March, 5, 2014. Issue No. 247March 4 1877 - 137 years ago the ballet "Swan Lake" was staged at the Bolshoi Theatre for the first time "Carmen". New cast members March 5 - Dmitry Ulyanov will perform the part of Escamillo for the first time March 6 - the famous Spanish singer Nancy Fabiola Herrera will perform at the Bolshoi for the first time; the singer successfully performs the role of Carmen at such theatres as Metropolitan-Opera, Paris National Opera, Royal Opera House, Arena di Verona, The Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) and others. Alexei Pashiev will make his debut with the role of Escamillo, Alina Yarovaya - with the role of Frasquita and the Bolshoi Young Opera Artists Program soloist Bogdan Volkov - with the role of Remendado"The Tsar's Bride" at the Bolshoi"The Tsar's Bride" at the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage. Photo: Damir Yusupov"Swan Lake". The ballet to the music by P. I. Tchaikovsky premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre on March 4 1877"The Tsar's Bride" returns to the Bolshoi Theatre In the year of 170 anniversary of the famous Russian classic Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov one of his opera masterpieces - "The Tsar's Bride" - has returned to the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage. The outstanding contemporary conductor, the People's Artist of the USSR Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducted the orchestra at the premiere performance. In a way "The Tsar's Bride" is a laissez-passer of the Bolshoi Theatre. It was first staged at the theatre in 1916 and did not disappear from the repertoire during almost a century. The cast of this opera, which is surprisingly popular in Russia, starred such famous singers, as Antonina Nezhdanova, Nadezhda Obukhova, Maria Maksakova, Irina Arhipova, Elena Obraztsova and Galina Vishnevskaya. Yevgeny Svetlanov, Fuat Mansurov and Mark Ermler conducted the orchestra. While the Bolshoi historic building was being reconstructed, the production was performed at the New Stage Newsletter Another strong side of the production is Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting the orchestra; maestro conveyed the deepest emotional meaning of Rimsky-Korsakov's music. The culminations in each of the four scenes were powerful and captivating. It is a pity that the soloists often were not congruent either with the orchestra or with their partners onstage. They clearly lacked either rehearsals or experience, since the cast mostly starred the Bolshoi's young talents. Some confusion in the set design hampers perception. Only four pieces of the Fedorovsky's set were used in the production. One of them is particularly inspiring. It is the house of the boyar Grigory Gryaznoy, built from heavyweight logs, and the house of the merchant Sobakin, which is even more interesting. The top crossbar right under the ceiling is decorated with images of the ancient Slavic charm that symbolizes the sun, cut from wood; this is obviously for effect. Then why is there a wall-tall icon of the Madonna in the house where ancient Gods are worshiped so much? This bears some deliberateness, which disturbs one from human passions. Another weak side is the poor articulation of some soloists. When the beautiful tender voice of Marfa (Irina Bozhenko) is singing about love in a way that makes it impossible to understand a word, one unwillingly starts searching for running letters of translation. However, one also is truly grateful to Svetlana Shilova, Alexander Krasnov and other singers, who convey not only the music, but the text as well. However, strong and weak sides are unalienable parts of any premiere. This one has been also remarkable for the fact that the Bolshoi Theatre's new music director Tugan Sokhiev came to Moscow in order to participate in the rehearsals and the premiere performance. This informal interest to the new opera production, demonstrated by Mr. Sokhiev, offers prospects of its further development. Perhaps, as the time passes, its weak sides will become strong sides. The birthday of "Swan Lake" On March 4 1877 the ballet "Swan Lake" premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow; this ballet later become a part of the world's cultural heritage. A unique document is kept at the Bolshoi Theatre; it was written on February 20 (old style)/ March 4 (new style) of 1877. According to this document, the premiere gathered a full house. However, it is considered that the first performance was a failure. Either the music by P. Tchaikovsky turned out to be too complicated for the audience, or the choreography let the production down. The famous white swans appeared in the version of Lev Ivanov only years later. The second act of the ballet also appeared later; at last the audience saw the final version of "Swan Lake", which has continued to be staged until the present day. The famous 32 fouettes appeared in the part of the Black Swan. In the beginning of the last century this element was considered to be incredibly difficult. Only prima ballerinas could do it. But in spite of its name, this turn is not done 32 times. The Bolshoi Theatre prima ballerina Maria Allash explained: "The main thing is that she starts and finishes doing it with the music". "Swan Lake" is a unique ballet that was staged even during the Great Patriotic War. In October of 1941 the Bolshoi Theatre was evacuated to Kuybyshev (Samara). Galina Petrova, who was the Bolshoi Theatre prima ballerina from 1933 till 1953, celebrated her 100 birthday on March 4. In the autumn of 1941 she was only 28. She was given the part of Odette/Odile in Kuybyshev; she was dancing the part of the white and the black swan at the local drama theatre throughout the whole war. During the Soviet era the ballet "Swan Lake" was put in the list of achievements of the Russian culture. General Secretaries were buried to this music; when something extraordinary happened in the country, "Swan Lake" was transmitted on TV non- stop. In 1991, during the August coup, this ballet was transmitted for three days in a row. Every ballet artist has a dream to dance in "Swan Lake". Today this is the most popular ballet in the world. In the Bolshoi Theatre alone it has been performed more than 1700 times.
|
