November, 2 4 2014 Vladimir Malakhov is congratulating Svetlana Zakharova and Denis Rodkin. Photo: Katerina Novikova The Bolshoi Ballet opened its guest performances in Japan with a triumphant production of "Swan Lake", starring Svetlana Zakharova and Denis Rodkin. The Bolshoi Ballet's guest performances in Japan will continue until December 7th. The renowned company will present "Swan Lake", "La Bayadere" and "Don Quixote". The company Japan Arts Corp., the organizer of the tour in Japan, said to RIA NOVOSTI that almost all tickets to the famous company's performances had been sold out before the tour started. The Bolshoi Ballet opened its tour in Japan T ASS reports that the Bolshoi Ballet opened its tour in Japan and gave its first guest performance in the country's capital. This show proved once again that no matter how much time passes, the Japanese audience still loves this art form. Katerina Novikova, the head of the Bolshoi Theatre's Press Office, mentioned: "The Japanese are a very moving audience; they are very grateful and they can have real appreciation of beauty. Over those three years that we have not been in Japan, the attitude of the Japanese audience towards us has not changed; they still love ballet". Novikova also reminded those attending the press conference that the Japanese loved the music by Tchaikovsky and "Swan Lake". The schedule of the tour is very busy. Katerina Novikova said: "We gave our first guest performance in Utsunomiya, then in Tokyo, and then we headed to Nagoya and will return to the capital of Japan on November 24th". According to the information service of the "Russkiy Mir" Foundation, the Bolshoi Ballet opened its jubilee, 20th tour in Japan. The guest performances will continue for three weeks, until December 7th, and will take place in 7 cities, including Nagoya, ЕЊtsu, Toyama, Osaka, Hamamatsu and Tokyo, where most performances will take place. The program of the tour includes "Swan Lake", "La Bayadere" and "Don Quixote". Golden Voices of Mongolia at the Bolshoi Theatre The concert "Golden Voices of Mongolia" took place on the Bolshoi Theatre's Historic Stage. The gala concert starred leading soloists of the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet and participants of international music festivals. The company brought the classical repertoire to Russia; the singers performed pieces by V erdi, Mozart and Glinka. Margarita Gyrylova, a reporter of the TV Channel 24 The W orld, shares her impressions from the concert. On November 20th Golden Voices of Mongolia performed in Moscow for the first time in the history of two countries' cooperation. Enkhbat Amartuvshin is a laureate of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. His baritone is the most valuable asset of the Mongolian opera. The company brought a classical program to Russia; the singers performed arias from operas by Verdi, Mozart and Glinka. Photo: Damir Yusupov Enkhbat Amartuvshin admits: "My personal repertoire includes a lot of fragments from Russian operas. I remember performing in the opera "Eugene Onegin". When I have participated in international competitions and when I have performed in other countries, I have always chosen some arias from Russian operas". Cultural cooperation between Mongolia and Russia started several years ago. In 2012 ballet artists of the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi theatres performed in Ulan-Bator. This time Mongolian artists made a return visit to Moscow. They brought along a photo exhibition about their productions; nowadays the Mongolian opera has a tendency to use live sets. For example, it is planned to perform the opera "Aida" in the Gobi desert. Photo: Damir Yusupov

L.T umenjargal, the Deputy Minister of Sport, Culture and Tourism of Mongolia, said: "The artists used to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre each five years; Russian artists used to perform in Mogolia as well. We used to have very close connections. A lot of Golden Voices of Mongolia Newsletter

