component is very important. When I started working on it, I suddenly thought how much Italians love England, how they love to wear English clothes and how much they value everything English, I mean, masters, shoes and fabrics. It helped me to put this project, designed for two different theatres, together; however, I normally do not think about such things. - Don't you have the same challenge with "Rigoletto"? Don't you need to suit contexts of various theatres? - No. "Rigoletto" is not a social comedy; it is not "Le Nozze di Figaro", "Der Rosenkavalier" or "Falstaf f", where particular time and place matter. Here some much stranger things happen; it is a very strange piece. - Why? - Well, you know, first of all, this is a melodrama based on a play by Hugo that provoked a famous scandal; it was prohibited, and, by the way, we should be grateful to the government for that. It is due to this prohibition that Hugo wrote one of his best pieces, the letter, where he is furious with his censors and is writing passionately about the freedom of speech and the importance of the theatre. If you have not read it yet, you definitely should. But Verdi brings something different to this story. In many ways "Rigoletto" is a very abstract construction. This piece is almost completely focused on the main character who does not have his own identity; he does not even have a name. He is a jester, a clown. I mean, we do not really know, who he is; even his daughter does not know it. The idea of hidden identity is gradually raised in this opera and gradually gains more and more importance. The daughter asks her father, who her mother is. The Duke (who has no name either) calls himself a false name, when he answers Gilda's question. Then she sings a grandiose aria about the name, which is a fake one! Think about it. There is this part in the third act when Sparafucile, who agrees to kill the Duke, asks Rigoletto: by the way, what is his name (this is remarkable and strange at the same time, because usually an assassin does not care about his victim's name, it is enough that the victim has been pointed out)? Rigoletto replies: "Maybe you would like to know my name as well? He is crime. I am punishment". So we do not know, who all those people on the stage really are. It gains symbolic importance. They are lying to each other all the time. The Duke never tells the whole truth to all those women he seduces. Gilda lies to her father that she is not in love, as she tries to get away from him. Rigoletto lies to her as well. Lie and the question of identity, as well as the deep frustration of the clown, who is a person without a name, make this piece absolutely modern. - At the same time it is not particularly easy for modern people to feel compassion with "Rigoletto"'s main character; I mean, his passion is kind of wild for the modern audience. When I was thinking about what your "Rigoletto" could be, I remembered your "Electra" in Paris and her acute grief for her father. Maybe here we have the opposite situation? - Verdi decided to write an opera that is centered around an antihero, which was a very courageous thing to do. This is something that is very modern. Usually the main hero, no matter what his problems are, symbolizes the chance to watch some great deeds happen. This is not possible in the case of Rigoletto. His is burned out by jealousy, anger, frustration and egoism. His love for his daughter is an ill love; he does not want his daughter to grow up, he wants her to remain his property and there is a lot of negative energy. Still, Verdi creates something that touches us. The main character is made of these mistakes and the audience cannot love this character for no reason. I think you would agree that this is a very modern idea. I mean, we all can feel much more attracted to the Duke and this wonderful, a bit frivolous and sexy music that Verdi gives him. There is one more thing about Verdi's composition that makes it genius: he does not judge his characters, this story has no morale. In the end it turns out that the bad guy is alive, Gilda is dead and Rigoletto is destroyed. What can we get from this? Only the fact that Verdi's theatre goes beyond the tradition of teaching a moral lesson. Verdi is a very interesting composer. He was always interested in plots that would cause problems with censors; he liked to have problems, like it was with "La Traviata", for example. He was keen on individual rights of a person, of a woman; not in the same way it could have been today, but still. It was very important. Imagine how Verdi would have composed "Tosca"! This whole fighting for freedom and politics did not interest Puccini at all. It is always interesting for me to try to understand what a composer was interested in; I think about it as I stage operas. - Can we say that "Rigoletto" is an opera about sexuality? If the Duke perceives a woman as an object for joy, don't we perceive this whole story from his point of view? What do you think about opera being an