Mariinsky Ballet to visit London in 2014

[Beryl H]

I think the ROH is allowed to re-sell Hochhauser shows if the performance is a complete sell out, unlike their usual rules where they will try if they have sold all the tickets for the same price as yours. It's never easy to find these rules in print though.

[alison]

But they can't swap between ROH-run seasons and externally-run seasons, that's the problem.

 

Edit: http://www.roh.org.uk/policies/terms-and-conditions-of-sale

"2.6.   Tickets to productions by The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera cannot be exchanged with tickets to productions by visiting companies."

[Jacqueline]

Was anyone on the forum present during the Lopatkina/Mariinsky Swan Lake of - I think - 2009, when a stage-hand appeared on stage? My, how some of us laughed! It was during a quiet moment of Act 3 and suddenly there he was, in all his shorts and safety booted glory, frozen like a rabbit in the headlights, until he realised where he was and got off quick!

I remember being rather disappointed by the performance in general, the scenery looked moth eaten and Lopatkina seemed to be totally disengaged. I know some find her hard to connect with anyway, but I usually love her. The best was Ilya Kuznetzov who was a rather attractive Rothbart. I wouldn't mind so much being under his spell! Is he coming to London this year?

[MAB]

Just read a piece in tonight's Standard about a demonstration that greeted Gergiev at an open air concert in Trafalgar Square.  Wonder if something like his will await the Kirov.

[JaneL]

Perhaps not. As I understand it, the protests at LSO events are because Gergiev (who supports Putin and homophobic policies) is paid by the LSO and therefore is paid by Arts Council funding. So I suppose it depends on whether or not he'll be conducting at the ROH. I can't find the conductor listed on the ROH website for the Mariinsky performances.

[Beryl H]

The Mariinsky running times are showing, Romeo and Juliet 3.10 minutes, Swan Lake 2.55 minutes, Apollo/MND 3.10 minutes, Firebird triple 2.25 minutes and Cinderella 2.40 minutes.  Think they might be extended a little as some of the intervals are only 20 minutes long and I can't imagine the Mariinsky keeping to that.

 

I knew the Apollo programme would be long, it's very generous and the one I'm looking forward to the most.

[annamk]

Checking the casting on the RoH site it looks like some more casting changes for the London tour : no Korsuntsev, Kondaurova, Shirinkina. Possibly injuries, certainly in the case of Korsuntsev. 

[Beryl H]

Glad I didn't post anything yesterday, it's changed again, today's make more sense, M and A (which is on tonight at the Mariinksy) is still the original casts not TBC, Firebird is now Matvienko on Monday and Stepanova on Tuesday. Other notable changes (for me) are Kondaurova is replaced by Skoryk in MND at the matinee, and Shirinkina is replaced by Batoeva in Cinderella on the 9th evening.

[Amelia]

When I was in St. Petersburg last month, I was told at the theatre that Kondaurova is recovering from injury and Shrinkina is expecting! 

[Bluebird]

The casting appears to have changed again.   Here is the current casting with the most recent changes in red (with thanks to the French website Dansomanie for compiling the list). 

 

Romeo and Juliet

28 July : Vishneva / Shklyarov /Sergeyev
29 July  : Tereshkina / Parish /Kim
30 July : Matvienko / Zverev /Sergeyev
31 July : Somova / Stepin /Kim

Swan Lake

1 August : Skorik / Askerov 
2 August (M) : Stepanova /Parish
2 August (E): Tereshkina / Shklyarov 
4 August : Lopatkina / Ivanchenko 
5 August: Somova / Zverev  
6 August : Skorik / Askerov 
7 August : Somova / Kim 
13 August : Tereshkina / Shklyarov 
14 August : Matvienko / Askerov 

Apollo 

8 August : Shklyarov / Shapran 
9 August (M) : Parish / Shapran 
9 August (E) : Sergeyev / Somova 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

8 August : Tereshkina / Askerov / Skorik / Zverev 
9 August (M) : Skorik / Askerov / Batoeva / Kim 
9 August (E) : Lopatkina / Stepin / Skorik / Zverev 

Firebird

11 August: Matvienko / Yermakov 
12 August : Stepanova / Smekalov 

Marguerite and Armand 

11 August : Vishneva / Shklyarov 
12 August : Lopatkina / Askerov 

Concerto DSCH 

11 August  : Tereshkina / Zverev / Batoeva / Stepin / Kim 
12 August : Matvienko / Yermakov / Shakirova / Tkachenko / Sergueiev 

Cinderella
15 August: Vishneva / Zverev 

16 August (M) : Matvienko / Sergeyev  
16 August (E) : Batoeva / Shklyarov

Edited July 15, 2014 by Bluebird

[alison]

Thank you very much, Bluebird.

 

Incidentally, I went on the ROH website for the first time in weeks yesterday, and was shocked to see how many tickets remain for some performances, even those which you might normally expect to be guaranteed sell-outs.  The only one really to have sold was the Firebird mixed bill.  There are even rear-amphi standing tickets left for some performances!

[GTL]

Given the habitual and, to an extent, understandable uncertainty over casting, I take my chance and don't normally book until they arrive in London.

[aileen]

Yes, there is a surprising number of tickets left, even for Swan Lake and R&J. There are many seats still available in the Amphitheatre. Did the Bolshoi's performances sell out last year? Perhaps the Mariinsky doesn't have quite the same brand recognition as the Bolshoi among the general public.

