November, 13 2014 A legend as it is The Bolshoi Theatre revived one of its main masterpieces, the ballet "A Legend of Love". As soon as the curtain fell, the audience gave a tremendous ovation that continued for twenty minutes; the same happened after each premiere performance! When Yuri Grigorovich, the author of the ballet, appeared on the stage, all members of the audience rose at once to greet him. They greeted the composer Arif Melikov with the same enthusiasm. Could it have been any different? There was festive solemnity that suited the great piece very well. Perhaps, it is silly to spend time and ink on a review about a production that was created more than half a century ago, has already been reviewed many times and has been studied by both journalists and professional art historians. But the ballet master Yuri Grigorovich demonstrated creative anxiety; in pursuit of perfection he returns to his piece again and again, edits it, cuts some parts that are considered too long today and adds new touches and new colors to this production. "A Legend of Love" premiered at the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theatre in 1961. It is a mix of four genius components; this is why this production, which elevated the art of ballet to extremely high standards, became a sensation. The libretto is based on the philosophical play by the Turkish playwright Nazym Hikmet. Arif Melikov composed the colorful and "juicy" music. Simon Virsaladze created the set that is concise, but elegant and expressive. The choreographer Yuri Grigorovich inherited the traditions of Marius Petipa when it came to staging grand ballets with many acts. However, when he was working on the "ballet story", he used the creative approach to the method of his favorite classic. There is the pompous march that increases the tension consistently and the laconic, but artistically convincing pantomime; the corps de ballet Choir is tragic and frantic, mystical and lyrically inspired, and impresses as much as the soloists. The structure of the production has all these components, although they were given a second thought. However, unlike Petipa's productions, this one has no dance divertissement that interrupt the action and have a decorative function. This story is densely populated and epic; however, the ballet master has some magic skills that allow him to switch to the sphere of inner monologues and intimate feelings. This counterpoint creates an effect that is truly magical. "A Legend of Love" with its mixture of narrative and dramatic development as well as symphonic dance became the messenger of the new aesthetics of the Russian ballet and the choreographic classics of the 20th century. But the epoch did not become a thing of the past at the turn of the century. "A Legend of Love" is still alive today, half a century later, and it still shocks, just like the painting at the Sistine Chapel, paintings of Rafael and grandiose fresco paintings of Dionisiy and Leonardo da Vinci. Grigorovich changes the image of his production a bit. For example, the most important episode of sorcery was changed radically. It seems that the lifeless body of Shireen appears on the top of the funeral mausoleum. The wailers that hide behind black cloths create moving "architecture". In the blink of an eye the tongues of flame visualize the sickly substance - this is the hoodoo that is killing the young princess. The choreographer saved the choreographic theme, but changed the general pattern of the scene. The ballet master cut several measures of Shireen's comic dance and her adagio with Ferkhad. Earlier Grigorovich decided that Ferkhad, who was going to break through the cooper mountain, did not need a real pick axe. The scene gained a more philosophical generalization. The new dance of weeping women with jars appeared in the third act. Some corrections were made to the accents of movements as well. There is a recurring murderous gesture in Vizier's plastique - it looks like he is cutting the throat. Compared to their predecessors, the artists demonstrated more precise gestures. Other changes, for example, the ones that were made to the mise-en- scenes, can be considered more or less significant. Now the Vizier does not rush to stop the Queen that is ready to refuse her crown to cure her sister. I also cannot fail to mention Shireen's dream that appears in the center of the stage, right from the "babbling stream" of corps de ballets. I should also say a couple of words about new costumes. Ferkhad's four friends (they are rather important, because they make the image of the main character complete) do not wear black jumpsuits anymore; their costumes have become consistent in terms of the colors. The way this production is staged provides the dancers with the chance to express a lot when they simply make a movement. The obsequious court members are terrified; as they ask each other about the destiny of Shireen, they stretch their arms and turn up their palms to demonstrate the unpronounced question. The Vizier will make the same gesture, but with a dif ferent intonation; Mekhmene