Tournées du Bolchoï et du Mariinsky

[frederic]

Et où on voit une fois de plus l'incompétence de Monica Mason. J'aime beaucoup la manière très british qu'a Xander Parish de régler ses comptes avec la directrice d'alors, qui n'aime pas la style russe, rien de moins, et qui fut incapable de déceler le talent de ce jeune danseur. Pauvre Royal Ballet!... et bravo à Xander Parish (dieu sait que ça n'a pas dû être facile tous les jours) qui aujourd'hui danse les plus grands rôles avec la troupe et sur la scène du Mariinsky. On lui souhaite plein de succès pour ses représentations londoniennes.

[chien en peluche]

Le site officiel de l'Aubade Hall (à Tokyoma au Japon) a enfin publié en montrant le tract du spectacle que ce seraient Alexandrova/Rodkin qui interprèteraient le couple principal pour la représentation du Lac à Toyama la soirée du 27 novembre 2014 (Je viens de compléter les informations sur les distributions pour la prochaine Tournée du Bolshoï au Japon dans la page précédente.). Peut-être que les ballotomanes de Toyama et de ses environs avaient déjà eu ce tract, ce qui arrive souvent pour les spectacles danse les villes de province : http://www.aubade.or.jp/static/special/141127_hakuchou/hakuchou.pdf#view=Fit (en japonais, mais les photos sont belles.)

[sophia]

Il semble qu'il y ait eu quelques changements dans les distributions de la tournée du Mariinsky à Londres et que Ekaterina Kondaurova en soit définitivement retirée, de même que Maria Shirinkina (for a happy reason... ).

Je n'ai pas forcément fait le tour des modifications, mais il y en a sur Le Lac (pas de distributions révolutionnaires, simplement des ajouts, je pense). Pour le reste, je note en particulier que Diana Vichneva dansera Marguerite et Armand aux côtés de Vladimir Shklyarov le 11 août (il me semble que c'était Tereshkina initialement, qui doit glisser sur Concerto DSCH). Nadezhda Batoeva, enfin, dansera Cendrillon le 16 août aux côtés de Vladimir Shklyarov (à la place de Maria Shirinkina).

[sophia]

Les changements dans les distributions (en espérant ne pas faire d'erreurs) :

Roméo et Juliette
30 juillet : Somova / Stepin (rempl. Esina / Zverev)
31 juillet : Esina / Zverev (rempl. Somova / Sergueiev)

Le Lac des cygnes
4 août : Lopatkina / Ivanchenko (rempl. Korsuntsev)
6 août : Skorik (rempl. Kondaurova) / Askerov
14 août : Matvienko / Askerov (rempl. Parish)

Apollo
9 août (M) : Parish / Tereshkina (rempl. Shirinkina)
9 août (S) : Sergueiev / Somova (rempl. Skorik)

A Midsummer Night's Dream
9 août (M) : Skorik / Askerov (rempl. Kondaurova / Stepin)
9 août (S) : Lopatkina / Stepin / Skorik / Zverev (rempl. Shirinkina / Stepin)

L'Oiseau de feu
11 août : Matvienko (rempl. Stepanova) / Ermakov
12 août : Stepanova (rempl. Matvienko) / Smekalov

Concerto DSCH
11 août : Tereshkina (rempl. Ivanova) / Zverev / Batoeva / Stepin / Kim
12 août : Matvienko (rempl. Kondaurova) / Ermakov / Shakirova (rempl. Batoeva) / Tkachenko / Sergueiev

Cendrillon
16 août : Batoeva (rempl. Shirinkina) / Shklyarov

[ElenaK]

[sophia]

Oui, pardon, je m'en suis rendue compte en notant les changements concrets de distributions.

[voyageur]

Olga Esina is apparently off the Mariinsky London tour, and there have been some additional changes:
The RandJs on July 29 are currently scheduled to be Parish/Tereshkina and on July 30 Zverev/Matvienko.
Stepanova is now scheduled to dance the Lake with Parish on August 2, and Somova with Zverev on August 5.

The Bolshoi has arrived in New York for its tour, which opens on Tuesday, without Ekaterina Shipulina. Her July 19 (eve) Lake will be danced by Ekaterina Krysanova, and her Kitri on July 23 (eve) by Kristina Kretova. Smirnova has now been given a second Queen of the Dryads (the July 23 matinee).

[sophia]

[sophia]

Outre-Manche, le "syndrome Mathilde" s'appelle le "syndrome Xander".

Nouveau portrait du jeune homme du Yorkshire exilé à Saint-Pétersbourg et catapulté image grand public du Mariinsky au Royaume-Uni dans The Independant.

