February, 24, 2014. Issue No. 240
February 22, 23 and 25 - premiere performances of the Rimsky-Korsakov opera "The Tsar's Bride"
February 25 - 28 - the Bolshoi Theatre will present the productions that have been nominated for "The Golden Mask" Russian National Theatre Award in "Contemporary Dance" section"The Tsar's Bride" at the Bolshoi"The Tsar's Bride" at the Bolshoi Theatre. Photo: Damir YusupovA new old premiere
Sergei Khodnev about "The Tsar's Bride" at the Bolshoi Theatre
Photo: Damir Yusupov
Those who curse modern opera productions at the Bolshoi, for example, and remember the impression that theatre made on them in their childhood, not always pay attention to the fact that there are many ancient productions that are preserved at the same Bolshoi Theatre. Even those who know it sometimes think that an old theatre production is like an old film. There should be no problems with just pulling out the old set and coming to the stage to act and sing. But, unfortunately, even the greatest opera productions are very fragile. Preserving sets is one thing; naturally, "moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal"; given these circumstances it is hard to guarantee that a 50-year old painted canvas will be in perfect condition.
Time passes, singers come and go, one generation of choir singers and supernumeraries comes after another, and it is not like someone makes them feel goose bumps in each mise-en-scene and each gesture. As a result, no matter who had staged the production initially, it often happens that instead of lively "grand opera" productions that existed in the Soviet era, we have a routine and senseless vampuka.Newsletter Fedorovsky used a much more complicated system. The backdrop stayed in its place and there was a flat painted set in the middle ground as well, but pieces of this set "The Tsar's Bride" is a story about love and jealousy; those all-time feelings were put in an ancient setting. According to the libretto, everyone has rueful feelings: Martha Sobakina, the beautiful daughter of a merchant, the boyar Lykov, her fiancé, Grigory Gryaznoy, who is in love with Martha, and his lover Lyubasha, whom he left and who swore to do in, Yelisey Bomelius, the Tsar's physician, who leches Lyubasha, and Malyuta Skuratov, a cruel oprichnik.
The tsar, Ivan the Terrible, who fell in love with Martha, is an episodic character with no lines. There will be singing gusli players, loud drunken parties, poison in cups with mead, jealousy, a femme fatale being killed with a knife and stories about the Tsar's bride show. The finale makes many generations of spectators cry.
The seventh production of "The Tsar's Bride" was presented at the Bolshoi Theatre
The opera "The Tsar's Bride" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov is staged at the Bolshoi
Theatre for the seventh time. Premiere performances took place on February 22
and 23; there will be another one on February 25. Yulia Pevzner is the director of the production.
Yulia Pevzner graduated from the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music; she began her career at the New Israeli Opera; she then worked together with Francesca Zambello as assistant director at the Opéra Bastille, the Royal Opera House and the Bolshoi Theatre. The new interpretation of the opera had to be created in a given space: the set by Fedor Fedorovky, the outstanding set designer, whose live was closely connected with the Bolshoi Theatre, will be used. Set designer Alyona Pikalova has worked on the revival and a new version of the set design for the production. Gennady Rozhdestvesnky is the music director of the production. The cast stars the Bolshoi opera company's leading soloists, participants of the Bolshoi Young Artist Opera Program and guest artists: Anna Aglatova, Irina Bozhenko, Venera Gimadieva and Olga Kulchinskaya (Martha), Elchin Azizov, Alexander Kasyanov, Alexander Krasnov, Yuri Nechayev and Vladislav Sulimsky (Grigory Gryaznoy), Agunda Kulaeva, Yulia Mazurova, Elena Manistina and Svetlana Shilova (Lyubasha) and others.
"The Tsar's Bride" is one of the favorite and most frequently performed operas by Rimsky-Korskakov. It was composed quite quickly: the composer started writing it in February, 1899 and ten months later the score was finished. The libretto is based on the same-name drama by Lev Mei; the composer worked on the score of the opera, while Ilya Tyumenev was responsible for the "final draft of the libretto".
