October 1 - the first-ever live broadcast from behind the scenes: five world-famous ballet companies - step by step, during the whole day Debuts in the opera "La Traviata"

October 1 - Luciano Ganci makes his debut at the Bolshoi Theatre in the role of Alfredo; Daniil Chesnokov makes his debut in the role of Doctor Grenvil New Stage - International Chereshnevy Les Open-Art Festival. REQUIEM. Ballet by Boris Eifman in two acts. St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet Historic Stage - rehearsal day "The Maid of Orleans" at the Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre's chief conductor Tugan Sokhiev made his debut together with the Bolshoi's choir, orchestra and soloists, which was quite impressive. Photo: Damir Y usupov Anna Smirnova (Joan) and Igor Golovatenko (Lionel). Photo: Damir Yusupov Newsletter

Joan On Fire The Bolshoi Theatre's chief conductor Tugan Sokhiev made his debut together with the Bolshoi's choir, orchestra and soloists, which was quite impressive. The monumental opera "The Maid of Orleans" by P. Tchaikovsky was presented on the

Bolshoi Theatre's Historic Stage. The production marked the coming 175 anniversary of the composer. By the way, the previous and the only premiere of "The Maid of Orleans" at the

Bolshoi Theatre took place in 1990 and marked the 150 anniversary of the composer. The production was staged by the great Boris Pokrovsky. This time the audience was presented with the concert version of "The Maid of Orleans", but the Bolshoi's great forces (more than 200 choir singers and orchestra musicians together with the soloists), conducted by Tugan Sokhiev, presented an impressive interpretation of Tchaikovsky's opera. This was an extraordinary event; this was not only an anniversary homage to the composer, but also maestro Sokhiev's debut performance together with the Bolshoi's collective and a well-elaborated project, which presented the Russian and the European musical context in a very sophisticated manner. On one hand, "The Maid of Orleans" is a Russian opera with a French article; this is a story about the French heroine Joan of Arc. The score quotes genuine ancient French melodies and French dances (which is quite fortunate for Sokhiev, who is the chief conductor of the Orchestre National du Capitole de T oulouse and knows all the subtle details of the French style); at the same time the opera is more complex in terms of dramaturgy. "The Maid of Orleans" has choir scenes that are as large as those in an oratorio, ballet numbers, symphonic introductions, polyphonic ensembles, the orchestra playing behind the scenes and mass apotheosizes. There are traditions of both Russian and European music, from madrigal to Requiem, from songs to polyphony. It has to be said that the conductor's coordination of all those layers of the score was impeccable. The Bolshoi Theatre's chief conductor Tugan Sokhiev made his debut together with the Bolshoi's choir, orchestra and soloists, which was quite impressive. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofiev/IT AR-TASS The orchestra was seated on the stage. It produced a real symphonic sound; there were strong instrumental groups, great woodwinds and precise sound balance, which did not outmatch the ensembles and the soloists' arias. One could hear the quality of maestro Sokhiev's work in every detail, the sound discipline, the careful marathons of crescendo, the precise lines of each separate solo and the crystallized powerful tutti. The Bolshoi Theatre's orchestra produced a more rational, distillate and at the same time more theatrical and entertaining sound. It was best seen in the crowd scenes, the numerous choir "glories". The auto-da-fe scene was performed by the orchestra in such a way that it needed no stage action to illustrate it; the oppressing sound of the orchestra slowly grew from the funeral march, there were figurations of "tongues of flame" and then - the scary tutti. It has to be said that the Bolshoi Theatre's choir was very impressive in "The Maid of Orleans" as well: there were more than a hundred voices that produced a unified sound, the articulation was good, there was a certain volume and a quick transition from the tender girls' songs to the graceful hymns of the minstrels and from the mass choir apotheosizes to the sophisticated songs of angels. Anna Smirnova, who performs at major theatres around the world, made her debut at the Bolshoi Theatre with the part of Joan. Photo: Damir Yusupov Direct speech T ugan Sokhiev, the Bolshoi Theatre's music director: - I have chosen "The Maid of Orleans" because Tchaikovsky is connected with the Bolshoi Theatre's history. Besides, I was trying to find an opera where the Bolshoi's music and creative collectives - the choir, the soloists and the orchestra - could be used to the maximum. "The Maid of Orleans" is one of the most monumental and crowded operas by Tchaikovsky. Regardless of the fact that the plot is tragic, the image of Joan makes it very solemn and elevated. This opera is performed rarely, because the part of Joan is very difficult. Tchaikovsky wrote two variants of this part, one for soprano and one for mezzo-soprano. At some point Irina Arkhipova (mezzo- soprano) gave a wonderful performance in this role; the production of the great Boris Pokrovsky starred the spectacular Makvala Kasrashvili (soprano) for many years. In my opinion the soprano version is closer to the dramaturgy that Tchaikovsky had in mind. This part is almost written for two voice types; there is the difficult top register, the strong middle part and the lower register. It is dif ficult to find singers that have such voice range. W e were lucky to have found Anna Smirnova, a Russian singer that sings in Metropolitan Opera, La Scala and Vienna, but who had not performed at the Bolshoi Theatre before. This was her debut. I would be very happy if "The Maid of Orleans" was staged at the Bolshoi Theatre. Many people consider that this opera is not very well suited for the stage, but we would like to destroy this myth. Inauguration of the chief conductor T ugan Sokhiev made his debut at the Bolshoi Theatre This is the event that everyone had been looking forward to for eight months: in the end of January the Bolshoi Theatre's General Director introduced the new music director, and Tugan Sokhiev announced at the press conference that he would present his first project in autumn; however, he did not say what this project would be. The conductor's choice became known later, when the plans for the new season were announced. So last Friday Tugan Sokhiev made his debut on the Bolshoi Theatre's Historic Stage with the opera "The Maid of Orleans" by P. T chaikovsky. During the curtain calls one of the Bolshoi's employees said: "There is a real conductor at the theatre finally!" With all the respect that we have for Tugan Sokhiev's predecessors, it is difficult to argue with this statement. Over the last decade there were, perhaps, three times when the reporter of "Nezavisimaya" witnessed something as convincing; all three times were guest conductors. Mikhail Pletnev conducted "The Queen of Spades", Alexander Lazarev - "The Enchantress" and Vladimir Jurowski - "Ruslan and Lyudmila". Perhaps, Mstislav Rostropovich with "War and Peace" could have been in this group as well, but a month prior to the premiere he withdrew from the project, not being able to cope with some conflicts at the theatre. This time there was Tugan Sokhiev conducting "The Maid of Orleans": he is an ambitious, rather authoritative, and also a smart, thinking and, most importantly, very musical conductor. Maestro Sokhiev chose "The Maid of Orleans" (this opera is at the crossroads of his Russian-French interests in a way: as we all remember, he remains the chief September, 30 2014 Newsletter

