Russian ballets

[joe blitz]

Any thoughts on Bronze Horseman,  Fountain of Bakhchisarai,  Anyuta?  (not you, JM, I already know what you think LOL)

How about Ratmansky's work? (Little Humpebacked  Horse, Flames, of Paris, Bright Stream, Bolt)

 

I'm not sure where this belongs but I'd love to hear opinions

[MAB]

Fountain of Bakhchisarai has been performed in London, the other two have not, though last year the main pas de deux from Anyuta was danced at a gala.  There used to be a video of Anyuta available in Russia but don't think it has transferred to DVD.  Based on a Chekhov short story, Anna Round the Neck, it is about a young woman forced into a marriage of convenience, but in the ballet version she also has to give up her student lover. Vladimir' Vasiliev's choreography is barely known in the UK, but I rate him extremely highly, in fact his version of Romeo and Juliet surpasses all others in my opinion.  Fountain of Bakhchisarai is pretty much a straight telling of the Pushkin poem and is a staple of the repertory in St Petersburg.

[Lenore]

Anyuta is available on DVD if you’re interested, with Maximova/Vasiliev amongst the cast. I purchased a copy from amazon but haven’t gotten around watching it in full yet (so can’t comment, unfortunately). 

[joe blitz]

I didn't know that Vasiliev did a Romeo & Juliet.    I know he did a Zorba the Greek.

I like Anyuta a lot.  Maximova really did (was) a tour de force in that. Especially in her Tarantella number.  What a number of different dancing she did.     Have you seen it? like it?

I 

Mab, what did you think of Fountain?   I found it rather boring.  

 

As for Flames of Paris,   in many ways I prefer the Mikhail Messerer version; it seems closer to the one in Stars of the Russian Ballet.

There's more drama here,  you see the behavior of the aristocracy at the very beginning, as in the above mentioned film. 

You also see Louis XVI signing the abdication paper.   It's some time since I saw the ballet so maybe I don[t remember it that well.

 

Even though the music is by the same composer for Fountain, there's world of difference in the two scores.  Flames is much more exciting.

 

[MAB]

Vasiliev danced the title role in Zorba the Greek but it was choreographed by Lorca Massine. 

 

I saw Anyuta twice at the Bolshoi, the first time with Maximova in the title role and Vasiliev as her father, terrific performance and I'm impressed by the way Vasiliev took a short story and turned it into a full length ballet without losing the essence of the original. 

[joe blitz]

Lucky you, Mab, that you saw Maximova live.  I saw her and Vasiliev when 'Bolshoi first came to NY years ago.

She was 19 and he 20 when they appeared in Stone Flower.

[Erica]

I watched Flames of Paris by the Bolshoi, with Osipova, a few years ago and I just loved it!

[Pas de Quatre]

One of the most memorable performances I have ever seen was Maximova and Vasiliev dancing the pas de deux from Spartacus in the semi ruined Roman amphitheatre at Cimiez above Nice. In summer the Nice ballet used to perform open air galas with international ballet guests.

[Sharon]

That must of been amazing!

[Pas de Quatre]

It was!  On a balmy mediterranean summer's evening, the audience sitting in the amphitheatre on the original stepped seating (those in the know took cushions), watching Maximova pick her way through the original Roman columns for her entrance was beyond belief.  And Vasiliev was fabulous in the true meaning of the word!

[Amelia]

4 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said:

Maximova and Vasiliev dancing the pas de deux from Spartacus in the semi ruined Roman amphitheatre ...

 

Not among the ruins but still a good memory of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b62TacgEj2o

Just watched it and noticed that at first Vasiliev dances Adagio with Maximova, then a duel with Liepa and afterwards Adagio again but this time with Bessmertnova (although it is written: Maximoiva).

Edited February 28, 2018 by Amelia
last 2 lines added

[LinMM]

I have a memory invoked by an above post of seeing not necessarily Russian dancers but ballet in a balmy outdoor setting in Orange in France. This would have been back in the 70's I can't remember much about it other than the beautiful setting of some ruins in Orange!

[Pas de Quatre]

Again, not Russian dancers, but open air in France, in the 1970s too. POB used to have summer seasons on a specially constructed stage in the courtyard of The Louvre museum in Paris. While watching Sleeping Beauty there you could believe you were at the Royal Court of Versaille.  So sad the authorities built the pyramid!

[alison]

Or even better, you could have gone to see ENB's Swan Lake at Versailles  

 

Sorry, we're getting a bit off-topic now.

[joe blitz]

Sorry, but what's SW got to do with Giselle??

[Sim]

Sorry but I don't understand your question.  We are discussing Russian ballets on this thread.....started by you!!  And what is SW?  Giselle hasn't even been mentioned on this thread.....

[joe blitz]

I think I must have gotten mixed-up. I thought I saw a reply to something I had written.