March, 24, 2014. Issue No. 259March 20 - 25 - "Lady of the Camellias", the premiere series of performances March, 21 - the 175 anniversary of the great composer Modest P. Mussorgsky March 30 - the ballet "Marco Spada" will be broadcast in cinemas around the worldSvetlana Zakharova and Edvin Revazov. Photo: M. LogvinovThe ballet "Lady of the Camellias" by John Neumeier premiered on the Bolshoi Historic Stage on March 20. Photo: E. Fetisova"Lady of the Camellias" at the Bolshoi TheatreNeumeier used the "theatre inside the theatre" approach as he brought together the lovers from different centuries at the Paris Variety: Marguerite and Armand meet when they both come to see the ballet about Manon and De Griex. In the last minutes of her life it will seem to Marguerite, who is sick with tuberculosis, that she sees those two, exhausted and dying, but not having betrayed their love. Marguerite and Armand As for the main couple, Marguerite and Armand have three huge pas de deux that have contrasting moods and sophisticated psychological details: the first conquering meeting, the happy oblivion out in the country and the gloomy, obsessed, choking last night. Each of these pas de deux is the main episode of each act in terms of choreography and meaning; crowd scenes - at the theatre, at the estate in the country, at the demi-monde masked ball and on Champs Elysees - are centered on them. These all are flashbacks of the main hero: the ballet starts from the scene that features the auction, where possessions of the late Marguerite are being sold; meanwhile in her empty flat her disconsolate lover remembers the brightest episodes of his affair with the Paris courtesan, whom everyone longed to be with. Photo: M. Logvinov The time was stressed, and Neumeier created this complicated construction, which reflects the non-linear structure of the novel by Dumas fills, very quickly. He was actually going to stage a different ballet. He was going to stage it for the Stuttgart Ballet, the very company that he started his professional dancer's career with. A guy from Milwaukee, educated as a philologist and a literary critic, he was passionate about ballet; he came to Germany to get an education and joined the company of John Cranko, the talented ballet master and the charismatic leader. The young American became famous in Stuttgart not only as a dancer, but also as a choreographer: in less than six years he was invited to become the head of the Frankfurt Ballet. Soon the 46-year old Cranko died suddenly, and his companies, together with its prima-ballerina, the Brazilian dancer Marcia Haydée, were bereaved. Neumeier came to the funeral. "At the funeral of John Cranko I felt that Marcia Haydée was his real widow. She inspired him, she was his muse, and it was he who made her a great artist. That day I promised Marcia that if she ever needed my help I would come. Several years later she became the head of the Stuttgart Ballet and asked me to stage a new production for her company every year. I decided that "Antony and Cleopatra" would be my first production. It seemed to me that the part of the Egyptian tsarina would have suited her very much. The difficulties started when it came to music. The play is about a certain historic moment. So what kind of music could I use? It could not be Egyptian music. I was in a dead-end, and the time was moving on. One evening we were having dinner with Marcia; she had just danced in some performance and she looked really exhausted, even sick. I looked at her and said: "You are Marguerite Gautier". At that very moment I became convinced that I would stage this ballet. At first I was going to use Verdi's music, but soon I dropped this idea, because this music sounded secondary to me. There was almost no time left and I was desperate. A pianist and conductor I knew, a very young man, came over. I asked him: "Listen, what music would you choose for "Lady of the Camellias"?" He answered almost without thinking: "Chopin or Berlioz. Or both". Of course, Chopin! I asked him to stay for several days; I gave him the novel in the evening and over the next few days we put together the main musical episodes for this story".Svetlana Zakharova and Edvin Revazov. Photo: M. Logvinov The Moscow story of the choreographer John Neumeier, who created "Lady of the Camellias" Selected quotes: /…/ The new generation of artists of the main state company shivered with excitement and waited obediently to be given a part in the production; "Lady of the Camellias" stars the Bolshoi's leading soloists even in half-dancing episodes. Frankly speaking, there are only four worthy roles in this crowded three-act ballet. There are the main characters, Marguerite and Armand, and the second couple of famous lovers, Manon Lescaut and De Griex: the 19 century courtesan sees the reflection of her own fate in the story of the courtesan, who lived in the 18 century, went through ups and downs, escaped from penal servitude in New Orleans and ended her days in the arms of her lover. Newsletter March, 242014"I do hope very much that the production looks different, because we live in the year of 2014; so I would very much like the production to be fresh. This is how I treat the art of ballet