Banu will also make the same gesture, but it will have greater amplitude. Ferkhad's arm is aimed at Shireen's chest (his second arm is shortened at chest height); this associates with the love arrow that has been discharged from the bow and has pierced the girl's heart. Ferkhad himself uses the musical accent (as he used to do before) and clutches his head as he is making a dif ficult choice between love and duty. The plastique and gestures express everything in this production: anger, turmoil, hope, tenderness and jealousy. This is what ensures novelty and diversity of interpretations; the dancers use their physical and spiritual abilities. It has to be said that the October series of performances of "A Legend of Love" were performed on a very high level (Regina Nikiforova, who knows the production in every detail, and Andrei Melanyin were the assistants to the choreographer). The corps de ballet was wonderful: ecstatic in heroic scenes, and demonstrating great teamwork and style in lyrical scenes. Pedagogues-repetiteurs - Svetlana Adyrkhaeva, Lyudmila Semenyaka, Nina Semizorova, Alexander Vetrov, Vladimir Nikonov and Alexander Petukhov - deserve the most sincere gratitude as well. Without any doubt, their students, especially those who made their debuts in this production, should become the focus of attention. The opening night cast starred Svetlana Zakharova as Mekhmene Banu and Denis Rodkin as Ferkhad. Zakharova expressed the spiritual fight of her heroine using the oriental lace of movements. Her graphics are impeccable. Her hands are extremely expressive. The beautiful lines of her long hands incurved like the crescent Asian sword. The imperative gesture left no doubt about her character. The ballerina probably demonstrated her best performance in the first act of the ballet, which is mostly about sharp and precise movements. At the same time, the artist made sure that the monologue in the second act, as well as her adagio with Ferkhad, were full of her special charming cantilena. Denis Rodkin felt the romance of emotional stress and conveyed it in a very convincing manner. His Ferkhad was a dreaming artist in the first place; he reached the peak due to certain circumstances. But he also had to make a choice, and Ferkhad-Rodkin made this choice through fighting, as he became a man of Deed. The Bolshoi Theatre's leading soloist continued to demonstrate airborne quality during the whole performance; his Ferkhad also became more sensitive and suited the stylistic context of this character. Anna Nikulina and Denis Rodkin. Photo: Damir Yusupov Vladislav Lantratov created a very different image of Ferkhad. It was a hero that realized himself through the elevated creative process and worldly love. The noble academism of his movements did not lose their impeccable style for one moment. As the character developed, his dancing became more dramatic and passionate. Newsletter

Maria Vinogradova was Lantratov's partner. Her Shireen did not have a painful spiritual fight; rather she demonstrated a certain egoism of youth as she surrendered to her feeling. It was only in the finale that Shireen-V inogradova was resigned to her destiny and immersed herself into the endless sorrow of saying the last farewell to her loved one. In terms of plastique the ballerina could be more precise; it terms of acting she could try not to lose eye-contact with her partner, even when she rested her face on his chest. Nina Kaptsova was the one who created a crystal image of Shireen. Shireen-the teenager had a lively, trembling soul; she could appreciate the great sacrifice that her sister made and also fall head over hills in love. The free and light dance of a gazelle demonstrated the formal fragility of the heroine; the dynamic leaps demonstrated her will power and decisiveness. Shireen-Anna Nikulina copes with the choreography of this part, performed difficult pirouettes impeccably and demonstrated the whole range of feelings in a rather reserved manner, without any affectation whatsoever. Alexander Volchkov's mastery and experience allowed him to demonstrate good a performance the part of Ferkhad; this dancer is precise when it comes to virtuoso acrobatic lifts and sophisticated psychological nuances. Maria Allash and Ekaterina Shipulina were already been familiar with the title part of Mekhmene Banu; they performed this part in this series of performances as well. Both ballerinas are exceptionally bright and are considered outstanding; this is not for nothing. The majestic Mekhmene-Allash drinks the cup of bitterness to the dregs and admires F erk h ad 's hero ic m ora l de ed. Eka te rin a Ship u li n a's M ekh m ene is m ore controversial. Before she makes the decision to sacrifice her beauty, she overcomes the rage. Her future life is a torture, but her soul is purified with the suffering. Three Viziers appeared on the stage in turn. According to the initial plan, Vizier and Mekhmene Banu were supposed to look bigger than Ferkhad and Shireen and create a counterpoint to the younger and more sophisticated creatures. Vitaly Biktimirov