56 replies to this topic

[Natalia]

Only $67,000 per scalped ticket, as Leonid alluded to above: http://rt.com/news/p...kets-price-451/

I think we're getting a bargain with $15-20 for Live in Cinemas or, if you can get it, for free on YouTube.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I will be watching it here...

http://www.arte.tv/f...mC=4221908.html

[Jayne]

I watched this morning, and enjoyed it very much, Zhakarova was great as Odile.  Flames of Paris was a lot of fun, the graphics were great, although not all of them moved the story line along.  For some reason I figured they'd go for more musical pyrotechnics (and maybe some outside too), but instead they went very restrained. The opening was completely unexpected with the chorus as construction workers.  Very well done.

[Lidewij]

Thanks for the link!  I thought I couldn't watch because it's not in cinemas here and the youtube broadcast is only for Russia and America.
Thanks to you I know I can watch on tv (I have Arte).

[Natalia]

Just back home from the AFI Theater in Silver Spring, MD. Loved - loved - loved both the one-hr introductory documentary - with heretofore unknown clip of Marina Semenova in Kitri A1 solo - and the gala. There was a perfect blending of ballet and opera. I must admit that I shed a few tears of joy & sadness, e.g., during the docum, when many recently-departed 'greats' such as Maximova spoke of what the Boslhoi meant to them; during the initial chorus of construction workers (to the tsar's coronation chorus from Glinka's Ivan Susanin); during the Swan Lake white adagio (gorgeous Zakharova & Uvarov); and the 'grand defile' of all performers down a gigantic white staircase at the end. It was a six-hanky event! Alas, the performers were not identified during the gala, while selection titles & composers were. Luckily, I recognized practically all of the dancing soloists but almost none of the singers except for basso Dmitri Hvorostosky. The pre-announced Placido Domingo went AWOL; not sure what happened to him. Neither did I see Tsiskaridze, who is a huge star. Pre-announced excerpts from Class Concert and Bright Stream did not happen.

From what I could tell, the numbers that included some or all dancing were:

New choreography by Lacotte:  Waltz from Act II of 'Cinderella' - female & male corps de ballet (the ladies wearing the Corsaire 'Jardin Anime' tutus) The pre-announced Fairy Autumn solo by Lacotte was not performed but the original Fairy Autumn, Plisetskaya, was shown many times in one of the main boxes.

Polonaise from the Glinka opera 'Ivan Susanin' - corps de ballet & chorus

'Appian Way' scene from Grigorovich's Spartak - Ivan Vasiliev and male corps (big applause in our theater!)

'Basque Dance' from Ratmansky/Vainonen's 'Flames of Paris' - Osipova & ???? in leads, with flag-waving mimes behind

'Polovtsian Dances' from 'Prince Igor' - character corps and chorus - choreography by Goleizovsky fm 1953 version, uncredited on screen and quite different from the Fokine version. Soloists ???? ; the lady looked like Malkhasyants but a little younger. HUGE ovation for this.

Tango pdd from Grigorovich's 'Golden Age' - Nina Kaptsova and Andrei Merkuriev, he in a ridiculous platinum-blonde pageboy-'do wig (!)

White Swan Adagio from Grigorovich's 'Swan Lake' - Svetlana Zakharova, Andrei Uvarov and female corps of swans

Jota and solos of Basil and Kitri, Act I of Gorsky-Fadeyechev 'Don Q' - corps, followed by V. Lantratov, then Maria Alexandrova

Ratmansky's 'March of the Bolshoi Ushers' set to Don Q Act IV March of the Little Cupids - all of the female ushers, of all ages, in their blue suits, marched around the stage carrying big floral baskets; very cute! (I've seen this once before, at one of Plisetskaya's birthday galas.)

DEFILE down the stairs - First a selected group from the orchestra (since most were in the pit playing), then mimes, then male chorus, female chorus, corps de ballet (I recognized Smirnova as one of the first girls entering with long gowns!), opera soloists and, finally, ballet soloists, with Zakharova/Uvarov and Osipova/Vasiliev leading the way.

