FIVE O’CLOCK TEA AFTER FIVE WARS AND THREE REVOLUTIONS;
FIVE O’CLOCK TEA AFTER SEVEN WARS AND THE IMPIRE COLLAPSE
Sound track for the painting:
The chrysanthemums in the garden faded out long ago… Lyrics by V. Shoomskoy; music by N. Harito; singing Vitas
Forest deer. Lyrics by Y. Entin; music by E. Krylatov; singing L. Senchina
There is only an instant. Lyrics by L. Derbenev; music by A. Zatsepin; singing О. Dahl (from The Sannikov Land)
Aroma for the painting: chrysanthemums/lilies
Taste for the painting: Heering Cherry Liqueur, black tea with plumcake
Technique: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 70 х 60 cm
Style: Positive Synergism
Private collection
Intriguing title… No wonder! Because this painting is dedicated to two different ladies who never knew each other and never met…
Varvara Nikitina was a physician, one of the first Soviet Doctors of Medicine… She passed away just a few weeks before her one hundredth anniversary… Shortly before the occasion she fell down and broke two ribs, she wrapped her body with bandages herself… At the same time she started learning English, she did not have time for this before… She loved to repeat: «I have survived five wars and three revolutions…» - meaning that she was afraid of nothing and nobody…
Such a refined Soviet intellectual, belonging to the aristocracy of Spirit!
Kazimira, a lady of noble birth (who according to the family history descended from nobility of the renowned and respected clan of the Sidorckeviches), a daughter of an «enemy of the people» Peeter Kõnnusaar, was a teacher and the communist leader of a school party organisation, i.e. Conscience of the school...
She was with reason noted for her dash and flamboyance in style and action; for her verve and refined subtle exquisite taste; as well as for being a mistress of the culinary art and sewing. She was extremely clever with her needle and even during the darkest and most hopeless days she provided clothes for the whole family (and not only the family)… She could make anyone look as if just stepped out of a bandbox… At the age of ten she already could sew a gauze pencil skirt for her cousin Bronislava, and later she easily turned an old military greatcoat into upscale couture, a quilt into an overcoat, a curtain into a blouse…
She had a very nice soprano voice and a humongous repertoire, the marvel of which her second husband considered to be the song «The chrysanthemums in the garden faded out long ago»… She used to sing this song every her birthday on 14 October, when, according to their tradition, her husband presented her with a huge bunch of her favorite chrysanthemums…
The acting talent of a slightly provocative beauty Kasenka (that was her home nickname) was recognized by everyone; not without reason, yet in her arctic youth in Dudinka, she was named Chayka (The Seagull) after her role in a play by Anton Chekhov… By the way, this play was premiered on 17 October 1896... These days near Dudinka, there is its main attraction - a 462-meter (1,516 ft) tall radio mast that was formerly used for the CHAYKA radio navigation system…
Afterwards, after Dudinka, happened Leningrad, Institute of Foreign Languages (and apart from native Russian, Polish and Estonian, learning of French, German, and later Finish), the Great Patriotic War, loss of her first husband, German military occupation, Sakhalin, three children, six grandchildren, tragic deaths of two dear grandchildren in a faraway America… Tallinn, Riga, Dresden, Prague, Helsinki, Moscow, Warsaw, London, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Stockholm, Kiev, and many-many other…
She also made a wonderful model of aging well…
Two main events mark everyone’s lifetime, one of them being death… All her life she, admiring beauty of the world, illuminated everything around herself by generously shining light of beauty on everyone and everything … and passed away when reaching out for a beautiful bouquet of lilies with a beautiful white lilium in her hand…
Her eyes were of exceptional blue color… the color of a delicately beautiful forget-me-not…
And her favorite songs were Forest deer and There is only an instant…
We are all differently alike… Two different fates… and two women alike – both Russian… in the soul: self-confident, brave, tough, uncompromising, persistent, strong, decent, integral, sincere and honest… - real aristocrats, i.e. thoroughly unpretentious and exquisitely delicate… They loved starched napkins lying on the table (even when there was not much to put on), … and everything on a silver platter… They loved to please the eyes with the porcelain and the ears with the mellow chime of the silverware and crystal glassware…
That is them… women of that generation! They have taught us that a decent clean-living individual even under most inhumane conditions should remain HU-MAN… with all the HUes of the rainbow!
THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN THE GARDEN FADED OUT LONG AGO
Music by N. Harito
Lyrics by V. Shoomskoy
Singing Vitas
Equirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg
In the garden, where we had met before,
Your favorite bush was already in bloom.
And at once in my soul a bright feeling
Of tender love also broke into bloom.
The chrysanthemums in the garden
Faded out long ago,
But the love still goes on
In my suffering heart.
Our garden is empty, and you also have gone,
I am wandering alone, sad and weary,
And unintentional tears run down my face
Before the faded chrysanthemums bush.
The chrysanthemums in the garden
Faded out long ago,
But the love still goes on
In my suffering heart.
In the garden, where we had met before,
Your favorite bush was already in bloom.
And at once in my soul a bright feeling
Of tender love also broke into bloom.
The chrysanthemums in the garden
Faded out long ago,
But the love still goes on
In my suffering heart.
FOREST DEER
Music by E. Krylatov
Lyrics by Y. Entin
Performing L. Senchina
