December 27, 2015 “Our idols were better than yours” - probably this eternal complaint of the older generation to the younger explains well the logic of installing monuments to famous performers of past years.

Other reasons for the appearance of such monuments - the desire of city authorities to decorate the city, attract tourists, as well as the demands of fans to give them the opportunity to gather in front of the monumental image of their idol, of course, also play a role, but not a decisive one. Be that as it may, monuments to musical idols stand all over the world, travel agencies willingly include them in the lists of attractions in different cities, so we have a reason to talk about the ten most, in our opinion, interesting and famous.

No one living today has heard Niccolo Paganini, who amazed audiences with his skill at the beginning of the 19th century, playing the violin. Nevertheless, he can rightfully be called a musical idol of his era - Paganini’s popularity was enormous, famous writers and poets dedicated many enthusiastic lines to him. But, as it turned out, his most ardent “fans” were ministers of the Catholic Church...

After Paganini’s death in 1840, the church declared that such an unimaginable talent could only be from the devil, and forbade the maestro to be buried according to Christian rites. Paganini's son had to travel with his father's body almost all of Italy, which was then divided into principalities and duchies. They didn’t want to bury the “devilish virtuoso” anywhere. This went on for almost forty years, several times the already interred body was torn out again, until the great virtuoso found his last refuge in the city of Parma. A bust with a colonnade was installed at the grave of the “great and damned” Paganini; it can be considered the first monument to a musical idol.

One can argue about the artistic merits of this monument in a New Orleans park, but it was undoubtedly placed “on the spot.” New Orleans recognized as the birthplace and capital of jazz, Louis Armstrong, a singer and trumpeter nicknamed “Satchmo” - the big-lipped one, was born here in 1901. In the first half of the last century, jazz was the most fashionable musical direction, and the most popular jazz performer for many years was Armstrong, who came to music in a very original way - through a local colony for juvenile delinquents of color.

There was a brass band in the colony; eleven-year-old Louis, who was sent there for stealing a pistol (from a policeman!), learned to play the trumpet. And he fascinated millions of people all over the world with his playing, as well as his voice with an inimitable “trademark” wheeze. And he always looked a little confused and embarrassed on stage - the author of the monument certainly succeeded in conveying these traits.

For those who remember Leonid Utesov and are familiar with his work, the choice of a place for a monument to an outstanding singer, musician, and actor seems to be the only correct one. Of course, Odessa, and of course - Deribasovskaya Street. Although during his long life, Utesov changed his place of residence many times - he lived in Kremenchug, and in Moscow, and in St. Petersburg, then Leningrad. And in his youth he simply traveled around the country with a traveling circus, in which he worked as a gymnast. But in the eyes of fans, and they have been active for half a century creative activity became millions of residents of the entire USSR, Leonid Utesov has always been and remains a resident of Odessa, perhaps the most famous in the entire post-Soviet space. And for the Odessa residents themselves - also Leonid Osipovich, or Uncle Lenya, with whom you can easily sit next to on a bench.

“She was born like a sparrow, lived like a sparrow, and died like a sparrow.” This is about a singer whose stage name is translated from the Parisian argot - “little sparrow”. Street sparrows have a difficult life; for Edith Piaf it was also filled with tragedies. As a child, she was alternately abandoned by both parents, and she lost her sight. In her youth, her only daughter died of illness, and in her mature years, her loved one died in a plane crash.

And all these years Edith sang - for the spoiled Parisian public, for the British royal family, as well as for the inhabitants of the working-class neighborhoods of Paris, French prisoners of war in Germany - her passionate singing, with tragic notes, was understandable to everyone. And she herself, being already rich and world famous, caressed by male attention, constantly complained of loneliness. It is precisely this way, lonely and restless, that the singer, the “little sparrow,” appears to tourists on a Parisian square named after her, Place Edith Piaf.

Vladimir Vysotsky, Russia, Moscow

Moscow (three), Naberezhnye Chelny, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Volgodonsk, Dubna, Sochi, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara - in these Russian cities there are monuments to Vladimir Vysotsky, the list is probably not complete. In Ukraine, the famous bard was immortalized in Odessa (twice), Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkov, Melitopol. There are monuments to Vysotsky in Belarus, Montenegro and even in the USA.

