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Kirov-Mar. to tour for 2yrs, from Fall '06


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This just in from Russian news sources. Valery Gergiev held a press conference on Feb. 15 to announce plans for the Kirov-Mariinsky ballet & opera troupes during the two-year closing period of their home theater due to repairs/reconstruction. During this period, Helsinki's Alexandrovsky Theater -- built by Tsar Alexander II -- will serve as a sort of 'home away from home.'

I found it mildly amusing that the news item mentions that the troupe will begin to tour in earnest in Fall 2006...

This means that during the 2006/2007 season both the Bolshoi & the Kirov-Mariinsky Theaters will be closed, as the Bolshoi closes for a multi-year period after the present season. Ballet fans wishing to visit Russia & step into both the Bolshoi & Kirov Theaters on the same trip had better do it by this summer, unless they want to wait 'til 2008 or 2009.

Here's the link to the notice (small article):

http://www.newizv.ru/news/?id_news=19880&date=2005-02-16

And here's a bit of the article, for those who read a little Russian:

Новые известия

Телеграф

Мариинка эмигрирует в Финляндию

Вчера худрук Мариинки Валерий Гергиев объяснил, что будет делать его труппа в течение двух лет, когда здание театра закроется на ремонт. С осени 2006 года балет и опера начнут активно гастролировать. Почти родной для ведущей труппы России до 2008 года станет сцена Александровского театра в Хельсинки........

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Thank you very much Natalia for your information.

It is a really big pity that the Mariinsky Theatre is going to close for a so long time. We knew about it but we hoped that somebody will stop this useless project to reconstruction of the Theatre and to built a second stage. Sometimes the audience hall is quite empty especially if there are not important performances or interesting casts. Why a second stage?

At this purpose, there was a big "meeting" in St.Petersburg with many people against this project.

Besides the new reconstruction is absolutly out of the style of this lovely city !

Many years ago, the Mariinsky Theatre was closed also for big repairs and all the company of Opera and Ballet worked for about three months in Kisheniov ( capital of Moldavia) where there was a new theatre, for that time, with a big stage. So all the Opera and Ballet performances were on the usual high level.

Now, when the Theatre will be closed for two or three years (!!!!), it is really very interesting how the Ballet company, accustomed to dance technically and with nice ,large mouvements, could perform on the so small stage of the Alexandrovsky Theatre. We have seen some ballet performances there and the dancers seemed like sardins in tins! ( even if the Ballet troupe of Helsinki, has danced there for many years).

Maybe the people who wants this reconstruction and thought to work on the stage of the Alexandrovsky Theatre didn't know that the dancers need space to move sometimes or maybe they didn't care so much about it. For somebody, the main thing in this world is only the Opera.

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Thanks for your enlightening thoughts, Ballet Lovers. It is indeed a sad situation. Although most Balanchine fans will find it hard to believe, the house sells very poorly for Balanchine (or Neumeier or Forsythe) mixed-bill evenings, unless it is known that a star like Vishneva or Lopatkina is on the bill.

Leigh, if Gergiev's announcement is indeed what happens -- closure as of fall 2006 -- then it appears that the last performances would be at the end of the upcoming 2005/2006 season: 1st or 2nd week of August 2006.

The last performances in the Bolshoi -- which is closing for AT LEAST 4 yrs...much longer than will the Kirov -- will be this June 2005. By the time we see them in NYC, they will have danced their last performance in the venerable old stage. My understanding is that the 2005 Moscow Int'l Ballet Competition in late June will be the last ballet event danced on the old stage.

Luckily for the Bolshoi artists, they already have their New Stage next door to the old theater. The Kirov dancers will be nomads, much like the Royal Ballet a few years ago.

Natalia Nabatova

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The last performances in the Bolshoi -- which is closing for AT LEAST 4 yrs...much longer than will the Kirov -- will be this June 2005. By the time we see them in NYC, they will have danced their last performance in the venerable old stage. My understanding is that the 2005 Moscow Int'l Ballet Competition in late June will be the last ballet event danced on the old stage.

Natalia Nabatova

The old Bolshoi building is scheduled to be closed from this July on until January 2008.

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San Francisco Ballet confronted the same challenge when the War Memorial Opera House was closed in order for it to meet the seismic codes (for earthquakes). They went from performing on the stage of one of the largest opera houses in the US to performing mainly on two stages in houses that seated less than 1000 people, and they were a lot smaller and shallower. (They did perform Swan Lake at Zellerbach in Berkeley, where the Bolshoi performed last fall on tour, but that isn't the largest stage, either.)

