Bolshoi Ballet 21/22 cinema broadcast discussion thread

[Mary]

Just back from seeing Spartacus at my Picturehouse and it was great,  despite a technical break-down in act 3- which, thank goodness, sorted itself out eventually. It was delightful to be back in Moscow again and the interviews- with some old footage as well this time- were excellent.

Not my favourite ballet but, after such a long hiatus,  it somehow suited the mood for me:  a bit of over the top, full-on emotional overload.....

[maryrosesatonapin]

I loved it!  The nearest you get to a Hollywood Blockbuster at the Bolshoi.  Great fun with some amazing dancing and, ultimately, quite moving.  Like @Mary there was a problem at the beginning of act three (I had assumed it was our cinema but obviously not).  On the way out we were given a refund although we weren't going to complain.

 

I was surprised that Tsvirko was in the lead as I thought he had left the Bolshoi?  He danced his heart out.  They all did.  The friend I went with said it was as though they were competing at the Olympics, such was the standard of physical virtuosity on display.  At first I found Phrygia (Anna Nikulina) a little weak on characterisation but she made up for it in the final tragic scenes.  It was great to see Belyakov and Zakharova reprise the roles of Crassus and Aegina that I had seen them in live a couple of years ago.  They were both amazing - especially Zakharova, now 42 years old but as beautiful and lithe as ever. And what a great actress she is - a seductive, raunchy harlot on stage and a happily married and deeply religious mother in real life.

 

[alison]

Sorry to hear about the technical breakdown - we didn't suffer from it at my cinema, but then such things do tend to hit groups of cinemas, in my experience.  Great to see the Bolshoi back again after everything, and I really appreciated the close-ups, for once.  Delighted to see Tsvirko in the lead role - and Mikhail Lavrovsky being interviewed, plus the vintage footage.

[FionaM]

After many months of at home streamings (live and recorded), I’d forgotten how impressive the big screen experience is!  It really is the next best thing to being in the theatre … and plenty of upsides as well  … no restricted views, no head dodging, plus interviews in intervals … and extreme close-ups.  Such a fabulous experience.   
 

I love this ballet … it had such incredible roles for the 4 leads.  And great music.  And wow the Bolshoi stage is impressively HUGE!  Makes the ROH look like a minor country theatre.  
 

I thought Artemy Belyakov was superb as Crassus .. those bend over backwards jumps were unreal.  And wonderful portrayal of the character.  He’s developed enormously as a dramatic artist.    
 

Svetlana Zakharova’s Aegina was sensual, sexy, cunning and conniving … using her feminine power to Rome’s gain.  Utterly thrilling to see her at the top of her game.  (There have been reports of waning performances in other ballets).  

 

Igor Tsvirko’s technique has vastly improved … not only the virtuoso jumps but also the inbetween steps were better than I’ve seen.  He had great command of the stage and the role.  It’s rather surprising that he is a first soloist not a principal like the others.
 

I wasn’t as familiar with Anna Nikulina before this.  Loved her lyrical tender qualities and litheness … and her final scene was heartbreaking. 

 

One disappointment … I wasn’t totally convinced by the connection of true love between Spartacus & Phrygia.  

 

There were no technology hiccups at my cinema … delightful Tivoli in Bath.  And a good number of attendees this time, including some Russian speakers near me.  
 

Overall I had the impression that this cast have been drilled for this performance.  And it was fully dramatic and spectacular!!  Bravo to all.  

 

No doubt copies will show up at some point.  Small screen at home doesn’t do this ballet justice.  

[alison]

I thought it possibly wasn't helped by the fact that Nikulina, on pointe, at least, is a bit on the tall side for Tsvirko (who, judging by the interval interview, is taller than I had expected).  I don't know whether it was the style of the broadcast, but this performance felt rather more ... emotional? ... than previous ones I'd seen.

[Mary]

44 minutes ago, FionaE said:

I thought Artemy Belyakov was superb as Crassus .. those bend over backwards jumps were unreal.  And wonderful portrayal of the character.  He’s developed enormously as a dramatic artist.  

I thought exactly the same- and was surprised and delighted by the way he stole the show. Quite a thrilling performance, and I also agree Alison that the whole performance felt very powerfully emotional. The dancers all stressed in the interviews how they had to feel 'really into it' when performing this ballet and that certainly came across!