[Jan McNulty]

My friend and I certainly managed to get tickets for Flames of Paris about 4 weeks before the performance.  OK we weren't sitting together but there were tickets available.

 

I think perhaps the Bolshoi is the better known brand now - perhaps the Mariinsky should have stuck with Kirov as it is a shorter, snappier name?

[aileen]

Why did they change their name?

[Wulff]

e Mariinsky should have stuck with Kirov as it is a shorter, snappier name?

[/q

That's what Sergei Mironovich Kostrikov must have thought when he changed his name to Kirov. Unfortunately his name has unpleasant associations since after his murder in 1934 Stalin began a merciless crackdown on the opposition. Despite several investigations it has never been satisfactorily established who was responsible for ordering Kirov's murder. I can quite understand why the Russians chose to abandon a name which is associated with a particularly unpleasant period in Soviet history and revert to the original name of Mariinsky which recalls the golden age of Russian ballet and opera.

[Jacqueline]

 

e Mariinsky should have stuck with Kirov as it is a shorter, snappier name?

[/q

That's what Sergei Mironovich Kostrikov must have thought when he changed his name to Kirov. Unfortunately his name has unpleasant associations since after his murder in 1934 Stalin began a merciless crackdown on the opposition. Despite several investigations it has never been satisfactorily established who was responsible for ordering Kirov's murder. I can quite understand why the Russians chose to abandon a name which is associated with a particularly unpleasant period in Soviet history and revert to the original name of Mariinsky which recalls the golden age of Russian ballet and opera.

 

'Slightly' off topic but as Stalin has been mentioned, did anyone see Harry Enfield's recent sketch, in which he played Stalin in the style of Alan Bennett and his Talking Heads monologues. Hard to imagine Stalin being amusing, but done with a Leeds accent and having the most banal conversation with someone he considers a nice chap but is still having shot later. Acutely observed and very, very funny.

[assoluta]

Why did they change their name?

 

The Mariinsky Тheatrе was founded in 1783 and only 1935 it was named after one of the bolshevik leaders whose revolutionary pseudonym was Kirov. In 1992, as soon as the Soviet Union ceased to exist, they reverted to the original name.

Edited July 16, 2014 by assoluta

[Jan McNulty]

Welcome to the Forum, Assoluta, and thanks for the clarification.  I hope we will hear more from you.

[assoluta]

Thank you. That was very nice of you. I am late to this topic but in response to the discussion that was taking place here some time ago, I would like to say that in the case of Mariinsky the most important reason to see their performances, and especially so their «Swan Lakes», is the Mariinsky corps de ballet. One has to see it in order to appreciate what I am saying.

 

One thing that certainly is not in "decline" at Mariinsky is the quality of the corps de ballet. I doubt it was ever better. The current Acting Director as a matter of policy makes sure than no Vaganova graduate is ever promoted in his company to a soloist level (there is only a single exception, Batoeva, promoted to Second Soloist, but in reality even she is not an exception, becuase she is given only inferior parts). During 6 years that he has been the perennial "Acting" Director of the troupe, he has been relentlessly enforcing this policy by having for all the Vaganova graduates only one place to be in: corps de ballet. Soloist positions are reserved exclusively for his favorites who always come from other schools (Perm, Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk). During those 6 years he did not contribute to developing talents even of a single Vaganova Academy graduate. The most talented among those who graduated within last 7-8 years is probably Stepanova, and she is still a member of the corps de ballet. I can't think of any company in the world that would have so much talent and so many highly trained dancers buried in their corps de ballet as Mariinsky has had under Yuri Fateev. So, I will be happy seeing whoever is a soloist as long as I will be able to admire those 32 insanely trained swans.

[Amelia]

... he has been relentlessly enforcing this policy by having for all the Vaganova graduates only one place to be in: corps de ballet. Soloist positions are reserved exclusively for his favorites who always come from other schools (Perm, Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk). During those 6 years he did not contribute to developing talents even of a single Vaganova Academy graduate...

What you, Assoluta, wrote about the different treatment of Vaganova's and other schools’ graduates is worrying. It is regrettable that Mariinsky didn’t use its seigniorage to enroll such talents as Olga Smirnova, Xenia Zhiganshina, Krystyna Shapran (although the latter finally arrived there after two disappointing for her experiences in other theatres). I always feel sorry when talents are wasted.

[assoluta]

What you, Assoluta, wrote about the different treatment of Vaganova's and other schools’ graduates is worrying. It is regrettable that Mariinsky didn’t use its seigniorage to enroll such talents as Olga Smirnova, Xenia Zhiganshina, Krystyna Shapran (although the latter finally arrived there after two disappointing for her experiences in other theatres). I always feel sorry when talents are wasted.

 

It is very worrying indeed. Fateev just signed up Bondareva as a leading solist (a graduate of Dnepropetrovsk). When she won the gold medal a year ago at the Moscow Ballet Competition a Moscow ballet observer remarked: "gymnastics won, ballet lost". I am not picky and I have room for various "schools" of classical dance, but thinking that Fateev prefers Bondareva who is lacking in anything that can be termed "finesse" over any of the Vaganova graduates, including Zhiganshina, seems to be sheer perversion.

Edited July 16, 2014 by assoluta

[alison]

I note from the recent Sarah Crompton piece in the Daily Telegraph that the DT will, among other things, stream morning class on Weds August 6th from 10.50 am.