EricHG31

"Mariinsky, you are The Biggest Losers!" Ha, I couldn't have put it better myself! It's too bad that the Mariinsky, which partly for sentimental reasons is still my favorite ballet company, seems to be stubbornly missing out on the potential that these works have brought the Bolshoi, Scala, etc--especially since they pretty much started the trend. This production is *stupendous*, surely the ballet event of the year. I hate to complain, but I can't wait to be able to see a better quality version than what's on YT, but even so, I've watched it all the way through twice, and certain sections countless times now. It honestly is a dream come true to be able to see the original (more or less) intention of this ballet--and so well danced and performed (and with a pretty decent filming as well, no fancy "arty" camera angles or shots). It's always interesting how often when one returns to the source, you realize that what people for years have said makes no sense, only to find that it *does* all work. (This makes me think that the K Sergeyev Petersburg production getting rid of the White Lady was a huge mistake, particularly when her theme is so clearly stated in Glazunov's music). A beautiful testament to all involved, in 1898 and now--and thrilling to see (I admit I even teared up a bit, something I rarely do in Raymonda even though I've always loved the ballet and score).

Right, I guess this was a new piece by Lacoste (whose choreography I don't particularly love--although I like it more when he is, like in Pharoah's Daughter, basing it on Petipa's style). Too bad--I would have enjoyed seeing a bit reconstructed from the original Bolshoi production. (And yes, the fountain just seems to be in the way).

Helene, where can one see/read the lecture? The history of Cinderella--particularly the 1890s version, and the two original Soviet productions, fascinates me, but I couldn't find anything on PNB's website.

Interesting, I wonder if it's all modern choreography or not (the two original Soviet versions of Cinderella fascinate me, it's too bad we only have them in oddly filmed, edited movie versions).

Thanks! In the press release the only piece from Cinderella they mentioned, was Lacotte's reconstruction of the Zhakarov (sp?) original version of the Autumn Fairy's dance, which Maya P danced. But this comes a bit later, with the clock theme, etc--does anyone know who choreographed? Is it from the current Bolshoi Cinderella? (I think the original version had kids as dwarves at this part, lol)

I was so hoping it would be web broadcast! I hope that happens--the Giselle "lec-dem" was thrilling, I've watched it twice all the way through.

And Act III is up now too! *Oy* I knew I would never finish my paper today...

That's interesting, as I always got the feeling that Saisons was performed more (maybe because the music has become one of Glazunov's more familiar pieces--as it should, the part where Autumn fades away into the apotheosis representing the stars and constellations is absolutely thrilling and ethereal, reminding me in a way of some of Prokofiev's Cinderella). I'd love to see someone try to do something with Russes D'Amour--it's great to know that notation exists. As I said, it might make a nice pairing with Aurora, or a piece for students. The music seems so little known (I believe Balanchine used some of it in some work), but is, as all of Glazunov's ballet music is, gorgeous and very "dansant". The story, from what I gather, sounds amusing, and the pas de deux is sweet with an element of yearning.

A warm welcome, as well! Those are fascinating to see. I admit, Gorsky has always fascinated me. Photos from some of his productions (didn't he do a Giselle all in costumes that were naturalistic and made it look almost like Martha Graham?), are amazing. I get why Petipa was so put off by his stuff, but I admit, as huge a Petipa fan as I am, I'd love to be able to see some of his reinterpretations. I gather that a good deal of the Don Quixote productions we see come from Gorsky's revised version, as well as some of the Swan stuff in the Soviet era Swan Lakes? Is there any word on what of his work will be done by the Bolshoi for his anniversary?

There are a few very short clips on youtube that someone filmed by putting a camera in front of their tv set... LOL So I guess *some* people got to see it. Here's the speech before the ballet--but in Italian...

Sigh. Although I suppose that ad was for the TV broadcast, not whether it was streamed or not.

That's a great point, and I stand corrected. I guess I meant in general it's less expensive for a smaller company to, for example, put on a production of Nutcracker than try to recreate a Balanchine ballet. I believe virtually all music from pre 20th century is publi domain, but of course whoever did the recording, or getting an orchestra, etc, is a different manner.