suits this pattern best of all; his interpretation of this part is impeccable, he demonstrated the fiery temperament of an Asian despot. However, the debutants - Denis Savin and Alexander Vodopetov - demonstrated rather passionate performances as well. The orchestra was conducted by Pavel Sorokin; in the best moments the musicians managed to create the feeling of catharsis and made the same impression on the audience as a great Greek tragedy would have made. "I love passion on the stage" The opera singer Venera Gimadieva talks about the hygiene of the human relationships V enera Gimadieva as the Tsaritsa of Shemakha. Photo: Alexander Vilf/RIA NOVOSTI T ext: Anna Snegina V enera Gimadieva, the singer; the Bolshoi Opera Company's soloist since 2011. In 2012 she was awarded the Prize of the President of the Russian Federation "for outstanding performance that enriches and develops traditions of the Russian vocal school". In 2014 she became a laureate of the "Golden Mask" in the nomination category "Best Female Performer" for the part of Amina in the opera "La Sonnambula". V enera Gimadieva (lyrical soprano) was one of the first graduates of the Bolshoi Theatre Young Artists Opera Program. She joined the galaxy of opera stars having performed a duet with the bass singer Vladimir Matorin (Tsar Dodon) in "The Golden Cockerel", staged by Kirill Serebrennikov. Later she performed in the premiere cast of "La Traviata", staged by Francesca Zambello. She was awarded "The Golden Mask" for her performances of the part of Amina in the opera by Bellini. All summer Venera was performing the part of Violetta at the Glyndebourne Festival in the UK; in September she joined the cast of "La Traviata" at the Paris Opera and in the beginning of November she is going to sing the part of Juliette at the Opera Festival in Chile. We managed to catch the opera diva in Moscow, where she stopped for a few days to pack her suitcases. Lenta.ru: Venera, is Paris worth the mass? What are your impressions? V enera Gimadieva: This was not my first time in Paris. However, it was the first time that I performed at the Opéra Bastille. I left rainy and cold Moscow and arrived in summer: the temperature was 25 degrees Celsius and the weather was sunny. I wish I had taken summer clothes. I had a wonderful time there. Although Paris is not the cleanest city in the world. Still, it is very romantic. A friend of mine took Eurostar from the UK to visit me (we became friends this summer in Glyndebourne, where she worked as my interpreter), and we managed to do quite a bit of sightseeing. There are so many colors there! There are different people, different social classes and dif ferent religions! They can afford to be themselves. Everyone is dressed differently. There are no fashion trends that you can see in Moscow or in Saint Petersburg. It is all about being natural. I have noticed: in Moscow there is "too much" of everything, in London - "not enough" of everything, but in Paris there is the ideal mix of beauty and naturalness. How is the production process different in the UK and in Russia? It really was my first experience of creating a production. I have joined many productions that have already been staged before, where everything has been already invented and calculated. So I have got used to adapting to whatever was happening as we went along and to doing what I was told to do. Whether it was convenient or not, I did not think about it and was simply trying to fulfill the task. When I was in Glyndebourne, I noticed: when my partner Michael, who performed the part of Alfredo, did not like something, he said so right away. This is not something I am used to doing. So I started learning to express my opinion as well and say how I imagine different things should happen. We tried doing everything I suggested right way! This feeling of co-creation is amazing! Another thing that surprised me was the attention to the details. The costume designer Hildegard chose carefully each bead on my dress; she tried to imagine what it would lookelike from the audience hall and on the screen during the broadcast. Then we spent a lot of time trying to find the right wig. And then I suggested that I would dye my hair. So it was the second time in my life that I became a brunette; I dyed my hair almost black. Then we looked for hair extensions that would match my dyed hair. A lot of attention was devoted to the details! The question of safety was treated extremely seriously. The director Tom Cairns staged a scene when Alfredo, who is extremely jealous, throws Violetta on the bed and throws money at her. So half an hour before the start of each performance we ran through this scene. According to the initial plan, Alfredo threw me on the bed quite aggressively and stuf fed money under my dress. The tenor Michael Fabiano, who performed the part of Alfredo, has Italian roots, and he performed this scene very passionately. I am a normal Russian woman and I like passion on the stage, so I liked his enthusiasm. But when the director and the choreographer saw it they were afraid that I might