object for joy and entertainment? - This is very interesting - what you have just said. It is important for me in this particular production. I find it strange that we go to the theatre to see such a production. There is a particular moment in this production when I ask myself this question. At this very moment the audience can also think: "What is it that we are watching here?" The thing is, that women are treated really badly in this opera. The Duke does perceive them only as objects of his sexual interest. If you look through the text, you will find out that he does not say a single word that has nothing to do with his desire to be with a woman. He talks only about his pleasures; this is incredible. There is not a single word about his social responsibilities, about other people, about the importance of his social role, come to that. This is another reason to make the choice that we have made as we have been working on this production. The way a man perceives a woman is a very important point in the history of art. In the 19th century men considered women to be either saints or harlots. In "Rigoletto" we see both of those characters at the same time; these are two women at the Duke's side. Both of them are ready to sacrifice their lives for him, and both of them know that he does not love them. Interestingly, V erdi tries to defend the female point of view, but women still are put into such situation, where their femininity is suppressed. Or, perhaps, it is also about the impossibility of love. When it comes to love, we never know, who will be good for us. Gilda can compare her love only with the love of her father, which is oppressing, claustrophobic and aggressive, and which she tries to escape from. I do think that his love is cruel and egoistic. In the second act Rigoletto decides he has to kill the Duke. Frankly speaking, he is overreacting a bit, don't you agree? Of course, he should get angry and want to take revenge, but probably not to kill. This is strange. This is the way I feel it: Rigoletto would like Gilda to love only him. As it happens in many crimes provoked by passion, he goes crazy, describes himself as a salvation angel, but in reality he does not save the world. It just seems to him that if the Duke is killed, Gilda will love only him again. The first thing that he says in the beginning of the third act is: "Do you still love him?" She answers: "Sempre". He continues: "But I gave you time so that you would forget him!" This is a very cruel thing to do: to rub your daughter's nose in the result of your love, like you would rub your dog's nose. If she had said "No", nothing bad would have happened. It is dif ferent from "Elektra", because Elektra is in love with her already dead father, and Hofmannsthal stresses Freudian influence in this myth. This is an incredible story. Klytaemnestra kills Agamemnon, and it is like Elektra does not develop as a young woman after this event, she freezes. But in "Rigoletto" we see no archetypes; even if they exist, they do not behave as archetypes are supposed to. But this is true - many fathers find it hard to let their daughters go and give them to other men. When Gilda asks about her mother, he tells her about a beautiful and magical woman. I think this is nonsense and a lie; I do not believe a single word. Most likely her mother was a prostitute. So now Gilda has to belong only to him. But the characters develop in a wonderful way; we see that when Rigoletto finds his daughter at the Duke's, Gilda, who is a very strong girl, by the way, and not a victim, suddenly realizes who her father is. He is a clown, a jester, and this is a terribly painful feeling. There has been nothing like that in this family before; there has been no communication. Because you cannot communicate with a person you lock. In the end, when Gilda understands her father's intention, she, in fact, commits suicide. This is a cruel thing to do to her father. Suicide is often aimed at the relatives as a kind of punishment. I like the Duke, this character that we are not supposed to like, and his wonderful music: he has no problems even now! There is not a single second that he is unhappy on the stage or that he is having a bad time; he does not pay attention to anything that is going on around him! This is a great piece, but it is very difficult to stage. - As far as I can see, you often use the approach of having a theatre inside a theatre, like in "Tosca", "The Tales of Hof fmann" or "Don Giovanni". Why is it so close to your heart? Is the circus metaphor a variation of the theatre metaphor? - You are right, I do have very special feelings about the idea of the theatre, but I use this weapon only when there is such possibility in the text itself. According to the plot, T osca is an opera singer (so this is the most operatic opera of all), so real life and stage make no difference for her. There is a huge element of theatre inside a theatre in "Don Giovanni", I mean, Don Giovanni asks Leporello to exchange