February, 4, 2014. Issue No. 226February, 1 - the birthday of an outstanding Russian ballerina Ekaterina S. Maximova February, 1 - the jubilee of the People's Artist of the USSR, the pedagogue-repetiteur Marina V. Kondratieva February, 8 - debut in the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". Olga Smirnova, the student of M. Kondratieva, will make her debut in the role of Princess Aurora that was formerly danced by her teacherOn February 4th the Gala in memory of Ekaterina Maximova will take place on the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage. On February, 1st 2014 she would have turned 75 years old. In the picture: E. Maximova as Kitri, "Don Quixote"The ballet "Lost Illusions" to the music by Leonid Desyatnikov was broadcast live from the Bolshoi Theatre in 650 cinemas all over the world. Photo: Damir Yusupov On February, 2 the ballet "Lost Illusions" to the music by Leonid Desyatnikov was broadcast live from the Bolshoi Theatre in 650 cinemas all over the world Katerina Novikova and David Hallberg "Lost Illusions" at the cinemas Newsletter Photos: Damir Yusupov February, 42014 Working on the "Mozart style" "Le Nozze di Figaro" is traditionally considered to be an opera for young singers; therefore, they like to stage it at different studios, educational institutions and "Institutions of Advanced Training" at various opera theatres. This is a good way to provide young vocalists with the necessary training. The Bolshoi Theatre is no exception; it turned to this piece having educational purposes in mind. But the seeming simplicity of this opera is tricky: the melody is simple and there probably are no particularly difficult passages, but there are other difficulties connected with the style, artistic interpretation and musical expression. This is what the young singers often fail to tackle, and, bearing in mind their age, people usually forgive them for this, but to sing "Le Nozze di Figaro" in a proper way it is necessary to have the same skill that other, more difficult pieces by this author or by other authors demand. Unfortunately, Mozart has never been "The Number One Composer" for the Bolshoi; thus, it is good to see that the company has staged his operas regularly in recent years. There is "Die Zauberflöte", "Don Giovanni" and "Cosi fan Tutte" that, as it is planned, will premiere this May. The last time "Le Nozze di Figaro" appeared in the Bolshoi repertory was in the middle of 1990s and it remained in the repertory only till the end of the decade; before that the opera was staged in the middle of 1950s (that performance, though, had a rather long stage life - it remained in the repertory until 1970s). Operas by Mozart help to "educate" voices, teach discipline and control; of course, they are very good for the singers. But his operas in general and "Le Nozze di Figaro" in particular have not only so-called "therapeutic advantages": there is also great music and wonderful theatre, it is a real comedy, which is sophisticated, bright and smart. The version that the audience saw in the beginning of January was called a "concert version", though it is hard to agree with this. It is quite difficult to determine, though, whether this or that version can be called "concert" or not; it seems that we can talk about a real "concert version" only in the case when the orchestra is on the stage and the singers wearing their concert suits and dresses stand in front of the stage and sing from music, and there is no director's work whatsoever. All other experiments can be considered "semi-stage" variants; the singers can wear non- trivial costumes, there are certain relations between their characters, there are at least some props and stage design. It is not quite clear, though, why some productions that have "two chairs and three tables" are considered to be full-scaled theatre premieres, while some rather simple production that clearly expresses some concept of a director is called a "concert version". "Le Nozze di Figaro" at the Bolshoi today is a theatre product by all means. It is quite low-cost and it does not have any unusual concept, it is quite simple and didactic, but it is surely a performance. The director Dmitry Belyanushkin pays a lot of attention to working with artists; even though the action is linear and takes place on the forestage, each character has his or her own individual artistic tasks; therefore all characters are not clichéd. The modest set is limited to nine small folding screens that the artists hide behind or come in front of, and a backdrop that is decorated with some video graphics that slightly reminds of the Fete galante of rococo. There is a good reason behind the choice of concert costumes for the soloists: the common people (Figaro and the gardener Antonio)wear white shirts, the nobles wear suits and ties, the women's beautiful dresses also bear the marks of social differentiation. These little tricks add more sense and integrity to the production and make it more complete. The opera was made much shorter: all recitatives were left out (apart