2014 White Nights Festival at the Mariinsky

[Mathilde K]

Tonight's (July 14) Bayadere was the same cast as last night, and everyone did pretty much the same.

Gergiev was listed online and in the program I bought, but the audience waited for 30 minutes (Bayadere had a 7pm start time but tonight it started around 7:30pm). Boris Gruzin ended up coming out to conduct. So Gergiev conducted the July 12 performance with Kolegova, but Gruzin conducted the two Tereshkina performances even though Gergiev was listed for one. Cameras were filming tonight like the other two nights.

So all 3 nights were filmed: one with Kolegova and 2 with Tereshkina. Gergiev only conducted Kolegova. Will be interesting to see what the credits on a possible DVD will be.

Today's performance was being broadcast.

I saw the recording of the first «La bayadère»: indeed, everything as you wrote, in one word — a disaster. Now you know what kind of artistic "tastes" the Acting Director has. Signing up Bondareva is another proof of this.

[Mathilde K]

I was talking about «La bayadère» on July 12, not the performance that was broadcast.

[Mathilde K]

Read the report posted earlier in this thread.

[Mathilde K]

Yes. Certainly. The reality is, however, always much more complex than what we think, what we wish. Fateev is just sabotaging the best material among his dancers, but look at the Mariinsky's repertoire that continues under his directorship. Eleven months out of twelve every year a lover of classical dance can enjoy multitude of classical treasures not always performed by the best soloists but always by the best corps de ballet that you will not find anywhere in the world (including Bolshoi). Even at Bolshoi you may need to wait a year to pass between consecutive blocks of «Swan Lakes», or any other treasure of classical dance. Not at Mariinsky. There you have it every month. Show me another such ballet troupe anywhere.

So, in the West Fateev would be gone, but also all the great treasures would be gone and even sooner, and Mariinsky would become yet another modern/contemporary troupe with a token nod to classics, probably in some 'modernized' form (à la Bart, Spoerli, or Maillot), where the word 'ballet' is mistaken for something between gymnastics and acrobatics. Look at the current state of the Ballet troupe of the Opéra. It is a travesty of what it once was. Just 20 years ago. Under Gergiev nothing of the sort has happened. I prefer not to "throw the baby out with the bath water."

[Helene]

Where in the West are we talking about?

In North America, there is only one major or medium-sized company that is a classical company, and ABT didn't start out that way. Nor did Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Maybe National Ballet of Canada started that way -- I could never follow their narrative -- but nearly every professional North American company is a neoclassical company and most of those started as a neoclassical company. Their students have a wide range of training, and very few of them started in the schools at aged 8, and even for those who did, until they are at least 13, they are not on a pre-professional track. (There is no comparison between the kids who perform on the stage of the Mariinsky or Bolshoi in children's roles and their same-age counterparts in the US. Most of the 8-year olds trying out in the "Ballerina" movie looked more professional than almost all 12-year-olds who perform with their companies.)

If the companies are big enough, they do some version of some classics, but that doesn't make them classical companies. Some are lucky to have an AD like Ib Andersen who can make coherent versions of classical ballet for them and who, like Martins, Balanchine, and Tomasson were classically trained. Just about all of their reps have some proportion of contemporary, or what is called contemporary, ie. 25-year-old Kylian, like the ubiquitous "Petite Mort" and almost 30-year-old Tharp ("In the Upper Room") and you can't move sideways on the schedule without bumping into one of them. Much of what I see in the contemporary realm is After Kylian, since After Forsythe proved to be too difficult.

In Paris, they seem to have two camps: the contemporary/once-contemporary and the classical/neoclassical, but they are trained in a very specific technique and are honed to look a certain way. It's hard to keep track of many of the other companies: one moment Plisetskaya is running a company and the next moment it's Nacho Duato. (At least he changed it in name, in dancers, and in technique, so that it was never false advertising.)

As far as Gergiev being fired, it seems from watching Europe, the only way anyone gets fired is if they get on the wrong side of an entrenched bureaucracy or if the government changes and will only fund something fundamentally different, like in Spain. In North America, take a few minutes to read what our NY crowd says about Martins and McKenzie: the only reason they aren't considered anti-christs is that people think they're too incompetent to be one.

Gergiev brings in the money and the donors and is a friend and supporter of Mr. Putin, the ultimate Chairman of the Board. One of the few things that gets an AD fired in North America is spending money in a way the Board has an issue with, and I don't see that being Gergiev's Achilles heel.

[Mathilde K]

Thank you for your commentary. Children are accepted to the Academy of Russian Ballet (and to many Russian state ballet schools) at the age of 10.

[Helene]

Thank you for the correction.

[Mathilde K]

I have read the report; I couldn't believe so much went so wrong! How did that happen? And until the 12th July, Gergiev hadn't been home for the White Nights Festival at all, had he?

He had been, if by "home" you mean Mariinsky Theater, conducting operas. He conducts ballets only on special occasions of "high media visibility" (like a broadcast, a commercial recording, a special gala).

