106 replies to this topic

[Mikhail]

So many good ideas! Many thanks to everybody. We could invent a personal phrase for each of three ballerinas according to their appearance and temperament. Why not? Just to see how adequate we understand our ballerinas.  

Do you think "bottoms up" fits better Masha Alexandrova than Sveta Zakharova?

I like also Anchors aweigh and even consulted in Moscow - people think it would be difficult to pronounce for Russian ballerinas. This is a point we should not forget.

[Mme. Hermine]

well i don't know them well enough to say. but i suspect that if they're accustomed to shouting 'a l'abordage' that the closest phrase to that would be 'all aboard', don't you?

[Mashinka]

As the London opening is now only days away, I suggest 'All aboard' for London audiences and a rethink when they take the company to the states.

[scherzo]

Medora could shout, 'Yo ho ho!' and then everyone could reply, 'And a bottle of rum!' though this might be a bit hard to pull off.

[Mel Johnson]

Of all our suggestions, this one seems the most piratical.

[Mme. Hermine]

actually i really like that one!  

[Mikhail]

Medora with chorus and orchestra... It is an opera, isn't it? Very piratical one.

[Mme. Hermine]

well the idea is she wants to be 'one of the boys' in a way, right? a pirate like they are? so why not?  

[bart]

scherzo, on Jul 25 2007, 06:58 AM, said:

Medora could shout, 'Yo ho ho!' and then everyone could reply, 'And a bottle of rum!'

In the US there would be a sponsorship deal with Bacardi or Mt. Gay  They would provide the booze for the opening night party and require the dancers to appear in publicity photos holding up the bottles.

[Mel Johnson]

Well, there is an opera by Bellini, which starts very much like Corsaire, but ends badly for the hero (he gets executed for murder).  It's called Il Pirata.

But it's very much in the spirit of the ballet to discuss a spoken cue.  Le Corsaire has always seemed to me to be like a "buddy movie" like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Romancing the Stone.  One of the buddies is a good-looking woman, so there's an added sexual tension, but it doesn't destroy the core friendships.  Indeed, doing the pas de deux à trois reinforces this impression.  And of course, the good guys get away at the end, even if it is into more trouble!  This kind of show, with its melodramatic spikes, is leavened with neat little comical touches like "Au bord", or whatever is to be said.  This has been one of the most entertaining and challenging threads we've had in a long time, having to do with what is called on Broadway, "scene doctoring".

[Mikhail]

Medora will shout in Russian.

According to my info, Ratmansky suggested two variants of the war-call at the rehearsal of “Le Corsaire” last Thursday. Namely, the first was in English - “all aboard”, the second one was in French - “au bord”, exactly as it was in Emperors time. He declined “bottoms up” without further explanations. But our ballerinas were not enthusiastic and finally Ratmansky decided to keep the Russian text - “na abordage” (whic is actually in French, but this word was accepted by Russian language long ago).

Thanks to everybody for the constructive discussion.

Bolshoi company started to London today early in the morning. Svetlana Zakharova who opens the tour tomorrow flew yesterday. Good luck and great success to all of them!

[leonid]

Mikhail, on Jul 29 2007, 12:03 AM, said:

Medora will shout in Russian.

According to my info, Ratmansky suggested two variants of the war-call at the rehearsal of “Le Corsaire” last Thursday. Namely, the first was in English - “all aboard”, the second one was in French - “au bord”, exactly as it was in Emperors time. He declined “bottoms up” without further explanations. But our ballerinas were not enthusiastic and finally Ratmansky decided to keep the Russian text - “na abordage” (whic is actually in French, but this word was accepted by Russian language long ago).

Thanks to everybody for the constructive discussion.

Bolshoi company started to London today early in the morning. Svetlana Zakharova who opens the tour tomorrow flew yesterday. Good luck and great success to all of them!

I am looking forward to the production but have been overwhelmed with information about the various productions past and current, the source of the music(some contradictory accreditations) and a mish mash of choreography from various sources. I am hoping the production will have the cohesion that it needs to be successful.
The video clips I have seen look vibrant with the corps de ballet work, but the principals seem unable to have a polished finish to their variations. I am hoping tomorrow will be life enhancing and will brighten up the gloom of the dreadful weather we have had in London during July. The Coliseum is a wonderful theatre for ballet and I have a good seat in the stalls(£85.00).

[Marc Haegeman]

Mikhail, on Jul 29 2007, 05:03 AM, said:

Medora will shout in Russian.

Didn't we know that from the start?   Why did you ever make us try, Mikhail ?

I doubt that you will find anything "life enhancing" tomorrow, Leonid, but you may enjoy it nonetheless... Hopefully the principals will have "polished" their variations for the London show!

[leonid]

Marc Haegeman, on Jul 29 2007, 08:35 AM, said:

Mikhail, on Jul 29 2007, 05:03 AM, said:

Medora will shout in Russian.

Didn't we know that from the start?   Why did you ever make us try, Mikhail ?

I doubt that you will find anything "life enhancing" tomorrow, Leonid, but you may enjoy it nonetheless... Hopefully the principals will have "polished" their variations for the London show!

I used the term "life enhancing" merely as the opposite of "life debilitating." Enjoyment is of a much lower order of experience as you suggest. You have the advantage of having seen this production and I have only so far, seen video clips in which the principals strive for effect and not art and when they failed to finish enchainements and variations cleanly, I would say they failed on both accounts.

[leonid]

Natalia, on Jun 13 2007, 11:49 AM, said:

I'm opening a new topic to discuss news and post reviews on the big new 'Le Corsaire' by the Bolshoi Ballet. Following four performances at home, the production will be packed-up and shipped to the London Colisseum for the August '07 tour. The only announced set of principals thus far consist of Svetlana Zakharova and Denis Matvienko.

According to the Bolshoi website (bolshoi.ru), this will be a very traditional production, based on the Harvard notes, restoring the original score and reviving the late-1890s costumes from the Mariinsky. Sounds promising! A bit of information directly from the Bolshoi web:

*****
Will be premiered on June 21, 2007.
Presented with two intervals.

Use is made in the production of music by Leo Delibes, Cesare Pugni, Pyotr von Oldenburg, Riccardo Drigo, Albert Zabel, Julius Gerber.
Music dramaturgy conception – Yuri Burlaka
Score restored by Alexander Troitsky
The original score by Adolphe Adam/Leo Delibes for Le Corsaire has been made available by L'Opera national de Paris from the archives of La Bibliotheque nationale de France
The choreographic notation has been made available by the Harvard University Theatre Collection
Evgeny Ponomaryov's costume sketches (1899) used in the production have been made available by the St. Petersburg State Theatre Library
****

I'll be in London in August & hope to report what I see at that time. In the meantime, I hope that some of our Moscow-based members will be able to report on next week's premiere performances.

Saw the London opening night and was fairly disappointed on a lot of counts. Zakharova was lack lustre in Act I but redeemed herself somewhat in the other two acts. I did'nt realise she had such a problem with turns. Great audience I was sitting amongst four ambassadoes who were friendly, the Duke of Kent, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana's stepmother and more importantly Wayne Eagling and Michael Corder. Alistair Macauley was in attendance in what I would describe as his usual less than elegant attire. Perhaps he needs a salary rise. I am seeing second cast with Alexandrova and Tsiskaridze tonight(It is now past midnight and I will write more.)