clothes: "You pretend to be me, and I will pretend to be you". Then he says: "No, I will stay and watch them act". So he watches the mise-en-scene that he staged himself. There is theatre in "The Tales of Hof fmann" and in "The Makropulos Affair", where the main character has been an opera singer for 300 years, and in "Capriccio" as well. The circus metaphor was inspired by other sources. I follow Verdi and center this story around Rigoletto. The only setting where the jester can become the main character is either Renaissance or circus. But I cannot stage it in the Renaissance setting; I would not be able to do it even if I wanted. So we have circus with many dif ferent emotions. Grotesque, fear, horrors, humor and Guignol - circus has all of these. By the way, it also has the physical danger that Verdi's music says a lot about. So I can use the circus metaphor as a central one and think about clowns, acrobats December, 1 1 2014 Newsletter

and dancers; at the same time, I can use it as a metaphor of how we, people, perceive this world and what this world does to us. This way we can step aside the melodrama. This is the way to prevent the audience from saying: "Oh, we do not believe Verdi here, it is some kind of conventionality". By the way, circus is a very sexual place as well; I mean, all those boys, girls, special clothes that are being taken off and put on. So the circus metaphor is a way to put together all important elements. - When I watch your productions it seems to me that each of them looks not only like a story that is being told at a particular time period, but also as an integral audiovisual object, a perfectionist's theatre that should be studied slowly. Can we say that theatre is the main point of the production? - Not exactly; the main thing that I am interested in is the unique meaning of each piece of drama. Be it comedy or tragedy, it has something to do with the human existence. I have to understand what an author wanted and be sure that it is his idea that we convey in a production. This is why I cannot imagine such operas as "Elektra" or "Don Giovanni" being staged in a naturalistic, realistic manner. Those are myths with elements of supernatural. I cannot imagine setting "Don Giovanni" in 1920-s New York or 1970-s Milan. No. I realized that this story had to take place wherever we were at the moment. We were at La Scala. And then at the Bolshoi. But there are other kinds of stories that have precise circumstances, environment and time, where social behavior is involved. W e are now very far from the baroque theatre with all its gods and shepherdesses. W e like the baroque theatre so much because it is very free, it is the theatre of the post-modern; the 19th century theatre with all its details is more complicated. But Elektra has everything in her head, and the main question is "what does it mean to be Elektra?". So in this production I do not care about either architecture or any other circumstances of a particular time or place. I cannot say that this is the only right way to deal with things. But, naturally, if I am invited, I do only those things I am sure about. In general you are right; I like to create an integral world on the stage, so that everything, including the audience, is a part of this world. It is not like everything should be perfect; perfectionism does not exist but this world should not allow the audience to be distracted; it should lock them in its borders so that the people are inside and this world does not let them escape. When I am in the audience myself, I can easily get distracted, look here and there and think about different stuff, so when it comes to my own productions, I try to maintain the audience's attention very hard.

- What can you say about auditions for your Moscow "Rigoletto"? You have worked with some of the singers earlier, while others are completely new people for you. - This is right; there are two singers who were in this production earlier, Dimitris T iliakos and Anne-Catherine Gillet. I suggested them to sing in Moscow as well and, fortunately, they had time in their schedules. I worked with Alexander Tsymbalyuk when we staged "Don Giovanni". It was not my idea to invite him to take part in "Rigoletto", but I thought it would be great if he sang this part. I liked him the first time we met; he is a wonderful artist and colleague. I also worked with Valery Alexeyev in "T osca" and "Macbeth". But I was even more impressed by young singers: they are very good and devoted actors, and besides, they are physically relaxed. It looks like they have a very good theatre training here, not only the musical one; I am amazed. Ladies are stunning; I do not want to make any sexist comments, especially in the context of "Rigoletto", but it is really so! And they all get along well; there is team spirit, which does not happen often. - Please, say a couple of words about the conductor. Does Evelino PidГІ understand your Verdi well? Are you comfortable working together? - Evelino and I