conductor of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse) and made some right decisions. He marked the coming 175 anniversary of Tchaikovsky, chose an opera that is rather non-trivial and not the most popular and decided to present the concert version of this opera, since the stage production most likely would have become a repertoire outsider. The great score engages and demonstrates all performing abilities of the company (there is even a part for the organ). On the other hand, the conductor himself demonstrates the ability to control this collective, to cope with the huge form and, having no chance to hide behind the set and the stage action, come with not only musical, but also some kind of theatrical dramaturgy. Sokhiev himself talks about it in the text of the program: he focuses not on the historic context, but on Joan herself and on her spiritual journey, from the insight on God to the insight on love and the unity with the Lord in the finale. After all, this is a romantic opera; Sokhiev transforms lyrical scenes of Joan into elevated ones, and allows the passion and the feeling to show only in her love duet with Lionel. As he interprets both the crowd scenes (the horror of the fire in the first and the last act, the clunking of the swords in the fight scenes, the triumph of the coronation) and the genre scenes (court dances or minstrels' songs, including the famous "Old French Song" from the "Children's Album"), Sokhiev demonstrates the maximum degree of visualization. The score has numerous orchestra solo parts, and each of them sounds in a clear and non-formal way; each of them has its own intonation, but not just some kind of sound. At the same time the conductor works with the acoustics very carefully and makes the orchestra play softer in order not to silence the soloists. The casting cannot be called even. This is the peculiar feature of this opera: T chaikovsky created two versions of the score, for high and low female voices, however, neither of them is considered to be very convenient. It is a part for a singer who possesses exceptional abilities, just like the main heroine. Sokhiev chose the soprano version, which he considers to be more logical in terms of the tune and the harmony; he invited the Russian Anna Smirnova, who achieved success in her career abroad, to perform this part. The singer's dimensional voice and almost soprano voice range allowed her to "tackle" the part of Joan at once (she has not performed this part before). As for her partners, we probably should mention Oleg Dolgov (tenor), who performed the part of the King Charles VII and Igor Golovatenko (Lionel), who presented the most precise and integral interpretations of their roles. Mr. Medinsky attended the premiere production at the Bolshoi Theatre "The Maid of Orleans" was the first premiere of the new season at the Bolshoi Theatre; it remains in the focus of attention. This massive piece by Tchaikovsky is considered to be very difficult. Finding the right singer to perform the main role is a serious challenge. The Bolshoi invited Anna Smirnova to perform the part of Joan. It was decided to present the concert version of this opera to the audience. Tugan Sokhiev conducted the orchestra; the Bolshoi Theatre's new music director and chief conductor made his debut. Vladimir Medinsky, the Minister of Culture, attended the premiere performance last weekend. Vladimir Medinsky and Vladimir Urin at the premiere of "The Maid of Orleans". Photo: Katerina Novikova Mass media about the Theatre Vladimir Medinsky: sanctions do not have any major influence on the cultural exchange between Russia and the West The Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation mentioned that the Bolshoi Theatre's recent triumphant guest performances in New York proved how absurd the talks about cultural sanctions were. Sanctions do not have any major influence on the cultural exchange between Russia and foreign countries. This is what Vladimir Medinsky, the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, who came to the Bolshoi Theatre to attend the first premiere of the season, the opera "The Maid of Orleans", told the journalists. He mentioned that that the Bolshoi Theatre's recent triumphant guest performances in New Y ork proved this. Mr. Medinsky said: "This just proves once again, how absurd all talk about possible cultural sanctions are. Just take a look at the Bolshoi Theatre's repertoire for the coming months, and you will see how many guest performances the company has planned and which countries it plans to go to. There are all those countries that have their own ideas of sanctions. This means that culture knows no borders, and that culture can break any political barriers", - the Minister stressed. The Bolshoi Theatre General Director Vladimir Urin said that the Bolshoi planned guest performances in Japan and Monaco; the company would take ballet productions there. Mr. Urin said: "Then the opera and the ballet company go to Hong Kong together; we will present "The Tsar's Bride" and "Jewels" there. We will finish our guest performances in Brazil in June". According to Mr. Uin, this season the Bolshoi Theatre plans to have a lot of guest performances and to include a lot of new productions into the repertoire: "The Maid of Orleans" was the first premiere of the season, and the audience will be presented with eight more new productions. St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet presents the ballet "Requiem", based on the poem by A. Akhmatova, in Moscow The premiere performance took place on the Bolshoi Theatre's New Stage as a part of the International Chereshnevy Les Open-Art Festival Photo: Press-Office of the St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet It is the first time that the St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet has presented the new version of the ballet "Requiem", based on the same-name poem by Anna Akhmatova, in

