Диалог по английскому языку на тему Art

-What is art's purpose?
-Most people believe that art is an attempt to understand and analyse life. But art also entertains. As an example we can take the plays by Moliere which are bitter satires on the nobles and clergy. The plays were prohibited because they abused the monarch. Many plays teach people to behave, showing their bad qualities and the result of their bad deeds.
-What arts are most popular?
-I think those arts are popular the works of which are easy to understand and which are true to life. You see, the symbolists (Blok, Bely, etc.) were at first less popular than many other poets because the reader had to learn their special, symbolic language. The same can be said about abstract art. This does not mean that these styles are worse, but it means they are more difficult to understand and so they are less popular than others. Well, I think the most popular are music, theatre, painting and cinema.
-Where can you enjoy pieces of art?
-Well, we enjoy music at concerts in the Philharmonic, the Conservatoire and the Chapel. We also enjoy music while watching a ballet or listening to an opera at an opera house. Sometimes in summer you can listen to a piece tor the brass orchestra in a park or a garden. We can see paintings, sculpture and pieces of applied arts in museums and churches, sometimes in the streets (statues of famous people). One can enjoy films at a cinema-hall.
-Do you like music?
-Yes, I do.
-What styles of music do you know?
-There are many styles. Speaking about classical music, I like pieces by Mozart, Chaikovsky, Glinka. I also like songs by Pakhmutova, Krylatov,Dunayevsky. My favourite composer is Kabalevsky.
-What other styles do you know?
-Jazz, techno and rock are popular with the young people.
-Have you ever been to a concert of classical music?
-Yes, many times. Mother likes to listen to the strings. She often takes me, too. My favourite instruments are the harp and the organ.I also like the sound of the guitar and the violin. But I know how difficult it is to play the violin.
-What do you feel when you listen to the music?
-I try to imagine what the composer wanted to express with the music. But usually the music carries me away and I do not only feel, but also see different pictures of people, events and so on.
-Do you like music more than theatre?
-I would not say so. You see, music uses only sounds to express the ideas, but the theatre uses music, dance, movement, colour and singing, so this art is more appealing to many people and for me, too.
-Do you play any musical instruments?
-Yes, I can play the piano because I was taking lessons of piano playing for five years, but now I've quitted it not because I am very busy at school. I can also play the guitar. I learnt to play it in the summer camp, but I only know a few chords to accompany tourists' and bards' songs.
-Do you know many songs?
-Just a few.
-Do you like going to the theatre?
-I'm not much of a theatre-goer, because I do not have much time, but I like to go to the theatre. I was lucky to compare several stagings of the «Swans' Lake» and understood that different dancers dance the same parts differently.
-When did you last see a play?
-It was last year. We saw «Swans' Lake» in the Mariinsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
-Did you like the performance?
-The ballet was a success, as usual. The house was full, there were many tourists from abroad. There were tourists from Britain and Japan. They asked me to help them buy programmes. The audience took the performance very enthusiastically, there were many curtain calls and flowers. We bought the tickets in advance and were lucky to get good ones.
-Where were your seats?
-We were in a box, next to the Tsar's Place, which is one of the best seats. We were facing the stage and saw everything perfectly. It is very important, you know. I took opera-glasses and could see even small details.
-What was the setting?
-The setting changed for every picture. In the first picture we saw the yard of the castle, in the second and the fourth - the lake in the thicket of the wood, in the third picture the stage represented the hall of the castle. The scenery was done by an expert. Especially wonderful were the swans swimming across the lake in the dark.
-Who played the main parts?
-Oh, I do not remember, it was a year ago, and I'm not a balletomane. But as far as I remember, the cast was not simply good, but wonderful. Everyone acted very well. The audience applauded much.
-What is the plot of the ballet?
-The ballet tells about a young prince who fell in love with a charmed girl, beautiful Odette. He wanted to marry her, but was deceived by an evil magician and his daughter Odille. But the prince learnt the truth, fought with the magician and married Odette. The story tells about the power of love and faithfulness.
-Is the Mariinsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet your favourite theatre?
-Yes, it is. I have seen many ballets and operas there.
- Do you prefer opera to ballet?
-No, I don't. I like ballet more than opera. I have seen «Don Quixote», «Giselle», «Coppelia» and others and I find them beauti ful and charming. I like some operas, for example, «Figaro's Wedding».
-Are there many differences between the theatre and the cinema?
- Yes, there are. On the one hand, in the cinema we watch a film. We don't see the real actors, only their images. The film is created of several episodes, shot in many variants. Creators of a film choose best passages and arrange them together. In the theatre we have a different situation - we see teai actors and they act in front of us. Theatre actors have no chance to repeat unsuccessful scene. On the other hand, in Films we see real people in real scenery. Special effects and stereo sound help us feel the atmosphere. In the theatre the scenery is usually rather conventional. There are very few effects. So I think that cinema causes more emotions. That's why I usually prefer cinema to theatre.
-What about the ballet and the opera?
-Well, if dramatic pieces sometimes are less appealing than films based on the same book (story, novel), operas and ballets have their special, unique palette of means, which is different from that of the cinema. That's why operas and ballets can't be compared to films.