have worked together several times earlier, although it was a long time ago. What I really like about him, is the fact that he is truly interested in theatre. Not all opera conductors like it. Opera has many components. You should not stage opera if you are not interested in either music, or theatre, dance and visual art. A conductor cannot conduct an opera if he is not interested in theatre. A conductor and a director might have problems, caused by frustration, when the conductor or singers are surprised with the fact that opera is not a concert, but a theatre production. Evelino understands that very well. You know, once I staged Puccinin together with Silvio Varviso. I staged a very tough, not ethnical production; everyone was running around with knives, it was very aggressive, and when he saw the choir in a rehearsal and saw what they were doing, he turned to me and said: "Robert, this is absolutely impossible, it is impossible to conduct and I will never be able to put it together. So do not change anything!" It was amazing. Someone else might have said: "No, I do not work this way". - But you still have to take into account difficult ensembles and the singers' comfort, don't you? - Of course, I do. Always. I always tell actors: no matter where you are, when you are on the stage you have to see the conductor. However, you should do it in such a way that the audience does not notice it. Here is one more thing, which I think is interesting and funny. Have you even noticed that during a concert with an orchestra and soloists the singers most often stand behind a conductor's back, with their backs to the orchestra? And there are no problems! No one ever has any problems! This is funny and amazing, isn't it! Svetlana Zakharova lived through Carmen's passions again A charity gala concert in support of the Kiev Choreographic School took place at the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage. This event was initiated by Bolshoi Theatre's prima Svetlana Zakharova. This world- famous star started her ballet education at the age of ten at the Kiev Choreographic School, where the most talented children in Ukraine studied. They received great education there; they were taught the basics of their future profession and were given a chance to continue the Russian ballet tradition. Nowadays Ukraine is having hard times. Due to the economic crisis there is no money for the reconstruction of the ballet school. Bolshoi Theatre's prima Svetlana Zakharova onstage. Photo: Mikhail Logvinov Svetlana Zakharova said: - W e plan to fix the roof and to change the windows and the doors. These are basic things that need to be done so that children have a warm place to study. I am very grateful to the pedagogues of this School who taught me basic skills. The basic education that I received there allowed me to win the second prize at the international competition in Saint Petersburg; at that time I was still a student of the Kiev Choreographic School. I was then invited to continue my studies at the Vaganova Academy, which is one of the oldest ballet schools in the world. Svetlana Zakharova is not the only one that got a start in life at the Kiev Choreographic School. Many ballet stars also used to study there; today they perform at the world's best theatres. Here are some of the names: Bolshoi's soloist Y uri Baranov, Ivan Putrov, whom British ballet critics called the UK's best young classical dancer, Sergei Volobuyev, the Boris Eifman Ballet's soloist… These and many other wonderful dancers took part in the concert. The program included the ballet "Carmen Suite", fragments from such ballets as "Romeo and Juliette" and "Lady of the Camellias", and modern ballet. Svetlana Zakharova said: - I wanted to bring the ballet "Carmen Suite" back to the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage. Nine years ago the choreographer Alberto Alonso revived it at the Bolshoi Theatre and created a new version of this ballet specially for me. The ballet is very beautiful but, unfortunately, this production had not been performed in Moscow for a long time. This concert provided me with an opportunity to dance it again. Guest ballet stars performed in the second part of the concert. Many artists also Mass media about the Theatre December, 1 1 2014 Newsletter

