January, 31, 2014. Issue No. 224

How can I formulate it in a more precise way? The same day, on April 1 2013, when the program about Maximova was broadcast on TV, I saw the last film by Alexei German, his great film "Hard to be a God". I can guess that this film will have an uneasy destiny. It has a lot of blood, dirt and animal violence. But German has this very high ethical bar in his cinematographic last will. The same thing is with Ekaterina Maximova. If there is God, she is up there, in the heavens, next to God.
I was once introduced to her. To tell the truth, it was a rather banal introduction. At that time "Izvestia" started some kind of campaign (I guess, now such things are called "promotions" or "projects") in order to support the production of consumer goods. For some reason not only the economic department, but our scientific department was obliged to participate as well. A public council was organized at the editor's office; following the same administrative and bureaucratic logic that does not go well with common sense Ekaterina Maximova was made a part of this council. At the first meeting at the office of deputy chief editor we were introduced.
At that meeting I was shocked with the discrepancy (I am now talking about my personal perception, of course) between the image of that Ekaterina Maximova I was used to seeing on the TV screen, in pictures in newspapers and magazines and even on the Bolshoi stage once, and the real woman. In the real life she was not shorter, but, I guess, more petite.
I remember having this feeling twice. The first time I had such feeling when I saw the January, 312014Newsletter gymnast Lyubov Burda in the hallway of the hotel "Yunost" before a world championship. She was part of the same "golden" team that included Tourischeva and Korbut. A petite girl wearing a sweat suit with the inscription "USSR" was walking toward me; her face had a very concentrated expression that children never have. She was tense as a compressed spring.
Maximova was petite in a different way. She was airy and crystal-like. There was no constraint; she was very natural and she had that sincere smile that showed how far she was from all that "public" hustle… As far as I remember, there was no second meeting. The editor's office switched its attention to another campaign and another public council that the editor-in-chief Alexeev found very quickly (I remember that Edik Polyanovsky once called him a rather mean person; Edik Pasyutin, in turn, called his office an "Alexeev ravelin").
I saw Ekaterina Maximova at the Bolshoi in another ballet, "Anyuta", that was just as fascinating. By that time I had been informed that she was the granddaughter of the famous philosopher and art historian Gustav Shpet, who had been persecuted for political reasons, that her roots were somewhere in Sweden and that made her a distant relative of Sergei Rachmaninoff. But for me she will forever be that Ekaterina that I saw in "Giselle" in 1960 and whom I knew nothing about apart from what I saw on the screen and then later on the Bolshoi stage; by the way, I received a rap over the knuckles because of her.
On the first day after my vacation according to the planned schedule I was supposed to show up at work, rested and fresh. The editor of "Ulyanovsk Pravda" Ivan A. Bogdanov made the position of the final proofreader, which was a simple formality for many other newspapers, a very important one. After the editor-in-chief signed the newspaper issue, they started printing it only after this same proofreader with a "fresh mind" read and signed it. As I got my first train ticket, I called the editor's office and confirmed that I would come to work the next day. When I changed the ticket, I thought I would call them and tell I would be late. But because of some weird things happening and some troubles with the line I did not manage to call. Unfortunately, there were no cell phones back then. I tried to reach someone from the editor's office from the Central Telegraph Office until I realized my wallet was empty and I had no money even to send a telegram. Then I had to walk from the Bolshoi Theatre to the Kazanksy station. I also had to walk from the station to my house in Ulyanovsk.
As a result, I received a rap over the knuckles for the unmotivated frustration of the duty. It was considered to be unmotivated because I refused to talk about my motives and they decided that it was something personal and that a woman must have been involved. I need to say that even though it was a serious offence, I was not worried about it. Today I am even proud that at some point when I was young and fearless I got a rap over the knuckles because of a magical woman who then became a Great Russian ballerina.
May be I am being a little dishonest when I try to convince myself that I had a crush on Ekaterina Maximova only because I admired her remarkable talent; after all, she was a charming woman. But I guess this was the way it was. I accepted and blessed her marriage to another wonderful and remarkably talented person, Vladimir Vasiliev.

