January, 29, 2014. Issue No. 222
January, 28-30, February, 1 - maestro Marco Guidarini, the famous Italian conductor that works with many of the world's leading opera houses and orchestras will conduct four performances of the opera "Turandot" by G. Puccini
February, 1 and 2 - after more than 50 years the Bolshoi Ballet will perform at The Northern Lights Festival in Norway
February, 8 - debut in the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". Olga Smirnova - Princess AuroraMass media about the TheatreVladimir Urin has become the head of the Bolshoi Ballet Artistic Council
Following the initiative of the Ballet Company Artistic Director Sergei Filin all pedagogue- repetiteurs who work at the theatre have become members of the Artistic Council.
Vladimir Urin. Photo: ITAR-TASS/ Valery Sharifulin
As it was announced, "Following the initiative of the Ballet Company Artistic Director Sergei Filin the Bolshoi Theatre General Director Vladimir Urin has made a decision to extend the Bolshoi Ballet Artistic Council. Now all pedagogue-repetiteurs who work at the theatre (21 persons) will be members of the Artistic Council. Vladimir Urin is the Chairman of the Council; Sergei Filin and Boris Akimov are the deputy chairs of the body."
Those changes took place "due to the necessity to ensure the comprehensive work of the Council". This is a "deliberative bodies which will meet at least three times a year in order to discuss and design the schedule of new productions and revivals as well as issues connected with the current repertory and the formation of the company".Rehearsal of the opera "The Tsar's Bride" with the participation of Gennady Rozhdestvensky. Photo: Damir YusupovBolshoi Ballet at the cinemas. Live broadcast of the ballet "Lost Illusions" will take place
on February, 2 as a part of the Theatre Cinema Season 2013-2014Newsletter - It is said on the theatre website that the changes took place "due to the necessity to ensure the comprehensive work of the Council". What was not good enough about - The new music director is the one who should decide whether it is necessary to have an Artistic Council in order for the orchestra, the choir and the opera company to function well. If there is a need to create an Artistic Council in the opera collective, I will support this initiative.
Giacomo Sagripanti: "Almost no one talked about the quality of the orchestra's sound"
The Italian conductor Giacomo Sagripanti became the second conductor that the Bolshoi General Director Vladimir Urin selected to lead the orchestra at the premiere performances of the Verdi's opera "Don Carlo". He arrived in Moscow urgently to be present at the last rehearsal of Adrian Noble's production. When the emotions calmed down a bit, InterMedia reporter Anna Efanova contacted the young and enthusiastic conductor to talk about the level of the Moscow orchestra, its recent performance and "Ferrari" in opera.
- What is the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra like?
- It is really wonderful. It gives the musicians lots of opportunities for revealing their talents; therefore, when it comes to technique and musicality, the level of each musician is rather high. As for the Italian repertory, the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra has already presented a lot of good productions. "Don Carlo" is another summit that it has conquered.
-Are you satisfied with the result?
- Yes, I am. We have done a great job and encapsulated a lot of the details of Verdi's style. Each of the three performances that I conducted was different from the others in terms of the musical atmosphere. I would say that compared to what the first cast demonstrated, by the last performance of "Don Carlo" we had managed to get the particular meaningfulness of our interpretation and to convey the particular features of our vision.
- Do you mean that you liked the atmosphere of the final performance the best?
- No, I do not. I would rather say this about the first performance. At the opening night you can feel the "soul" of the production; the pressure that you feel during the first performance with the audience gives you an incredible thrust of energy and creative power.
- What were the successes of other performances?
- We managed to get wonderful sound in the last duet of the tenor and the soprano at the third performance. I felt that the auto-da-fe scene at the second performance was incredibly powerful. I mean, the way it made me feel. January, 292014RIA Novosti was informed about it by the St. Gregory the Theologian Foundation that organized the concert. The Foundation representative said: "In the Year of Culture in Russia Svetlana Kasyan (soprano) presented a concert to attract attention to the necessity of providing governmental protection to pregnant women and granting them the most favorable conditions and respect so they will be happy to have children and bring them up in this country".
The Foundation representative also mentioned that the program of the concert included "Songs about Death" by Hilarion, the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, to the poems by Garcia Lorca, Romance by S. Rachmaninoff, P. Tchaikovsky, and "5 songs on poems by Mathilde Vezendonk" by R. Wagner and "Songs My Mother Taught Me" by A. DvoЕ™ák. The laureate of international competitions Alexei Demchenko (piano) accompanied the singer.
Svetlana Kasyan was born on July, 24 1984 in Batumi (Georgia). From 2009 till 2011 she was the participant of the Bolshoi Young Artists Opera Program. In 2011 she sang the main role in the opera "Tosca" by G. Puccini at the Yekaterinburg State Opera Theatre and at the Bolshoi Theatre. Her charity solo concert that took place at the Moscow Conservatory in February 2013 and was devoted to reconstruction of architectural monuments in the capital, helped the organizers to collect more than $ 3 mln.