started their studies at the Kiev Choreographic School. After graduation they went to dif ferent countries around the world. But we all are united by the feeling of gratitude and memories that we have about our school, where we were taught how to dance. By the way, some of the gala's participants do not have anything to do with the Kiev School. But they also took part in this concert and did not ask for any money. For example, t h ere w as N ata li a O sip ova, w ho g ra duate d fr o m th e M osc o w A ca d em y o f Choreography. Even though she has a very busy schedule, she agreed to participate almost at once. None of the dancers asked to be paid for their performances; they agreed to take part in this concert so that the children who will replace us on the stage in the future can have good conditions for studies. Angels from a glass ball in the Theatre Square will make wishes come true A huge ball, a magic arch and a mechanical theatre will appear next to the Bolshoi As the festival "Trip to Christmas" begins, "The City of Angels" will appear in the center of the capital. Charming things, such as dances, acrobatic performances, Christmas tales with happy endings and, most importantly, a Parade of Angels, will take place next to the country's main theatre daily until 6 p.m. The celebrations will be organized to the music played by Father Frosts. The jazz band "Santa Clauses' Dixieland" will wear such costumes. There will be some magic as well: the organizers assure that the huge glass ball will make wishes of those who come inside come true. By the way, the Angels promise they will demonstrate the way they live to everyone who wants to see it; they will also share secrets of various magic Christmas crafts with children. The jubilee of Ardani Artistic Company will be celebrated in Moscow The audience will have a chance to see the best ballet productions from various projects that were produced by Sergei Danilyan, the founder and the head of "Ardani", from 2004 till 2014, in one gala. In the first part of the concert there will be a piece from the project "Kings of the Dance", performed by Marcelo Gomes, Denis Matvienko, Friedemann Vogel and Herman Cornejo. They will dance "Tristess", Marcelo Gomes's new production. Unfortunately, Ivan V asiliev was injured and, therefore, will not be able to participate in the concert. This is why there will be no "Fakada" by Arthur Pita from the project "Solo for Two", created for Osipova and Vasiliev. The second part of the concert will open with the project "Reflections", carried out by " A rd ani" in co opera tio n w it h th e B ols h oi T he atr e. M auro B ig o nze tti (Ita ly ) choreographed the ballet "Cinque" that received the Russian National Theatre Award "Golden Mask" for the best choreography. It will star Bolshoi Ballet's soloists Ekaterina Shipulina, Ekaterina Krysanova, Kristina Kretova, Anastasia Stashkevich and Anna Tikhomirova; costumes were designed by Igor Chapurin. Diana Vishneva, a world famous ballet star, will close the jubilee gala; she will perform the production "W oman in a Room", choreographed by Carolyn Carlson (USA) for "Ardani"'s last project, "On the Edge". /…/ "Competition is also about luck" A famous Russian opera singer Veronika Dzhioeva was on a jury of a competition for the first time. Pianists, violinists, cellists and vocalists took part in the 2nd All-Russian Music Competition. The Tchaikovsky Competition has the same nominations. "Novye Izvestia" reporter talked to the singer. - Veronika, you often say that your character does not match your voice. Is it your character that tames your voice, or your voice that tames your character? - It depends. My wild character influences many things. First of all, it influences my voice and, naturally, creates certain mood on the stage. Many consider that I have a lyrical-dramatic voice. I consider myself to be a lyrical soprano, and my repertoire has many lyrical parts. Perhaps, it is the combination with such a "fiery" character that makes my performance of lyrical parts quite extraordinary, and I can portray such characters in a much better way… Photo: EUTERPE.CZ - You will probably agree that opera is an elite kind of art. - I agree. Still, I wish there was more right music. When I say "right", I mean vocal p ie ce s, so ngs o f R ussia n o uts ta n din g m aste rs, su ch a s D unae vsky a n d Pakhmutov… I wish there was not this "naked", empty pop-music that most of the people listen to. I wish young talented singers with good voices, real musicians who have something to say to the audience, had a chance to make their voices heard. The emptiness of art that dominates the radio and TV is scary! - What do you think about popular TV shows where good voices are discovered and over one evening an unknown singer can become a star? - As far as I know from my colleagues, it is not possible to get into such TV shows without pulling strings. As usual, you should have some connections. I do not like what is happening in the show "Voice", although I have watched it only a few times. I am rather suspicious about this project. It seems to me that there are not a lot of people with good voices there. Anyone can sing the way they do. - You are now living in Russia and often call yourself a Russian singer. Do you have programs of Ossetian music? - Unfortunately, I do not. I have recently performed a folk Ossetian song in Ossetia for the first time. I have some ideas, but as usual, I have too little time; however, it takes a lot of time and effort to work on such repertoire. But I will have such a program for sure! I promise that I will wear a folk costume when I perform it (the costume is already being made). The great Lisitsian always