[alison]

BTW, I didn't catch who that was they were interviewing in the first interval, because I'd popped out for food.

[FionaM]

The two older gentlemen interviewed were Boris Akimov and Mikhail Lavrovsky, in the first and second intervals respectively.  They showed black and white clips of both in Spartacus.  

[alison]

Ah, thank you.  I thought I heard Novikova say "Boris", but wasn't sure.

[FionaM]

Boris Akimov was the artist director of the Bolshoi Ballet and director of the school simultaneously, as well as being a dancer, choreographer, teacher, repetiteur and composer.
https://www.ilona-landgraf.com/2017/03/boris-akimov-half-a-century-for-the-bolshoi/

[maryrosesatonapin]

Having seen the Bolshoi Cinema Nutcracker this afternoon I fell to comparing this very different version with that of the Royal Ballet.  I’ve not seen the ENB or BRB Nutcrackers for a good few years so won’t make a comment about them.

 

Overall, Bolshoi is more spectacular in the choreography (dazzling virtuosity of the principals) and production (boat in the sky, Drosselmeyer flying etc).  Instead of a dance of the mirlitons we had a shepherd and shepherdess with a pet lamb.  I’m not sure what that was about and wasn’t keen.  The initial nutcracker was danced rather than being a model, and this was most enjoyable.  I felt that Masha (Clara) looked too grown-up though – the RB Claras are more convincingly childlike.  And Masha also becomes the sugar plum fairy so it is a much more demanding role.

 

RB is more ‘cosy’ with homely décor, realistic stage business and a clearer story. I like the ‘long lost nephew’ aspect and the younger Clara.  RB Drosselmeyer is much kinder and more avuncular – the Bolshoi version is rather nightmarish!  But Hoffman’s original story has a darker flavour so maybe that’s more authentic.

 

Overall: the same glorious music, but why is the choreography so very different?  Is not the original worth preserving?  I much prefer the Bolshoi version of the Sugar Plum Fairy’s dance.  I wish the RB would at least change to that.  But I found the RB version more involving story-wise and apart from the Sugar Plum, prefer Wright’s version.

 

Poor Tchaikovsky never lived to see the success this ballet would enjoy, and in fact was in a state of sorrow  when he wrote the music, due to the death of his beloved sister – but you’d never guess that, would you?

Edited December 19, 2021 by maryrosesatonapin
plum not plumb!

[Emeralds]

11 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

Having seen the Bolshoi Cinema Nutcracker this afternoon I fell to comparing this very different version with that of the Royal Ballet.  I’ve not seen the ENB or BRB Nutcrackers for a good few years so won’t make a comment about them.

 

Overall, Bolshoi is more spectacular in the choreography (dazzling virtuosity of the principals) and production (boat in the sky, Drosselmeyer flying etc).  Instead of a dance of the mirlitons we had a shepherd and shepherdess with a pet lamb.  I’m not sure what that was about and wasn’t keen.  The initial nutcracker was danced rather than being a model, and this was most enjoyable.  I felt that Masha (Clara) looked too grown-up though – the RB Claras are more convincingly childlike.  And Masha also becomes the sugar plum fairy so it is a much more demanding role.

 

RB is more ‘cosy’ with homely décor, realistic stage business and a clearer story. I like the ‘long lost nephew’ aspect and the younger Clara.  RB Drosselmeyer is much kinder and more avuncular – the Bolshoi version is rather nightmarish!  But Hoffman’s original story has a darker flavour so maybe that’s more authentic.

 

Overall: the same glorious music, but why is the choreography so very different?  Is not the original worth preserving?  I much prefer the Bolshoi version of the Sugar Plum Fairy’s dance.  I wish the RB would at least change to that.  But I found the RB version more involving story-wise and apart from the Sugar Plum, prefer Wright’s version.

 

Poor Tchaikovsky never lived to see the success this ballet would enjoy, and in fact was in a state of sorrow  when he wrote the music, due to the death of his beloved sister – but you’d never guess that, would you?

