July, , 2014. Issue No. 3

July 12 - July 27 - the Bolshoi Theatre guest performances in New York Historic Stage - rehearsal day New Stage - rehearsal day The Bolshoi Theatre guest performances in New York The Bolshoi Theatre opened its guest performances in New York with a triumph This event is said to be the highlight of the season, and the tickets had been sold out long time before the artists arrived. It has been the first time that the American audience heard a performance of the opera company; the ovations that were given to the artists at the Lincoln Center lasted for several minutes. The ballet masterpieces are yet to be performed: the program includes "Swan Lake", "Don Quixote" and "Spartacus". Not only the artists, but the audience as well were nervous before the performances. The last time that the Bolshoi Ballet performed in New York was 14 years ago, and no one can quite remember when the Opera Company gave its last guest performances here; it was a long time ago, during the Soviet era. This is the first time that the two companies have come on tour together. "Swan Lake" is a jewel in the crown of the Russian ballet; it is one of the favorite productions that the audience, naturally, expects the Bolshoi to present. As for the classical Rimsky- Korsakov opera "The Tsar's Bride", it is very rarely performed in the W est, and the local audience is not familiar with it. The concert version of the opera with subtitles was presented in New York, because the hall at the Lincoln Center is a concert hall, but not a theatre hall. The Bolshoi's famous opera singers were nervous. It looked like maestro Rozhdestvensky was the only one who kept calm. He conducted the opera, and he does not need any introductions anywhere in the world: the great Russian virtuoso is the last of the Mohicans. The honored director Gennady Rozhdestvensky said: "The orchestra is in the great shape; it took them just a little time to find their way with the 150 retouches that I made in this score. It is very natural; I think that this orchestra is, perhaps, the best opera orchestra in the world". The Maestro cast the singers himself; there are the stars and emerging artists. Olga Kulchinskaya is only 23; she has just graduated from the conservatory. It is really hot in New York; the orchestra musicians are going to the rehearsal. The ballet stars are arriving to the city. The Bolshoi Theatre's prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova says: "It is difficult, because the climate is different, the air is different, everything is totally different. Of course, your body does not understand what is happening with you. It is always very difficult when you come to countries that are very far from your home". Apart from the audience, the artists, especially the ballet dancers, have another serious challenge - the time difference. The time difference with Moscow is 8 hours. Artists do not have an adjustment period, like, for instance, sportsmen before the Olympic Games; however, they should be in their best shape in order to convey the most important thing - the kind of art that people have back home in Moscow. The Bolshoi General Director Vladimir Urin says that art is probably the only thing that can unite isolated humanity. He promised that he would be in the audience at the premiere. Recently unfriendly meetings and posters have often accompanied guest performances of Russian artists in America. This time instead of political activity one could see very touching scenes at the Lincoln Center concert hall entrance about an hour prior to the premiere. Here and there one could see people, holding pieces of paper; those people looked like the most unhappy people in the world, and there were the words of pleading on those pieces of paper: "Looking for a spare ticket". Finally, the auditorium that seats 2.5 thousand people, is full and the lights are out. During the intermission it is already clear that the Bolshoi Opera's performance has not been simply a success; it has been a triumph. Members of the audience admit: "Everything is still as beautiful as before! Even better than before!". One of the music lovers says: "I have come from Maine in order to hear this, because you rarely can hear the Bolshoi Opera here. I got up at 3.30 a.m. and then spent 7 hours travelling". No one remembered that there were no costumes and no set. At the end of the performance that lasted for almost four and a half hours the audience gave a standing ovation that lasted for 10 minutes. As they say here, it was a deafening ovation. Local critics nodded their heads: this is something that does not happen in New York often. On July 15 the David H. Koch Theater was packed. The Bolshoi Ballet opened its guest performances in New York. Photo: Katerina Novikova The Tsar's Bride The mezzo-soprano Agunda Kulaeva of the Bolshoi Opera at Avery Fisher Hall. Credit Victor J. Blue for The New York Times The Bolshoi Ballet presents "Swan Lake" in New York From July 15 till July 20 the production will be performed in Manhattan seven times After the triumph of the opera "The Tsar's Bride" the Bolshoi Theatre continues its grand tour in New York and presents the ballet productions. The Bolshoi Ballet artists perform their main production - "Swan Lake" to the music by Tchaikovsky. The cast of the opening night starred Svetlana Zakharova (Odette-Odile) and David Hallberg, the first American premier in the Bolshoi's recent history (Prince Siegfried). American ballet fans were looking forward to seeing this duet. The New York Times called Hallberg, who is a soloist of two companies, the ABT and the Bolshoi Ballet, "the most princely male dancer ever produced by the United States". Local critics consider that Hallberg now demonstrates a new dimension and amplitude that he has brought from Moscow. "Swan Lake" is, perhaps, the most famous Russian ballet. It premiered 137 years ago at the Bolshoi Theatre. Several versions of the ballet have appeared since that time. The new version, choreographed by an outstanding choreographer and a People's Artist of the USSR Yuri Grigorovich has been performed at the Bolshoi Theatre since 2001. This is the version that the American audience is presented with. From July 15th till July 20th "Swan Lake" will be performed in Manhattan seven times. On July 22 and 23 the American ballet fans will have a chance to see "Don Quixote". The Bolshoi Ballet guest performances will close with the legendary "Spartacus" that will be performed from July 25 till July 27. The productions star the company's leading soloists. Besides Svetlana Zakharova and David Hallberg, there are the following dancers: Maria Alexandrova, Ekaterina Krysanova, Ekaterina Shipulina, Olga Smirnova, Anna Nikulina, Vladislav Lantratov, Semyon Chudin, Artem Ovcharenko, Mikhail Lobukhin, Denis Rodkin and Alexander Volchkov. This time the Bolshoi Theatre's visit to New York is a part of the summer Lincoln Center Festival. This is the first time that the Bolshoi Opera has participated in this prestigious forum; the company has had a real triumph. For instance, this is what "The New York Times" wrote about "The Tsar's Bride": "Everything about the performance conveyed an almost inborn immersion in the Russian operatic heritage: The singing of the charismatic soloists and the formidable Bolshoi chorus; the dark, rich and pulsing playing of the orchestra; the depth and grave beauty that Mr. Rozhdestvensky drew from the score". Further on the reviewer of the reputable source remarks: "From start to finish, this performance of "The Tsar's Bride" came across with palpable authenticity. That's a hard quality to define: Somehow, you know it when you hear it. The cast included singers from diverse regions and nations, from Azerbaijan to Moldova. But the singers all seemed steeped in the Russian tradition, both veteran and emerging artists, including the melting-voiced soprano Olga Kulchynska and Bogdan Volkov, with his bright tenor". The author of the article particularly praises mezzo-soprano Agunda Kulaeva, who performed the part of L yubasha. Olga Kulchinskaya, Agunda Kulaeva and Bogdan Volkov after the performance of "The T sar's Bride" at the staff entrance to the theatre. Photo: Katerina Novikova Now the Bolshoi Ballet will continue the success of the Bolshoi Opera singers. As IT AR-T ASS was informed, tickets to all Bolshoi Ballet guest performances have been sold out. Newsletter