and my own productions", - Neumeier stressed. "Lady of the Camellias" is the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils about the love story of the Paris courtesan and the young and romantic Armand Duval. Dumas's beloved Marie Duplessis, who died from tuberculosis at the age of 23, was the prototype of Marguerite Gautier. Because of her illness she could not bear any strong smell. The scent of roses or hyacinths made her head spin, so she loved camellias that almost do not smell. The Bolshoi Theatre leading soloist Kristina Kretova (Prudence Duvernoy) says: "You know, no one made us read the novel. We did it ourselves and my character in the book is very different. I am a 40-year old big woman, who makes hats for Marguerite". Svetlana Zakharova was the first to perform the part of the courtesan in Moscow. She has already danced the role of Marguerite before. As the ballerina admitted, the main character in this production was different. Besides, the director focused on details a lot. Svetlana Zakharova. Photo: E. Fetisova "The slightest detail has been treated very thoroughly. I hope very much that the audience can see all of it, because there are so many details in this production; every look, every turn of the head is important", - the Bolshoi prima-ballerina Svetlana Zakharova (Marguerite Gautier) says. John Neumeier first staged "Lady of the Camellias" for the Stuttgart Ballet in 1978. Newsletter "Lady of the Camellias" "Lady of the Camellias" premiered in Stuttgart in 1978. Jürgen Rose, the designer that Cranko had always worked with, created the set and the costumes, having reproduced the chic and luxury of the French Second Empire in every detail. In 1981 Neumeier, who was the artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet at the time, staged the renewed version of this ballet for his company - he made the main roles more difficult. The success was tremendous, and soon the ballet started travelling the world as it became the part of the repertoire of the world's leading theatres. Every intendant longs to have this absolute box office hit in the repertoire; every prima and every premier dream to dance the parts of Marguerite and Armand. When "Lady of the Camellias" finally reached the Bolshoi Theatre, Neumeier organized the auditions himself. He chose Svetlana Zakharova, the ballerina, whom he has known for a long time, and who has savored the after-taste of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to dance the main role in the first cast. Svetlana Zakharova as Marguerite; Daria Khokhlova as Olympia. Photo: E. Fetisova Neumeier had a special partner for this "very beautiful instrument" who, as he discovered ten years ago, has "great emotional depth". This was Edvin Revazov, the tall, blond and handsome premier of the Hamburg Ballet. This time the situation is nothing like it was many years ago when "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was staged, and the chorographer barely had enough soloists for one cast and a half. There are more than enough artists in the cast of "Lady of the Camellias": Olga Smirnova and Artem Ovcharenko danced in the second production, the third cast stars Evgenia Obraztsova and Vladislav Lantratov, and there are also some very young Paris lovers, whose names the ballet fans are about to learn. /…/ They have long been waiting for "Lady of the Camellias" at the Bolshoi Theatre. John Neumeier's production is one of the most popular ballet in the 20 century. According to the director, he brought a rather renewed version to Russia. Photo: E. Fetisova March, 242014Photo: Gene Schiavone Carolyn Carlson's ballet "Woman in a Room" is inspired by the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and the poetry of his father, Arseniy Tarkovsky. There is a rough table, a bench and a leafy tree behind a window. A barefooted and bare-headed woman, wearing a loose robe and a plain dress, remembers her past - carelessness of her childhood, her female triumphs and the happiness of motherhood. In this production Diana lives several lives with pleasure. She is not afraid of either physical plainness, or the intensity of the plastique, bare feet or scratched knees. Is there another high- profile Russian prima that is capable of doing this? The Bolshoi Theatre New Stage. March 27, 29 (7 p.m.) and 30 (6 p.m.) Vladimir Matorin will perform Russian romances Vladimir Matorin is a People's Artist of Russia, a Bolshoi Theatre soloist and a professor of the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (RATI-GITIS). He is called a successor to Chaliapin's tradition in the Russian vocal art; this refers not only to the impeccable singing technique, but also to his talent as an actor. The director Georgy Anisimov wrote about maestro: "The bass of Vladimir Matorin can be heard at the theatre in Russia and Europe and in the world music community. He has a bass voice of the greatest scale, which is powerful and mobile; it is virtuoso and flexible, allowing the singer to perform the role of Konchak and to convey the slightest details of religious psalms equally well. Besides the God-given rare voice he also has heroic posture and precise musicality; one has to cope with such gift, to master it and