Svetlana Kasyan has also performed in Italy many times. On November, 12 2013 the singer had a solo concert at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome; on the same day she was honored to be invited to a face-to-face audience with the Pope Francis.
On the Bolshoi Theatre official pages in the social networks we have published pictures from the rehearsals of the opera "The Tsar's Bride" with the participation of Gennady Rozhdestvensky:Newsletter - How did you get the invitation from the Bolshoi Theatre?
-My agent got a call from the Bolshoi Theatre and called me. At first I thought it was a joke. But when I heard him speaking in a more serious tone, I understood it was the truth. I was scared; I had goose bumps going down my spine.
- What made you feel uncomfortable?
- I did not know if I would be able to justify the confidence of the Bolshoi Theatre administration. On one hand, many conductors told me about the high level of this orchestra. On the other hand, there was too little time to prepare the production. I had very mixed feelings; I was doubting, happy, curious and scared at the same time.
- How did you design the rehearsals with the Bolshoi Orchestra in such a tough situation?
- I decided to be free in my interpretation and not to dictate what the musicians in the orchestra should have played and how they should have done it. I wanted to create music with no words and reach mutual understanding among all artists. As I changed my facial expressions and gestures, by the end of the rehearsal I learned to follow each of them. We ran through one scene after another and focused on creating the monumental opera architecture in general. If we had had more time, we could have worked on orchestra coloring and dynamics in certain episodes in more detail. We had no extra time, so almost no one talked about the quality of the orchestra's sound".
- So the main challenge for you was conducting without having enough rehearsals, was not it?
- For me it was more difficult not to conduct, but to create the music in front of the audience's very eyes. I had already had the experience of conducting the orchestra "prima vista" in opera productions. When I worked at the Bolshoi, it was difficult to catch the human qualities of the production as I had almost no experience of rehearsing together with the singers.
- What do you think about Robert Treviño's approach?
- He found the key that his mentor Vasily Sinaisky wanted to open the "Don Carlo" door with. It seems to me that Robert was moving in the right direction, but he ran a little short of time, just like all of us.
- It is known that maestro Treviño has already been invited to conduct performances of "Don Carlo" at the Bolshoi in June. Is it possible that you will also return to the Bolshoi soon?
- I hope so very much. But my agent has got no calls from Moscow so far (laughs).
- What is your opinion about the Bolshoi after the premiere performances of "Don Carlo"?
- This is a great theatre with a rich history; its magnificence reminds me of the perfection and elegance that Ferrari has. It combines racing qualities with luxury; its colors are red and gold.
A concert in support of children and mothers will take place in Moscow
The Svetlana Kasyan charity chamber concert in support of children and mothers took place at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory Grand Hall on Tuesday.
RIA Novosti/Vladimir VyatkinIn brief
The Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet
January, 292014Newsletter 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 Photos: Damir Yusupov
Yaroslavl mass media:
The citizens of Yaroslavl listened to the opera "Prince Igor"
The Yaroslavl museum-reserve celebrated its birthday. The Bolshoi Theatre soloists were invited to perform the opera "Prince Igor". Marina Lapina sang the aria of Yaroslavna. Those who came to the celebration heard other fragments of the famous opera as well. Prince Igor became an opera and ballet character 115 years ago. The exhibition from the Bolshoi Theatre Museum tells about the path of glory that this Borodin's work had, interpretations of the author's idea, directors and performers. More than a hundred exhibits were brought to Yaroslavl from Moscow.
Kazan mass media:
The Year of Culture will start in Kazan on February, 2 at the Tatar State Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Mussa Djalil; the International Opera Festival named after Fyodor Chaliapin will open there. All tickets have long been sold out; those who would like to listen to real opera will have to make monumental efforts in order to get to the audience hall.
February, 13is the birthday of Fyodor Chaliapin; on this day the opera "Boris Godunov" by M. Mussorgsky is traditionally performed, since the part of Godunov is considered to be one of the best of Chaliapin's roles. This is why it is very important to choose the soloist who will perform this role at the festival. This time the role of the floundering Tsar will be performed by the Bolshoi Theatre soloist Vladimir Matorin, who has a tranquil and rich bass voice.International press analysisIn brief Analysis of articles published 27 January 2014
CCTV China reports that dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet will perform in Beijing to celebrate 65 years of Russian Chinese relations.
The Northunberland Gazette (UK), France Bleu and other local editions write about the upcoming transmission of the Bolshoi's Lost Illusions in cinemas.
The Huffington Post publishes a long article about the fact that the voices of female ballet dancers are seldom heard and gives Natalia Osipova as an example of someone who is changing this but the says that during the scandal at the Bolshoi after the acid attack on Sergei Filin the voice of Vrontsova was seldom heard. The article also writes about the scandal over Jo Womack quitting the Bolshoi.
The BBC announces the National Dance awards. Former Bolshoi Ballet dancer Natalia Osipova was awarded best female dancer of the year.
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