The monuments are very different, both in the degree of portrait similarity and in artistic design; some depict the singer together with his wife, actress Marina Vladi. But there is hardly any need to describe them all here. The most interesting to us is the monument to Vysotsky by sculptor Zurab Tsereteli on Krasnaya Presnya. Muscovites have an ambiguous attitude towards the work of this sculptor, but in this case, we believe it was possible to recreate the most complex image of the restless singer, poet and actor.

There are even more cities and countries in which monuments to the “King of Rock and Roll” Elvis Presley are erected than on Vladimir Vysotsky’s list; it is simply impossible to list them. Some of them have private status; the singer’s fans made them at their own expense and installed them on their territory. Most often the King is depicted with a guitar, although, by all accounts, he was nothing special as a guitarist. But such is his pop image, which remains in the memory of many millions of admirers of Elvis Presley’s talent. Most likely, it is this image that inspires sculptors around the world to create monuments to Elvis again and again - this broad-shouldered handsome man seemed to be born to become a monument. This idea, in our opinion, is best illustrated by the monument in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the site where Elvis’s concert, first broadcast via satellite around the world, took place in 1973.

Here we are again dealing with “mass production” - a great many monuments to the legendary four have been erected all over the world, only in the territory former USSR there are at least a dozen of them. Therefore, we will limit ourselves to presenting the monument in the quartet’s homeland, in the British city of Liverpool. This one differs from many other monuments to the Beatles group in the “financial component” - money for it was collected by Beatlemaniacs from all over the world.

Freddie Mercury, although he was certainly a talented singer and a musical idol of the 80s generation, is inferior in popularity to any of the performers presented here. However, he was also awarded his monument. The reason, most likely, is the unusual fate, extraordinary appearance and tragic death of the famous lead singer of Queen. Born on the exotic island of Zanzibar into a family of followers of a rare religion - Zoroastrianism, Freddie Mercury (Farrukh Bulsara) throughout his life surprised those around him with his incredible talent in a variety of fields - painting, graphics, sports, music, and eccentric behavior. Therefore, all his fans were deeply shocked by the death of their idol in 1991 from AIDS, at the age of 45. A monument to Freddie Mercury was erected in the Swiss resort town of Montreux.

We are publishing here a monument to Viktor Tsoi by sculptor Sergei Kulgachev, installed in 2010 on Socialist Street in Barnaul. In our opinion, it is he who most accurately conveys the image of the musical idol of the “perestroika generation”, and very accurately fits into the theme of “A Star Called the Sun” - a symbolic reflection of one of Tsoi’s most famous songs. Unfortunately, on the streets of St. Petersburg, the singer’s hometown, there is still no monument to Viktor Tsoi, there is only a bust on the singer’s grave and several bas-reliefs. The mayor's office promises to perpetuate the memory of Viktor Tsoi only in 2016.

Probably, Michael Jackson himself, the official “Legend of America” and “Icon of Music,” if he were alive today, would be surprised by our choice. Of the many monuments erected in different cities world “to the most successful artist of all time” (the wording of the Guinness Book of Records), we chose for publication a monument in Russia, in Yekaterinburg, by the sculptor Viktor Mosielev. This huge, three-meter-high sculpture accurately conveys the main thing that distinguished Jackson's work - inimitable dynamics and expression.

The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden

Another interesting place in New Orleans.

The Sculpture Garden is a unique cultural project created right in the city park of New Orleans. It is part of the New Orleans Museum of Art, which, unfortunately, we did not go to.

By the way, entrance to the park itself is free.

Museum of Art building

This garden was opened in 2003, and at that time there were 50 pieces of art.

Today the garden houses more than 60 sculptural compositions that fit perfectly into the surrounding nature.

They stand along the paths, or are reflected in the pond, or hide in the shade of live oaks and pines.

Diana, Augustus Saint-Guadens

Large Seated Cardinal. Giacomo Manzu

Standing Man With Radiating Words. Lesley Dill

Source Figurine. Robert Graham

Monkeys, Rona Pondick

Interesting work! How beautifully made the hands are!

LOVE, Red Blue, Robert Indiana

Spider, Louise Bourgeoise

I really liked this composition. I would translate its name into Russian as “Overflow”. Overflowing with ideas, for example, or unspoken thoughts, desires, confessions... I have many options.