from On February, 1st and 2 after more than 50 years the Bolshoi Ballet performed at The Northern Lights Festival in Norway. This weekend the event hit the headlines. Here is the article that came out on February, 1: The Bolshoi Ballet came to Norway The Bolshoi Ballet presents the most unusual tour in its history. This time the acclaimed company will perform in the town of TromsГё, 350 km north of the Arctic Circle. Ulf Jensen, The Northern Lights Festival Director, told the ITAR-TASS reporters: "I am sure that the Russian dancers will conquer the audience". Two galas by the Russian dancers are the main events of the Festival this year. Mr. Jensen also mentioned: "The Bolshoi dancers perform on the very high level". According to the Festival Director, "the interest for the Russian ballet is huge; this is why all tickets were sold out in less than 10 minutes". The last and the only time the Bolshoi Ballet visited Norway in 1960; the company performed in Oslo back then. More than half a century later the representatives of the world-famous Russian ballet school will perform at the Kulturhuset in the "northern capital" of Norway. Even though the population of this city, which is located on an island, is about 70 thousand people, TromsГё claims to be one of the biggest intellectual and cultural centers of the country. A large-scale international cinema festival, classical, rock, jazz and techno music festivals, as well as scientific conferences, are conducted here annually. The most northern university in the world where almost 10 thousand students study is located here as well. Mr. Jensen added: "TromsГё is not a very large city; you can say that it is rather compact, but you can find here everything that larger cities have. We have our own university, theatres, professional symphonic orchestra and research centers. TromsГё is called the capital of the Arctic Region. The main thing is that the citizens are very open-minded; they are very happy to welcome foreign guests here. Those who come here, are charmed by this city, by its clean air, mountains, cold breath of the sea and, of course, the northern lights". According to Mr. Jensen, the Bolshoi Theatre visit to this region of Norway can be called one of the major successes of the project "Looking at the East" that was launched in 2008. Thanks to this project the Mariinsky Ballet Company visited Norway in 2010 (first time in history); in 2012 the Mariinsky Opera presented in TromsГё "Il viaggio a Reims" by G. Rossini. In program of the Gala "The Bolshoi in the Arctic Region" the company will present fragments from the most famous classic ballets. The cast stars the Bolshoi leading soloist Kristina Kretova, who performed such parts as Olga in "Onegin", Gamzatti in "La Bayadere", Gulnare in "Le Corsaire" and a friend to the Prince in "Swan Lake". Newsletter Mass media about the Theatre February, 42014We have published an announcement on the Bolshoi Theatre official pages in the social networks: "Everything that you have done. In memory of Ekaterina Maximova" On February 4th the Gala in memory of Ekaterina Maximova will take place on the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage. On February, 1 2014 she would have turned 75 years old. Vladimir Vasiliev, the People's Artist of the USSR and Maximova's partner on the stage and in the real life, is the director of the Gala. She was open for everything new and talented; this was something she loved in other artists and choreographers. This is why many choreographers will present their premieres at the Gala. The program includes pieces from choreographic numbers created in different styles and directions; they all have either been created specifically for this Gala, or will be presented in Moscow for the first time. Apart from the Bolshoi Theatre artists, including the ballet company, the choir and the orchestra, guest Russian and foreign dancers will take part in the concert. The list of the participants includes Ido Tadmor, the Israeli dancer, choreographer and the head of the Israeli Ballet, the Moscow choreographer, one of the founders of the "musical" genre in Russia, the choreographer of the musical "Nord-Ost" and other famous productions Elena Bogdanovich, The flamenco dancer Eduardo Guerrero and his musicians (Spain), artists of the Voronezh Opera and Ballet Theatre trained by the famous choreographer, the head of the "Kiev Modern Ballet" Company Radu Poliktaru, the young choreographer Lucas Axel (a graduate of the Bolshoi Theatre School in Brazil), members of the "Kiev Modern Ballet" Company, the choreographer, the holder of Gran Prix of several prestigious international Newsletter the key ones that have major importance for maintaining the logic of the narrative), as well as the choir numbers; the young soloists were given the chance to practice singing solo and ensemble numbers. Of course, this version of the opera was more like a school performance carried out by school students, even though all participants coped with vocal goals of the Mozart style quite well. Those singers who