[Birdsall]

And that is why it was surprising he was a no show last night since it was supposedly broadcast...

[Mathilde K]

Everyone was like how I wrote yesterday. Same cast, same great performances. No need to write the same thing again.

Exactly the same cast? With exactly the same performer for each part separately mentioned in the program?

[Birdsall]

When I get back to my hotel I will double check. All the principals were the same, Manu was same, 3 shades same. Any difference may have been minor roles. But I will check after my walk along the English Quay.

[Birdsall]

Just checked each program and according to the July 13 and July 14 programs it was the exact same cast.

The cameraman told someone else in my box that they are making a DVD although last night was also broadcast so he may or may not know for sure.

I asked him if he was filming War and Peace at M-2 today and he said he wasn't but his company was filming it.

[Mashinka]

I happen to think Gergiev got the job on merit, whatever you happen to think of him he is highly regarded as a conductor in international music circles and his priority has always been opera. Perhaps he leaves the ballet to fend for itself, but his choice of Fateev has been disastrous. Vikharev or Tsiskaridze would make a better job of things but I've come to the conclusion that anyone could.

Although I have tickets to see the Kirov in London, I am going to Ireland for five days in the middle of the run, something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The cast changes have already begun and the fans are starting to off load their tickets as a consequence. I'm also told that ticket sales this year are unusually slow.

So the Kirov has a nice corps, so what? a lot of other companies do too. It's the downward spiral in the quality of the soloists that actually matters.

[Mashinka]

Shklyarov is a charming young man, he and Osmolkina kindly posed for photos for me backstage in Baden Baden a few years ago.

I'm off to County Mayo where my maternal grandparents originally hailed from.

[Mathilde K]

I happen to think Gergiev got the job on merit, whatever you happen to think of him he is highly regarded as a conductor in international music circles and his priority has always been opera. Perhaps he leaves the ballet to fend for itself, but his choice of Fateev has been disastrous. Vikharev or Tsiskaridze would make a better job of things but I've come to the conclusion that anyone could.

Although I have tickets to see the Kirov in London, I am going to Ireland for five days in the middle of the run, something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The cast changes have already begun and the fans are starting to off load their tickets as a consequence. I'm also told that ticket sales this year are unusually slow.

So the Kirov has a nice corps, so what? a lot of other companies do too. It's the downward spiral in the quality of the soloists that actually matters.

I agree with the first two paragraphs, not with the third. I understand you may be feeling frustrated. "A lot of other companies" may have a "nice corps". Mariinsky's corps de ballet is not "nice". One absolutely undeniable achievement of Fateev is that he managed to make Mariinsky's corps de ballet by far better than the corps of any other company. This is so because for 6 years he has been consistently enforcing the policy that the only place fit for all the the Vaganova graduates is the corps de ballet.

[Helene]

I am a balletomane, and I, too, have an MBA and lots of opinions -- very strong opinions in fact -- but that doesn't mean I'm qualified to run a ballet company.

Self-proclaimed experts often have their own platforms. When our policies are too restrictive for members, especially the Official News, we encourage them to start a blog, website, or discussion board of their own where they call the shots, and now there are all kinds of free social media platforms that don't require constant feeding, like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. However, they are not valid to discuss here, nor are the other comments on them, where that's usually the points on their own sites and account.

[Helene]

I have no clue, truly, because I don't know any of these people and how they operate and where/who the obstacles are in getting things done, aside from the occasional Tsiskaridze. I don't know who the leaders are, and not just those behind whom a crowd hides to air their grievances, but someone who can convince people, especially part of an entrenched opposition, to be on the same page and work towards the same goals, even when they're not completely comfortable or in agreement. Certainly it would be someone who nurtures careers and grows the company, not just a select few, but also someone with enough political savvy to be able to counter and de-fuse the opposition. Also someone who can navigate the balance between representing a great school and giving dancers the opportunity to dance rep outside the classical canon without changing company style. The Mariinsky doesn't need an MBA: it needs a Change Management expert.

Why anyone would take the position is beyond me, with so many people with friends or friends' wives in high places who can run to them after any real or perceived slight and where government minsters can decide the number of performances and use the company as a cash cow while keeping it on a relative shoestring? Are there any Fools in need of a job? Great love alone for the institution is not enough.

[Birdsall]

Tonight was the Igor Zelensky Gala that consisted of Fokine's Scheherazade and Roland Petit's Carmen.

I had never seen Scheherazade live, just on video and I always found it sort of boring to tell you the truth, but I found it very exciting in person! Polina Semionova, who danced Zobeide, is a terrific dancer who I have seen as Nikiya at ABT, but I have to say I don't think she really fits into the Mariinsky 's style. The 3 Vaganova trained Odalisques (Viktoria Brilyova, Alisa Sodoleva, and Xenia Dubrovina) showed how it is done at the Mariinsky with their rubber spines and ultra flowing arms which make the sensual and sexual nature of this ballet even more sexy. I think Semionova is excellent and acted well, but she is obviously a "guest" and is not from the same schooling. Since the legato upper body is what drives me to ecstasy at the Mariinsky I have to say I couldn't take my eyes off the Odalisques whenever they were on stage.