to tame it, like a horse from a fairy tale". Vladimir Matorin possesses the powerful voice of unique timbre and great acting talent. The singer performs at the best theatres in the world. His repertoire includes more than 60 parts from different operas: Boris Godunov, Varlaam and Pimen in "Boris Godunov" by M. Musorgsky, Konchak and the Prince of Galich in "Prince Igor" by A. Borodin, Ivan Susanin in "A Life for the Tsar" by M. Glinka, King René in "Iolanta" by P. Tchaikovsky, Boris Timofeyevich Izmailov in the opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" by D. Shostakovich, Tsar Dodon in "The Golden Cockerel" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, King of Clubs in "The Love for Three Oranges" by S. Prokofiev, Don Basilio in "The Barber of Seville" by G. Rossini, Ramfis in "Aida" by G. Verdi and others. Even though Vladimir A. Matorin has a busy schedule at the Bolshoi and other opera theatres around the world, he gives many concerts as well; he performs not only in the capitals, but also in small Russian cities, including Zaraisk, Kineshma, Yeln, Vologda and Vladimir, being the founder and the chair of the Foundation for Support of Culture in the Small Towns of Russia. Vladimir Matorin is often called one of the best Russian performers of spiritual music. His repertoire includes pieces by A. Strumsky, M. Sorokin, P. Chesnokov, A. Grechaninov and S. Rachmaninoff. The singer was born in 1948 in Moscow into a military family (his father was a colonel and a unit commanding officer). In 1974 he graduated from the Gnessin Institute, where he studied in the class of Evgeny Ivanov (a Bolshoi Theatre soloist in 1944-1958). Starting from 1974 Vladimir Matorin worked at the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre for 15 years. In 1989 the international music community considered his performance of Boris Godunov part to be the best opera performance in the world."On the Edge" and several lives of the prima Tatiana Kuznetsova about Diana Vishneva's new project at the Bolshoi Diana Vishneva, a People's Artist of Russia and the Mariinksy Theatre prima- ballerina, can be considered to be the symbol of everything progressive that we have when it comes to the Russian ballet. Because her idea of progressive ballet differs from that of the Mariinsky Theatre artistic management, the ballerina prefers not to wait for a suitable repertoire, but to create it herself. Thankfully, she has long ago found the longsighted producer Sergei Danilian - the very producer, who established the award "Divine", which the young Diana was the first to receive. Since that time Danilian's agency "Ardani Artists" has supported all creative impulses of the ballerina, including all three of her galas - "Beauty in Motion", "Dialogues" and "On Newsletter Mass media about the Theatre March, 242014 Svetlana Zakharova as Marguerite. Photo: M. LogvinovNewsletter In 1990 Yevgeny Svetlanov invited Vladimir Matorin to the Bolshoi Theatre to perform the role of Prince Yuriy in the opera "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov. Vladimir Matorin has been a Bolshoi Theatre soloist since 1991. The program of the concert consists of ancient Russian romances, including "Shine, Shine, My Star" (P. Bulakhov, B. Chuevsky), "Foggy Morning" (V. Abaz, I. Turgenev), "Coachman, Don't Rush the Horses" (Y. Feldman, N. Ritter), "Don't go away, stay with me" (N. Zubov, M. Poigin), "No, it's not you I love so passionately" (A. Shishkin, M. Lermontov), "Bell-flowers" (P. Bulakhov, A. Tolstoi), "Kiss me, my darling" (A. Dyubuk, S. Pisarev), "Only Once in Life there is a Meeting" (B. Fomin, P. German), etc. The Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet March, 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 Photos: E. Fetisova We also uploaded the interview with Marcia Haydée to the Bolshoi Theatre YouTube channel. This video is a part of our regular column "The Green Living Room" On March 20 the Russian premiere of the ballet "Lady of the Camellias" by John Neumeier took place at the Bolshoi Theatre. Neumeier dedicated this ballet to Marcia Haydée, who was the first to perform the part of Marguerite Gautier. "The Green Living Room" presents an interview with Marcia Haydée, the great ballerina of the post-war epoch, the muse and the colleague of the ballet master John Cranko, who was the artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet for twenty years after his death. The interview is available at: .youtube.com/user/bolshoi of articles published March 20 2014 The Saratogian writes that 4500 tickets have already been sold for the Bolshoi Ballet's performances at SPAC in New York this summer. The Wall Street writes that Marco Spada will be transmitted live in cinemas in the USA at the end of March. Roslyn Sulcas of the New York Times reviews the Kings of the Dance show in London. The latest set of monarchs is Roberto Bolle (Italian), Marcelo Gomes (Brazilian), former Bolshoi Ballet soloist Ivan Vasiliev (Russian), Denis Matvienko and Leonid Sarafanov (both Ukranian), saying that "they are a fine quintet, who, in In brief |
Main Stage
1 Teatralnaya ploschad (1 Theatre Square), Moscow, Russia
New Stage
Bol'shaya Dmitrovka Street, 4/2, Moscow, Russia