Cela étant dit, la presse londonienne, elle, publiera aussi des critiques des spectacles.

[frederic]

C'est juste Sophia. Cela dit, la trajectoire de Xander Parish est bien plus étonnante...parce que c'est le Marinskii, où l'on reste très fermé aux transfuges et que Fateiev est allé débaucher un danseur pour son potentiel à venir. C'est assez unique comme démarche.

[voyageur]

The Bolshoi opened its two-week engagement in New York City with, and devoted the entire first week of performances to, the Grigorovich Swan Lake, first staged by him in 1969 and substantially revised in 2001.
A complete list of what I dislike in this production would consume all the time I have this morning, so suffice it to say that when I see it for the first time each season it shocks me anew. For me it ravages the choreography of two geniuses, destroys any internal coherence, and leaches from this glorious work much of its poetry and all of its tragedy; if it all takes place in Siegfried's mind, then he's one very messed-up guy, which is sad, perhaps, but not tragic. It also makes more difficult the work of the two leads, who, in the four casts presented last week, coped with the challenge with varying degrees of success.
Although Svetlana Zakharova and David Hallberg were the first cast, I saw the second cast, Anna Nikulina and Artem Ovcharenko, first (on July 17). Nikulina had opened the LA segment of the Bolshoi's last Swan Lake tour in the US, and had not garnered good reviews. I did not see those performances, but it did not appear to me that she has grown much in the role. I find her upper body work marred by tension in and poor placement of the head, neck and shoulders and lack of pliancy in her back. Broken wrists at the Bolshoi are not exactly uncommon, but hers were a case of overkill and accompanied at times by protruding elbows. Her white swan lacked fluidity, her phrasing didn't build, and I found her entirely unmoving. Her black swan was somewhat more successful: I thought she used her eyes well, and though she is not a virtuoso, her fouettes started out quite strong, with a series of doubles, but overall I found her a bit bland.
Ovcharenko danced with easy grace, lovely line, and that great ballon he has.
I had not seen Zakharova's Swan in almost a decade, and my view this time (on July 17) may have been colored by the contrast with the night before, but I thought her white act adagio gorgeous, with that pliant back and those exquisite limbs and feet. But when she had to MOVE, in the variation and coda, I was less moved--she still strikes me as someone with whom it's about the poses, all of which are ravishing, but the actual movement, the DANCING, looks flat. Her black act was convincingly evil, but marred for me by all those uber extensions. Her fouettes were strong, a very quick series of singles with barely any traveling, though I prefer to see a slightly higher working foot. David Hallberg is not a strong actor, but he danced well generally (I thought I saw some strain in the black act variation to the Tchai Pas music). Lantratov was very good as the Evil Genius.
It was the following night (July 18), though, that was the most successful. Olga Smirnova's Lake in London last summer had not wowed me--I found it overall rather distant and at times a bit unfocused, albeit with some very beautiful moments. One year in the life of a young artist is an enormous amount of time, though, and this was a glorious performance--brilliantly shaped and focused throughout. Her white act adage was very beautiful and very beautifully phrased, as was her variation. Her entire instrument (including her eyes) was expressive. Her black swan was glamorous and seductive, her variations strongly danced (perhaps one small glitch with a pirouette) and her fouettes (singles ending in I think a triple) were very fast (okay, so with some traveling). Chudin danced with regal bearing, showing his big jump, with easy landings. I find his batterie the best in the company, but there is not much of it in this version--what there was was lovely.
Ekaterina Krysanova replaced Ekaterina Shipulina in the latter's scheduled performance on July 19. While Krysanova has enormous range, I don't think she is at core a classical ballerina, and in ballets like Lake and Beauty I think this shows, not just in all the broken wrists, but in her placement and occasional wildness (here in one penchee in what is their second act). I did not find her white act deeply moving, but she was the only one of the four who took the last part of the white act variation and the coda at the fast speed I prefer, signaling (at least in a normal production), Odette's desperation and destiny. Her black act was more successful and she, too, used her eyes well. Krysanova's a turner and, in a week of performances where everyone's were fast, hers were faster, interspersed with high a la secondes and some rapidly waving swan arms. I did not think Hallberg, dancing his third Siegfried in five days, looked comfortable partnering her.
Of the soloists, Denis Medvedev was lithe, acrobatic and charming as the Fool, but Igor Tsvirko in the same role stole the show--what a terrific dancer and what a pity we are not seeing more of him on this tour! I thought the first cast pas de trois girls, Kristina Kretova and Maria Vinogradova, were generally stronger than the second cast (and kept up with the fast pace more easily) but Chinara Alizade turned in a great variation on July 19. Among the "Brides," Anna Tikhomirova wowed with her big jump in Spanish, and charmed in Neapolitan, Vinogradova was beautiful in Russian and Neapolitan, as was Yulia Lunkina in the former, and Alizade did a very fine Spanish.