have less experience onstage were less convincing. This is, first of all, Angelina Nikitchenko - she was a beautiful Countess, but she was too tense, her sound control was not always stable and her vocal skills are still not very suitable for this part. Perhaps, she will make a good Countess in the future, but this time it was only an attempt to perform this part; this attempt was not always a very successful one. Speculations about whether "Le Nozze di Figaro" can be called one of the operas for "educational purposes" in the beginning of this article were caused by her performance in particular. Alina Yarovaya (Susanna) and Alexander Miminoshvili (Figaro), on the contrary, demonstrated the best acting as well as good singing and understanding of the goals of the Mozart score. It was very nice to listen to Konstantin Shushakov (the Count) as well; his baritone suited this part of a distinguished cheat very well. But perhaps Nina Minasyan with her clear voice, who performed the small part of Barbarina with one In brief The Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet February, 42014Newsletter competitions of modern choreographers Alexei Busko, and the student of Ekaterina Maximova, prima-ballerina of the Bolshoi Maryana Ryzhkina, who will present a dedication to her favorite teacher. The Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra will be conducted by Pavel Sorokin. The Gala is organized by the Galina Ulanova Foundation and the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia with the support of the Gazprombank. Ekaterina Maximova, Vladimir Vasiliev. Rehearsing the ballet "Don Quixote". Photo: Evgeny Umnov Ekaterina Maximova was a unique ballerina and an actress; she was one of those 20 century artists that became part of "the Bolshoi Ballet Golden Age". She made a great career at the Bolshoi; she was given the main roles right away, and in the beginning of her career she danced one of her signature parts, the part of Giselle that she worked on together with Galina Ulanova (she was Ulanova's first student). Three years after she joined the Bolshoi Company, the first Soviet-French film "The Soviet Union with an Open Heart" was made (1961), where the Bolshoi Theatre artists Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev, who were in love with each other, represented the country with an open heart. Two days before the trip to Paris where the film premiered they got married and it turned out that the Soviet role-models did something that was incredible at the time - they went to the capital of the world for and beauty of Maximova. It seems that not only the crowd at the ball, but her partner and the author of this dance number Vladimir Vasiliev, as well as the camera, were watching and admiring her. She was the favorite pedagogue at two theatres; when she passed away her students at the Bolshoi Ballet and at the Kremlin Ballet mourned for her. She had the most charming smile and the most beautiful instep. On February, 1 we also congratulated the People's Artist of the USSR, the pedagogue-repetiteur Marina V. Kondratieva on her jubilee. The portrait of Marina Kondtratieva It was about her that the great choreographer Kasyan Goleizovsky said: "If Terpsichore had existed, Marina Kondratieva would have been her embodiment". From her childhood Marina Kondratieva remembers the white, worn toes of her shoes best of all. The desire to dance was irresistible. The thin, long-legged girl got on her toes every minute, trying to rise off the ground and dance away… In the beginning of the war Kondtratieva, who was 7 years old at that time, performed together with one of the amateur concert groups at the hospitals. They put her on the table and she started spinning round as she was dancing her own dance; the faces of the wounded soldiers brightened and they cheered up a little. Many years have passed. Having graduated from the Moscow Choreographic Institute (class of G. N. Petrova) in 1952, Kondratieva came to the Bolshoi Theatre. The ballerina quickly became one of the leading soloists; every new image that she created on the stage struck a chord with the audience. The most famous choreographers worked with Kondratieva. Zakharov rehearsed with her parts of Cinderella and Maria in "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai", Yakobson offered to her to dance the part of Suimbike, Vainonen - the parts of Gayane and Diana Mireille; Plisetskaya trusted Kondtratieva to dance the part of Anna Karenina. Leonid Lavrovsky discovered that she was his muse; or, to be more precise, the muse of the great Italian violinist - Kondratieva was the first to perform this part in the ballet "Paganini". Then there were productions by Grigorovich - "The Stone Flower", "Legend of Love", "Spartacus", and it felt like she had found a new lease of life… "Giselle", however, was her greatest success. It looked like she flew across the stage; this is how light and airy her jetes were. This is what Grigorovich himself says about the ballerina: "No matter what M. Kondratieva danced, her presence on the