February, 3, 2014. Issue No. 225
February, 1 and 2 - after more than 50 years the Bolshoi Ballet performed at The Northern Lights Festival in Norway
February, 8 - debut in the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". Olga Smirnova - Princess AuroraMass media about the Theatre
On February, 2 the ballet "Lost Illusions" by Leonid Desyatnikov was broadcast live at 650 cinemas all over the worldThe concert of the Young Artists Opera Program participants "All Romances by P. Tchaikovsky. Part IV" took place at the Bolshoi Beethoven Hall on January 30th. Photo: Damir YusupovWe love Ekaterina and will save this love
On February 4 the Gala in memory of Ekaterina Maximova will take place on the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage. She was born 75 years ago. The Gala is entitled "Everything that you have done… in memory of Ekaterina Maximova" and is organized by the Bolshoi Theatre in cooperation with the Galina Ulanova Foundation and with the support of the Gazprombank.
This Gala is a unique project. There will be no traditional parade of stars from the leading world theatres, presenting the repertory that has been tested on various stages and represents some kind of a standard.
The director of the Gala, Vladimir Vasiliev, is an experimentalist and an artist who expects various breakthroughs. His duet with Ekaterina Maximova went down in the history of the world culture. Newsletter When she finished her career ("I do not dance even in my dreams"), she started teaching her students devotedly; she did not allow herself to be late or to cancel a rehearsal. She was usually strict and did not talk much; when she was with her students, she changed tremendously and became very easygoing and talkative. She was proud of their achievements and was confident of their future success the way she never was confident about her own abilities.
Irina ANTONOVA, the academician, the president of The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts: "Like a steel spring"
- This petite, charming woman had a very strong and unique personality. She was like a steel spring. I remember when she danced "Giselle" for the first time after almost a year's break, having had a very serious spinal surgery. We all were very scared and did not know what to expect. I sat in the stalls together with Maximova's mother Tatiana (somehow she had decided that I would help her calm down) and the doctor who performed the surgery. We all sat together and were very nervous. There is an episode in the first act when the happy peasant Giselle jumps on one leg and crosses the whole stage in diagonal on the tip of her pointe shoes. This is a very difficult variation and an ovation always follows. We simply wanted to close our eyes. Maximova's beautiful face was straight. When the variation finished, we grabbed each other's hands and congratulated each other. We witnessed a real heroic deed.
Films became a real discovery for Ekaterina; she astonished the audience with her dramatic talent. When I watch "Fouette", "Galatea", "Chapliniana" and "School Dame" today I am still surprised by the scale of her universal talent and individuality. She could do everything! Great actors are natural on stage; she is one of those, who remained natural in the real life. She never tried to seem interesting or to show off. Her death was sudden and unexpected. Her mother said that the day before Maximova visited someone and came back home in high spirits. She asked her mother to wake her up early. Her Mom tried to wake her up several times. Maximova simply did not awake.Irina KARTASHEVA, the People's Artist of Russia:
"She was absurdly shy"
- Once Alexander Belinsky came from St. Petersburg to Moscow. By that time he had already created such ballet films, starring Maximova, as "Galatea" and "Old Tango". We decided to have lunch together with some friends at the restaurant "Aragvi". As the music started playing, a young man came up to Ekaterina and asked her for a dance. You should have seen the horror in her eyes. She replied: "I am sorry, but I do not dance"… She was so unbelievably modest. February, 32014Newsletter Natalia KASATKINA, the People's Artist of Russia:
"She went into the gorge driving her "Honda"
- In my senior year I danced the part of Masha the princess in "The Nutcracker"; Ekaterina Maximova danced the part of little Mikhail LAVROVSKY, the People's Artist of the USSR: "This dance purified the audience"
- We studied at the Choreographic Institute together. She joined the Bolshoi a little earlier, and in 1966 when the company went to New York on tour she was a world acclaimed star; on the contrary, I had just started my career at the Bolshoi. My partner Natalia Bessmertnova got sick and so Ekaterina Maximova became February, 32014 Uliana Lopatkina
This concert will become the first event of the ambitious theatre program for the Russia-UK bilateral year. We are looking forward to guest performances of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Scottish Ballet and many other companies.
Kristina Kretova
There will be a lot of international duets at the ballet Gala in Sochi: Anastasia Stashkevich will dance the part from the ballet "Esmeralda" together with the star of the English National Ballet Jonah Acosta; Kristina Kretova will dance together with Matthew Golding and perform the part of Odile.Newsletter Even though she was very busy, she did not leave me, she rehearsed with me selflessly. People told me that before the Bolshoi Theatre went on tour abroad she was asked: "What will you do on your free days?" She said: "I will go to see my Tatiana in Chelyabinsk". She gave me her Anyuta; I dance this part at every festival "In honor of Ekaterina Maximova". The last time we talked was right before that terrible night. I came to Moscow to participate in the concert and called her right away. At the end of our conversation I said the words that I did not often said: "I love you". She replied: "I love you, too, darling".