Igor Zelensky did a great job as Zobeide's slave. You can tell he is not a 20 year old dancer, but he still gives his all. I think he showed why he is worthy of a gala, although I think he showed some hesitation in the Carmen piece. When he did a side plank and walked his legs around it was not quite smooth, but that is a minor quibble. He was very passionate and acted well in both ballets.

Diana Vishneva joined him as Carmen in the second ballet, and she did well. She seems to stick to modern works in St. Petersburg and tends to avoid the classical ballets (mainly doing those at ABT). Mariinsky lovers that I know tend to think she knows she has too much competition at the Mariinsky in the classical roles whereas in NY she is hailed as one of the best. Whatever the case she brings a lot of modern stuff to the Mariinsky and rarely does the classics anymore in SP, and it seems like Russian audiences like to see modern ballets out of curiosity. I heard the loudest applause this trip for In the Night and this Carmen ballet. I think an American like myself loves the Russians in the classical ballets and think their training is totally wasted on modern works, but I know dancers love to branch out and the audiences here seem to love modern works. We all want what others have!

Anyway, I thought this Carmen was going to turn into The Diana Vishneva Show also featuring Igor Zelensky in small print, but she was more committed than she sometimes is (as opposed to mugging). And she was sweet during her curtain calls with Zelensky. She did seem to care about this work and gave her all to it.

Carmen featured dancers from the Novosibirsk Ballet (Zelensky is director there ), and they gave their all too. Most looked fairly petite including the males.

I am not sure which Carmen is better. Petit 's or Alonso's. Both have very modern elements. Neither is one I crave to see again but if someone gave me a ticket I might go depending on who is dancing.

Overall, a nice evening. A nice gala night to end my trip. I fly home to Florida tomorrow morning! 11 shows in 11 days! With 2 fractured ribs no less! But it was worth it!

[sasark]

I think an American like myself loves the Russians in the classical ballets and think their training is totally wasted on modern works, but I know dancers love to branch out and the audiences here seem to love modern works. We all want what others have!

That certainly rings true to me. : )

Thanks for yet another insightful review. Getting to read these thoughtful first-hand accounts is the next-best thing to being there!!

safe travels,

Sasha

[abatt]

Thanks for your reports Birdsall, and I hope you are feeling better soon.

FYI, Bayadere and Giselle are the only two "classical" ballets that Vishneva still performs at ABT, and Bayadere's' Act II requirements are evidently difficult for her based on her performance this season at ABT.

[Helene]

Gergiev and Putin have a long-standing relationship. Gergiev did an amazing job in very difficult times to keep the Mariinsky running, when the country was in administrative and funding chaos.

[Tiara]

I happen to think Gergiev got the job on merit, whatever you happen to think of him he is highly regarded as a conductor in international music circles and his priority has always been opera. Perhaps he leaves the ballet to fend for itself, but his choice of Fateev has been disastrous. Vikharev or Tsiskaridze would make a better job of things but I've come to the conclusion that anyone could.

Although I have tickets to see the Kirov in London, I am going to Ireland for five days in the middle of the run, something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The cast changes have already begun and the fans are starting to off load their tickets as a consequence. I'm also told that ticket sales this year are unusually slow.

So the Kirov has a nice corps, so what? a lot of other companies do too. It's the downward spiral in the quality of the soloists that actually matters.

I agree with the first two paragraphs, not with the third. I understand you may be feeling frustrated. "A lot of other companies" may have a "nice corps". Mariinsky's corps de ballet is not "nice". One absolutely undeniable achievement of Fateev is that he managed to make Mariinsky's corps de ballet by far better than the corps of any other company. This is so because for 6 years he has been consistently enforcing the policy that the only place fit for all the the Vaganova graduates is the corps de ballet.

How true. Nice corps? No - Superlative, breathtaking, downtrodden, held back, denied their chances, undervalued ... that is what they are.

[Helene]

Balletomanes are not in the theater watching. The alternate view us that he stays out of a lot of what happens in the ballet. He's a busy guy, showing up everywhere. His friend Esa-Pekka Salinen said that he is happiest on the podium, because that's the only place his cell phone doesn't ring. It's very hard to micromanage at a distance.

[canbelto]

I am not sure which Carmen is better. Petit 's or Alonso's. Both have very modern elements. Neither is one I crave to see again but if someone gave me a ticket I might go depending on who is dancing.

Without a doubt Petit's. I saw Alonso's Carmen twice with the Mariinsky and the dancers gave it their all but the choreography was so repetitive. Uliana Lopatkina had great legs is all I could say positive about that Carmen.

[Helene]

I didn't even need to see the whole thing -- they brought a four-person excerpts version to the cultural Olympiad around the Vancouver Olympics -- to come to the same cconclusion. Except to add, Lopatkina also had great feet.