stage was always meaningful; it was interesting to look at her. There was some special poetic charm and grace about her manner; she also demonstrated a lot of respect for the traditions of the classical dance and substantial spirituality. She was slim, but she had the great stamina and made sure she had enough energy for the whole performance, be it the part of Aurora or Giselle. She had perfect February, 42014understanding of the style and the plastique of the production; luckily, she still had this understanding as she started teaching. Everything that Marina Kondratieva brought to the stage was marked by her fine taste in art. She has a perfect sense of moderation, both as a performer and as a pedagogue" ("The Bolshoi Theatre", February, 4 1994). Giselle Kondratieva stopped dancing in 1980; then she graduated from the ballet-master faculty at GITIS and started working at the theatre as a ballet-master - repetiteur. She is a very calm and friendly person; she can explain, show and make the most difficult things clear; she also has a deep respect for the classical dance traditions and the Newsletter February, 42014Nowadays Marina Kondratieva is a pedagogue that is famous all over the world; she is a professor at the Academy of Choreography. As she helps her students with their roles, Kondratieva makes their individuality show; she helps them find something that will make them different and form their true creative essence. K. Stanislavsky once said that the director had to melt into an actor; Marina Kondratieva's goal is to "melt" into her students, but not to express her own individuality through the images that they create. For a pedagogue-repetiteur this quality is as rare as it is valuable. The creative achievements of Marina Kondratieva were highly praised by the government. In 1959 she was awarded the order of Badge of Honor; in 1976 she was awarded the title "People's Artist of the USSR" for her contribution to the development of the Soviet choreographic art. In 2001 Marina Kondratieva was awarded the Order of Honor for her significant contribution to the development of the Russian musical and theatre art. In 2009 she became a laureate of the Moscow Prize in the sphere of literature and art (nomination category "Choreographic Art"). Analysis of articles published 31 January- 2 February 2014 Roslyn Sulcas of the New York Times interviews Alexei Ratmansky and Leonid Desyatnikov about their collaboration and the Bolshoi's Lost Illusions during the Paris season comparing their collaboration to the work of Balachine and Stravinsky. La Depeche interviews Tugan Sokhiev the new music director of The Bolshoi about this new job at the Bolshoi and his work with the Toulouse orchestra. Sokhiev says his job at the Bolshoi will be to the motivate the orchestra artistically. The Geneve Lunch reports about the Prix du Lausanne ballet competition and that one of the prize winners Precious Adams was trained at the Bolshoi Academy. The Washington Post writes about the upcoming Bolshoi season in the USA remembering about the scandals at the Bolshoi of the past year and saying that since the Bolshoi will be dancing Giselle on the USA tour "Can "Giselle's" theme of compassion and moving on be, for the company itself, a saving grace?" The New York Times writes about Dmitry Tcherniakov who is making his Metropolitan Opera debut with a new production of Borodin's "Prince Igor" saying his work at the Bolshoi was controversial. Many local editions write about the transmission of the Bolshoi's Lost Illusions in cinemas. Kazan mass media: The 32nd Chaliapin International Opera Festival opened with the premiere of "The Barber of Seville" The 32nd Chaliapin International Opera Festival is taking place at the Tatar State Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Mussa Djalil from February, 2 to February, 18. This year the Festival marks the 140 anniversary of the Kazan Opera. The director of the theatre Raufal Mukhametzyanov said at the press-conference that over the years that the Festival had been being organized, the audience had had different feelings towards it. If we look at the playbill of the Festival this year, we will see there some time-tested productions; this is the theatre's policy. These all are famous classical productions; they all have been time-tested, so when the organizers chose them, the only thing they had to do was to choose a good cast. Just like in previous years, there is a star cast: Albina Sharimuratova (The Tatar State Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Mussa Djalil), Vladimir Matorin, Mikhail Kazakov, Alexei Tikhomirov, Veronika Dzhioeva (the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia), Boris Statsenko (Germany), Anna Samuil (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin), Terry Cook (Germany), Melba Ramos (Austria) and others./…/International press analysisIn brief 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 |
Main Stage
1 Teatralnaya ploschad (1 Theatre Square), Moscow, Russia
New Stage
Bol'shaya Dmitrovka Street, 4/2, Moscow, Russia