[sophia]

En complément du compte-rendu de voyageur, quelques articles à signaler, à commencer par la critique de Macauley qui, comme voyageur et comme beaucoup (on se souvient des critiques londoniennes...), tire à boulets rouges sur la production de Grigorovitch (The Lake Is Frozen in Time), tout comme Robert Johnson (The Bolshoi Ballet at Lincoln Center: lots of swans, but not so many stars). Macauley dresse par ailleurs un portrait élogieux de David Hallberg et de son évolution au Bolchoï (Less Boyish at the Bolshoi) et un véritable panégyrique d'Olga Smirnova qui interprétait Odette-Odile sur une autre distribution (Yearning for Performers Who Transcend Victim and Vamp). David Hallberg, qui danse pour la première fois à New York avec le Bolchoï, a également droit à quelques publi-reportages de rigueur, parmi lesquels on signalera la petite interview sympathique du New York Observer.
Don Quichotte, qui vient de débuter, trouve, avec des nuances, un tout autre écho dans le coeur de l'impitoyable critique (Tilting at Sunshine). Le ballet, mené, pour la première, par Alexandrova et Lantratov (et Smirnova en Reine des Dryades), reçoit par ailleurs quatre étoiles dans le FT. A suivre...

[voyageur]

I was one of those who groused loudly over the repertoire chosen for this Bolshoi tour ("we're so tired of the same old productions"; "why can't we have something new?"), but after a week of the Grigorovich Lake, the Fadeyechev Don Quixote looked mighty fine, and it felt as though the real Bolshoi, the one we had always loved, was back; certainly, the company seemed happier and more alive dancing it, and the increased energy on both sides of the house was palpable.
For Kitri and Basilio, the company presented three casts: Maria Alexandrova and Vladislav Lantratov (on July 22), Ekaterina Krysanova and Semyon Chudin (the July 23 matinee) and (replacing Ekaterina Shipulina) Kristina Kretova and Mikhail Lobukhin (July 23 evening). I saw all three.
Alexandrova's warmth and radiance were for me utterly captivating. She has not danced many classical full length ballets since returning from last summer's injury, and I suspect she is still regaining her strength; the big jump I remember was not in evidence and there were no pyrotechnics on display--just a vibrant and engaging character who danced beautifully.
Krysanova has been the Bolshoi's go to girl for pyrotechnics since the departure of Osipova, and she was true to form. She danced the fastest, jumped the furthest, and took the biggest risks in Act I. She can, of course, turn for days, and in Act III her fouettes were very fast: a series of doubles, followed by singles which ended, I think, in a quadruple. Her coda was very strong, too. Aside from the displays of virtusoity, however, I thought her Kitri had a bit of a hard edge, so I was less engaged generally, and her Act II classical variation showed a bit of wildness, at least in the jumps. She was the favorite Kitri of many here, though not mine.
Kretova's Kitri was a charmer, and she danced everything well, from Act I's high jinks, through Act II's soft vision, to Act III's bravura pas de deux. The last featured balances that went on forever (she can apparently balance for as long as Krysanova can turn, though I would have preferred something shorter if it came sans wobble.)
Lobukhin (ironically for an ex-Mariinsky dancer) was the only one of the three who looked like a Basilio going in (hair color aside), but Lantratov and Chudin were both effective, too, and all three danced well. Lantratov did the best one-arm lifts, showed a talent for comedy, and did one of those multiple pirouettes with one leg snaking down the other that seem to last for days, and he and Alexandrova had great chemistry on stage. Chudin showed more flair than I had expected, but was rather bland. Lobukhin was charming, and I thought had the funniest "suicide," but only in his second Act III variation and coda did his dancing begin to excite.
As Queen of the Dryads, Olga Smirnova was beautiful, but seemed at stylistic odds with the other women on stage. In the same role, Nikulina was not shown to advantage dancing simultaneously with Kretova and for different reasons seemed at stylistic odds.
Both Anna Tikhomirova and Maria Vinogradova were terrific as the Street Dancer and in the first bridesmaid's variation in Act III; if I had to choose, I'd take Tikhomirova with that explosive jump for Street Dancer and Vinogradova with that nice easy jump for the variation.
I suppose that one cannot have too much self-love for Espada, but if so Rodkin came close to overdoing it; I preferred Biktimirov's more subdued performance, but for me Andrey Merkuriev (not on this tour, alas) owns the role.
Yulia Lunkina was a lovely Cupid at all three performances, and Daria Khoklova turned in a beautiful performance as one of Kitri's friends the last night.
It's their great character dancing that nowadays perhaps most distinguishes the Bolshoi from other companies, and their Don Q from other companies'; and those segments these were generally performed with enormous style and commitment. I would single out Kristina Karasyova, terrific in the Gypsy dance, as Mercedes and in the Bolero, and Nino Asatiani in the Spanish dance.
Both Denis Savin and Denis Medvedev delighted as Gamache. Alexei Loparevich was a convincing Don. If there has ever been a better Sancho Panza than Alexander Petukhov, who with multiple tiny details combines comedy and pathos, I have not seen him.
The production, now 15 years old, still looks good, but (as was the case with portions of the Lake) looked far too cramped on the small stage of the theater formerly formally known as the NY State Theater.
My biggest disappointment, however, is not the cramped stage; I had so hoped for the chance on this tour to see Tikhomirova and Igor Tsvirko in the leads.