Uliana Loptkina and ballet stars at the Gala in Sochi
The companies of the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky, the Royal Ballet (London) and the English National Ballet will perform on the same stage.
On February, 8 the brightest ballet stars of Russia and Britain will gather at the Sochi Olympics: the great Gala will be conducted at the Zimny Theatre as a part of the Russia-UK bilateral year of culture. The Royal Ballet premiere dancer Matthew Golding, the English National Ballet soloists Jonah Acosta and Zdenek Konvalina, as well as Uliana Lopatkina, Denis Matvienko, Kristina Kretova, Denis Medvedev and other brilliant artists will take part in the concert. The program includes some of the greatest classics, for example, the adagio from the ballet "Spartacus" (starring the Mikhailovsky Theatre premiere dancers Irina Perren and Marat Shemiunov), modern choreography and national dances. The Mariinsky prima Uliana Lopatkina will present the piece "The Russian Dance", the Bolshoi Theatre soloist Denis Medvedev will dance Gopak from the ballet "Taras Bulba" and the bright "Tarantella" (together with Anna Tikhomirova).
February, 32014Bakhrushin Museum is about; it is about the phenomenon and the scale of her personality that carried out this "suede revolution" in the mentality of several generations. There are pictures of Maximova performing various roles and in real life; there also are her personal belongings and costumes; black-and-white film recordings of ballet performances and films starring Maximova are demonstrated on the screens. There are shots of the "pas de trois" from "The Nutcracker" - it is a miracle that they still exist; those shots were captured by three fourth-graders - Maximova, Vasiliev and Mankevich. There also are rehearsals of the opera "La Traviata" with Franco Zeffirelli - Maximova and Vasiliev created the ballet number for the production. A casual encounter with the great director was the beginning of a life-
long friendship. In a separate hall the film "Fouette" by Boris Ermolayev is being shown; the film stars Maximova, Vasiliev, Alla Osipenko and Konstantin Zaklinsky as characters who are professional ballet dancers. A funny story that later was described in Maximova's memoirs "Madam "Nyet" is connected with this film. Maximova and Osipenko had to undress in front of the camera for a split second. But in order to shoot this split second the ladies had to spend an hour and a half in ice cold water; however, those shots were not included in the final version of the film. Today people laugh really hard when they see those preliminary shots.
The Bolshoi Theatre museum contributed a portrait featuring Maximova in the second act of "Giselle" painted by Artur Fonvizin to the exhibition. This portrait is not very famous. Maximova's miniature pointe shoes are in the show-case. The exhibition is not very large; however, it is very important for those, who knew and loved Maximova.
Photo: Ekaterina Belyaeva
Nadezhda Savchenko, the co-curator of the exhibition
- We did not have the goal to retrace her whole ballet career in pictures and mark her more or less successful roles, for example, the role of Odette in "Swan Lake"; we wanted to show the career of Maximova the actress. There are many good pictures in the holdings of the museum; there is not enough space on the walls to exhibit all of them. Thus, we chose only those where Maximova is portrayed performing her brightest parts in both the direct and indirect meanings of the word. There is a picture - a tiny landscape that was painted by Maximova herself. Not many people know that the famous ballerina was an artist as well. There are her stage costumes from the productions of "Cinderella", "The Garden of Villandry", "Nathalie or the Swiss Milkmaid" and others; there also is the purple dress that she wore for many years in the country house in Schelykovo. If you take a close look, you will see that she is wearing this dress in many home pictures. The three-way mirror of Vera Komissarzhevskaya is a very special show piece at this exhibition.
Ekaterina Maximova inherited it from her Grandmother Natalia, the wife of the philosopher Gustav Shpet. She, in turn inherited it following the last will of the great actress who was good friends with a friend of Natalia's grandmother and exchanged postcards with Natalia. Vladimir Vasiliev, who was Ekaterina Maximova's partner not only on the stage but also in the real life gave this three-way mirror to our museum. The personal care items all made from crystal that you see here now were made in
the beginning of the 20 century. I doubt that Maximova put her stage make-up on in front of this mirror, since artists do this at the theatre, not at home. I guess it just meant a lot to her as a symbol of the continuity of the generations.Newsletter Mikhail Lobukhin and Anastasia Stashkevich
More than a ballerina: an actress
Portrait of Ekaterina Maximova as Giselle, painted by Artur Fonvizin. Photo: Ekaterina Belyaeva
The exhibition marking the jubilee of Ekaterina Maximova, opened at the A.A.Bakhrushin State Central Museum.
