1
Obratzova was a diamond of technical brilliance. That said, her acting was full of nuance and minute detail. But even this is an oversimplification. Masha is one of her signature roles at this stage of her young career. It poses no challenges for her, yet happily for the audience, she doesn't finesse anything and leaves nothing to chance. She dances, as Preobrazhenska said, " . . . for the balconies." Obratzova has that rare gift that the great interpreters of this role, such as Maximova, Kirkland, Lezhnina et.al had, over and above brilliant technique: Plausible, childlike vulnerability. In Act 1 Scene 1 Yevgenya was truly a child; truly believable. In Act 2 in the midst of her dream she was as diaphanous as the moon itself. In Act 3 she was the princess of the fairy tale, full of dignity, taste, delicacy, grace and majesty.
In contrast, In Act 2 Shklyarov was surprising last night; he was very tentative after his transformation. The pas de deux was well executed, the lifts and grand jetes were wonderful. But Yevgenya seemed to be the only one of the two who was "on." When he completed the high demands of the opening pas de deux before the Snowflakes, at the very end he overbalanced while kneeling, before he kissed Yevgenya's hand. He saved himself before he went forward and recovered well enough, but the "moment" was (a little) marred. I have to note that immediately before this, he had held Yevgenya aloft in an extended one arm lift, upon the final bars of Tchaikovsky's Snowflake intro, which was greatly appreciated by the audience with cries of "brava." He woke up in Act 3, with a daring rendition of his variation, and presented his ballerina with the utmost care and enthusiasm.
The Maryinsky corps of 24 snowflakes were wonderful. However, Shklyarov's slight mishap, lead to another slight mishap: At the beginning of the waltz, in the first circle of the pattern series, one of the ladies slipped and nearly went down. Not only did she stay on her feet, but neither she nor her colleagues broke rhythm, formation or line. This can happen at anytime, on any stage, anywhere to anyone. The whole is as great as the sum of its parts: This is a testament to the training and professionalism of this great corps de ballet. Well done for a good save to the anonymous corps member - otherwise there might've been a chain reaction. The Two Snowflakes, Lilia Lishuk and Svetlana Siplatova were quite good terre a terre and airborn, but their landings were very audible.
Young children from local ballet schools were employed for the opening segment and the battle scene. They were well rehearsed and truly joyful to be apart of the performance. Pyotr Stasyunas (Drosselmeyer to Lezhnina's 1992 Los Angeles appearance), and Elena Bazhenova were the doting Stahlbaums. Stasyunas also doubled as a malevolent Mouse King. "Luisa" was uncredited in the booklet, but this little girl really projected. Vera Garbuz' "Franz" was the typical bad little brother. Olga Balinskaya and Andrei Ushakov's grandparents were stiffer than required for their segment. Yulia Kasenkova's Doll was adorable, and Denis Firsov's Clown and Raphael Musin's Blackmoor were very energetic. The Spanish Dance of Yuliya Slivkina and Sergei Kononenko was well executed. Bazhenova's Eastern Dance was one of the highlights of Act 3: She cast a spell over the audience in a dance which IMO is probably the least imaginative of Vainonen's production. Kasenkova and Mikhail Berdichevsky were outstanding in the Chinese Dance. Lira Khuslamova, Natalya Dzevulskaya and Ilya Petrov danced the Trepak with the requisite passion and fire.
The Pas de Trois (Flutes) saw the welcome return of Maya Dumchenko. It was wonderful to see her onstage here, and she danced beautifully! Yet she seemed (to me), like a "stranger in the wrong paradise." Dumchenko is a high caliber ballerina: This extremely minor assignment simply doesn't do her any justice; she's wasted in it. It would have been wonderful for her have been assigned one performance as Masha during this run. I'm simply grateful that she was onstage at all, and allowed to make this tour. Elena Evseeva and Vasily Tkachenko were her exceptional counterparts. The Flower Waltz was well executed, graceful and stately. Obratzova, Shklyarov and ensemble received a 5 minute standing ovation
. Thursday and Saturday's matinees will be lead by Irina Golub and Alexander Sergeev. Friday evening will be lead again by Obratzova and Shklyarov, and Thursday and Saturday evening will be lead by Ekaterina Osmolkina and Igor Kolb. The supporting casts remain unchanged. The Music Corner: Pavel Bubelnikov lead the Maryinsky Orchestra, and conducted the score with style, attention to detail, lyricism and passion. Once again, Bubelnikov was attired in his favorite black silk pyjamas, only this time he also donned matching cowboy boots (
). Other Trivia: Before the Act 3 divertissement began, one of the male Flowers had a loud conversation with another colleague just as they put down the pink block stools for the ladies to sit on. That's a no no during a performance. There should be absolute silence onstage, in the wings and backstage. The stage craft was rather poor in the darkened segments: You could actually see the scene changes, as well as dancers and stagehands moving props. One could also see Obratzova run back to her bed and lay down just before the end of the performance. This wasn't the case in 1992.
She's definitely winning over balletomanes doing "romantic" female leads, that's to be sure. 