I did consider going (again) to this year’s Bolshoi cinema broadcast as the excellent Semyon Chudin is on the cast as the Nutcracker

Prince -ironically,  Covid isn’t a problem as our cinema that does it was always extremely socially distanced and well ventilated (big auditorium, many side doors open at each interval) pre Covid anyway! Bolshoi transmissions don’t tend to sell well, while Royal Ballet ones do. Unfortunately we had prior commitments we couldn’t change.

 

A lot of the Russian versions presented nowadays seem to be influenced by the changes Alexander Gorsky made when he did a version in 1919 for the Bolshoi, such as combining the two roles of Clara/Marie/Masha and the Sugar Plum Fairy into one person, and combining the Nutcracker and Prince into one person too, making the overall ballet more like a conventional ballet story with a female lead and male lead who appear in both acts and are love interests. Grigorovich has done the same. The change of the Mirlitons (meaning reed flutes or reed pipes) to a trio or duo of a shepherd and shepherdess/s (hence the toy lamb !) is also from these Russian versions. 

 

The Sugar Plum Fairy solo and some of the grand pas de deux in Act 2 in Peter Wright’s version actually date back to the 1892 original, which had been taken to England in Stepanov notation by Nikolai Sergeyev after the Russian Revolution and taught/imparted to Ninette de Valois and her company which would become the Royal Ballet. When Nureyev did his version for the Royal Ballet (which is still danced at the Paris Opera Ballet but no longer at the Royal Ballet), he introduced the Russian changes including those made to the Sugar Plum solo and pas de deux.

 

The Sugar Plum/Masha solo in the Bolshoi version is mostly new choreography made by Grigorovich in 1977 tailored to the gifts of Ekaterina Maximova who was his first Masha and a technical powerhouse as well as a sublime artist- some ballerinas struggle with some of the steps while others are fine. It’s not my favourite; the pirouettes are not very set up elegantly and the hops on pointe can make the solo look ungainly compared to the original solo the Royal Ballet has, although the RB version is harder. That said, Evgenia Obraztsova, Nina Kaptsova and Maximova can make any solo look sublime regardless of its quality, and they do with this one (their performances are out in the public domain on YouTube/internet)- I haven’t seen Margarita Shrainer, who was in yesterday’s broadcast, yet. 

 

I understand that the original choreography/concept of the 1892 - apart from the notations Sergeyev smuggled out, which are also only about 60% as accurate as, say, a video (which they didn’t have then) unless taught by a coach who has seen the actual production and remembers it faithfully- was deliberately jettisoned by Gorsky as the production was not a huge success at the premiere. It was performed with a one-act opera, and the idea of having children in lead roles and naturalistic acting in the party scenes and mouse/soldier battle, and a lead couple who mainly appear only for the grand pas de deux, were considered too radical by the audience.  The revisions by Gorsky (followed by Vainonen in 1934 at the Mariinsky/Kirov) were a deliberate attempt to reboot the ballet to be more like the Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Giselle “hits” - a formula that the audiences would be more familiar with. 

 

It’s thought that the reason why the grand pas de deux for the Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince has so many slightly melancholic minor key changes compared to the joyful major keys used in most grand pas de deux, is that it was a reflection of Tchaikovsky’s sadness after his sister’s untimely death and a tribute to her. To us, of course, it just feels like a creative and nuanced piece of music for a grand pas de deux, but perhaps to the audience in 1892 expecting a festive and fun pas de deux in the style of Sleeping Beauty, it may have seemed odd. But then modern day audiences are used to more complex melodies, deliberately  jarring tones and keys from Stravinsky, Bartok, Bernstein, etc...so to us it is just wonderful, rich and inventive music. 

 

I remember liking a few things in the Bolshoi broadcast when they had Anna Nikulina and Denis Rodkin in the leads, but I didn’t like the fact that the boys in the production are danced by women (even Masha’s brother!). Considering how many good male students the Bolshoi school has who could portray the children, it seemed a strange practice to continue even into the 21st century. It just felt too much like a party where only girls were invited. I’d watch it again if one of my favourite dancers was in it, but not otherwise. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Emeralds

[maryrosesatonapin]

Thanks for that, @Emeralds. Shrainer danced the SPF in an exemplary way but I still prefer Kaptsova.