The legendary Russian ballerina and the darling of the Russian audience, the symbol of the Bolshoi Theatre in the XXth century - this is all about Ekaterina Maximova. On
February 1 She would have turned 75 years old. The famous ballerina and pedagogue passed away five years ago.
It seems that 70 years old is not a very young age, but nobody expected that the ballerina would pass away so suddenly. The huge atrium of the Bolshoi Theatre rehearsal building was overcrowded at the lying-in-state. People remembered her as a person with young soul who radiated light and kindness.
Thanks to Maximova millions of people who did not have any direct connection with the art learned about ballet and grew to like it. This is what the exhibition at the A.A. February, 32014Newsletter In brief
The Bolshoi Theatre in the InternetWe published the announcement about the live broadcast of the ballet "Lost
Illusions", which took place on February, 2 at 650 cinemas all over the world, on the Bolshoi Theatre official pages in the social networks.
On February, 2 Vyacheslav Lantratov performed the part of Lucien, the main hero, who is not a poet but a composer, the creator of the famous romantic ballet Sylphide. Those who watch the broadcasts of the Bolshoi productions, already know Vyacheslav; he performed the part of the soloist in the ballet "Emeralds" and also the part of Solor in the ballet "La Bayadere", where he danced together with Svetlana Zakharova (the ballet was broadcast live last season).
Not very long ago, in the beginning of January, the Bolshoi Theatre presented the ballet "Lost Illusions" in Paris. Vyacheslav Lantratov and Diana Vishneva (Coralie) danced on the opening night. According to the Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Sergei Filin the duet of Vishneva and Lantratov is perfect. "They were spectacular. Vishneva not only performed Ratmansky's choreography in a very precise way, but also added some emotions of her own. You could feel that she had tremendous freedom".
We have also published the pictures taken at the concert of the Young Artists Opera Program participants. The cycle "All Romances by P. Tchaikovsky. Part
IV". The concert took place at the Bolshoi Beethoven Hall on January, 30.Photos: Damir Yusupov
February, 32014Newsletter 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 International press analysisAnalysis of articles published 30 January 2014
The Washington Post reviews the Mariinsky's Swan Lake in the USA saying it's magical and comments that "Meanwhile, at Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet, artistic director Sergei Filin was nearly blinded last year in a vicious acid attack instigated by one of his dancers. Pay-to-dance bribery allegations and an artist exodus ensued".
Liberation (Morocco), The North Norfolk News, The Bolton News (UK), All Africa News, La Montagne and many other local editions write about the upcoming transmission of the Bolshoi's Lost Illusions in cinemas.
The Telegraph (UK) reviews the transmission of former Bolshoi Ballet dancer Natalia Osipova's performance in Giselle at the Royal Opera House saying that the cinema transmission allowed spectators to see the performance in "thrilling detail".
The Mikhailovsky Theatre (St. Petersburg) will present its guest performances at the Bolshoi Theatre New Stage as a part of the theatre festival "Golden Mask". As the Mikhailovsky Theatre Opera Company artistic director Vasily Barkhatov informed
RIA NOVOSTI, on February 4 and 6 the Moscow audience will have the chance to see two famous opera productions of the last season - "Der fliegende Holländer" by R. Wagner and "Eugeny Onegin" by P. Tchaikovsky.In brief Tyumen mass media:
Gran Prix and three diplomas
The International Musical Competition-Festival "Siberia Lights the Stars!" took place in Tyumen. There were nine nominations; individual performers and ensembles, children from 5 to 8 years old and grownups (26 years old plus) competed. The jury was made of distinguished art workers, academicians and professors of the leading educational institutions from Moscow and St. Petersburg. For example, Grigory Soloviov, the Bolshoi Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera soloist, was one of the judges for the vocalists.
On Saturday, February 1 the artistic director of the Smolny Cathedral Chamber
Choir Vladimir Begletsov celebrated his 50 Birthday onstage of the Smolny Cathedral. "Iolanta", one of the most famous operas by P. Tchaikovsky, was performed under the direction of maestro. Alexandra Repina, choir soloist, performed the main female part. Two guest soloists participated in the performance as well: they were Boris Pinkhasovich, who now sings at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, and Begletsov's first student at the Glinka Choir College, Petr Migunov, who is now a the Bolshoi Theatre soloist.
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