BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 8. Today, a very
different kind of silence reigned at the Azerbaijan State Academic
Russian Drama Theater in Baku. It was not the kind of silence that
falls before a performance begins, when the lights in the
auditorium gradually dim and the audience holds its breath, waiting
for the actors to take the stage. Today, this silence is linked to
a farewell to a person for whom the theater was not a profession,
but a destiny.
A farewell ceremony is being held at his home theater for the
People’s Artist of Azerbaijan, recipient of the state orders
“Shohrat” and “Sharaf,” holder of the Honorary Diploma of the
President of Azerbaijan, and the outstanding director and actor
Alexander Sharovsky, who passed away on September 9 at the age of
79.
At this very moment, his colleagues, students, friends, cultural
figures, and numerous admirers are gathering here. Words of
condolence are being offered to his family and loved ones. Those
who for many years encountered Alexander Sharovsky on stage, behind
the scenes, at rehearsals, and in the auditorium have come today to
say one last and most important thing to him: “Thank you.”
Flowers lie by the funeral urn. Above it hangs a photograph of
the Master. In the photo is that familiar gaze, directed toward the
auditorium of his beloved theater, to which he dedicated more than
fifty years of his life. His life, that is not merely his
professional career.
That is how Baku will remember him: as a man of the theater who
didn’t just direct the stage - he lived and breathed it,
experiencing every premiere, every rehearsal, every success, and
every creative struggle.
It’s hard to believe that his familiar voice will no longer be
heard, that his quick footsteps behind the scenes will no longer
echo, that his comments during rehearsals and long conversations
about plays—which for him were never just “plays”—will no longer
take place. Behind each one lay a person’s life, character,
destiny, and love for the audience.
For nearly half a century, Alexander Sharovsky’s life was
inextricably linked to the Russian Drama Theater. He arrived here
as a young actor, played more than fifty roles, then became a
director, and in 1993 took the helm of the theater as its chief
director.
He was one of those people whose very presence gradually becomes
part of the space itself. His voice, his energy, his high standards
for the profession, and his attitude toward the stage all became
part of the history of the Russian Drama Theater.
Alexander Sharovsky managed to preserve the theater’s unique
atmosphere and make it an integral part of Baku’s cultural life.
For several generations of audiences, the Russian Drama Theater was
not just a theater—in many ways, it was his theater. It was a
theater shaped by his character, his taste, his sense of
responsibility, and his boundless devotion to the arts.
Today, more than ever, one realizes just how deeply the fate of
a single person can be intertwined with that of an entire
theater.
Alexander Sharovsky loved Baku dearly. He loved this city
sincerely, deeply, in the Baku way — as part of his own soul. He
was a great patriot of Azerbaijan, always defending the country’s
interests on the international stage, actively participating in
public life, and leading the community of European Jews in
Baku.
For him, love for Azerbaijan was never just empty rhetoric. It
was part of his life, his work, and his civic stance.
That is why his passing is not only a great loss for the theater
arts. It is a farewell to a man who became part of Baku’s cultural
history, to a vibrant and distinctive era that can never be
repeated.
Masters are recognized not only by their titles, awards, and
official honors. They are recognized by how many hearts they
managed to ignite with their art and how many people continue to
love the theater in their wake.
This is exactly what Alexander Sharovsky left behind.
He left the theater.
He left his students.
He left his performances and roles.
He left memories.
Most importantly, he left behind the immense love of his
audience.
Alexander Sharovsky will be buried in the Second Alley of
Honor.
Today, words of farewell are being spoken at the Russian Drama
Theater. But perhaps it would be more accurate to call them a final
round of applause.
Because for a theater person, there is simply no other
ending.
Thank you, Alexander Yakovlevich.
To the theater.
To your devotion to the stage.
To the people you helped believe in the power of art.
To Baku, which you loved and to which you devoted so many
years.
May the curtain never fall on the memory of you.
Because true masters never leave the stage. They remain—in the
performances, in their students, in the audience, and in the memory
of the city that loved them.
Will be updated