sang Armenian folk songs in the end of his performances. I think this is a right thing to do, because one should not forget about his/her cultural traditions and roots. We need to learn good habits from the great. - It was the first time that you were a judge at the All-Russian Music Competition. Is competition a kind of art? - I have been invited to various contests numerous times, but I could never work on a jury because of my packed schedule and lack of time. I have participated in dif ferent competitions and won many times. Perhaps, the word "art" is too ambiguous for a competition… but I am deeply convinced that a vocalist absolutely has to go through a serious and prestigious competition in the beginning of his or her career. It plays an important role in forming your own repertoire. I guess I would have never performed many romances and rare arias if I had not participated in competitions. For example, for the Maria Callas International Vocal Competition in Athens you have to prepare nine pieces for the first and for the second round, plus three big arias with orchestra! This means 23 pieces. The preparation process for the competition is very interesting; you learn a lot of new things as you are going through it. - W ere you strict to the contestants? - The jury at the All-Russian Music Competition was so kind that I thought: if such a jury had judged competitions that I took part in, I would have won all awards! But any competition is also about luck… - Do you consider that the winners of the first prizes at the All-Russian competition deserve to take part in the coming Tchaikovsky Competition? - All participants of the competition are decent singers. Alexei Zelenkov from Novosibirsk (first prize) has a strong and beautiful opera voice; it is great when a person has been gifted with such a voice. I liked Anna Litvin (Nizhny Novgorod) a lot as well; we also awarded her the first prize. I always prefer real big opera voices. December, 1 1 2014 Newsletter

- You are a soloist of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Mariinsky Theatre and the Bolshoi; you also perform abroad a lot. What is the theatre that you have not conquered yet but would like to perform at? - I used to dream of conquering La Scala, Metropolitan and so on… I used to think and used to be sure that the best of the best sang at those theatres… Having visited those theatres as a member of the audience, I started to think about myself dif ferently. What really matters is not where you sing but how you do it. If I get to perform at these famous theatres, I will be happy! As for Russian theatres, I have always been very lucky, because I am a soloist of the best theatres in this country. - Which one is the closest to your heart? Will you reveal the secret? - I guess, it is my first theatre, where I started my career… But on the other hand there is the Bolshoi! How can we do without the Bolshoi? And the Mariinsky… I graduated from the Conservatoire in Saint Petersburg and met Valery Gergiev. I am proud of the fact that both Tugan Sokhiev and Valery Gergiev, chief conductors of the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky, come from Ossetia. They are my fellow countrymen. The Russian school of conducting is very strong. - Do you consider that a modern educated person should know opera well? - I do not think that it is necessary. Opera singers and musicians do not have to know everything either… - If a person knows nothing about opera, but is eager to understand this great art, what should they start with? - It depends on a person and on their individuality. It is possible that this feeling will appear, or will not appear. Sometimes people who did not understand opera came to my performance and started to love it… I have noticed that ordinary people tend to like ballet more; they understand the language of the dance better. - Do you go to see a production often? - No, I do not, because I am singing all the time myself (laughs). Because I am a singer, I often have a hard time at the audience hall. I know all technical difficulties… They rarely sing well; most importantly, you can rarely hear a beautiful voice. Unfortunately, things are getting worse in our profession. A voice that should sing the part of Anita sings the part of la Traviata. I cannot understand this; it surprises me. There should be some voices that stand out; there should be divas. Those, who perform main parts in "La Traviata", should have beautiful timbres. - Perhaps, a new name will be discovered at the coming Tchaikovsky Competition? - I hope so! This competition has always been conducted on a very high level. The sound of any instrument, let alone human voice, should be a pleasure to hear. About the singer: V eronika Dzhioeva is a Russian opera singer (soprano). She is a People's Artist of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. She was born on January 29th 1979 in T skhinvali. She studied at the Vladikavkaz College of the performing Arts; in 2000- 2005 she