"The Tsar's Bride" premiered in the next season, on October, 22 1899 at Mamontov's Private Russian Opera in Moscow. It appeared on the Bolshoi Theatre's repertory in 1916. All in all, there were six productions of this opera at the Bolshoi. It was staged by Petr Olenin, Vladimir Nardov, Victor Rappoport, Boris Pokrovsky, Yuri Petrov and Oleg Moralyov. Emil Cooper, Nikolay Golovanov, Lev Steinberg, Yevgeny Svetlanov and Boris Khaikyn conducted the orchestra. Set design was created by Georgy Golov, Fedor Fedorovsky and Boris Kustodiev. The cast starred Antonina Nexhdanova, Elena Steponova, Glafira Zhukovskaya, Elizaveta Shumskaya, Natalia Shpiller, Irina Maslennikova, Galina Vishnevskaya and Bela Rudenko as Martha. Nadezhda Obukhova, Maria Maksakova, Vera Davydova, Irina Arhipova, Elena Obraztsova and Tamara Sinyavskaya performed the part of Lyubasha; Leonid Savransky, Sergei Migai, Vladimir Politkovsky and others - the role of Gryaznoy.
February, 242014Maria Guleghina: theatre both on stage and in life is a crushing burden for a woman
Maria Guleghina, the opera singer. Photo: Vladimir Vyatkin, RIA Novosti
The opera star admits: "The worst thing is when you sing about love all the time, but are not in love and are not loved yourself".
The world famous opera diva Maria Guleghina has been coming to Russia more and more often recently. She performed the part of Princess Eboli in the opera "Don Carlo" at the Bolshoi in a spectacular way; she also closely cooperates with the Mariinsky Theatre and has been preparing for her concert that will take place in the
Kremlin on February 26. She is also thinking about moving to Luxembourg and buying a flat in Moscow; the opera singer, who works in Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan-Opera and other most famous opera theatres and has a wonderful dramatic soprano, married a Greco-Roman wrestling coach, Vyacheslav Mkrtychev.
Many were amazed at this news; because Maria had long been happily married to a producer and singer Mark Guleghin and has a son Ruslan with him (she has a daughter Natalia with her first husband). But as it turned out, their marriage was just a set; all those years there was no love in her family, she only suffered. It is only now that Guleghina is really happy. The singer talked about her life in an exclusive interview.
Maria Guleghina married Vyacheslav Mkrtychev in New York in 2010. They cut their wedding cake with a sword. Photo from personal files
Theatre in life, theatre on stage…
- Personal life? I did not have it… The worst thing is when you sing about love all the time, but are not in love and are not loved yourself. Theatre both on stage and in life is a crushing burden for a woman. You cannot imagine how painful it is to suffer for so many years so that everything would be quiet in your family. So the divorce itself was not painful. The courts take so much of your energy: it is either about a child, or about Svetlana Zakharova performed at the Cultural Olympiad
On February 22 a gala-concert "Svetlana Zakharova and the world ballet stars" took place as a part of the Cultural Olympiad "Sochi 2014" final program. The joined performance of soloists from the New York City Ballet, the Bavarian State Ballet, Teatro alla Scala, the Bolshoi Theatre, Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre, the Mikhailovsky Theatre and the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre took place at the "Galaktika" Public Culture Center.
The program was designed by Igor Zelensky, outstanding dancer and artistic director of three ballet companies (in Novosibirsk, Moscow and now Munich). The audience saw Grand Pas from the legendary ballet "Paquita", the energetic "Tarantella", choreographed by George Balanchine and "Three Preludes" to the music by Sergei Rachmaninoff, told by the Bavarian State Ballet's prima-ballerina and premiere dancer; variation of Ostap from the ballet "Taras Bulba" was performed by Dmitry Zagrebin, the leading soloist of Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Newsletter February, 242014Newsletter something else… Three years ago I cancelled the production of "Il Corsaro" in Bilbao and my solo concert in Greece; I could not even breathe until it was decided that my son would stay with me. When I come onstage, I have to forget about all problems. But when I have a nervous breakdown, my voice does not sound as free as it does when everything is OK.
With her daughter Natalia. Photo from personal files
Still, the hardest time in my life was when my parents died. At first I was "Daddy's boy", because my father wanted to have a son. Then I became "Mommy's girl". At school I was very quiet and modest. I did not always use to be strong. But life made me strong … I took everything in my hands when my father died. I became a mother for my own mother and created accommodation for living. Her illness was a shock for me. My mother was paralyzed for 7 weeks; she stayed at a clinic in Munich. That is why I brought my whole family there from Luxembourg and put them in a hotel not far from the hospital. Of course, I cancelled all my contracts. I put little Ruslan in a pram and went to the hospital - 6 or 8 times a day; when they would not let me in anymore, I would climb a bench and just stand under her window. I would look at the screen above her bed. It was a very difficult time, but a happy time as well, because my mother was still alive. I could tell her how much I loved her and she would just squeeze my hand with her right hand. This was some kind of communication, anyway… On my birthday she opened her eyes for several seconds and lived for another three weeks. She passed away when neither I nor my daughter Natasha was around.
"I go to the fast every year"
After my mother died, I was in such a condition that I did not want to sing anymore… it was only Placido Domingo, his care and understanding, that brought me back to the stage after this tragic loss…
Placido Domingo, Maria's friend and advisor, helped her to return onstage after her mother died. With maestro, his wife Martha and Maria's husband. A photo from personal archives 2013I have recently sung the part of Princess Eboli in "Don Carlo" at the Bolshoi Theatre. I am very proud that I made my debut here. Of course, I would be very happy to continue this cooperation.
At the end of February I will present my solo program "My favorite arias" in Moscow. I am very nervous… Every concert, every meeting with the audience is a holiday and an exam at the same time. You need to set new standards for yourself; every time you come onstage is like the first and the last time.
The singer is proud of having made her debut at the Bolshoi. "Don Carlo", the Bolshoi Theatre, 2013. Photo: RIA Novosti/Vladimir Vyatkin
They say that a singer should be plump so there is some support for the diaphragm. This is not true. There should be muscles; your movements should be springy and flexible. That is why I need to stay in shape. Every year I go to the fast and to sport.
"I flutter around my husband"
My daughter is a mother herself; my second child is a "baby" - he is 1, 86 meters tall and wears shoes size 46. He is only 14! Every year for vacation I invite not only my children, but also my daughter's two kids to Italy. When the whole family comes together, I feel really safe and happy…
It is wonderful when everyone is together. With her son Ruslan and her grandchildren Niki and Ameli. 2012, Italy. A picture from personal files
My husband Vyacheslav Mkrtychev is a famous wrestler and Greco-Roman wrestling coach. Our friends introduced us. (When they met, the sportsman had been a widower for three years. They got married in New York - editor's note).
He respects what I do very much. He says: sportsmen prepare for championships once a year and for the Olympic Games once in 4 years, but singers perform at their own tournaments every day… My husband understands opera with his heart.
We are often asked: there are two powerful personalities in one family, a sportsman and a singer, so who is the main person in your couple? We are not trying to figure out who the leader is, we just live together. Now I am calmer than I used to be. Today there is nothing that can make me lose my temper. I hope that I have become wiser. But I have a highly explosive mix running down my veins: there is not only Armenian February, 242014Newsletter Digest has been compiled by The Bolshoi Theatre Press Office
Photos: Damir Yusupov and Mikhail Logvinov
Design layout: Vladimir AndrusenkoAll materials used in the digest are the public domain of information agencies, mass media, civil society organizations and government blood, but also Jewish, Ukrainian and Polish, oh my God, what a mix… (Smiles). My husband is a coach; he knows what a person needs before a "tournament". When I am about to go onstage, he gives me perfect psychological comfort. He does everything for me to be calm and happy. When I do not have to sing, it is me who is fluttering around my husband and taking care of him.
ProfileThe Bolshoi Theatre in the InternetIn the photo: Vladimir Matorin and Vladimir Andropov
Analysis of articles published February 20, 2014
the former Bolshoi Ballet dancer Maxim Tchernychev. After dancing for Bolshoi for five years he founded the San Diego Academy of Ballet.
the world's largest dance network and international student ballet scholarship audition - YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX - will celebrate its 15th Anniversary with three performances at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater on April 9-11, 2014. YAGP'S 15th Anniversary Gala will feature the superstar of Bolshoi Ballet, Olga Smirnova on April 10.
International press analysis
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