Overflow, Jaume Plensa

Restrained. Deborah Butterfield

Also a fun sculpture. You can interpret it in different ways, humorously or philosophically.

Mother and Child, Fernando Botero

This curious obelisk was built from fragments of violins.

Obelisk. Pablo Casal

Peculiar work!

Travelin' Light. Alison Saar

This sculpture, of course, is the most interesting and large-scale, with deep philosophical overtones:

Karma, Do-Ho Suh

The seven-meter sculptural composition “Karma” from the height of human growth seems like a rocket launched into the sky. Created by Korean artist Do Ho Suh, the art object consists of 98 male figures made of steel, squatting and covering each other's eyes.

The installation, reminiscent of a symbolic silver-plated spine, is an allusion to evolution, during which each next generation should be spiritually higher than the previous one. Descendants, turning a blind eye to the sins and crimes of their ancestors, will rise to the occasion, but will be forced to rely on the experience of previous generations.

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And one last, short walk around New Orleans:

Louis Armstrong Park

The park is named after one of the most famous sons of New Orleans - Louis Armstrong (1901 - 1971).

There’s not much to tell about the park, you have to see it, so I’d rather write about Armstrong.

An American jazz trumpeter, vocalist and bandleader, he had (along with Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane) the greatest influence on the development of jazz and did much to popularize it throughout the world.

Louis, as he was called in the Creole manner, was born in the poorest black area of ​​​​New Orleans. He grew up in a dysfunctional family (mother is a laundress, father is a day laborer). His father abandoned the family when the boy was still a baby. The boy, along with his younger sister Beatrice, was given to be raised by his grandmother Josephine, who still remembered the times of slavery. After some time, Armstrong's mother, Mayann, took Louis, but never paid him enough attention.

Since childhood, Armstrong has been engaged in the delivery of coal, selling newspapers and other similar work. At the age of seven, he began helping around the house for the Karnofsky family of coal merchants, Jews who had recently immigrated to America from Russian Empire. Later he began to stay with them overnight and over time became practically an adopted son in this family. The Karnofskys lived in Storyville, an area known for its loose morals, as well as bars, clubs, dance halls and brothels. It was Karnofsky who later gave money to Armstrong to buy a cornet, his first musical instrument of his own.

By the mid-1950s, Louis Armstrong was one of the world's most famous musicians and showmen, and he also starred in more than 50 films. The US State Department gave him the unofficial title of "Ambassador of Jazz" and repeatedly sponsored his world tours.

Armstrong's last hit was the upbeat song "What a Wonderful World" (#1 in the UK).

And here is the monument to Louis Armstrong

This sculptural composition is dedicated to black people, their songs and dances

In the distance you can see the theater building, which is located in this park, where various concerts are held. This theater is named after Mahalia Jackson.

Mahalia Jackson (1911 - 1972) is an American singer born in New Orleans, who largely determined the modern sound of music in the genres of gospel and spirituals.

The beginning of real success in a brilliant career should be considered 1946, when she was invited to participate in a symposium dedicated to the origins of jazz. There she was asked to perform several songs in the presence of the most prominent American musicologists, and when she finished, the audience erupted in applause. Critics bombarded her with questions and forced her to sing until midnight, the symposium was disrupted.

Mahalia Jackson has captivated audiences on four continents. The packed Carnegie Hall applauded her four times. Four presidents listened to her: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson.

During the sixties, Jackson was a supporter and confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King. On August 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C., before Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, Mahalia sang the song "I've Been Buked and I've Been Scorned."

Another musician whose name is immortalized in this park is Buddy Bolden (1877 - 1931).

By all accounts, today he is considered the first bandleader to play improvisational music, later called Jazz. He was the first "King" of the cornet in New Orleans and was remembered by the musicians around him as the best trumpet player they had ever heard or seen.

Buddy Bolden had a tremendous influence on the next several generations of classical jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong, who listened to Buddy in early childhood.

Bolden never made a recording, but was immortalized in Jelly Roll Morton's song "Buddy Bolden's Blues" (I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say), which is based on Bolden's song "Funky Butt."

This park is a very pleasant place to relax, filled with sun, music, history and traditions of this amazing city!