Mrs. Terrible, Before She Met Her Czar Ivan Bolshoi Opera Brings 'The Tsar's Bride' to Lincoln Center Link to the article: .nytimes.com/2014/07/14/arts/music/bolshoi-opera-brings- the-tsars-bride-to-lincoln-center.html?_r=0 The Bolshoi Theatre presents "Swan Lake" in New York

IT AR-T ASS informs that on July 15 the Bolshoi Theatre continued the grand tour in New York with the production of "Swan Lake" to the music by P. Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Y. Grigorovich. On the opening night the cast starred the Bolshoi prima ballerina and a People's Artist of Russia Svetlana Zakharova (Odette-Odile) and David Hallberg (Prince Siegfried), the first American premier in the Bolshoi's recent history and a soloist of two companies, the ABT and the Bolshoi Ballet. From July 15th till July 20th "Swan Lake" will be performed in Manhattan seven times. On July 22 and 23 the American ballet fans will have a chance to see "Don Quixote". The Bolshoi Ballet guest performances will close with the legendary "Spartacus" that will be performed from July 25 till July 27. This time the Bolshoi Theatre's visit to New York is a part of the summer Lincoln Center Festival. The Bolshoi Opera Company has already performed at the festival earlier and presented the concert version of the opera "The Tsar's Bride". Natalia Kasatkina's jubilee went without many words "The Rite of Spring" was performed at the Bolshoi Theatre again Photo: Izvestia/Vladimir Suvorov The jubilee of Natalia Kasatkina, the famous ballerina and choreographer and a People's Artist of Russia, was celebrated in Moscow. She worked at the Bolshoi Theatre for 22 years; she performed there a lot of parts as a character soloist; together with her husband, Vladimir Vasilyov, she also staged six ballet productions and one opera. Besides, this ballet couple staged four productions at the Mariinsky Theatre, including the legendary "The Creation of the World", and more than two dozen of productions at the State Classic Ballet Theatre. Kasatkina and Vasilyov also had their own experimental company, where Vladimir Malakhov, Irek Mukhamedov, Stanislav Issaev, Galina Stepanenko and other masters started their careers. But at first there was the Bolshoi. This is where the jubilee gala was organized as well. The Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Sergei Filin greeted the ballerina and her husband in the foyer; he presented Natalia Kasatkina with a Mass media about the Theatre July, 16 2014 Newsletter

July, 16 2014 bouquet of white roses, took her to her box and then took his seat in the stalls. Contrary to the tradition, the gala started not with official speeches, but with ballet. The Bolshoi Theatre principals Maria Alexandrova and Mikhail Lobukhin were the first to congratulate Natalia Kasatkina. Together with Yulia Golitsyna and Ekaterina Khapova, soloist of the "Classical Ballet Theatre of Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir V asilyov", they performed grand pas from "Don Quixote". Then "The Rite of Spring" was presented; this ballet was staged by the spouses in 1965 and was the first production of this ballet created in the USSR. At some point Natalia Kasatkina danced the part of The Chosen Maiden herself: she admitted that ever since she and Vladimir Vasilyov had been nervous when they had watched their own ballets. This time the audience gave The Chosen Maiden, performed by a People's Artist of Russia Ekaterina Berezina, a particularly warm welcome. Photo: Izvestia/Vladimir Suvorov In the second part of the concert the Mariinsky Theatre's soloists Sofia Ivanova- Skoblikova and Vassily Tkachenko performed "Carnival in Venice"; Ksenia Ryzhkova and Denis Dmitriev, the soloists of the Stanislavski and Nemirovich- Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre, performed a pas de deux from the ballet "Giselle". "Russian Ballet" was represented by Saori Koike and Egor Motuzov who danced a fragment from the ballet "Beauty and the Beast" to the music of V angelis. T o tell the truth, this time the audience was not very happy with lyrical pieces: they wanted surprises. A fragment from "Legend of the Swan Lake and the Ugly Duckling", the new production by Kasatkina and Vasilyov, surprised them indeed. The jumping Duck (Igor Tsygankov) surrounded by the Eggs (Maria Afinogenova and Mutsuki Y oshida) and the Frog (Dmitry Boltunov) caused different reactions: some of the spectators sniffed, while some could not help laughing so much they started to cry. The of ficial part of the gala was rather compact. The black and white documentary about Kasatkina's life was shown twice; with this documentary in the background, congratulatory addresses from Dmitry Medvedev, Sergei Naryshkin, Sergei Sobyanin, Sergei Ivanov, Olga Golodets and Vladimir Medinsky were read. Theatre workers - the General Director of the Bolshoi Theatre Vladimir Urin, the heads of the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre, the Igor Moiseyev folk dance ensemble, the Kremlin Ballet and the "Russian Ballet" sent congratulatory addresses as well. The evening closed with the defile from the ballet "Lysistrata", choreographed by

Kasatkina and Vasilyov that premiered on March 18. In the end the choreographers came onstage to thank their guests. The guests, in turn, were happy and touched; as women left the theatre, they sighed: "80 years old! Who would think that?" Analysis of articles, published on July 14 V ogue magazine reports about the upcoming Bolshoi performances in New York writing that "translated literally to mean "big" or "grand," Bolshoi has a long history of living up to its reputation as Russia's premiere ballet, opera, orchestra, and chorus." The magazine also offers its readers a chance to watch a short video of Olga Smirnova and David Hallberg on its website as a preview. The Financial Times reviews the Bolshoi's performance of the concert version of the T sar's Bride in New York writing "The once-mighty Bolshoi Opera may be enduring managerial frailty these days at home in Moscow. But the company - lock, stock and possibly reduced chorus - appeared reasonably secure at the Lincoln Center Festival." The FT gives the performance four stars out of five. The Classical Music Network reviews the Bolshoi's The Tsar's Bride very positively writing that "Ivan the Terrible is Irrepressibly Terrific" and says that "the Bolshoi ensemble was utterly passionate and the soloists were unmatchable". T ravel and Leisure.com publishes an interview with David Hallberg about his experience dancing with the Bolshoi Ballet. Stockhouse (USA) reports that the "Internationally Renowned Bolshoi Ballet Brings Select Performances to U.S. Cinemas". DP A the German newswire reports about the Nijinsky-Gala that was the finale of the Hamburg Ballet Days. The programmed included many ballets with some connection to Russia and guest artists included Bolshoi Ballet dancers Olga Smirnova, Artem Ovcharenko, Andrej Merkuriev and Semyon Chudin. Many German editions republished the DPA report. The head of the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations: Brazil and Russia want to open cultural centers Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, the Brazilian Minister of External Relations, is convinced that "cooperation in the cultural sphere is an important tool that will let us learn more about each other". /…/ According to the Minister, the fact that the Bolshoi Theatre's first ballet school abroad was established in the Brazilian city of Joinville and so far has been a success is a good example of cooperation between our two countries in the cultural sphere. /…/
In brief