Drew

Barring natural or other disaster I will miss the live broadcast because I will be in the Mariinsky theater for the first time in my life (well, the third time that week if plans pan out)--of course I have profound, not to say religious respect for the possibility of disaster, so...Still, call me very excited and grateful at the possibility of seeing everyone who has been announced. Oddly enough reports on Askerov have actually been pretty good and yes, I'm inclined to think almost anyone would be better than Ivanchenko...

I don't know much technically about voices, but I can say that I have always enjoyed Emma Kirkby and was thinking of her when I posted. That said, I think you are probably right that what I really mean is that I typically like singers who use little vibrato rather than none at all. The few times I have heard counter-tenors I found them more 'interesting' than anything else, but I did hear one recently that I Iiked a lot--James Laing. I don't know if he is an example of the more "mainstream" approach you mention or not...

Was that common back in the Soviet era? I do notice differences between historical footage and today's style. It seems also that things are taken slower in general, although not usually as slow as Skorik's Kitri. But when you watch historical footage of something like Sleeping Beauty it almost seems comically fast because I am not used to such speed. I guess speed was valued more during that period and slower movement is more valued in our time. Maybe it goes in waves. I know in opera there have been times when less vibrato in baroque opera, for example, was the norm. Nowadays most singers use more vibrato in baroque, because it is what we want (sounds warmer and fuller). In fact most people can't stand straight/white tone singing nowadays. Off topic . but I could not resist responding to this because I love clear, pure more or less vibrato-less singing. It moves me like nothing else in opera or lieder. I have actually had to "learn" to enjoy vibrato! I agree that Maximova also had a little something of that torso "leaned forward" look of Malika Sabirova, at least in the Don Q variations I have seen on tape, but not so exaggerated. (It's interesting that Balanchine who often preferred and promoted tall dancers and even spoke about this in interviews also demanded speed in his ballets.)

Thank you Birdsall--I will report on trip as best I can. Think it will be fun to attend new Mariinsky its first season. I see Gergiev is also conducting the Kondaurova Swan Lakes. If my trip had been timed solely for ballet/opera and with no work considerations I probably would have chosen 2nd week of June rather than 1st (Bayadere, Vaganova graduation, Sleeping Beauty, Netrebko gala...) But if everything works out as announced with the Swan Lake etc. then I will be pleased.

I never believe anything until it happens, but if I really see Lopatkina's Swan Lake (and I have now bought the tickets), then I'm inclined to think I will be a pretty satisfied customer....Kondaurova performances not yet on sale for whatever mysterious reason. I've decided to wait on the "tba" cast Swan Lake. Being a Ratmansky admirer I will certainly catch Cinderella which I have never seen, though I'm afraid "Mr. Drew" will find it inexplicable. No casts yet but I'm hoping for Shirinkina or Osmolkina and wouldn't mind seeing Kolegova or Pavlenko...and anyway, that is a case of it really being the ballet that piques my curiosity--plus a chance to see the new Mariinsky. (Vishneva is an announced Cinderella for much later in the month.) I also think it likely some more ballets/operas will be posted in coming days since several nights have one or the other theater with nothing going on...which seems unlikely. To return to more immediate topic: Since I have been complaining about the website, I feel I ought to say too that, for my first ticket purchases I found it surprisingly easy to use. Well...there was one eruption of Russian text in the middle of the English language site--I "clicked" the Cyrillic letters on faith and got the tickets I had chosen but was still a little bemused... They are missing one of the high tech elements of the Covent Garden site -- being able to "check" the sight-line from particular seats -- but actually picking and purchasing the tickets went very smoothly and quickly. And, in case anyone from their publicity office reads these online ballet fan discussions...special praise for the long amount of time they give you to make the purchase once you have picked out the tickets. Particularly useful when dealing with puzzled credit card companies (Russia?) as I assume the Mariinsky must realize.

I had never seen that footage of Kirkland--it's marvelous. Thank you.

I have been trying hard to restrain my whining on the theory that it's an unbecoming trait and, on the internet, will of course live forever. But just in case anyone is keeping track, we have entered the second week of May and still the website offers no word on Mariinsky programing for the first week of June. In any of the theaters. I underline the word programming. I'm not talking about cast information. They DO still say there is an "international" White Nights festival through all of June and through early July. Just don't say what it involves past May 31st. Of course, one assumes they are dancing Swan Lake on June 6th based on the ads for the 3D live broadcast of it. But evidently they are not interested in selling seats to the live performance. Perhaps because it's so far off in the future...no ballet fan in their right mind could be trying to plan that far ahead. Oh...never mind.

