«Without the Mask». Exhibition Devoted to the 95th Anniversary of Georgy Ansimov»

 The exhibition «Without the Mask» devoted to the 95th anniversary of Georgy Ansimov, Director of the Bolshoi Theatre and People’s Artist of the USSR, is open from May 18 at the Theatre Salon on Tverskoy Boulevard.

The exhibition has three parts. The first hall called «I am from the Clergy» presents photos from the family personal archive, old albums, genealogical researches by Marina Pokrovskaya, an Ansimov’s niece. There are materials about the life of Ansimov’s father, a priest who was shot in 1937 on the Butovo landfill. A special place is given to the collection of wooden crucifixes that Georgy Ansimov has collected all his life.

The second hall is dedicated to the Ansimov’s professional career, his work at the Bolshoi Theatre and the Moscow Operetta Theatre. There are photos, reviews, Ansimov’s notes for the plays, costume and set designs. The materials about professional conflicts of Ansimov with Lemeshev and Rostropovich can be called the central exhibits of this hall.

The third hall represents Ansimov’s career as a professor and a writer. There you can find books and audio materials with records of Vertinsky’s romances performed by Ansimov. Some of the exhibits are dedicated to Ansimov’s students, who live in different parts of Russia, and to the Helikon Opera Theatre, which mostly consists of students and followers of Georgy Ansimov.

A concert of the Ansimov’s students under the direction of the Helikon Opera Theatre general director Dmitry Bertman will be held at the exhibition opening.