studied at the St. Petersburg State Conservatoire (T. Novichenko's class). In 2006 she joined the company of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 201 1 she took part in the All-Russian TV Competition of opera singers "Big Opera" and won the first prize. She has been a guest soloist with the Bolshoi Theatre since 2010. She has performed soprano parts in "Requiem" by Mozart and "Requiem" by Verdi, Symphony No. 2 by Mahler, Symphony No. 9 by Beethoven, Grand Mass by Mozart and choral symphony "The Bells" by Rachmaninof f. For articles published 9 December 2014 Nice-Matin publishes an article reporting that one of the highlights of the Monaco Dance Forum will undoubtedly be the Taming of the Shrew, performed by the Bolshoi Ballet and choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot, from 19 to 21 December at the Grimaldi Forum which opens the Year of Russia in Monaco. International editions continue to republish the AFP report saying that world ballet stars danced at a gala charity concert in aid of the Kiev State Ballet School at the Bolshoi Theatre organised by Bolshoi's prima Svetlana Zakharova. The reports say "A dozen top ballet stars including Svetlana Zakharova and Natalia Osipova put up a dazzling performance." And "This is an initiative of the artists and not the government or the management," Yuri Baranov said. Local editions including the Camden Herald (USA) and the Italian newswire ANSA announce the upcoming special holiday Live-in-HD performance in local cinemas of the Bolshoi Ballet's production of "The Nutcracker" Sunday, Dec. 21, The Hong Kong edition Sing Tao Group announces the screenings in Chinese. The New York Times publishes an obituary of Kirov Ballet star Alla Sizova who died aged 75 after a long illness. San Angelo Live publishes a blog from Emma Armstrong who is studying at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, which the article says is the world's most prestigious ballet school and that Emma was ecstatic to be invited. Holidays are coming and tickets to the Bolshoi can be perfect presents for you and your nearest and dearest! T ickets for two premieres of the season - "The Queen of Spades" opera and "Hamlet" ballet - are already on sale in theatre's ticket office and on our official website. "The Queen of Spades" directed by Lev Dodin will be yet another event dedicated to Pyotr Tchaikovsky's 175th anniversary. The co-production of Opéra national de Paris, De Nederlandse Opera (Amsterdam) and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino will premiere on the Bolshoi Historic Stage on February 27th, 2015. In 2003 the choreographer Radu Poklitaru and the famous British director Declan Donnellan staged "Romeo and Juliette", one of the most interesting ballets at the Bolshoi. This season they reunited to work on a Shakespearian plot again; the Bolshoi will present the world premiere of the ballet "Hamlet" to the music by Dmitry Shostakovich on March 11th 2015. Don't miss your chance to become one of the first viewers at coming premieres! T ickets are available at the ticket office and on the official website: .tickets

Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet December, 1 1 2014 Newsletter

, 7 December, 1 1 2014 An exhibition of New Year phonographic records opened at the Molchanov- Sibirsky library in Irkutsk /…/ The exposition features the vinyl record of "New Year concert in Vienna" (the concert was performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) and the double record The ballet "The Nutcracker" and the opera "The Snow Maiden" (both pieces are performed by the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra). Siberia mass media: Soloists of the Primorsky Opera and Ballet Theatre gave a charity concert /…/ Anastasia Kikot, a soloist of the Primorsky Opera and Ballet Theatre and a guest soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre, shared her impressions. - It is the second charity concert that I take part in. We enjoy doing it. It is great that there are people who organize such events. Music makes wonders. It knows no borders or obstacles: it does not matter if you are rich or poor, sick or healthy. T oday I gave the children a part of my soul; it made me very emotional and I had tears in my e ye s. C hil d re n w ho sta y at th e re habili t a tio n ce nte r lis te n ed so atte ntiv e ly ; sometimes it seems that healthy people do not have such a deep understanding as they do. I wish them health, energy and patience; I also worship the nurses and mentors who work with them. /…/ Kuzbass mass media: Premiere performances of the Christmas fairy-tale "The Nutcracker" will take place at the Novokuznetsk Drama Theatre from December 24th till December 30th This will be a classical ballet production in two acts based on the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E. T. A. Hof fmann. Soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre and other Moscow music theatres will take part in the production. /…/
In brief