get hurt. So the scene was made shorter and we ran through it before each performances for safety reasons. What did the conductor say? I guess, it is not very easy to sing when someone is beating you. Does it sometimes happen that the director stages something, but the conductor refuses to go with it? It does. Once the interpreter told me:"V enera, look, what is happening". I mean, I speak English, but not well enough to understand all nuances. She said: "The director and the conductor are having a quarrel!" Are they really having a quarrel? They are sitting next to each other at the desk, their backs are straight and they are not even making any gestures. They are talking to each other in an extremely polite manner and are not looking at each other. The interpreter explained that it was the boiling point. Of course, this is surprising! When the director does not agree with the conductor at our theatre, everyone can feel the emotions. Who is the most important in the opera? Is it the conductor? Sometimes it happens that a famous director tries to make a conductor obey. But in Glyndebourne Sir Mark Elder, a very famous person in the UK, was the music director of the production. Naturally, he could allow himself to make comments about what the stage director was doing. It seems to me that such kinds of comments would not be paid attention to at the Bolshoi. On the other hand, when Kirill Serebrennikov was staging "The Golden Cockerel", he paid a lot of attention to what Vassily S. Sinaisky was saying… In the British production of "La Traviata" the director created the general pattern and then showed it to the conductor; it was the conductor that decided whether it would work or not and was then working on the details with us. November, 13 2014 Newsletter

V enera Gimadieva at the concert "Dedication to Sergei Rachmaninoff" that took placeduring Chereshnevy Les Open Art Festival. Photo: Mikhail Mokrushin/RIA NOVOSTI How many Violettas have you performed? Five? Seven! And they all are different! My most passionate one was at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland; the production was staged by the Polish director Mariusz T reliЕ„ski. The story was set in present time; the action took place at Violetta's night club. I was wearing tights, mini-shorts and a boa on my neck. As soon as I got there I rushed to watch the production so that I would understand what kind of performance I was to take part in. It kept me on the edge of my seat; it was so exciting. V enera! But there still are courtesans in Paris. They exist in Russia as well. Have you ever thought about the fact that when you are singing "La Traviata" at the Bolshoi, there are it-girls in the stalls and in the boxes...?I mean, they are also courtesans. W ell, I cannot tell from the stage… Yes, such girls have always existed. Modern Violettas are watching the story of Violetta. But for that Violetta the ability to have unselfish and sacrificial feelings was a shocking revelation, because such an aesthetic category as love is the monopoly of higher society. On the other hand, modern traviatas consider that to refusetheir lover and to die in poverty means to do something extremely stupid; this is something that needs either compassion or an excuse. Ha-ha. This is an interesting observation. But these are all stereotypes: a man is powerful and rich, and a woman is overdressed and stays at home. I would not like to depend on a man in terms of money. Of course, I am happy that my husband works at the Bolshoi Theatre, but it does not mean that I do not want to work. To be honest, I would not do the same thing that Violetta did. It seems to me that she was extremely religious and was afraid of death. As she tried to get rid of sin and to become an angel, she sacrificed herself. It is important for her that Alfredo is happy. But I would not let him go! V enera, what changes in the life of an opera singer after she has performed the part of Violetta at the world's best opera theatres? The world around you changes. Your perception of this world and your perception of yourself changes as well. Everything changes! I mean, even small things. For example, you understand that you do not have to style your hair every day. Y ou can simply wash it and go somewhere. We all are alive, we are not ideal! It is interesting to watch people and their characters. They are able to accept many things. For example, when you go to a supermarket in a small town, you see a person with Down's syndrome at the cash register. Customers come up to her, greet her and exchange jokes, but they do not pay attention to her disability. Unfortunately, disabled people in Russia have quite different opportunities. A friend of mine that lives in Kazan has been friends with a girl with Down's syndrome since childhood. It is hard for this girl to leave her house, let alone getting a job. She does not feel comfortable in public places. All the people on the bus are watching her; nobody yields their seat to her. Are we so timid? W e are such cowards. We are afraid to get an illness from them; we are afraid