Awww I had a bad feeling--it looks like they block access to ALL their content--I was hoping local programming they owned would be fine. I've been trying proxy sites and other attempts, but so far no luck. If anyone finds a way to make it work I hope they can let us know! I'll be getting the DVD anyway (they better release it!), but was really looking forward to this and not watching next year. And Natalia, don't feel bad for raising any false hope--it's exciting to know we WILL get to see it!

12 hours to go! I hope I'll be able to at least catch some of it online. I'm hoping I'll be able to access it in Canada. I just tried and it said this program isn't available in my country, but it was Letterman (in Italian, I assume), so hoopefully LaScala will be fine.

So 12 hours to go till the TV/Web showing?? I have the afternoon off but will probably miss the first 40 minutes or so...

Thanks for your trouble! That's interesting, so a lot must have been cut compared to the 152 minute 1974 Vasiliev/Maximova production. I wonder if it was cut for the broadcast, or in performance (I believe the Lavrosky one you mention was filmed during a tour). Anyway, thanks for remembering to look it up!

The concert thing is interesting. I remember seeing Madonna around 2005, and there was still a policy about cameras, they'd check bags, etc. Of course some snuck in, but... A few years later, they had basically completely given up, I guess as they can't take away everyone's cell phone--and it's true the concerts all end up youtube now--I think most promoters have realized it, if anything, makes more people go to them. Most who watch the low quality clips end up buying the pro DVDs, or going to the tours anyway. (That said, thank God most people haven't taken to filming things with their phones in theatre-- and it still is mainly frowned upon--I find it distracting even in a pop concert situation). But that's a good point.

Great news--I'm excited to see this, I do like some aspects of Grigorovich's production a lot (and love that they include the Cinderella number), and Virsaladze's designs have badly dated (I prefer his for the old Kirov production much more than the more abstract Bolshoi ones)--so I'm curious to see the new design. Though it's too bad they didn't decide to get the oMariinsky reconstruction...

Especially since they film so much of it and just stick it in the library :< Although that's common nowadays I think. I know in New York nearly every significant Broadway production (and more and more Off and regional productions too), since tyhe late 70s with some earlier examples has been filmed for the Lincoln Center Archives at the NYPL. Most of these can be viewed as I'm sure you know--if you got here and make up a valid sounding excuse--they're only harsher with certain titles usually due to copyright holder reasons. But these can never be released in a commercial format, largely as it would just be so cost prohibitive. I suspect it must be the same with ballet (although at least with a lot of ballet you wouldn't have to worry about paying the music, and maybe even choreography, fees as they're public domain). But it is frustrating,a nd I think more and more in the media age we live in (mjust look at all the clips on youtube), they really have to reconsider this. As others have said here, it's too bad that the Mariinsky seems to have missed the boat (it's interesting that it often seems, from a Western point of view, that either the Mariinsky/Kirov or the Bolshoi is most in the Western mindset, but rarely both at the same time). Personally, I feel especially in the current age, if they want their company to grow, and their reputation to grow, more commercial releases is the only way to do it. (I'm still gobsmacked--as I'll probably repeat forever--that the Mariinsky didn't release a DVD of their Sleepign Beauty reconstruction which, no matter what the people working their think, would certainly have been a healthy seller relatively speaking). I don't know ANY ballet fan who, after having a commercial DVD and falling in love with the work, would then have no desire to ever try to see that ballet live--it actually works the other way, mostly. But many many execs still seem to feel that if their work is available commercially, it will make live performances less "special".