Bravi Tutti!!! Ochen kharasho!!!!

[abatt]

^{Natalia, how long was the film?  I'm planning on seeing it  tomorrow.  Thanks!}

[Natalia]

Abatt, the entire event  lasted 3 hrs, apportioned thus:

1 hr documentary (10 - 11am)...not to be missed, especially the historic clips at the start & the 'good wishes' filmed by great stars of the past, some who passed away quite recently. I 'lost it' when Maximova appeared.

2 hr gala (11am-1pm)

[Cygnet]

I was able to watch some of it live on www.rt.com this morning.  I'm looking forward to seeing the entire event encored this Sunday, (Oct. 30), at 10:00 a.m.at Laemmle Theatre in Encino, CA.  All of the starts, stops, brohaha, controversies - everything that has happened, from the start of construction, to this day, was well worth the wait!

[rg]

here's what the p.r. firm sent out regarding the telecast's contents, much of which has already been stated above.
f.y.i. (w/apologies for duplication(s))

THE OPENING OF THE HISTORICAL STAGE OF THE BOLSHOI THEATRE
GALA
October 28, 2011
*Mikhail Glinka
Choir “Glory” from the opera “Ivan Susanin”, lyrics by Sergei Gorodetsky
Performed by the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra, choir, extras, stage band and stage workers
*Waltz to music by Sergei Prokofiev
Choreography by Pierre Lacotte
World prèmiere
Performed by the Bolshoi ballet dancers
*Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Joan’s aria from the opera “The Maid of Orleans”
Performed by Violeta Urmana
*Mikhail Glinka
Polonaise from the opera “Ivan Susanin”
Choreography by Rostislav Zakharov
Performed by the choir, extras and the stage band of the Bolshoi Theatre
*Aram Khachaturian
Scene “The Appian Way” from the ballet “Spartacus”
Choreography by Yuri Grigorovich
Performed by: Ivan Vasiliev; Vyacheslav Lopatin, Andrei Bolotin, Alexander Smolyaninov; Denis Rodkin, Denis Savin, Anton Savichev, Igor Tsvirko and the Bolshoi Ballet dancers
*Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Yeletsky’s aria from the opera “The Queen of Spades”
Performed by Dmitri Hvorostovsky
*Boris Asafyev
Dance of the Basques from the ballet “The Flames of Paris”
Choreography by Vasily Vainonen
Performed by Natalia Osipova, Denis Savin, Alexander Volchkov, Anna Rebetskaya, Alexander Vorobyov and the Bolshoi Ballet dancers
*Sergei Rachmaninoff
Song “Ne poi, krasavitsa, pri mne” (“Sing not, o lovely one”), lyrics by Alexander Puskin
Performed by Natalie Dessay
*Alexander Borodin
Fragment from the Polovtsian Dances from the opera “Prince Igor”
Choreography by Kasyan Goleyzovsky
Performed by Alexei Koryagin, Kristina Karasyova, Anastassia Meskova, Denis Medvedev, the choir and extras of the Bolshoi Theatre
*Dmitri Shostakovich
Tango from the ballet “The Golden Age”
Choreography by Yuri Grigorovich
Performed by Nina Kaptsova, Pavel Dmitrichenko, Yulia Grebenschikova, Maria Zharkova, Vitaly Biktimirov, Yevgeny Golovin and the Bolshoi Ballet dancers
*Modest Mussorgsky
Fragment from the suite “Pictures at an Exhibition”
Performed by orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre
*Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Adagio from the ballet “The Swan Lake”
Choreography by Lev Ivanov
Fragment from the production by Yuri Grigorovich
Performed by Svetlana Zakharova, Andrey Uvarov and the Bolshoi Ballet dancers
Violin solo by Dmitry Khakhamov, cello solo by Boris Lifanovsky
*Pyotr Tchaikovsky
“Nature and Love”, lyrics by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Performed by Yelena Zelenskaya, Anna Aglatova, Yekaterina Scherbachenko, Svetlana Shilova
Sergei Prokofiev
Final scene from the opera “Betrothal in a Monastery”
Performed by Irina Dolzhenko, Lolitta Semenina, Andrey Grigoriev,  Maxim Paster, Boris Rudak and the choir of the Bolshoi Theatre
*Ludwig Minkus
Fragment from the ballet “Don Quixote”
Choreography by Alexander Gorsky, Marius Petipa
Performed by Maria Alexandrova, Vladislav Lantratov, Olga Kishnyova, Anna Rebetskaya and the Bolshoi Ballet dancers
*Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Lisa’s aria from the opera “The Queen of Spades”
Performed by Angela Gheorghiu
*Dance of the Ushers
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
*Parade of the Bolshoi Theatre troupe
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Festival Coronation March