Moscow. The premiere performance took place on September 30 as a part of the International Chereshnevy Les Open-Art Festival. The history of the creation of this production is several decades long. In 1991 Boris Eifman staged the same-name one-act ballet to the music of "Requiem" by W. A. Mozart. Last year the choreographer went back to his work and added to it one more act, based on the poem by Anna Akhmatova and choreographed to the music by Dmitry Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony "In Memory of the Victims of Fascism and War". This is how the two-act production was created.

It premiered on January 27 2014 in Saint Petersburg at the Alexandrinsky Theatre

and marked the 70 anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad. The veterans of the Great Patriotic War, the defendants and the citizens of the blockade of Leningrad were the first people that saw the production. September, 30 2014 Newsletter

The artistic director of the theatre mentions: "As I reread the poem "Requiem", I am always shocked by the uncontrolled pain that Akhmatova's piece is full of. But the godlike continuity of existence, which Mozart praised in his "Requiem", can be found in the course of life". St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet was founded by Boris Eifman in 1977. The concept was rather brave: it was an author's, director's theatre and the experimental laboratory of one choreographer. The very first productions, "Two V oices" and "Boomerang", were successes with the audience and made critics talk about new tendencies in the Russian ballet art. However, the supporters of the traditional school did not recognize the young choreographer at once. New approaches to the choice of dramatic material and music, as well as his usage of the audacious plastique gave Boris Eifman the reputation of a choreographic dissident, which he had for quite a long time. Nowadays the Eifman Ballet is famous all over the world. Its repertoire includes such productions, as "Tchaikovsky", "Red Giselle", "Russian Hamlet", "Anna Karenina", "Seagull", "Onegin", "Rodin" and "Beyond Sin". In September 2013 the Boris Eifman Dance Academy started its first academic year; the Boris Eifman Palace of Dance will appear in St. Petersburg in the near future. This week