to be in their shoes. Of course, we lack European cordiality very much. W e are people that concentrate on themselves. By the way, this is very obvious in our music. There are long passages of mourning and groaning. Well, there are beautiful melodies and cantilenas as well. But we also have to have some drama. We do not smile for no reason. There is a saying: "Only fools laugh for no reason". I used to think that all those European ceremonies, smiles and questions were hypocritical. I used to think that we were more honest: a person mumbles something when he sees you, and his facial expression does not change, so you understand at once that he is not happy to see you. But having lived in the UK for the whole summer, I understand: I do not want to know if this person is happy to see me or not, but it is very nice when people meet you with a smile! You start feeling better and more energetic! This "hygiene of personal relationships", as Dmitri Y. Vdovin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi Theatre Young Artists Opera Program likes to say, should exist. V enera, you graduated from the Saint-Petersburg Conservatoire, and then you entered the Bolshoi Young Artists Opera Program. How could Gergiev let you leave Saint Petersburg? He does not know me at all. I participated in the Rimsky-Korsakov Competition, and Mr. Gergiev's sister, Larisa Gergieva, was the head of the jury. She is also the director of the Mariinsky academy of young singers. She invited me to audition for the young artists program. But they have only one vocal instructor for each 300 students! At the same time the Bolshoi Young Artists Opera Program was launching. So I packed my suitcase and went to Moscow. Of course, St. Petersburg is my native city, I mean, I spent five years studying at the Conservatoire there, I lived in the dormitory there, I spent my student years there and, naturally, I had a dream to join the Mariinsky company. But I eventually joined the Bolshoi; I studied with the Young Artists Opera Program for two years, and I have been working at the theatre for three years already. Why did you need to study at the Young Artists Opera Program? I mean, you graduated from the Conservatoire… Opera singers continue to master their technique during their whole lives. We always need a pedagogue. When we studied with the Young Artists Opera Program, we studied Italian and French. We studied different nuances of those languages. Russian singers often do not pay enough attention to the stylistics I mean, they do not know it, and they suffer from it. At the moment I am working on the part of Juliette that I will perform at the Festival in Lima; when I was at the Opéra Bastille, I took several classes with a coach. It turned out that the French opera needed quite different work with the sound. The Italian opera is about cantilena and legato, but the French pay much attention to the consonants, which have to be voices. There is no stress on the first beat. Recitativos have to be performed not as cantilenas, but in a more spoken way. I mean, there are a lot of nuances that one has to study. Is the voice getting better with time, just like wine? Y es, it is developing until you are about thirty. But it can develop earlier; it is an individual process and it depends on your technique. I have been singing on the stage since I was 24; today I feel more mature than a couple of years ago. I am more confident with my breath and I continue working on my technique. Opera singers usually reach a peak when they are about 40 years old. After that they sing as long as they can. It depends on your technique and on your physical shape as well. The better the school, the longer you will sing and the longer your voice will remain fresh. By the way, male voices are not so capricious. Men's singing careers are longer than women's. V enera Gimadieva as the Tsaritsa of Shemakha. A scene from the opera "The Golden Cockerel" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, staged by Kirill Serebrennikov. Photo: Alexander V ilf/RIA NOVOSTI Should an opera diva have her own conductor and director in order to have a successful career? Y es, she should; it is especially great when your husband is a director or a conductor! For example, take my husband's parents: his mother, V era N. Nebolsina, is a singer and a vocal pedagogue, and her husband, Vasily V. Nebolsin, is a conductor, who November, 13 2014 Newsletter W e also published the following announcement on the Bolshoi Theatre official pages in social networks: The gala concert "Golden Voices of Mongolia" will take place on the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage The concert will star leading soloists of the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, winners of prestigious international vocal competitions and participants of international music festivals that perform at the world's best opera theatres. The event will be a part of the program of cultural cooperation between Russia and Mongolia; it will be organized with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Mongolia.