New Orleans is a unique phenomenon, a city unlike any other in America. A place where cultures, music and lifestyles of different nationalities are successfully combined. A cheerful, never sleeping city in the very south of the United States of America.

Through the pages of history

The history of New Orleans began with its founding by two Frenchmen who arrived on these lands in 1699 to explore the Mississippi River.

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded a settlement in the swamps between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain in 1719, naming it after the French regent Philip II of Orléans.

The first inhabitants were the French and the African slaves they brought.

The subtropical hot climate and swampy terrain complicated living conditions, and prosperity did not come.

In 1762, the French, tired of economic failures, transferred these lands to the Spaniards, who in turn returned them back to their original owners by the beginning of the 19th century. The French Emperor sold New Orleans to the Americans in 1803. By this time, the bulk of the population were Creoles.
The Americans managed the settlement better than the French and Spaniards, and after 40 years New Orleans became the fourth largest city in America and a major center of the slave trade.

After the defeat of the Confederacy in Civil War the slaves were freed, and New Orleans received a new round of development and became a thriving industrial center and the largest seaport in the United States.

History has left its mark on literally everything that is here. New Orleans has preserved ancient architecture brought by the French and Spanish.

Despite the fact that in 2005 Hurricane Katrina destroyed almost all the buildings, they were reconstructed and rebuilt.

Today, just like one hundred and fifty years ago, tourists can stroll through the old French Quarter in the center or ride in a horse-drawn carriage along the stone streets.

New Orleans today is a colorful mixture unusual people, all kinds of musical styles, gastronomic preferences and outlook on life.

It’s worth coming to the USA even just to visit New Orleans. The local atmosphere is filled with charm and love for life, there is a leisurely scent in the air and music is heard everywhere.

Endless outdoor cafes invite you to sit in the shade of the awnings and drink coffee. Musicians are located next to the open verandas of the establishments, right on the sidewalks.

New Orleans is a gastronomic paradise

New Orleans cuisine is considered the best and most delicious in America - a French base combined with ingredients added by settlers from different countries peace. The Spaniards introduced onions, red bell peppers and celery. Italians love canned tomatoes. People from African countries And Caribbean Islands – hot pepper and spices.

Traditional dishes are thick soups and stews in numerous variations:

- gumbo - thick soup with Creole spices, similar to a stew, consists of vegetables with meat, chicken or seafood, thickened with French roux sauce;
- Jambalaya - a rice-based dish, similar to pilaf, with ham, fish or seafood added to it;
- Étouffée - rice with crayfish or seafood.

IN expensive restaurants you can try deliciously prepared seafood, especially oysters.

The waiters, middle-aged people, have the mannerisms of royal butlers.

The interiors of many establishments are distinguished by sophistication and colorful style. In almost every one of them, eating takes place to the accompaniment of a musical group.

The French cafe Du Monde is popular among the local population - it serves only delicious coffee and beignets with powdered sugar.

It’s interesting that in these latitudes, alligators are bred like poultry in our country. You can try its meat in any even small cafe, or buy it in a supermarket and grill it yourself with spicy tomato sauce. Bread is baked mainly on the basis of corn flour.

The famous K-Paul's Restaurant serves the freshest ingredients purchased early in the morning from the local market, so the restaurant's menu is seasonal and depends on the morning's catch.

You can get a special pleasure by visiting the ancient French market, where food and huge selection sauces, fairs and, of course, you can try many traditional Creole and Cajun dishes and again listen to fiery jazz tunes.

The birthplace of jazz

The music of this area is a separate story, just like the cuisine.

New Orleans is the cradle of jazz music; jazz, the most beautiful musical style in the world, was born here.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a new direction, which absorbed the folklore of people from different countries, blues, ragtime and brass orchestra music, took shape, and jazz appeared. Louis Armstrong and Joe "King" Oliver presented their first performances to New Orleans audiences. Local jazz orchestras are endless. Everyone plays music everywhere in this city.

In the spring, you can visit the annual jazz festival “Jazz and Heritage Festival”, in which the best musicians from all over the world take part.

Night streets, entertainment and attractions

The only structure that survived the destruction of Katrina was the bridge. This is the longest bridge in the USA, its length is 38 km.

The bridge has become a symbol of the city's resilience.

You should definitely drive along it to experience the unforgettable feeling of infinity.

