March, 14, 2014. Issue No. 253March 13 - congratulations to Makvala F. Kasrashvili, a People's Artist of the USSR and the director of the opera company collectives, on her birthday! March 13 - the birthday of Marianna S. Bogolubskaya, an Honored Artist of Russia and the Bolshoi Ballet leading soloist (1919-2013) March 20 - the ballet "Lady of the Camellias" will premiere on the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage March 30 - the ballet "Marco Spada" will be broadcast in cinemas around the world"Lady of the Camellias" at the Bolshoi TheatreIt was 95 years ago, on March 13th 1919 that Marianna S. Bogolubskaya, an Honored Artist of Russia and Bolshoi Ballet leading soloist, was born. On the left: "Swan Lake", Odette. On the right: Bogolubskaya and Varlamov, 1940, "Sleeping Beauty"The Bolshoi Theatre is getting ready for the premiere of the ballet "Lady of the Camellias" that will take place on the Historic Stage on March 20John Neumeier talked about spirituality, dance and Schnittke The head of the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier met with the audience at the The A.A.Bakhrushin State Central Museum. There were so many who wanted to communicate with the choreographer, that they occupied not only the lecture-hall of the museum, but the hallway as well. Neumeier came to Moscow for the final rehearsals of the ballet "Lady of the Camellias" that will premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre on March 20. However, this the discussion about this was not the first to take place at the museum. At first the choreographer talked about the reasons why he liked staging ballets based on literary plots. - I cannot speak about abstract things; it is always important for me to tell some kind of story. If a piece is really touching for me, I need to find a concept, a way to tell this great idea using ballet language. In the end, when you walk into the hall to start working on the ballet, you are alone; you do not have a book. I believe that it is possible to translate literature into the dance language only if a certain piece of literature becomes a part of a person who is creating this particular dance, - the maestro announced. He also admitted that poetry was the closest to his heart out of all literary genres. Neumeier's first ballet was "Hound of Heaven" based on the poem by Francis Thompson, and it was no mere chance. The choreographer went deep into the philosophy of the dance as he said: - In this poem God is described as a hound that is looking for us. We can try to hide, but it will find us anyway. Poetry, just like dance, is not understood in a literary way; we see images and combinations of those images that make us look at ourselves and at this world from a different perspective. I was touched by this poem, so I had to find a visual way to portray those images, using a human body. I had to find something that would not match the poem completely in terms of some details, but still have the same effect on the audience. Neumeier talked a lot about ballet on sacred topics that have made him very popular - "Saint Matthew's Passion" and "Joseph's Legend". Some fragments from those ballets, including the scene of the ascent to Calvary, starring the maestro himself, were shown to the audience. The choreographer remembered: - When I staged the ballet about this topic, there was a scandal. But I was not afraid to represent spiritual ideas through dance. I believe that dance is a great art form; it can reflect various aspects of a human life, including intellect, passion, sexuality and spirituality. I did not have the goal to be a missionary, but in a way this ballet became a symbol of my own faith and my own relations with God and with the ideas of Christianity. I guess, if someone asked me which work I considered to be the most important in my life, I would mention "Saint Matthew's Passion" to the music by Bach. Of course, "Lady of the Camellias" was of the greatest interest to the audience. As the choreographer mentioned, the history of this production was directly connected with John Cranko and his widow, the ballerina Marcia Haydée. Several years after Cranko's death she became the head of the Stuttgart Ballet and asked Neumeier to stage a new production for her company every year. At first he thought about "Antony and Cleopatra", based on Shakespeare's tragedy. He could not decide on the music for a long time. Once he met Marcia at a restaurant; she was exhausted after a rehearsal, and the choreographer understood that she just had to perform the part of Marguerite Gautier. - It was the moment when I realized: that was what I had to do then, - the choreographer admitted. - At first I thought I would take the music from the Verdi's opera "La Traviata"; I knew a good conductor who could have made a transcription of the opera for the ballet. But some time later Verdi seemed secondary. There was little time left, and I still did not have any music. In a moment of despair I asked a friend of mine, a pianist: "What music would you like to hear in "Lady of the Camellias"?" He answered: "Chopin. Or Berlioz. Or both".According to Neumeier, the action in the ballet unfolds from the end to the beginning, unlike in the novel by Dumas fils and the opera by Verdi. The performance