-If you were an actress / an actor, what rote would you choose to act?
-I'd like to act Juliet? Romeo in "Romeo and Jiliet", a play by Shakespeare. This part is one of the leading in the play, it is full of passion and strong emotions. It is a role for a young performer, and it is a very difficult one. I'd like to act in English. I hope in would my English.
-Are you interested in painting?
- Well, I like some paintings and painters. I often visit art galleries, especially the Hermitage. But I also like the Russian Museum. I think I have visited the Hermitage more than 20 times. There are many beautiful pictures there. I last was there a month ago and visited all my favourite places -the Egypt Department, the Vase Hall and the Pavilion Hall with the famous clock «Peacock». This year I have also been on excursions to Novgorod, Pskov and Luga where I have seen many interesting things, including icon-painting.
-Who is your favourite painter?
-I like pictures by Kuindgy. I also like Russian landscape painters Shishkin and Levitan and canvases by Vasnetsov. They are full of modest Russian nature beauty, its beautiful pines and birches.
-Do you know any American or British painters?
-I know Gainsborough (portraitist and landscape painter), Constable (a famous landscape painter, close to impressionism), Reynolds.
-What art museums in London do you know?
-There are many famous art galleries in London. They are the National Gallery (Italian paintings, Dutch, collection, especially by Rembrandt), the National Portrait Gallery (more than 8000 portraits), the Tate Gallery (British artists), Victoria and Albert Museum (fine and applied arts), the British Museum (antiquities, plants, minerals), Museum of Moving Image (history of cinema).
-What genre do you prefer?
-I like landscapes. Portraits are interesting, too. When I look at landscapes by Kuindgy with their bright colours and at «Ukrainian Night» and «Birch Grove», they at first look like photos, but as you keep looking at them you feel all the artist wanted to express. The warmth of a summer day calls us to seek for the shade of birch-trees, while the cold night air makes you shiver.
-Do you like going to the cinema?
-Well, now there are a lot of possibilities to watch a film without going to the cinema, for example, video or television. But some scenic films should be watched on the wide screen. The tickets are rather expensive, that's why this year I have been to the cinema only two or three times. We prefer borrowing videotapes to watch new films.
-What genre of films do you prefer?
-I like comedies both Russian and foreign. Considering foreign ones, I must say that they are light and really funny. For example, Jackie Chan's ones. He is a good actor and as well the director of many movies. In the end of his films he usually shows stills which are not included in the films, because the wrong movements, fails and so on. That's very funny, and at the same time Jackie shows, that he is not a superman, that he can make mistakes and laugh at himself. There are many nice film with Arnold Schwarzenegger starring, both comedies, like "Twins" and "Kindergarten Cop", and action films ("Terminater 1, 2", "True Lies", "Total Recall"). I like action films very much and try to watch the newest and most unusual ones. These films have a dynamic action, an interesting and intriguing plot. At the same time the good overcome the bad. Some action films are comedies, like "Men in Black" and "Men in Black-II". Some locate the action into the future, like "Star Wars". Some exciting action films show the so-called "parallel reality", like it is done in "Matrix". Science fiction will also do to pass an evening, something like "Starship Troopers" or "The Dune". I like some fantasy films, but not as a genre, sooner because I like the books they are based on. As an example I should mention "The Lord of the Rings". But at the same time I don't like "Conan the Barbarian" that much. I must confess that I don't care for melodramas, but I like musicals, both Russian and foreign, like "The Three Musketeers", "The 3th of June", "Magicians" (Russian), "Westside Story" (the USA).
-Do you have a favourite actor?
-I like Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is a self-made man. He went in for bodybuilding against the will of his family and won many medals, titles and prizes. He is also a specialist in international economics and got a university diploma after he became a millionaire. He has been working hard all his life. Arnold at first starred in films where he had to show his muscles and his skills in fighting, but he learnt to act more psychological parts. To act better he studies literature and follows all the orders of the director. Lately he has got a Taurus Prize for his impact on the slunt.
- What do you think about thrillers?
- They are not bad to be watched from time to time. But my mother thinks that watching thrillers is bad for me and does not let me watch such films often.
-What are your favourite Russian films?
-Oh, many. I like the so called «old comedies», directed by Ryazanov, Gayday and Danelia. Our favourite film is «A Diamond Arm». The most popular and talented actors starred there. Nikulin and Mironov make a perfect duet. They are compared in every way - clothes, behaviour, life styles. There are many comic scenes. Other nice comedies which I would advise to see are "Garage" by Ryazanov and "Operation Ы and Other Shurick's Adventures" by Gayday. Speaking about historical films, I'd name "Russia the Young" about Peter I and his reforms, "Alexander of Neva" about some important battles and protection of Novgorod lands against foreign invaders. There are many wonderful films about the Great Patriotic War: "17 Moments of Spring", "Shield and Sword", "Star" and many others.
- Have you ever watched a film in English?
-Yes, I have recently been lucky to watch «Men in Black». The film is more a comedy than anything else, but it was interesting to watch a film in English. At first I understood nothing because they speak so quickly! But after two or three views I understood most of the words.