The central street of New Orleans is Bourbon Street, a kind of analogue of the Red Light District in Amsterdam. In the evening, all the tourists of the city and the most fun and unusual (to understand what is hidden behind this definition, you need to come here and see with your own eyes) residents of the city gather on this street.

Various melodies are heard from all sides, artists of all possible genres perform on the sidewalks, people dance and have a free time.

All Bourbon Street establishments are open until the morning, and the musicians do not get tired until dawn.

On this street you can find “adult entertainment”.

New Orleans, which has a large African-American population, is the center of voodoo culture. As the sorcerers themselves say, voodoo is a religion that unites the souls of people and restores self-respect. In addition to many shops selling various souvenirs, there is a museum of this culture in New Orleans.

The Mississippi is the “big river” - one of the largest in the world, in the delta of which New Orleans is located, flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain's heroes lived on the banks of the Mississippi. They enter the port huge ships international cruise companies, but tourists will be interested in breathing the air of the old city and taking a ride on the ancient wooden paddle steamer “Delta Queen” along the river; it’s nice that the walk will be free.

A special festival held here annually is the winter-spring festival “Mardi Gras” (French Mardi gras), an analogue of our Orthodox Maslenitsa. Mardi Gras is a celebration of welcoming spring. Crowded processions with horse-drawn floats and people in all kinds of costumes take to the streets of the city in the French Quarter.

Boat excursions into the Mississippi swamps, fishing, river walks, museums, very good art galleries, markets and old quarters, restaurants, festivals, fairs, music events, visiting cathedrals and city architecture...

New Orleans is a place whose attractions and all the directions “where you can go and what to see” are impossible to list, because by the time you get there, something new will appear there.

Most American cities have nicknames that reflect characteristics one place or another. The nickname of New Orleans is “The Big Easy” - an untranslatable combination into Russian, hinting at the free atmosphere on the streets and the carefree flow of life in this entertainment center, which does not leave anyone indifferent.

New Orleans fills you completely, and impressions of it never leave your memory.

However, New Orleans remains one of the most visited tourist destinations in the United States.

The city is located in Louisiana, near the delta where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico. New Orleans is one of the most colorful cities in America, which is why a huge number of Americans visit this place every year. New Orleans is also popular among tourists from all over the world. The city is known for its nightlife, which is concentrated in the historical center and is filled with music, alcohol, dancing and, of course, jazz. First of all, New Orleans is known throughout the world as the birthplace of jazz and blues. In addition, the city has a rather rich history, which is inextricably linked with the development of North America and the formation of the United States.

History of New Orleans

Culture

All leisure and nightlife in New Orleans takes place in its historical center, which is called the French Quarter. It is located on the site where the city was founded by the French, and, interestingly, has undergone virtually no changes. An attentive tourist is presented with an interesting spectacle of a mixture of North American and French cultures, a synthesis of the customs of the Old and New Worlds. It’s not for nothing that back in the 19th century, New Orleans was nicknamed the Paris of the New World. The main street is called Bourbon Street and amazes with its abundance of entertainment. In the French Quarter you can find entertainment for every taste: restaurants, bars, outdoor cafes, pubs, nightclubs and discos. In addition, this is where you can listen to jazz in its classical performance.

The birthplace of jazz

Perhaps the most popular and world-famous fact about New Orleans is that the city is the birthplace of jazz. As already mentioned, the majority of the population in the entire state of Louisiana are African Americans. Therefore, such a genre of music as jazz has developed very dynamically among local residents since the 20s of the 20th century. In addition, New Orleans is the birthplace of the famous African-American virtuoso and jazzman Louis Armstrong. Jazz lovers can enjoy real improvisation in one of the many jazz clubs in the French Quarter.

Sights of New Orleans

Note to tourists

Everyone who visits New Orleans discovers it in their own way, from some unusual side. Some come here to indulge in revelry on Bourbon Street in the company of true friends, while others prefer to listen to jazz in peace to achieve harmony. It is also worth noting that the climate in New Orleans is predominantly warm and quite humid, so you can come here at any time of the year. The city often hosts jazz festivals, which attract jazzmen not only from all over America, but even from other countries. Discover New Orleans for yourself, and you will see this city from a completely different, special side!