September 29, the Bolshoi Theatre, the New Stage. The premiere of the ballet "Requiem", choreographed by Boris Eifman, took place during the International Chereshnevy Les Open-Art Festival. Ekaterina Andreeva, Viktor Vekselberg, Vladimir Grigoriev, Naina Yeltsina, Sergei Kapkov, Anastasia Zavorotnyuk, Andrei Malakhov, Leonid Roshal, Kirill Serebrennikov, Tatiana Tarasova, Vladimir T artakovsky and Mikhail Shvydkoy attended the premiere. /…/ Five Ballet Companies Join for Live Streaming 'World Ballet Day' By Roslyn Sulcas LONDON - In an unprecedented bout of internationalism, five of the world's major ballet companies will participate in a 20-hour-long live streaming event that will give ballet fans worldwide an intensive behind-the-scenes look at company classes, rehearsals and coaching. L in k to th e artic le : .a rts b ea t.b lo gs.n ytim es.c o m /2 014 /0 9/1 0/fiv e -b a lle t- companies-join-for-live-streaming-world-ballet-day/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 On the Bolshoi Theatre official pages you can see some pictures from the premiere performances of "The Maid of Orleans" which took place on the Bolshoi's Historic Stage on September 26 and 28: T ugan Sokhiev. Photo: Damir Yusupov Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet Curtain calls after the premiere. Photo: Damir Yusupov Backstage after the premiere. Photo: Katerina Novikova W e also congratulated Marina Lapina, Bolshoi Opera soloist, who celebrated

her birthday on September 29. Our best wishes to the singer! Marina Lapina as Kupava in the opera "The Snow Maiden". Photo: Damir Yusupov

September, 30 2014 Newsletter

September, 30 2014 , 7 For articles published 26-28 September 2014 George Hamilton writes in the Irish Independent about his visit to the Bolshoi Theatre during the 1980 Olympics in Moscow saying "There was the visual spectacle of Romeo and Juliet. The original love story, danced to Sergei Prokofiev's dramatic and evocative score, is right up there with the great theatrical experiences." And that the "spellbinding Russian ballet is a feast for the eyes." The Daily Record (USA) reports about an American girl who won a scholarship to study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. The publication writes "Safia Speer loves to dance so getting a chance to hone her skills with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Russia was a dream come true. She said "It was something that I really wanted to do so badly because I could study ballet with Russian teachers and the Russian Masters of Ballet in Russia," The Palm Beach Daily News (USA) reports that the Four Arts Society will show live broadcasts from the Bolshoi Ballet this year as part of the society's programme. The entertainment trade paper Variety reports that events in cinemas like the live broadcasts of the Bolshoi will account for 5% of the total box office this year. V ariety reports that "Pathe Live distributes Met Opera in France, the second biggest territory for New York's Metropolitan Opera events after North America, worth approximately $2 million a year in France. The Met receives half of the gross box office, and exhibitors keep 40%, leaving Pathe Live with 10%. In contrast, Pathe Live produces the events of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, and retains 60% of revenues." New York Times dance critic Alastair Macaulay reviews New York City Ballet, in a quadruple bill of works choreographed to Tchaikovsky music by George Balanchine writing that the performance suggests that the New York City is the world's strongest ballet company. He says "There are five companies with outstandingly strong and influential classical styles in ballet: the Mariinsky of St. Petersburg, the Bolshoi of Moscow, the Royal Danes of Copenhagen, the Royal of London and City Ballet." And "none of them are in ideal shape." Milano Finanza reports that Cinderella which was first staged at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1945 will be staged at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Capitale until 5 October. La Nazione announces that a photo exhibition in Arrezo, Italy will include photos of dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet. The Basler Zeitung reports on a concert of the "new opera stars of the Bolshoi Theatre" reporting that "the performances were magical. It was a concert that remains a dream come true". And that "the young artists from Moscow represented one of the most important symbols of Russian culture. The concert-goers have witnessed a very impressive homage to the Russian Federation in Switzerland. Y oung, powerful, trained at the highest level the voices were a sensational appearance in the country in order to strengthen existing relationships and attract new friendships. Paris Normandie reports that the projections of Bolshoi Ballet performances in cinemas last year worked well and will continue this year.