Burdin, Fedor Alekseevich

Fyodor Burdin was born in Moscow, the son of the Moscow tradesman Alexei Danilovich Burdin from the yard landowner Dmitry Alekseevich Bezobrazov ^[2] , studied at the Moscow gymnasium. But the study went wrong: the love of the theater prevented. The high school student more than once ran away from the class to the famous artist P. M. Sadovsky , and he advised the young man to devote himself exclusively to art. As a result, the negligent student left the gymnasium and fourteen years of age entered the prompter at the Maly Theater. Two years later, on January 6, 1841 , he made his debut with success, after which he remained on the Moscow stage, performing in minor domestic and comic roles, mainly in small comedies and vaudeville ^[3] .

Gradually, his role changed, he switched to increasingly important roles. At this time, Ostrovsky's plays come to the stages of the imperial theaters, the playwright and the young actor become friends, and they will carry these relationships through their lives. Ostrovsky read his new plays in his house before staging them on stage, gave Burdin his plays for benefit performances, entrusting him with the main roles, including those that Burdin chose for himself to the detriment of the playwright; Burdin was not averse to criticizing the works of his famous friend.

In 1843, Burdin was sent to improve the talent in provincial theaters (this often happened - young artists were sent to practice in the province so that they grew to the imperial stage), and in 1846–47 he was assigned to the Tiflis theater, from where in 1847. transferred to Petersburg ^[2] , to the Alexandrinsky Theater , but was not immediately enrolled in the troupe, only in 1851, where he remained until 1883. At the same time he was engaged in literary activity, leaving plays and memoirs.

Theatrical criticism is unequivocal regarding him:

Smart, well-read, selflessly loving his art, Burdin did not have a bright talent, was one of the most useful figures in the Imperial scene, on which he served for more than forty years ^[3] .

His talent, especially comicism, was hardly recognized by serious criticism; everything unsuccessful among other artists A. Grigoriev called “Burdinism”. Having inherited 100 thousand rubles after the death of the procurator of Gv, Burdin made acquaintance in the highest circle and made friends with the all-powerful manager of St. Petersburg theaters, P. S. Fedorov . Playing first in vaudeville, Burdin was enrolled in the first category of artists in 1858 and then entered the Zhikharev committee to consider new plays. He gravitated to the role of a comedian-resonator, outplayed many winning roles - and not a single bright, although all in good faith ^{[2] [4]} .

In the magazine "Epoch" in articles and reviews by A. A. Grigoriev and D. V. Averkiev, Burdin’s play and the direction of “Burdinism” (pretentiousness, false pathos, cheap showiness, routine) on the Russian theater scene were repeatedly condemned. Burdin wrote Dostoevsky as the actual editor of the magazine a letter of protest, to which Dostoevsky answered in the late 20th of October 1864. The essence of the letter is in the following paragraph: “Excuse me, dear sir, if I notice to you that you belong to that category of artists who are too self-respecting and value their talents and so touchy that almost any remark that does not directly adore their artistic merit is considered a personal insult. Remember, dear sir, that both Pushkin and Gogol were criticized and blasphemed. I repeat, I do not know any of your behind-the-scenes affairs with either Ap <ollon> Grigoriev, nor with anyone else; but I know for sure that everything they wrote about you completely coincided with the opinion of the editors of “Epoch” ... ”Another letter of Burdin to Dostoevsky (dated October 29, 1864) is known, to which the writer did not answer ^[5] .

After many years, Vladimir Lakshin characterized his activities as follows (Read A. N. Ostrovsky ):

Needless to say, for Ostrovsky such an acquaintance was just a treasure. Burdin loudly praised his comedies. And the matter is not only in a long-standing acquaintance with the author, which always flatters actor’s pride. Burdin had enough taste to genuinely admire their scenic novelty. Fyodor Alekseevich was boastful, talkative and sticky, but Ostrovsky had already managed to appreciate his integrity and business acumen. Even before the playwright arrived in Petersburg, Burdin secured in censorship permission to stage “The Young Man's Morning” in the capital. And as soon as Ostrovsky appeared in Petersburg, Burdin literally dug into it. They had lunch and dinner together, Burdin traveled with him around the city, introduced him to the theater, actors, persistently asked for comments on the role of Borodkitn, which he undertook to cook, and absorbed, like a sponge, every advice, every word of the author ^[6] .