starts with the auction scene, where the property of Marguerite is being sold. This becomes the starting point for Armand's memories. The choreographer introduced new characters: Manon Lescaut and Chevalier Des Grieux - in one way or another, Marguerite compares herself to Manon. He also added the scene of "ballet inside the ballet": Marguerite and Armand watch the story about Manon during their date at the theatre. John Neumeier. Photo: abendblatt.de Maestro shared some secrets with his audience: - If you want to tell some complicated story in a ballet - it is difficult. Dance can use only present tense. There are no movements, pauses of gestures that can tell us that this happened yesterday, or will happen tomorrow. That is why it is important to show aspects of the relations between Marguerite and Armand using the second couple. Maestro also talked about his experience of working with Alfred Schnittke: the choreographer has always been very sensitive about the choice of music. He knew and liked the pieces by the outstanding Russian composer; as he was choosing the music for "A Streetcar Named Desire", he listened to all his pieces. It was then that the choreographer had the idea to commission the composer to write the music for the ballet "Peer Gynt". As the maestro mentioned, he did not like the music by Grieg because it had "direct references to the 19 century". He explained: - My Peer Gynt is very modern, and so the music also had to be modern. Schnittke wrote the first part before he fell into coma after a stroke. When he recovered a little, the work resumed. I asked for an "endless" adagio in the scene where Peer Gynt returns to Solveig. Alfred asked me: "How long should it be?" I said: "You need to tell me". So he composed an adagio of 25 minutes. Music is the most important thing, because music is my partner. To the joy of Schnittke's fans, the choreographer said that he was planning to revive "Peer Gynt" in Hamburg at the end of the next season. As he mentioned, he was going to reconsider the production "with the wisdom of new experience". Thus, it will be not only a revival, but also a premiere. Marking the birthday of Makvala Kasrashvili It seems that everyone sings in Georgia. Maybe they get together and sing wonderful polyphonies. Makvala's mother had a really great voice; the girl, who was very musical, took after her. She was listening to classic music on the radio all the time. Later the singer will say in one of her interviews: "I started dreaming about a singing career at such an early age, that I had no time to consider other professions. When I was ten, I realized that I had the voice, I mean, not a child's voice, but the real voice of a singer. I listened to opera music on the radio and, though I did not quite understand what it was, I sang. I repeated by ear what I heard and had a feeling that I had discovered my greatest passion. I did not want to even think about getting a different job". Makvala's mother took her to the music institute, where she studied in the vocal faculty from 1956 till 1960. But then the worst thing happened: she started having serious troubles with her voice. The famous singer Zurab Andjaparidze once visited the institute and helped Makvala to audition for the former Bolshoi Theatre soloist Vera A. Davydova, who was a pedagogue at the Tbilisi conservatory at that time. She was not particularly thrilled with this voiceless girl, but when she saw tears in Makvala's eyes, she agreed to teach her and worked a miracle: in less than a year she helped Makvala get back in vocal shape. This is how the star career of Davydova's best student started. Makvala studied a lot and went not only to her own classes, but to other students' lessons as well. It is no wonder that she became successful soon. Having studied in the preparatory division for one year instead of two, she entered the conservatory where she continued to study in the class of Davydova. Makvala Kasrashvili remembers about her pedagogue with gratitude: "Vera A. Davydova was a wonderful musician and a wise and talented pedagogue. She showed me the magical beauty of the classical music and poetry. It was then that I learned about such complicated things as vocal technique, the sense of style and the culture of singing; these make a skillful and professional opera artist". Makvala Kasrashvili is exceptionally charming in lyrical parts; her characters are tender and kind, just like the singer herself. But she was not satisfied with the fact that she was considered to be a lyrical soprano only. She was passionate about dramatic parts, and she proved that she could perform those. Her partner Evgeny Nesterenko says: "I am quite experienced when it comes to opera, but I was surprised with her transformations every time… Kasrashvili's characters are women from different time periods; they have different characters. The fact that this singer can change so that it is hard to recognize her every time is still a mystery for me". Impeccable vocal skills, genuine feelings, real emotion and great creative sensitivity - all these qualities make Kasrashvili a wanted partner for other singers; when she performs together with artists who have equal talent, we are talking about productions of a high artistic level. She has