Golden Voices of Mongolia will be accompanied by the Russian National Orchestra, directed by M. Pletnev; the singers will perform masterpieces of world and Russian opera classics. The program will include arias from operas by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, V erdi, Puccini, Saint-SaГ«ns and other great composers. The orchestra will be conducted by Honored Artist of Russia Alexander Polyanichko.

The concert will star the famous Mongolian "golden baritone" Enkhbat Amartuvshin, who received the title of an Honored Artist at the age of 24. Enkhbat Amartuvshin is the winner of the Placido Domingo competition OPERALIA (2012), the winner of the 2nd prize and the Audience Award of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition (201 1), a laureate of the 2nd prize and two special prizes of the Francisco Viñas International Singing Contest in Barcelona (2013). Special guests - the Bolshoi Opera soloists: the Honored Artist of Russia Elena Manistina (mezzo-soprano) and Anna Aglatova (soprano). The exhibition about the history of the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet will open at the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage Exhibition Hall on November 20th at 11 a.m.

Mass media accreditation: , (495) 692-33-67
pr@bolshoi.ru For additional information please call: +7 (495) 692-08-18

For articles published 11 November 2014 The online edition of Toronto Life publishes a story about former Bolshoi Ballet dancer Svetlana Lunkina saying that while at Lunkina "was renowned not only for her fluid physicality and extraordinary flexibility but also for her dramatic prowess". The local publication Over the Mountain Journal (USA) publishes a story about an American teenager who trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Schooll for six weeks during summer. She says: "I think the Russian ballet teachers - and Russians in general - get a reputation for being harsh or overly strict, but the reality is that the people I met at the academy were just very, very passionate about what they do". The Romanian online publication 24fun.ro announces that The Pharaoh's Daughter and La Bayadère will be broadcast to Grand Cinema &More (Bucharest) on 23 November, respectively 7 December. The publication says that "the two productions enjoy fabulous costumes, grand sets and spectacular choreography". The online publication Revista Arcadia (Columbia) writes about the opening of the new season of the Bolshoi Ballet in the Film Colombia cinemas in several cities. The season will include Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. worked at the Bolshoi for many years. They did lots of projects and productions together. Of course, when two musicians understand and feel each other, when they understand each other's emotions, this brings the performance to a whole new level. Of course, I would like the directors and conductors I have already worked with to invite me to take part in their new projects. What about the composers? I hardly know any modern operas. I am scared of them. I remember the concert version of the opera "Cherry Orchard" by Philippe Fénelon was presented at the Bolshoi. This is something that is acceptable abroad. But I do not understand how it is possible to sing something like this; I mean, there is no melody, there is nothing to catch your ear… On the other hand, I have recently performed the cycle "A Journey of the Fox to the North-W est" by Leonid Desyatnikov; he composed it especially for the lyrical soprano. It premiered on the Festival Europe-Asia in Yekaterinburg. It had both melody and harmony, as well as some interesting things from the stylistic point of view. It was nice to perform it. So I went down in history as the first singer that performed this cycle! I guess it makes you feel nervous when the composer is in the audience hall during the premiere, doesn't it? There is no time to think about it. I had to sing everything correctly; the rhythm of this piece is dif ficult for me. Leonid Desyatnikov came to rehearsals all the time; I enjoy working with him, so the only thing I worried about was performing this piece exactly in the way the composer wants it to be performed. We met at the Bolshoi, when Mr. Desyatnikov was the music director of the theatre. Then he called me, told me about his plans and suggested to meet. Perhaps, some day I will have enough guts to call him and ask him to compose something for me. Maria Gavrilova (soprano), a People's Artist of Russia and a Bolshoi Theatre soloist, celebrated her birthday on November 12th. Our best wishes to the singer! Maria Gavrilova http:// , 7 November, 13 2014 Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet