Natalia Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 According to the website of the Ekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre (uralopera.ru ), Sergei Vikharev is staging the Petipa & Ivanov version of La Fille Mal Gardee, to premiere on May 15, 2015. Ballet in three acts to the music of Hertel, with interpolations by Drigo. This is the 1885 version that became the Imperial Mariinsky standard edition danced by Virginia Zucchi, Kchessinskaya, Preobrazhenskaya and other great ballerinas of the late-Romanov era. As usual in Vikharev reconstructions, the plan is to recreate the luxurious sets and costumes as seen on the Imperial stages. Tickets already on sale for all three initial performances...but, so far, only via the Russian version of the site (billeti i afichi - Maya...May). Link to comment
Helene Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 From the program notes from the "Paquita" HD transmission we saw in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall (formerly the main year-round screen of the Seattle International Film Festival, and wonderfully fitted out) that I think were part of the program in Munich, Wilfried Hoesl interviewed Alexei Ratmansky. WH: In what way is your approach of Paquita different from other attempts of the past decade to reconstruct the classics? AR: We do not know how much of the original Mazilier choreography Petipa used in his stagings, but I can promise there is only 2 minutes of my own choreography in this production, the rest comes from the notations. That's the main difference between us and Pierre Lacotte, who can definitely call is 2001 Paris Opera staging of Paquita his own ballet. Pierre is a brilliant stylist, a legendary classicist, but if you want to see what Petipa's Paquita looked like you need to go to Munich, not Paris. On the other hand, my Russian colleagues, Sergei Vikharev and Yuri Burlaka, who have made some very fine productions of the classics based on the notations, seem to be quiet [sic] skeptical about today's values of it. They alter, modify and develop the material. Personally I have no interest in staging a modified version (unless there is not enough sources of information). I would rather do my own ballet instead. By standing firmly with the notation even in smallest details, we give an audience the chance to judge for themselves. It feels fair. I think Petipa deserves it... Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 If it comes down to a choice between authentic choreography and authentic design, I vote for choreography. Link to comment
sandik Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I don't know how much of the original choreography is available in notation and other resources -- Doug Fullington, could you bring your knowledge to bear here? Link to comment
Natalia Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 I vote for all visuals...see it as did the Romanovs! Link to comment
Amy Reusch Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I vote for live chickens and a jealous ballerina! (but perhaps only once) Link to comment
MadameP Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I wish the Mariinsky could have had this Vikharev reconstruction. Link to comment
Natalia Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 p.s. Nicholas II would give a "thumbs down" to POLYESTER PAQUITA! (Wink) By the way, it's poetic justice that such a grand, old-fashioned ballet reconstruction would be happening in the city of Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk), where Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family were massacred by the Soviet killers led by local Leninist leader Yakovlev. Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 p.s. Nicholas II would give a "thumbs down" to POLYESTER PAQUITA! (Wink) By the way, it's poetic justice that such a grand, old-fashioned ballet reconstruction would be happening in the city of Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk), where Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family were massacred by the Soviet killers led by local Leninist leader Yakovlev. Yes indeed. A sign of the times.... Link to comment
Cygnet Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I'm ITA with Natalia and cubanmiamiboy. It's wonderful that Ekaterinburg Ballet is coming into its own. They've been nominated a lot in recent years for the Golden Mask award. This is going to be yet another exciting Vikharev reconstruction. Kudos to Seriozha Vikharev for staging these historic masterpieces - wherever he can. Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Pavlova/Legat. 1910 Virgina Zucchi, 1885. Sofia Fedorova, 1915 Ofga Preobrajenska, 1890. Link to comment
Natalia Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 Lovely! Thanks for posting, cubanmiamiboy. Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 My pleasure, Natalia. It would be interesting to see if the reconstruction has any points in common with the very few current stagings derived from Nikinska's for BT . Alonso still has it in active repertoire in Havana. Link to comment
Natalia Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Indeed. Also, I'm wondering if Lise's mime sections look like Ashton's, as Karsavina's recollections supposedly influenced it, e.g. Lise imagining her wedding, spanking her future kids, etc. Link to comment
mussel Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 What're the sources for the reconstruction? From Harvard? Mariinsky archive? Will there be a white act? How many Petipa ballets are reconstructible? I hope it will on streaming or DVD. Anyone going? Please report back. I nominate Vikharev or Burlaka to replace Kevin. Link to comment
Natalia Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 Mussel, Vikharev and team are using the Harvard notes and other documentation to reconstruct steps, music and sets/costumes of the 1880s. I'll be there on May 15 if my work schedule and location allow, as a lot of my work is in lesser-developed countries. Yekaterinburg is not a locale that I can justify as a transit airport between USA and Africa or SE Asia. Link to comment
Natalia Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 Some belated news on this, via YouTube links (Russians vids from the Yekaterinburg Theater & TV channel NOVOSTI): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ubfNcgZJtGk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-OImYzCdAPs The colorful sets are inspired by Van Gogh paintings, not the Tsarist-era originals. One of the clips shows Vikharev setting the A1 ribbon dance on the young Lise and Colin. Link to comment
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