On Sunday, March 3, at 4 p.m., a big concert in Russian will take place in the Jean-Desprez theater hall of the Gatineau City Hall, lasting two and a half hours (including a 15-minute break), dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of the legendary Canadian bard Leonard Cohen. The idol of many listeners - the Canadian poet, writer, singer and songwriter, whose unusual velvety voice captivated literally every listener - is known far beyond the borders of Canada. Thanks to Ottawa resident Misha Rykov, L. Cohen's poems and songs can now be heard in Russian and fully enjoyed.
There is an opinion that Cohen is impossible to translate, but Misha does it quite well, and this is what makes his translations unique. In awe of the genius's work, it never occurred to Misha to translate his texts, until one day Jerry Holland, a friend and teacher, asked him to translate one of Cohen's works for him. Thus, the first translation appeared, and Misha, inspired by the result, became so carried away by the translation process that he began to devote a lot of time to translating the master. To date, Misha has translated more than forty songs and approximately the same number of poems. These translations are very accurate and original, for they represent sensations conveyed with the help of the rhythm and vocabulary richness of the Russian language.
In 2018, M. Rykov gave a solo concert of Cohen's works at the Ottawa Maly Theater, a little later a similar concert was held in Toronto. And now, finally, a new concert will take place, in which the translator and performer included 23 of the translated immortal songs of the Canadian favorite. For the current concert, the songs were selected in such a way that the audience can form a picture of the different periods of Leonard's work - romantic-love lyrics, songs of a political and philosophical nature, reflections on life, summing it up... Any song by Cohen is a magical work of art, almost always containing irony, self-irony and sarcasm. That is why Russian-speaking listeners are closer and more understandable in Russian.
Along with Misha Rykov (guitar, vocals), the concert will feature John Gowden (bass guitar), Everard Souza (keys), sound engineer Matt Ribaut. You can hear some of Misha's translations on his YouTube channel: youtube.com/@songsofcoheninrussian
Tickets can be purchased on the Maple Tix.ca website for $35.
Come to the concert - you will not regret it! You will not only have a good time, enjoy great music, relax your soul and get aesthetic pleasure, but you will also learn HOW LIGHT PENETRATES. The answer to this question may be quite unexpected for some.
Marina Kochetova