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Ismene Brown has related the news that Mikhail Messerer has been named Chief Ballet Master of the Mkhailovsky Theatre after "snapping up for the Mikhailovsky of one of the key players in the Bolshoi’s violent soap opera," Angelina Vorontsova, for whom he has big plans, including major roles in "The Flames of Paris."

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The news follows a translation of an interview with Messerer in "Izvestia."

Thank you for the linked story Mikhailovsky instals new classical chief, as well as the stories on sub-links:

There are precedents for this sort of casting in Onegin. For example, when the National Ballet of Canada first performed the ballet in 1984, the first Tatiana was to have been Veronica Tennant, who'd been anointed by Cranko when she was still a teenager. However, when injury prevented her from dancing in the premiere, her slot went to her understudy, soloist Sabina Allemann, ...

I have watched a recording of NBC's complete Onegin, Sabina Allemann as Tatiana. I like Allemann's Tatiana very much. Her Tatiana is not "a bookish country girl", but a noble girl living in remote country, an innocent dreamer, with vivid imagination from reading. A bookish country girl?? I bet the Prince Gremin would not even manage to glance at Tatiana in the ball.

I can see that Smirnova and Allemann have very different body lines and personal traits. Smirnova's ballet skill could be batter than Allemann. But, I would like to see a great contrast between Tatiana's warm heart and Onegin's cold blood from her interpretation.

The Bolshoi's daily news dispatch today included an interview with Olga Smirnova about preparations for Onegin. She said that the Сranko repetiteurs tried different combinations of dancers before deciding which pairings would work best. She also noted that her initial partner was not ultimately cast in the ballet.

Hallberg arrived in Moscow late, so he would not have participated in this process, but he's danced the ballet before. It's entirely possible that Zakharova spent part of the rehearsal process learning the choreography with the Bolshoi's other Onegins, and that ultimately she was paired with Hallberg almost by default, since, as far as I know, he hasn't danced much, if at all, with the Bolshoi's other Tatianas.

Thank you for the info. Your posts have always helped!

On the page of Royal Ballet, the description for the role of Tatiana is "a bookish country girl into a sophisticated woman". A Bookish Tatiana in Act 1 & 2? Maybe, Olga Smirnova is for Cranko's bookish Tatiana. IMO, THE Tatiana in opera movie Eugene Onegin (1958) is more close to Pushkin's Tatiana. Well, I am not a Russian. I cannot speak for Pushkin & Russians.

Anyway, the casting of Onegin at Bolshoi has made me confused and amazed. I still cannot buy Anderson's words "my main priority is that Cranko ballets are staged, rehearsed and performed accurately." I understand that he would not tolerate poor and lossy performance of Crako's ballets. But, if Bolshoi danced a better Onegin than Stuttgart, would it be accurate or not?

The handover looked very civilized.

http://izvestia.ru/news/553359

Mikhail Lavrovsky had some interesting things to say.

Izvestia now says Vladimir Urin is the replacement. He is the current CEO of the Musical Theater of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko

http://izvestia.ru/news/553322

There is a longer story about this news, Anatoly Ixanov followed Tsiskaridze, on another page.

http://izvestia.ru/news/553326

In the story Urin, Filin, Zakharova, Tsiskaridze, Volochkova, … are all mentioned. The writer also lauds Ixanov for building creative art-programs. (Using Google translator, the story is readable.)

In fact, whether or not the Bolshoi administration was involved in this decision, I could not help wondering if the heads of the Bolshoi were not just as happy to avoid giving Halberg the opening Onegin--that is, if they might prefer not to have the company's first performance of Pushkin's iconic hero danced by the American who has been away for a year. And (speculating further), who knows? perhaps as much for his own sake as anything else. Surely critics (and god knows who else) would be waiting to pounce and quite indifferent to Hallberg's success in the role in the United States. The source material is sacred territory for Russian culture even if it's Cranko's ballet and the Stuttgart's signature.

Did Zakharova select her partner for herself ?