This is a great post--and so true. I can remember as a kid obsessed first with the Tchaikovsky ballets, and then the Petipa ones in general, I never thought we'd see anything close to these reconstructions. It just seemed to not interest any of the companies that had the resources to attempt it. I used to continuously have the Wiley Tchaikovsky's Ballets book out from the library, just trying to imagine from the notation descriptions what the ballets were like. I have to say while there's a lot to celebrate, I am still really disappointed that the Mariinsky reconstructions (particularly Sleeping Beauty--with the exception of Act III and some clips) were never professionally filmed, and I hope the ballet returns to the repertoire and is filmed at some point. I think in a way, it was time for these extravagant original productions to come back--audiences seem to want to see these kinds of ballets more now than they have for a while--although I naively would have never thought about all of the political issues and concerns these reconstructions would bring up, particularly with people prefering more modern interpretations, though I think I understand the sentiment now (even if from my outside perspective, I can't agree). It's great to see your list--a number of these ballets (like an attempt at a reconstructed Don Quixtoe), I didn't even know about, although I know the Mariinsky and Bolshoi Don Quixote's seem to be pretty faithful to the early 1900's Gorky revision, and as mentioned, Giselle also seems to exist in a fairly close to the Petipa version. I am really surprised that we've gotten a non Russian company's recreation of Raymonda, before we've had any similar version of Swan Lake anywhere. But I suppose nearly every company already has a production fo Swan lake in their repertoire--it feels like it must be just a matter of time, though... I'd also love to, obviously see a recreation of Nutcracker but that's obviously more problematic. The original production wasn't a success, and it seems like a lot of the Act I elements in particular aren't very well notated--and some elements like the "Beehive" apotheosis would probably be seen to confuse the family audience that Nutcracker attracts in most countries. Still, I admit I'd be ost curious to see it (back when I was first obsessing about thse ballets, Nutcracker was the one that was the hardest to find information on the original production of). We do have a number of important numbers, more or less--thanks to the 80s Royal Ballet the Snow scene, more or less, and in various other productions the Pas de Deux and trepak. It's a topic for another thread, but for whatever issues people have with Nucracker, I do think that all modern reinterpretations have proven that following the original, perhaps simplistic story ultimately works the best. As for other ballets--while I would be curious to hear about oddities like the Petipa/Cecchetti Cinderella (does the music even exist, let alone the choreography?), the two that immediately spring to mind, are Glazunov's two one act ballets from 1900--Ruses d'Amour (aka Lady Soubrette) and The Seasons. I have no clue if either was notated--Ruses d'Amour in particular seems obscure, I had to find a random Soviet recording to finally hear it (it's gorgeous, as one would expect from Glazunov music). The Seasons has lived on much longer, but more as a piece of music it seems. I used to always think if these did exist in some way, they'd make a nice night long of three short ballets for the Mariinsky along with The Awakening of Flora.

Would Ondine at the Mariinsky (which seemed to last about one year...) count as well then? I had the impression Lacotte was trying to revert to a pre Petipa era version of the ballet.

Oh you're completely right--as a huge Sondheim fan I've been rather dismayed at how most revivals now (A Little Night Music being a glaring example, particularly since it's one of Sondheim's more "symphonic" scores) cut the orchestra as much as they cut anything else, to the bare union minimum. And I'm not a fan of actor/musician shows, partly because with pieces like Comapny (to give one example) the concept means that even the little, but important, use of dance in the piece originally is completely removed (I did think John Doyle's earlier revival of Sweeney Todd was at least an interesting production--but I didn't find it as much when used with Company and other shows). I gues what I meant was the recent Broadway revival of WSS did, somehow, manage to have a full orchestra (ibdb.com credits it with 29 pieces), so in the case of this show it didn't seem that unique--but I do know that sadly that's become the exception rather than the rule.

Thanks for the heads up about the video trailer--just makes me all the more eager to see this. I can never get over Vsevolozhsky's colourful costume designs (here and in Sleeping Beauty) particularly his love for the asymetrically designed tights on some of the men. I also particularly love the set for Act II.

I'm not a big Derek fan either, as a performer, but I do think (particularly out of the guys) he usually does the best choreography. That said, I think the judges were right that they would have been wise to drop the Roger Rabbit.

It's not playing here in Victoria, either. I noticed that it's playing in very very few cities compared to the other ballet screenings, so maybe it was an add on of sortes that only some theatres bothered with.