worked together with such famous singers, as Ruggero Raimondi, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Nicolai Gedda, Kiri Te Kanawa, Dolora Zajick, Thomas Allen and many others. M. Kasrashvili is a People's Artist of the USSR (1986), a People's Artist of the Georgian SSR (1980), a laureate of the RSFSR State Prize in the Field of Literature and Art (1998) and a laureate of the Georgian SSR State Prize in the name of Z. Paliashvili (1983). She also was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland of the IV Degree (2001). The ballet genius Vaclav Nijinsky Photo: en.wikipedia.org "The bird-person", "the tsar of the air", "the God of dance" - Vaclav Nijinsky had many names. On March 12 we marked the 125 anniversary of the genius Russian dancer, who transformed the idea of the male ballet dance and the art of ballet itself. Of course, today there are no people who saw Vaclav Nijinsky dance. There are no documentaries left either, although in 1910s, when Nijinsky's art flourished, cinematographic recordings existed. The thing is, the powerful patron of Nijinsky, the famous impresario Sergei Diaghilev, prohibited the recording of Vaclav's performances. He understood what a great dancer he had in his enterprise the "Ballets Russes". Newsletter March, 142014Mass media about the TheatrePhoto: RIA Novosti Analysis of articles published March 12 2014 The New York Times reports that Bolshoi Ballet soloist Olga Smirnova will appear as a guest artist with American Ballet Theatre in New York where she will dance in a single performance of "La Bayadère". AFP, DPA, APA (Austria) and other newswires report that over 100 artists and leading arts figures including Valery Gergiev and Vladimir Urin have signed a letter supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin's policy and actions in the Ukraine and the Crimea. Included are also pianist Denis Matsuev, viola player Yuri Bashmet and ballet dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze, film director Fyodor Bondarchuk, who shot the patriotic blockbuster "Stalingrad" and the head of the country's legendary studios Mosfilm, Karen Shakhnazarov. The AFP article is republished in many international editions including Los Angeles Times, Die Welt, Bayerische Rundfunk, RTL Belgium, The Beverly Hills Courier, etc. The Hollywood Reporter writes that a number of central and eastern European artists have cancelled their plans to visit Russia because of the crisis in the Ukraine. In our regular column "Invitation to the Museum" on the Bolshoi Theatre official pages in the social networks we have published an article about M.S. Newsletter He wanted to make sure that the insane popularity of Nijinsky would become legendary and would belong to the ages, so that no one would dare to criticize this idol and try to find some faults with his movements! Even today being compared to Vaclav Nijinsky is the best appraisal a ballet artist can receive. World-famous Russian dancer Vladimir Malakhov is sometimes called "the second Nijinsky". Malakhov was awarded the "Nijinsky Prix- 2002"; he has performed in the same ballets that Vaclav used to star in many times. As the dancer remembers he says: "You do not know how he danced; you have never seen it. You can only judge by the pictures what his dancing was like. But when you dance those ballets, you find yourself in the same world that he lived in". The world of Nijinsky means the productions that the Russian pioneer ballet master Mikhail Fokine staged for him in the first place. The ballet "Petrushka" to the music by Igor Stravinsky is the most well-known of those productions. Nijinsky performed the part of the puppet that, as it turns out, can love, suffer and be angry with its puppeteer. This is, perhaps, the most Russian ballet in the world repertoire, and it became Nijinsky's alter ego. Together with Fokine he made a revolution in choreography. Before a man on the stage only helped a woman to dance, lifted her and helped her turn, so that in the beginning of the 20 century male dancers were called "crutches" for ballerinas. Only when Nijinsky came, the real male dance appeared; this dance was virtuoso and emotional, it had incredibly high jutes that Vaclav performed better than anyone else. Nijinsky transformed everything he had a hand in. He bravely changed all ballet clothes; he did this at a young age, when he was a soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. The Bolshoi Theatre prima ballerina Evgenia Obraztsova says: "He came onstage without full pants that dancers had to wear; he also Photo: RIA NovostiPhoto: en.wikipedia.org The Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet March, 142014 "Raymonda"; M. Bogolubskaya as Clémence. 1945. Photo: A. Vorotynski Newsletter 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 Marianna Bogolubskaya also had an intensive concert career; she performed in different cities of the USSR and toured abroad. From 1966 till 1987, after she had stopped working at the theatre, she worked as a research associate of the Research Institute of Children's Artistic Education at the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR. "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai", Zarema |
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