Putin: It's great, and the effect is palpable. I'm sure people are grateful to you for it.
As for festivals and contests, if I'm not mistaken, you now head...
Valery Gergiyev: The International Tchaikovsky Competition.
Vladimir Putin: Yes, the steering committee of the Tchaikovsky Competition. Preparations have started already. We will do all we can to help you. Also, the Easter Festival is approaching, which you have also initiated and are supervising. It will take place this year. It will be our pleasure to render you necessary support.
Valery Gergiyev: Thank you. The Easter Festival is intended for admirers of music in the Russian regions. We tour up to ten large regions annually in the framework of this festival. Last year we visited several distant cities, including Murmansk and Petrozavodsk.
We always travel by train. We use "charter" trains, so-to-say. We have an agreement with Russian Railways, which helps us a lot.
This year we are planning to tour Kursk and Volgograd to commemorate the 65th anniversary of victory in World War II. But we are just unable to visit all cities. There are a lot of cities distinguished for their feats during the Great Patriotic War. The whole Mariinsky Theatre Company will visit three or four of them, which we simply could not omit from our tour list.
In addition, I would like to note that we performed at the inauguration ceremony of the Year of Russia in France, just a week ago. We performed all Tchaikovsky's symphonies in Paris. It was a great success.
I think we will also carry on with foreign tours, but our current priority is Russian regions.
We have recently returned from Irkutsk. My young colleague and friend Denis Matsuev, who grew up in Irkutsk, was the one to suggest this idea, which proved very compelling.
It was great. We also visited Baikal. I think the company really enjoys touring distant regions.
Vladimir Putin: I hope it wasn't too cold there.
Valery Gergiyev: Not too cold. We performed two concerts. We now usually give two concerts because I think it always makes sense to separate official events from concerts for students and young people. We even asked the governor not to attend the concert for students, and then we gave an official concert afterwards.
Vladimir Putin: So, these concerts are popular? How big are your audiences in the regions?
Valery Gergiyev: Russia is a vast country. Fortunately, we always gather 2,000-3,000 people, and sometimes even 5,000 people, in one or two concert days. But of course it depends on the size of the halls we perform at.
As you know, your assistance with the construction of the concert hall in St Petersburg has been invaluable. Russia needs new halls, and this problem is being addressed. We have accumulated great experience in creating a good concert hall and building it quickly. I am confident that we will be able to accomplish this objective, especially with your support.
I think that Russia is one of the world's major music powers. We are second to none in cultural achievements, made over centuries. We must now create concert halls which will be the pride of Russian cities even in three or five years. In addition, they can be cost-effective.
