Solomon Iosifovich Kaplun is a legend of the Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre. He dedicated forty four years to the biggest theatre in the country and his merits are acknowledged with the title of Honored Cultural Worker of the RSFSR. He started his career at the theatre as Chief Engineer, then switched to the post of Deputy Director General, First Deputy Director General and Chief Executive Manager.
On the verge of the theatre’s 75th anniversary Solomon Iosifovich shared with us some memories of his work at the theatre.
– You started your professional career in a totally different field. How did you end up at the Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre?
– Right, after graduating from the Moscow Technological Institute I worked as Chief Mechanic at the Novosibirsk chrome leather factory. I went for a theatre job in 1956, thanks largely to Vladimir Zelmanov, deputy director of that factory, where I was credited as a valued specialist. Zelmanov proposed me to his son, the Director General of the theatre Semyon Zelmanov as a candidate for chief engineer post. Communist Party of the Soviet Union City Committee approved my application and I was given a job at the theatre.
– Have you ever been to the theatre before the appointment?
– Yes of course, I loved theatre and I did my best to see a performance at least once a month. I clearly remember how impressed I was with the building and professional skills of the performers. At first I preferred ballet over opera and my favorite production was The Swan Lake.
– How did you familiarize yourself with a new line of work?
– To tell you the truth, in my first days I used to get lost in the theatre. I needed to explore and scrutinize the entire building, and eventually I got by. It suffices to say that in five years a technical specialist that I am became First Deputy Director General and Chief Engineer all in one. I worked through the holidays. It was already a challenge to maintain this majestic structure in good shape, while the list of my duties expanded significantly. It took me five years to learn the inner workings of the theatre, not only the engineering, but also artistic life, production, financing, provision etc. I had to know it all, otherwise I wouldn’t have lasted long on that post.
As an engineer I contributed to the development of material and technical foundation for new productions, therefore I had to communicate a lot with artistic personnel and creative teams – designers, ballet masters, stage directors.
Upon recommendations of the higher management I needed to conduct negotiations with designers and directors and engage them in our work. For example, we engaged Vladimir Vasiliev, People’s Artist of Russia to participate in staging of Molchanov’s MacBeth in 1981. What I mean is that I got to work with top league personnel of the county’s musical community.
Of course the first few years I had to study a lot of materials on the theatre management, I read all that I could find. But after a while I knew enough to say how much time a soloist would need to complete a given task; basically, I mastered the subject of opera theatre. It was very interesting, and now I can’t imagine living a different life, a different job.
– What would you call the most difficult aspect of your job?
– As you know, each designer, leading specialist, artistic director is eager to grasp the leading position and lay down his demands. That was the most difficult task – to equalize this system of relationships. I’m not bragging, but usually before starting a new production conductors, ballet masters, designers addressed to me and I had decide whether we were capable of putting their concepts into practice in terms of technical, engineer and financial resources. Due to the scale of our country each task acquires additional levels of complexity. Thus, I had to reconcile all parties’ interests and find win-win solutions.
– What is the most exciting production that was staged during your term at the theatre?
– I’d probably say that was The Queen of Spades, designed by Fedor Nirod. At first he suggested a hardly feasible solution, then after a month he came up with a totally different vision – five times cheaper and a lot more interesting. I really liked that production.
– Who was the most agreeable artist in your career?
– The best partnership was established with the designer Ivan Sevastianov, but we also had a long and productive cooperation with Albin Morozov. I got the warmest impressions of working with directors Roman Tikhomirov, Emil Pasynkov. Vaagn Bagratuni used to make interesting productions, though it was hard to cooperate with him. Israel Chudnovsky was an interesting conductor – his performances were all different in terms of emotional content and duration: other conductors kept performances in the same time frames, while his shows could vary drastically. All in all, the most cooperative person in the company was Mikhail Bukhbinder.
– What does the Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre mean to you personally?
It literally is my life. I must admit I was ready to do anything for the company, sometimes in the expense of my family. Coincidentally, both me and my wife were both workaholics spending lives at their workplaces - she was an Honored Doctor of Russia working as Head Physician of a hospital. Thus, our kids probably needed more care but nevertheless, I thank my lucky stars for the opportunity to get a theatre job, because not everyone is lucky enough to get such an interesting job and moreover, the theatre does not take everyone aboard.