They countered mostly by performing ballets with smaller casts and not a lot of scenery. If these types of programs (triple bills) don't bring in local fans, then the companies may be better off touring.

Is this theater in Helsinki, Finland, where the International Ballet Competition is held?

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The old Bolshoi building is scheduled to be closed from this July on until January 2008.

Marc - Emphasis on the word 'scheduled.' I would bet more money on Uliana Lopatkina dancing all of her scheduled performances in a given month than I would on ANY construction project in Moscow (or St P.) being completed on time. :wink:

hockeyfan - I've never been to the Helsinki IBC. The last one was held in May 2001, I think...won by Yao Wei of China. All I recall is that some past Helsinki IBCs were held at an out-of-doors venue near a castle. Maybe one of our Finnish posters can enlighten us?

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But there should be an International Ballet Festival in March '06 and White Nights in the summer of '06 in St. Petersburg?

(As you can tell, someone's saving his miles for a ticket)

Those should be the 'Last Hurrahs,' Leigh.

They'll probably do White Nights in 2007 & 2008, regardless of the closure of the Mariinsky Theater, as White Nights encompasses most major theatrical venues in the city (not just the Mariinsky). The winter ballet festival...hard to tell. The Maly is too small. Maybe the Alexandrinsky, close to the Vaganova Acad., can be used? It's where the Eifman Troupe performs to sell-out crowds.

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For holders of US passports, Helsinki is actually a much easier destination--no onerous visa applications! Of course, Helsinki isn't St Petersburg...

I would imagine that some performances will indeed occur at the Alexandrinsky, a delightful theater. Does anyone know how the stage and seating compare to the Mariinsky?

And what about the Maly, or is that fully booked with its own company?

Heck, I've even been to a student performance in the Philharmonic!

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The reason I asked if the theater is in Finland is because it would make the Mariinski the resident company of the Baltic region. It's less than two hours from Tallinn by the fast ferry, and is accessible by overnight ferry from Sweden. Also Helsinki one of the main cities to visit during tours of Scandinavia, and for Westerners, despite the cost, there aren't visa and language issues with visiting Russia. I thought Helsinki a very beautiful city, even in October, when there was a very damp chill in the air.

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The Imperial Alexandrinsky (ex-Pushkin) Theater, near the Vaganova Academy, is a huge, grand, gold-leafed, red-draped opera house with a Tsars Box. It more closely resembles the Mariinsky & the Bolshoi, than the Maly-Mussorgsky, in dimensions, seating, # of tiers, width, depth, etc.

However, as it is principally a dramatic theater, it has a smallish orchestra pit...which is a no-no for our dear Maestro. Another negative: As in tsarist days, it houses a resident, state-supported drama company, which cannot be kicked-out during their regular season.

At present, its stage is 'rented out' to itinerant ballet troupes during the big tourist months (May - August). La Volochkova dances there, as well as Eifman, Choreographic Miniatures, etc. May we assume that during the Mariinsky's closure, the Kirov-Mariinsky opera & ballet may be the sole tenants of the space in summer months...but with reduced orchestra...or -- heaven forbid! -- canned music, as Eifman uses?

To be honest, the only 'year-round-available' theater in St. Petersburg of sufficiently large dimensions to present the Mariinsky Opera & Ballet would be the ugly-as-heck, Kruschev-era Oktyabrisky Concert Hall, near the main railroad station.

Or maybe they can take over the Tsirk (circus)? Or the Ice Palace Arena, where figure-skating events are held?

I'm incredulous about the Helsinki theater housing a national-treasure of a RUSSIAN troupe. I'm still hoping that the reporters in the above news report got it wrong....but Gergiev is quoted, so that is that.

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I'm incredulous about the Helsinki theater housing a national-treasure of a RUSSIAN troupe. I'm still hoping that the reporters in the above news report got it wrong....but Gergiev is quoted, so that is that.

I may be wrong, but I belive the Helsinki theatre was originally built as a garison theatre in the days when Finland was part of the Russian Empire. So if I'm correct there is a vague kind of historic precident.....The local company now appears in the new opera house.

I saw both ballet and opera in the old theatre early in the 1990s and my recollection is that although its charming, it's also quite small. I know I felt very close to the stage from my seat in the stalls.

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But there should be an International Ballet Festival in March '06 and White Nights in the summer of '06 in St. Petersburg?

There will be a 06 White Nights; I just heard the Dutch National Ballet (whose Fokine Petruhska was by general consent a greater succes than the miserable Kirov Noces and so-so Firebird at the recent Diaghilev Festival) has been invited.

Frankly, after years of bad experiences they would have to pay me big time to get even near the Kirov Ballet. It's just not worth it.

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