After the gala you will see the dynamic video projection on the Bolshoi theatre building

ORCHESTRA OF THE BOLSHOI THEATRE OF RUSSIA

Chief conductor – Vasily Sinaisky
Director and set designer – Dmitri Tcherniakov
Lighting designer – Gleb Filshtinsky
Designer – Alyona Pikalova
Costumes – Yelena Zaitseva
Stage band conductor – Vladimir Andropov
Chief choir master – Valery Borisov
Choir masters – Yulia Mochanova, Alexander Kritsky
Multimedia Director – Andrei Boltenko
Multimedia – The Andrei Boltenko Group

Assistants to director – Kristina Larina, Igor Ushakov, Ekaterina Mironova
Assistants to lighting designer – Aivar Salikhov, Sergei Rylko
Assistant to set designer – Ekaterina Mochyonova
Executive producers – Victoria Evsukova, Irina Paradnaya


Director of Opera – Makvala Kasrashvili
Ballet Director – Sergei Filin
Music Director and Chief Conductor – Vassily Sinaisky

[abatt]

Here is a link to a NY Times article on the re opening of the theater, with a slide show and audio feature.


http://www.nytimes.c...st-century.html

[Natalia]

abatt, on 28 October 2011 - 01:54 PM, said:

Here is a link to a NY Times article on the re opening of the theater, with a slide show and audio feature.


http://www.nytimes.c...st-century.html

Thanks; lovely slide show. However, this article was obviously written before the gala, as it mentions Placido Domingo's scheduled appearance. I am curious - What happened to Placido? Did his plane not make it on time? Or did he go to Gergiev's 'alternate gala' for the opening of the new Opera & Ballet Theater in Astrakhan yesterday? http://www.mariinsky...2/26_229october

EDITED TO ADD: OK, I'm answering my own question. Domingo's own website shows that he was in London last night, at the first of two galas in his honor at the Royal Opera House. The 2nd gala is on Sunday. It sounds like he was unable to hop over to Moscow in between his London galas.
http://www.placidodo...7&id_kunden=196

[cubanmiamiboy]

I watched the gala.  It was beautiful, although there were some weird silent gaps in between performances.  What really struck me was the sight of the backdrop presented during "A life for the Tsar" and "Polovtsian Dances".  It was a golden backdrop with a pattern full of...sickles and hammers..! Yep, the old communist symbol was there in full display.  It was particularly weird during the "A life for the Tsar" sequence, given the content of the opera.

[Amy Reusch]

Plisetskaya was in the house... But no Vasiliev (Vladimir)?  There was a projection of him speaking... But not in person?  [Or did I miss something]

[Natalia]

Vasiliev is in Rome producing his own gala this weekend ("Russian-Italian Gala").

http://rome.wantedin...?id_event=17975

[Lidewij]

cubanmiamiboy, on 28 October 2011 - 05:56 PM, said:

I watched the gala.  It was beautiful, although there were some weird silent gaps in between performances.  What really struck me was the sight of the backdrop presented during "A life for the Tsar" and "Polovtsian Dances".  It was a golden backdrop with a pattern full of...sickles and hammers..! Yep, the old communist symbol was there in full display.  It was particularly weird during the "A life for the Tsar" sequence, given the content of the opera.

Isn't that just the pattern of the front curtain of the Bolshoi Theatre?  I also found it a little weird, and quite distracting..