In 1883 , the award performance of Burdin took place, after which he was dismissed. Ostrovsky, appreciating Burdin’s experience and knowledge of the stage, read him to the inspector of a theater school, but death prevented him from realizing this intention ^[3] . Ostrovsky died in 1886. In the last years of his life, Burdin became ill often and traveled to Italy for treatment. His health was greatly affected by the death of his friend, Ostrovsky. He survived it quite a bit, less than a year later he died. Burdin was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery in Moscow.

As an actor, Burdin was primarily famous for performing the plays of his friend Ostrovsky: Krasnov ( “Sin and Misfortune Does n’t Live on Whom” ), Brusnov ( “Hard Days” ), Bolshov ( “Our People — Let's Count ” ), Khryukov ( “Jokers” ) , Borodkin ( “Don’t get in your sled” ), We love Tortsov (“ Poverty is not a vice ”), Shelemishev (“The common good”), Ilyushin (“Happiness is not in the money”), etc.

Most of his works are theatrical plays, translated or remade from French:

• “Save others, and at least get into the loop” (“Un vilain-monsieur”), a joke-vaudeville (Moscow, 1850);
• “Orestes and Pilad in the attic, or Throw them only bone - so your dogs”, vaudeville (Moscow, 1850);
• "The Thief of Children", drama in 5 acts, trans. with french (St. Petersburg, 1873);
• “The Last Days of Henry IV and the Youth of Louis XIII,” a drama in 5 d. And 10 cards., Trans. with french (St. Petersburg, 1874);
• “Abandoned child”, drama in 4 d., Trans. with french (translated with V. Rodislavsky ; St. Petersburg, 1875);
• The Handmaiden Madame (Edhard et sa bonne), trans. with french (St. Petersburg 1875);
• “Trading House Schnapps, Klax and Co.”, a comedy-joke in 3 acts (St. Petersburg, 1876);
• “Sixteen-year-old coquette, or The Thousand-First Lesson to Husbands” (“La petite cousine”), comedy vaudeville (St. Petersburg 1876);
• "The Fool", a comedy in 1 act (Moscow, 1878);
• “Fatal accident”, drama in 5 days, trans. with french (Moscow, 1880);
• "Belief", a joke in one act of modern morals (written together with ND Pavlov; Moscow, 1883);
• “Good Fairy, or Long Live Creditors”, a joke in 1 act (written together with ND Pavlov);
• “Dinner in the name day”, vaudeville in 1 act;
• Chortova Bagpipe, vaudeville in 2 acts, trans. from French .;
• Centennial Grandfather, drama in 5 d., Trans. from French .;
• “Killers and accomplices”, a historical drama in 5 d. And 10 cards., Trans. with french

In 1876 , Burdin published in St. Petersburg a Collection of Theater Pieces Translated from French (2 volumes), which, in addition to many of the plays listed above, included “Was or Was It Not? In a dream or in reality? ”, A vaudeville joke; Doctor on Occasion, com. in 1 day; “Donkey milk, or Sometimes it’s what lovers eat” (“Le lait d'anesse”), vaudeville; "Ferocious American and his rivals," vaudeville; “Provide a service, but after that too!” (“Portes et placards”), comedy vaudeville; “Sailor Pierre, or Return from Captivity,” comedy vaudeville; "Grandmother", drama in 6 days; “Iron Mask”, drama in 5 days, “Robbed mail”, drama in 5 days; “Paris rag”, drama in 5 days and “Gypsy life”, drama in 5 days;

He published a guide for young actors - a book: “A Brief ABC of Dramatic Art. Practical advice for young people who devote themselves to stage activity ”, Moscow, 1886.

He wrote many memoirs: * “Memoirs of the artist about the emperor Nikolai Pavlovich” (“Historical Bulletin”, 1886. - T. 23. - No. 1) , “From the memoirs of A. I. Ostrovsky” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1886 , book 12) and * “The first performance of“ Weddings of Krechinsky. ”(From the memoirs of an artist of the imperial theaters)” (Historical Bulletin, 1891. - T. 44. - No. 5) .

• Umansky A.M. Burdin, Fedor Alekseevich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Big Biographical Encyclopedia, author F.V.
• Biographical Dictionary, author Pav. Ros-in
• Biography.ru .