Do prima-ballerinas or big stars at Bolshoi usually have the advantage to choose whom they want to dance with ?

Reid Anderson's words :

- My main priority is that Cranko ballets are staged, rehearsed and performed accurately. I do not take into account the hierarchy of any company. So artists have to make compromises in order to preserve the image of John Cranko’s ballets.

that make me think of comments from Maya Plisetskaya on Bolero:

What is the accuracy in re-producing of a ballet, anyway?

Do the Cranko stagers really have so much power that they can dictate who dances on which night? Seems like unwelcome micromanagement.

Yes, they do. I had heard some stories about how picky & dictatorial they were, when they worked with the National Ballet of China on Onegin. Then, I have been wondering how they will behave, if they meet Russian, Bolshoi.

I was amazed, when I saw there is no Mercuriev as Lensky on the casting list. IMO, he is a dancing poet, very unique.

BTW, in the latest YouTube video of A ticket to Bolshoi (June 2013), there are some historical and rehearsal scenes of Cranko visiting Ulanova, Bolshoi, selecting dancers for Onegin, and etc., from 30:55.

Here are my thoughts on the two shows I've seen so far.

6/17 - Semionova & Hallberg

...

Personally, I did not care for Semionova's fouettes even though she pulled off a jaw-dropping series of triple pirouettes-they did not fit the music at all, and she traveled around the stage quite a bit.

I am sure ballet dancers need to listen to and follow the music. But, there are some conductors who don't like or cannot conduct for ballet. Once a conductor told me that conductors who don't like to watch the principle dancers feet cannot conduct for ballet. Is it true that the conductors and principle dancers need to cooperate in ballet performances?

I'm wondering if Askerov was Kondaurova's choice for that all-important cinemas performance (potentially a DVD in which to be immortalized)? Her usual Siegfried or Solor is Ivanchenko who, for all of his faults, at least is a solid partner.

In the OFFICIAL TRAILER of Swan Lake 3D - Live from the Mariinsky Theatre - 06 June 2013, Kondaurova's Siegfried IS Ivanchenko.

https://www.youtube....h?v=ricuPmpF544

Kondaurova and Ivanchenko are also the dancers on the photo to preview 3D screening of Swan Lake.

http://londondance.c....fitandcrop.jpg

Mariinsky or the movie maker probably replaced the Siegfried not very long before the Live Broadcasting. Well, that is all bout THE business.

Wow, The clip came out so quickly!

Just for this variation, I wish Polunin would have done in the Bolshoi traditional way. I also like to see how the drama being developed in ACT I. It would be even more interesting, if Polunin and Mercuriev could change their roles, Polunin as Hans and Mercuriev Albrecht. Ha, ...

I have no doubt about that Polunin is an excellent dancer, a super jumper, and a good artist from heart. I hope Bolshoi could grab him to dance The Flames of Paris, ..., sometimes soon. However, I don't think Stanislavsky Theater is not suitable for him. Igor Zelensky is an accomplished artist who took Polunin under his wings not only for his company, but also taking care of Polunin's artistic future. With Zakharova and Zelensky both in Moscow, Polunin would not feel bored, at least for now.

On Bolshoi's website there is a performance of Giselle scheduled on June 10, 2013, in which the dancers are

Giselle, the peasant girl ...... Svetlana Zakharova

Count Albrecht ................... Sergei Polunin

Hans, the gamekeeper ...... Andrew Merkuriev

I remember that in one of his interviews Polunin said: I don't like dance Giselle. I just don't get it. A Noble man pretend to be a peasant? ……

It may be very interesting to see how this show goes on Bolshoi's stage. With Svetlana Zakharova as Giselle and Andrew Merkuriev as Hans, they could certainly help a lot, Polunin wouldn't get better support than this!

It would be very interesting to see how Russians to interpret John Cranko's Onegin, and if or not there is any confilict with Anderson, although Bolshoi has the same Ballet Master: Reid Anderson and Assistants to Ballet Master: Agneta Valcu, Victor Valcu. I do hope to see Russian interpreting of John Cranko's Onegin.