Mongolian artists studied in Russia". Russian ballet and the vocal traditions are very famous in Mongolia; the majority of those artists that are still performing studied with Soviet masters. Today the number of students is not as big as it used to be, and both sides are trying to change this situation for the better. Elena Milovzorova, the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, says: "The young generation does not speak Russian. It is a pity, although they are wonderful singers and perform their parts in Russian in an impeccable way. There are Mongolian students, and one of the issues we are dealing with is developing of this tendency, so that more Mongolians would come and study in Russia". The Mongolian theatre plans to travel several regions of Russia with its guest performances. The dates of concerts have been set for two years in advance. According to the Bolshoi Theatre's administration, the halls will not be empty. The audience demonstrated a great interest to the concert; all 1500 tickets were sold out, regardless of the fact that the concert took place in the middle of a working week. Golden Voices of Mongolia performed at the Bolshoi Theatre The concert "Golden Voices of Mongolia" took place on the Bolshoi Theatre's Historic Stage. The gala concert starred leading soloists of the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet and participants of international music festivals. This event was a part of the program of cultural cooperation between Russia and Mongolia. Last year the Mariinsky, the Bolshoi and the Mikhailovsky theatres presented a series of performances in Ulan-Bator; this time the Mongolian artists made a return visit to Moscow. Before the concert viewers had a chance to learn a lot about the history of the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. An exhibition about the theatre's best productions opened at the Exhibition Hall. The chief designer of the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet presented photographs from personal archives. Many photographs feature scenes from Mongolian national opera and ballets, for example, "Genghis Khan", "Atilla" and "The Three Sad Heads". However, the program of the concert at the Bolshoi included classical arias from operas "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "The Queen of Spades", "Turandot" and "Die Zauberflöte". Munkhzul Chuluunbat, the General Director of the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, said: "We have planned to present the classical repertoire and the classical program to the audience. This is the first time our theatre presents a concert of such scale at the Bolshoi Theatre, and we wanted to demonstrate that world classics are an important part of our repertoire". The Mongolian soloists were accompanied by the Russian National Orchestra. There was only one rehearsal, right before the concert. But many soloists had already performed with this orchestra before. This is why there were no doubts that the result would be positive and impressive. Enkhbat Amartuvshin was, perhaps, one of the most anticipated artists. He is extremely popular in his native country. He became the first singer in his country to receive the title of an Honored Artist at the age of 24. He is a laureate and a winner of numerous competitions. For example, in 201 1 he won the Audience Award of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition. Press conference before the concert. Photo: Damir Yusupov Enkhbat Amartuvshin said: "I was very happy to able to perform at the Bolshoi. This is the first time I that sing here! I perform the aria of Rigoletto; this is my so-called "trademark"!". The concert also starred Russian artists, the Bolshoi Theatre's soloists Anna Aglatova and Elena Manistina. At the press conference the singers admitted that after rehearsals with the Mongolian artists they understood that they would be very happy to visit Mongolia and give guest performances there. Anna Aglatova mentioned: "They have this great desire to work all the time, and to sing "a voce piena"; they are working very devotedly, and this is definitely worth a lot of respect". The gala concert "Golden Voices of Mongolia" closed the program of cultural cooperation between Russia and Mongolia. However, the partnership relations between the two countries have not ended. Very soon a new three-year schedule of cultural events for the two countries will appear. Maya Plisetskaya celebrated her 89th birthday on November 20th. On the Bolshoi Theatre official pages in the social networks we congratulated the living ballet legend! The movements of her hands are compared to those of a swan; the unique diva destroyed stereotypes of age limit in ballet; the mysterious beauty became the muse of Pierre Cardin. Happy Birthday to the great Maya Plisetskaya! V ideo: "The Swan" - Maya Plisetskaya (film-ballet, 1975) Charles-Camille Saint-Saens, "The Swan". Choreography: Michel Fokine .youtube.com/watch?v=JkjD1AiavcU W e also uploaded new photos to the Bolshoi's official pages in Facebook and Vkontakte. The majority of the guest performances will take place in Tokyo. On November 20th the Bolshoi Ballet performed at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall. Photo courtesy: Katerina Novikova. Svetlana Zakharova is giving an interview to the TV channel "Russia" November, 2 4 2014 Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet Newsletter November, 2 4 2014 Svetlana Zakharova and Vladimir Malakhov on the stage after the performance Svetlana Zakharova and Denis Rodkin More pictures in the social networks:

For articles published 20 November 2014 Japanese editions Ashai, Akitas and Shinano Mainichi Shimbun report about the Bolshoi Ballet season in Japan and publish photos of Bolshoi Theatre director Vladimir Urin and the dancers at the press conference in Japan. Many editions including the Grass Valley Union (USA) publish announcements about the upcoming transmission of the Bolshoi's The Pharaoh's Daughter in local cinemas. The Union writes that the Bolshoi Theatre is one of the most famous music and dance stages of the world. The Arts Desk and The Guardian review Les Arts Florissants, the vocal and instrumental ensemble that performs Baroque music. The Arts Desk reviews the performances in London very positively. AFP the French newswire reports that the ballet dancers of the Paris Opera for the first time will share the stage with an outside company dancing with the company of W ayne McGregor / Random Dance. The article mentions that the Paris Opera ballet has appeared at the Bolshoi Theatre. The Wall Street reviews the Mikhailovsky Ballet in New York writing two fo the dancers in St. Petersburg's Mikhailovsky Ballet are among the most remarkable in the world. The theatre "Astana Opera" presents the premiere of "Aida", staged by Franco Zeffirelli On November 21st and 22nd the theatres "Astana Opera" and "La Scala" presented the premiere of the opera "Aida" by G. Verdi. The famous Italian director, script writer, designer and producer Franco Zeffirelli staged this opera for the theatre "Astana Opera" in Kazakhstan. It was the first time that a Canadian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson conducted the orchestra at "Astana Opera". The cast starred Kristin Lewis (soprano, the USA) as Aida. The Italian tenor Walter Fraccaro performed the part of Radames. The second cast starred the Italian tenor Gustavo Porta as Radames. The opening night cast starred the Italian baritone Luca Salsi as Amonasro; Alberto Gazale performed the same part on the second day. Russian mezzo-soprano singers Maria Prudenskaya (The Mariinsky Theatre) and Ekaterina Gubanova (The Bolshoi Theatre) performed the part of Amneris. /…/ , 7 In brief