February, 17, 2014. Issue No. 235News of the day Onstage at the Bolshoi Theatre February 22 - the opera "The Tsar's Bride" by Rimsky-Korsakov returns to the Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre General Director Vladimir Urin has made a decision not to remove from the repertory the opera "Eugene Onegin", staged by Dmitry Chernyakov The Bolshoi Theatre opera repertory will be revised considerably Facebook: the recording of the three-act ballet "Jewels" by G. Balanchine was transmitted in 24 cities around Russia and 3 cities in Kazakhstan on February 16Historic Stage - rehearsal day New Stage - rehearsal day Dates and events February 16 - the Bolshoi Ballet soloists Daria Khokhlova and Artemiy Belyakov participated in the program "Who is there…." (TV Channel Culture) February 22, 23 and 25 - premiere performances of the Rimsky-Korsakov opera "The Tsar's Bride"Mass media about the Theatre On February 16 the recording of the three-act ballet "Jewels" by George Balanchine, a masterpiece of 20 century choreographic works, was transmitted in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Murmansk, Kaliningrad, Ufa, Voronezh, Saratov, Vologda, Krasnodar and other cities that are parts of the project "Theatre Cinema Season 2013/2014"The opera "The Tsar's Bride" by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov returns to the Bolshoi Theatre "The Tsar's Bride", which is the most popular opera by Rimsky-Korsakov, returns to the Bolshoi Theatre. The opera will premiere on the Historic Stage on February 22. ITAR-TASS reports that "The Tsar's Bride"is one of Rimsky-Korsakov's most favorite and most frequently performed operas. The composer himself had special feelings for this piece. He admitted: "I must say that from my many operas I love "The Snow Maiden" and "The Tsar's Bride" most of all". The libretto is based on the same-name drama by Lev Mei, which was inspired by a true story. In 1571 Marfa Sobakina, a merchant's daughter, was chosen to be the bride of Ivan the Terrible; 15 days later she suddenly died - as rumor had it, she was poisoned. "The Tsar's Bride" premiered on October 22nd 1899 at Mamontov's Private Russian Opera in Moscow; the opera won recognition from the public right "Mavra" by I. Stravinsky and "Iolanta" by P. Tchaikovsky; he promised that both operas would be staged sooner or later. However, later he cancelled this project, having explained that the set was too complicated and would have demanded too much time to put up and take down. The monumental "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss, staged by Steven Lawless, which premiered less than two years ago, will not be performed in the current season either. Mr. Urin did not try to hide the fact that one of the reasons why the former chief conductor Vassily Sinaisky left the Bolshoi Theatre, was the decision not to have a series of "Der Rosenkavalier" performances. Dmitry Vdovin told "Izvestia": - Performances of "Der Rosenkavalier" at the end of the season were cancelled, because it could be a problem to have a full house during the vacation season; this opera is not the most popular. Somehow the chief conductor did not understand this and took offence. On January 18 the Bolshoi said "good-bye" to the opera "Nabucco" by G. Verdi, staged by Mikhail Kislyarov, which was on the theatre playbill since 2001. The series of performances, scheduled for June 2014, were cancelled. After the General Director watched the opera, he concluded: - The opera should not be performed as it is now. Alexandra Durseneva, who performed the part of Fenena in "Nabucco", is sorry that the opera will disappear from the Bolshoi Theatre repertory. She explained: - Of course, I wish it had not happened: this is not the worst production. But when it was moved to the New Stage from the Historic Stage, it did not do it any good. "Eugene Onegin", one of the most headline-making projects of Anatoly Iksanov's epoch, which was blamed by opera conservatives and cursed by Galina Vishnevskaya, but always had a full house, was supposed to become another victim. The performance on February 12 showed that even though something might have changed on the stage over those seven and a half years that had passed since the premiere nothing had changed in the audience. The elderly audience still considered that Pushkin and Tchaikovsky were insulted; this is something that made them very unhappy. Some smart guy sold DVDs of a "Eugene Onegin" classical production at the exit - with profit. Photo: Yusupov Later, when the Chernyakov's production had already been regretted and cried over, it turned out that Mr. Urin had decided to keep it going. There still is a possibility that in 2015 the director will be invited to revive the production that will star new artists. Dmitry Vdovin says: - It is necessary to put the production back to its initial state. Many actors' manner and voices have changed; some have trouble. "Onegin" should be a production for "Izvestia" supposes that "Snow Maiden", staged by Dmitry Belov, that has not been performed since January 2012, is one of those productions that will disappear from the repertory (Mr. Vdovin said: "Do you know anyone who liked that "Snow Maiden"? It seems to me that I have never met such a person). It can be followed by "The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" staged by Temur Chkheidze (which has not been performed since May 2012), "Ruslan and Lyudmila" staged by Dmitry Chernyakov (the last performance took place in April 2013) and "The Queen of Spades" staged by Valery Fokin (which has not been performed since September 2013). Productions that are not staged for a year or longer become moss-grown: artists who do not have any practice, have a tendency to forget details of mise-en-scenes, stagehands forget the location of the set. Thus, when Mr. Urin takes a look at these productions, he will have to either revive them, or cancel them. It is interesting to note that these all are Russian operas, which means that the Bolshoi Theatre, which has been talking a lot about basing its repertory on pieces by Russian composers, will have to plan its premieres bearing in mind the lack of the Russian classics. There are 26 opera in the Bolshoi Theatre repertory, including 12 Russian ones. Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre has 27 operas in its repertory, including 9 Russian ones, while the Mariinsky Theatre has 95 operas in the repertory, including 39 Russian ones. The Bolshoi Theatre opera repertory will be revised considerably As the Bolshoi General Director Vladimir Urin announced to journalists, the Bolshoi Theatre opera repertory will be revised considerably; many older production will disappear from the playbills. Those productions that are to disappear from the repertory will be named later, when the plans for the next season are announced. Mr. Urin stated: "10 or 12 productions that currently are part of the Bolshoi repertory have lost the level that the Bolshoi productions must have and should be either revived or taken away from the repertory". The performances of the opera "Nabucco" were already cancelled earlier this season. Vladimir Urin explained: "Rather than have productions run as they do today, It is better not to have them run at all. Together with the opera company management we made a decision to remove "Nabucco" from the repertory". According to the Bolshoi General Director, it is planned to adopt a collective agreement which all Bolshoi artists will have to sign at the end of March. Kazan mass media: The Bolshoi Ballet at the cinema Screenings of theatre productions staged at different theatres of the world continue at "Grand Cinema". On Sunday, February 16 the ballet "Jewels" by George Balanchine was shown on the big screen. The ballet has three parts - "Emeralds", "Rubies" and "Diamonds" - that symbolize three ballet epochs. Express-ballet of such a kind gives the audience a chance to see and even compare the ballet technique of romantic ballet, classical ballet and the 20 century ballet. The Kazan audience had an opportunity to watch the Bolshoi Theatre production of the ballet "Jewels". Newsletter February, 172014"Diamonds": Olga Smirnova, Semyon Chudin For his "Jewels" Balanchine chose three precious gems, three colors, three famous silhouettes, the signs of three ballet epochs. In the first part ballerinas are dressed in long tunics, in the second - in very short skirts and in the third - in classical white tutus. There is the romantic ballet, the 20th century ballet and classical ballet. Balanchine himself liked to talk about the content of his ballets that did not have plots in the simplest words; according to the choreographer, the first part of "Jewels" is, "perhaps, a hint about France, the country of elegance, comfort, fashion and perfumes". The second part "represents America". The last part of the ballet is a homage to the Russian Imperial Ballet. The sub-text of the choreography is about three styles, three great ballet schools - the French, the American and the Russian. On the Bolshoi official pages in the social networks we also published an announcement: on February 16 the Bolshoi Ballet soloists Daria Khokhlova and Artemiy Belyakov, starring in the ballet "The Nutcracker", participated in the program "Who is there…." (TV Channel Culture). Photo: Damir Yusupov Analysis of articles published February 13, 2014 The Sochi Winter Olympics dominate the news with many publications comparing Russian skaters to ballet dancers.On the Bolshoi Theatre official pages in the social networks we published an announcement about the ballet "Jewels" that was transmitted for the second time. The screenings also took place at the Documentary Film Center: Documentary Film Center in cooperation with the art-group CoolConnections present screenings of the Bolshoi Theatre ballet productions. Every month the audience will have a chance to see the Bolshoi Ballet's best productions onscreen at the first documentary film cinema. Every citizen of Moscow now has a chance to watch a ballet production that is performed on the Historic Stage of the main theatre of the country. The program of screenings for the year of 2014 includes the famous ballet "Jewels" by George Balanchine as well as the Soviet classics ("Spartacus" and "The Golden Age"), the 19 century masterpieces ("Le Corsaire" and "Sleeping Beauty") and new productions ("Lost Illusions"). Documentary Film Center is a cultural and educational venue; it is the first documentary film cinema in Russia, which was opened on June 6 2013. It is located in one of the Moscow Museum buildings. The museum itself is located in the unique architectural complex of Proviantskie Sklady (Zubovsky blvd., 2). "Jewels"Newsletter Daria Khokhlova Artemiy Belyakov The Bolshoi Theatre in the InternetInternational press analysis February, 172014Newsletter 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 USA Today writes that the performance of Russian pair skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov was "a performance that belonged in the Bolshoi" and compares Russian love of skating to Russian love of ballet in the article. Die Presse (Austria) writes about ice hockey at the Winter Olympics saying "The Bolshoi Theater in Moscow is Russia's most famous theater. Sochi Bolshoi Arena is the sports counterpart." CBC radio interviews David Hallberg about his decision to join the ballet. Hallberg says that the Bolshoi is one of the best training grounds in the world and has hundreds of years of tradition. Hallberg says the move to the Bolshoi has been very beneficial for him. H also says he was very proud to see his colleagues from the Bolshoi Ballet dancing at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. NBC broadcast a report earlier by Mary Carillo who interviewed Tamara Moskvina and learns how Russia's great tradition in pairs skating is inspired by the country's historic passion for ballet. The report includes information about the Bolshoi Theatre and many newspapers and bloggers have written about or commented on this report. Le Monde publishes an interview with the new music director of the Bolshoi Tugan Sokhiev who says that even though he is now music director of the Bolshoi he has no plans to leave his job at the Toulouse Orchestra. The Denver Post writes that the Bolshoi Ballet Academy will hold auditions in Denver for its summer intensive course. The Daily Telegraph writes about the death of the famous cellist Alexander Ivashkin who was principal cellist at the Bolshoi before going to live and work in London and the UK. "Intellectual opera: beyond the limits of imagination" "Intellectual opera: beyond the limits of imagination" is one of the most interesting projects, organized during the festival "Opera Apriori". It presents two one-act operas: "Bluebeard's Castle" by B. Bartok and "The Black Monk" by A. Kurbatov (world premiere). This grand project will be carried out by the The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pavel Soroking from the Bolshoi Theatre, the Yurlov State Academic Choir Capella of Russia, the most famous modern performers of the parts of the Bluebeard and Judith, Hungarian singers Bálint SzabГі (bass) and IldikГі KomlГіsi (mezzo-soprano), as well as the Bolshoi Theatre leading soloists Darya Zykova (soprano), Maxim Paster (tenor), Petr Migunov (bass) and the Gevorg Grigoryan (bass-baritone), the Flanders Opera soloist (the Netherlands). In brief The Tzar Boris was given the throne in Kazan On Feodor Chaliapin's birthday the culture of singing that is about to be lost was performed at Tatar State Opera & Ballet Theatre named after Musa Jalil The role in the opera "Boris Godunov" was always considered the best of Feodor Chaliapin's roles. The audience that came to the Chaliapin Festival on February 13 had a chance to evaluate how the traditions set by the great singer were upheld in the modern interpretation of the Modest Mussorgsky opera. The reporter of "Business Online" went to see the production and to see if the birthday of our great fellow countryman was celebrated in Kazan in a decent way. "Boris Godunov" was brought to Kazan from the Bolshoi Theatre. Leonid Baratov directed the production, Fedor Fedorovsky created the set. This version of "Boris Godunov" can be defined as "opera grande", meaning that it is a large-scale production with a large choir and lots of supernumeraries, which also has expensive costumes and sets. Self-respecting theatre absolutely have to have such grand productions in their repertories. There is always one problem at the Chaliapin Festival - to choose the singer for the part of Boris. The Kazan audience has already heard wonderful Mikhail Svetlov- Krytikov, Vladimir Ognovenko, Mikhail Kazakov, who was the youngest Godunov in history, and many others. This year the Bolshoi Theatre soloist Vladimir Matorin was invited to take part in this festival performance. The audience was by no means disappointed with his performance in this important production. Matorin is a Bolshoi Theatre soloist; he has about 90 parts in his repertory. His performance of the Tsar Boris role was considered to be the best opera role of the year in 1989. The critics say that Matorin, who was a great "Russian" bass voice, is a good dramatic actor as well. |
Main Stage
1 Teatralnaya ploschad (1 Theatre Square), Moscow, Russia
New Stage
Bol'shaya Dmitrovka Street, 4/2, Moscow, Russia