The last of the knights
The Mariinsky Theatre presented the opera "Don Quixote" in Moscow
Don Quixote, performed by Ferruccio Furlanetto, turned out to be the embodiment of nobility. Photo: RIA Novosti

The 20 jubilee "Golden Mask" opened with the traditional project "Premieres of the Mariinsky Theatre"; this time the opera by Jules Massenet "Don Quixote" staged by the This "Don Quixote" staged by the Mariinsky Theatre has had a long pre-history: before the opera by Massenet appeared on the stage, the company played the concert version of the score twice at the Eater Festival (in 2010 and 2012) and it was recorded by the Mariinsky Label (the recording was nominated for a Grammy). It was planned that the Italian director Piero Fagioni would stage it in 2010. But "Don Quixote" was finally staged by the Greek director and set designer Yannis Kokkos. The production is not one of the "Golden Mask" nominees, but Valery Gergiev considered that it was necessary to show it in Moscow, since Ferruccio Furlanetto performed the part of the hidalgo of La Mancha. He is an outstanding bass singer and an actor who has a noble "knight like" manner. Massenet wrote the part of Don Quixote for Chaliapin; the Mariinsky production was staged for Ferruccio Furlanetto.
The estimation was justified: Furlanetto's Don Quixote not only wore the fake suit of armor and looked just like he came from the illustrated pages of the famous novel by Cervantes (he had disheveled gray hair and beard, sparking eyes and the gait of a lanky man); he also was the real embodiment of all those values that determined who knights are for centuries. He demonstrated nobility, the idealism of love and patronage. Furlanetto has a voice that is aging a little, very "thoroughbred", not loud and expressive in every note he takes; it is majestic and it pierces your soul with some transparent cleanliness. His voice "looked" like an expensive and unique antique in this production. This hidalgo had no competitors: Andrey Serov (Sancho Pansa), who charmed the audience at the Conservatory Grand Hall with his lively humor and vocal lightness two years ago this time was convincing only in the final In brief
The Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet
January, 312014Newsletter The cast: #20140202190000 company Pathé Live provides transmission of the Bolshoi Ballet performance at more than a thousand cinemas around the world. The company Bel Air Media is responsible for the video content of the transmission.
The list of the cinemas is available at: .pathelive.com/fr/bolshoi-
worldwide/bolshoi-worldwide-1
In Russia the transmission will take place at the "Formula Kino/Kronverk Cinema" chain in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Krasnodar, Murmansk and Syktyvkar.
MOSCOW
Formula Kino Europa (Kievsky Railway Station Square, 2, shopping mall "Evropeisky")January, 29th - the ballet "Lost Illusions" at the Bolshoi Theatre starred David Hallberg for the first time:
January, 312014Newsletter 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 Analysis of articles published 29 January 2014
ANSA the Italian newswire writes about a new programme at the Bolshoi to teach Italian to young singers and musicians at the Bolshoi Theatre.
Film trade magazines Screen, Variety and Hollywood Reporter report about the planned documentary Bolshoi Babalon which will be sold at the upcoming Berlin Film Market in February saying that the film will "reveal the inner workings of the Bolshoi, recently the focus of intrigue, personal attacks and lurid headlines. Giving a voice to artists and company members who are not usually in the spotlight, the film combines intimate portraits with epic themes. Historical dramas will be counterpointed with the untold stories of agony and ecstasy that lie behind every acclaimed performance, according to the producers".
Many editions report about the upcoming transmission of the Bolshoi's Lost Illusions in cinemas including La Nueva Espana, The Bolton News, Nordlittoral and others.
Omsk mass media:
"Faust" 3D: the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky soloists will conduct an experiment on the Omsk audience
Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre will present the Omsk audience a "light" version of its largest scale production, the opera "Faust" by Charles Gounod. Instead of three hundred characters that act in the production there will be only soloists, the choir and the symphonic orchestra onstage at the Concert Hall. The crowd will be virtual. The audience will have the chance to see the famous ballet scene "Walpurgis Night" with their own eyes, though. The "live" performance of the touring musicians will be accompanied by the recording of the performance that will be shown on the big screen. This is the first time that the Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre will implement such project; the Omsk audience are the first participants of the experiment.International press analysisIn brief The opera "Faust" was staged in Novosibirsk by the director Igor Selin, who is a National Theatre "Golden Mask" Award nominee and the laureate of the "Muses of Saint Petersburg" award. The opera has wonderful music, mystic motives of the deal with the devil, gaining youth for the second time, passions and eternal conversation about salvation.
Besides the Novosibirsk Opera Theatre leading soloists, the production stars guest artists: the part of Méphistophélès will be performed by the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky soloist, laureate of international competitions Alexei Tanovitsky (bass), the part of Siébel will be performed by the Bolshoi Theatre soloist, laureate of the All-Russian Competition and the winner of the project "Big Opera-2013" that was organized by