[voyageur]

The Bolshoi is closing its New York engagement with three performances of Spartacus, featuring two casts: Mikhail Lobukhin/Anna Nikulina/Alexander Volchkov/Svetlana Zakharova (July 25 and 27) and Denis Rodkin/Maria Vinogradova/Vladislav Lantratov/Ekaterina Krysanova (July 26). I saw the July 25 and 26 performances.

It can't be easy to dance the role of Spartacus, not just because of the significant physical toll on a danseur's strength, stamina and knees, but also because I can't think of another role so closely associated with such giants of the dance as Vladimir Vasiliev and Mikhail Lavrovsky,who created it, and then danced in more recent years with such hard-acts-to-follow as Irek Mukhamedov and Ivan Vasiliev. At Friday's performance, Lobukhin (who reportedly left the Mariinsky for the Bolshoi to have the opportunity to dance roles like this) rose to the challenge without, I think, fully meeting it. Lobukhin's acting was moving-- his was a very human Spartacus--his partnering was very strong, and his dancing was expressive, but, undoubtedly constrained by the small stage, it was not thrilling.
Nikulina's Phrygia was, I thought, the most successful of her NY roles. It was certainly the best acted of them and her upper body looked much better in the Grigorovich choreography.
Volchkov, who had been out for quite some time with a bad injury, looked in very good shape and danced more strongly and vibrantly than the last few times I saw his Crassus--a powerful performance.
But the star of the show was Zakharova. Perhaps in response to the many criticisms of her Lake as cold, she gave us a charismatic, dynamic, full-blooded Aegina. Here was a calculating seductress--sensual and--if one can apply the word to a frame like hers--even voluptuous. Back when the Bolshoi first brought the Grigorovich Spartacus here (1975 if memory serves), that Act III orgy evoked some titters--it took a dancer with the conviction of Nina Timofeyeva, the role's creator, to make it work. Nearly 40 years later, that business with the pole looks even sillier, but Zakharova brought an equal degree of conviction, and it worked. As for her dancing, she was electric.

In the second cast, Rodkin showed great elevation and turned well, but I did not find his dancing expressive and his performance at times felt like an academic exercise. His partnering was not as strong as Lobukhin's, and I did not see much acting--I am not certain what his conception of Spartacus is, other than a chance to show his big jump.
Vinogradova was a touching Phrygia, and her dancing was lovely. A very moving Act III pas and final scene.
Lantratov turned in a very strongly danced Crassus, but his Crassus is crazed from the outset--Crassus as Caligula, if you will-- rather than Volchkov's (and Liepa's) arrogant, cruel aristocrat who gets drunk on power, wine and women, and I prefer the latter interpretation.
Zakharova's larger-than-life Aegina may have been an impossible act to follow; Krysanova, who normally has a definite personality on stage, looked a bit pale in comparison.

The New York portion of the tour (the company goes on to Saratoga for four performances of Don Q later in the week) concludes this afternoon. If not a complete critical success, the tour has certainly been a commercial one (with completely sold out houses and a thriving secondary market in tickets), and audiences have been loud and demonstrative in their acclaim. New Yorkers are certainly hoping for a return visit sooner than the nine years it took for this one, and many of us for a more varied and novel repertoire, too.

[sophia]

A l'instar des balletomanes avertis, les critiques new-yorkais ne cachent pas leur déception face aux choix de répertoire du Bolchoï pour sa tournée américaine. En témoignent les articles de Gia Kourlas concernant Spartacus ("Much more shocking was how arid “Spartacus” has become. Without the right spirit and heat, it doesn’t have a fighting chance.") ou de Alastair Macauley concernant l'ensemble de la tournée ("New York was given a non-Filin season").