Mochalov Pavel Stepanovich (03/11/1800 – 03/16/1848) – the famous tragedian. Born in Moscow, his father was known in his time tragic actor.
Mochalov not received systematic education. The age of 17 he made his debut with success in a Moscow theater in the role of Polynices in the tragedy Ozerov "Oedipus in Athens".
After he approached Kokoshkina ST Aksakov, who introduced him into literary circles (he later wrote a poem Mochalov elegiac content). Mochalov entered the artistic arena in an era when tragedy ended charm Ozerov and comes the time translation and Russian melodrama, and then the Romantic repertoire, interspersed with the plays of Shakespeare and Schiller.
In this repertoire Mochalov relief for 30 years in the line "hero" and "the first drama lover" and beat a huge number of roles. Translated from the melodramas in the repertoire Mochalova is dominated by the play of Kotzebue, a Russian – Shakhovskoi, Field, Obodovsky and Puppeteer, sometimes he played in comedies (Almaviva, Chatsky).
From Shakespeare's repertoire Mochalov played Hamlet, Othello, Lira, Coriolanus, Romeo, Richard III; of Schiller – Franz and Karl Moor in The Robbers, "Don Carlos, Ferdinand and Miller (" Intrigue and Love "), Mortimer (" Mapiya Stewart "). "The Crown" role Mochalova was Hamlet, in translation Polevoy put on stage in Moscow in 1837
Died Mochalov, partly a victim of his passion for wine, 16 March 1848, and was ceremoniously buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery about 10 years his grave was decorated with a monument with an epitaph in which Mochalov called "crazy friend of Shakespeare."
Mochalov was a dancer impulse, devoid of the self-control, without which the creation of integral types: this is why he did not leave behind the traditions, established schools and took the secret of its charm to the grave. The figure was not particularly Mochalova stages well: he was of medium height and slightly stooped, but in a moment of inspiration straightened and became slim, his head with large, plastic facial features has been put on the powerful shoulders, black eyes, remarkably expressive, and all facial features are very flexible.
Surprising was the voice of Mochalova – tenor, soft and fruity; Mochalova murmur was heard in the upper galleries of the theater, and voice strikes forced involuntarily start. When calculating the eternal Mochalova on "intuition", his play of the game was happy improvisations; this, incidentally, explains why he did not have success on their tour in St. Petersburg, where Karatygin, which strives for a conscious and seamless reproduction can be represented by the roles and taught the audience to a completely other scenic requirements.
In the face of both the tragedians Russian theater has samples of two ancestral tendencies in art: the reflective, "classic", and direct, "romantic".
The famous article Belinsky Mochalov "Hamlet, Shakespeare's drama and Mochalov in the role of Hamlet" art illustrates all the features of the game Mochalova, emphasizing the role of Hamlet. From this review it is clear that Hamlet was a transmission Mochalova brilliant combination of particulars, ie, deprived of wholeness common design, plan, nonetheless, a romantic at heart and the Hamlet of his mental warehouse, Mochalov in the creation of this type was close perfection.
In Mochalov can not see the forerunner of the real trends in the scenic school: this role in the history of the Russian stage belongs to M. Schepkin.
See A. Yartsev, M. Schepkin "(1893, in" Pavlenkovskaya library, annex); AN Sirotinin, "Essay on the development of dramatic art" ("Artist", 1893, № 26).