Tharp at times in her career deliberately choreographed to a different piece of music than the one she ultimately intended to use. As I understood from interviews (as best I remember), she did this in order to avoid cliche/predictable relation between dance and music and only after initially setting the choreography adjusted her work to the final chosen score. It was not particularly shocking (for me, even at NYCB) given her relation to choreographers like Cunningham who aimed for complete independence of score and choreography. Though in a way, it was a "compromise" formation to obtain independence from letting the score (seemingly) determine choreographic choices without, in the end, losing the benefits of a closer intertwining of music and dance in which the former also supports the latter or, if you will, serves as its floor. But none of the above seems to be what has happened with Ratmansky's Shoshtakovich evening and, indeed, would run rather counter to what has been presented publically about it in the past. Presumably the ballet was not coming together in the way originally envisioned: we may or may not learn what inspired the change or when exactly it was determined on...how, why etc. For myself, I very much regret that I will not be seeing the Shoshtakovich evening this season -- very little ABT at all actually. But whatever Ratmansky decides to do with his work at this stage quite interests me...

What a huge and lasting contribution Franklin made to the world of ballet. What a presence we have lost. I also still remember him vividly as one of the most compelling performers I ever saw -- in particular as Coppelius and as Madge. And as everyone who ever spoke to him knows, too, he was unbelievably charming offstage "in person." The National Ballet which Franklin directed and founded was my "first" ballet company--that is, the first I saw dance regularly live. The company profoundly shaped not just a big part of my childhood but, as I believe, my life. I stumbled out a few words to that effect once when I saw him at an NYCB performance (probably in the 90's). RIP...

Beautiful video -- thank you Natalia for posting.

Thank you for passing that along. As my posts make pretty obvious, I am quite anxious about the whole trip, but that's a bit of reassurance...

Still nothing on Mariinsky site about June, but BalletandOpera.com claims Sleeping Beauty for opening days of June and says 1st is already sold out; for 2nd only very poor seats left. I find this very puzzling -- I had decided not to use their site because of their high mark up and also because I had read suggestions by Ballet fans on the web (can't remember if it was here at Ballet Talk or not) that one should not trust any announcement not directly from the site of the theater. Also I had followed BalletandOpera.Com's own site instructions about getting announcements as soon as they occured and they did not follow up, so I was a little dubious about their "guarantees" as a business anyway. Still would welcome any advice, comments, suggestions. I would be thrilled to see Sleeping Beauty--either Mariinsky version, whatever casts--while there. And would certainly pay a mark up rather than miss it or indeed be willing to pay a mark up if I could get better seats. Seriously if I'm in Petersburg and the Mariinsky dances Sleeping Beauty and I miss it, I will throw myself in the Neva.

Illuminations!!! Unbelievably great programming all round....

The timing of my trip was dictated largely (though not entirely) by work considerations: in that sense, it makes no difference. I still consider the situation absurd. It basically shows contempt for the audience--which I don't doubt is part of the attitude behind it. For the rest, I wonder if it is easier logistically for the dancers: no-one is talking about planning ahead 14 months--just 2 (I expected announcements for June in March). But, yes, of course they "can" do things this way, so why shouldn't they if they wish? It remains up to the Mariinsky to decide if that last is really a rhetorical question or if there are not some good answers when it come to the international prestige of the theater or even its long-term financial health. (Covent Garden does international fund-raising.) Like Birdsall, I'm not particularly concerned with casting at this stage (of course I would prefer to know but that's a secondary consideration and I'm an NYCB fan of old--I often buy tickets w/o knowing casts). However, i would like to know what ballets are on, what operas are on etc. Or...uh...what nights are ballet nights and what nights are opera nights. (I do enjoy the opera--but the idea that "Come to the Mariinsky..." and it makes no difference whether it's Aida or The Gambler seems rather comical to me, even if I agree that that is their attitude. The Gambler--just as an example--I would very much like to see at the Mariinsky; Aida I would take a pass unless with a strong cast or particularly admired production. I suppose I might get a ticket for an opera I didn't care to see if it was my ONLY opportunity to sit in the theater. But in any case I would like to know more than a few weeks before I go.) And deep down I just remain skeptical that it can be a good sign (logistically or artistically) of how things are running backstage that less than 6 weeks before June 1, the theater can't/won't announce repertory.

I also am planning a trip to St. Petersburg (for early June)--and honestly I am sort of outraged that with less than six weeks to go until June 1 they cannot even announce the ballets and operas to be performed for an annual festival that they themselves consider an international affair and that surely has to be largely planned WAY in advance. That is, whatever the turmoil, I don't even find it all that plausible that they don't have a pretty good idea at least of what works they are scheduling even if exact casting dates have not been finalized. It's not like you can (typically) telephone Netrebko or Cojocaru a few months ahead of time and start to chat about what might work for them. Lack of a schedule has also made it more difficult to plan the rest of my trip. (Needless to say I've given up any idea of knowing casts; I just want to know the ballets/operas and be able to buy the tickets.)

I have been fortunate enought to see Osipova dance and every time, with every role (at ABT and Bolshoi) with complete and utter passion. Genuine depth of artistry. Lots of dancers ALSO dance for the money--do you really doubt it? especially those who can really make substantial money doing it (which is not that many)--but I agree that great dancers have other motives. To my eyes and over and over again in every performance, Osipova is obviously one such great dancer. (Nor do I entirely find Osipova's company shifts to be artistically incomprehensible: for reasons already discussed, the Royal makes a lot of sense for her. As for ABT's investments in her--she is still going to be dancing with them; nothing requires her to be an indentured servant--except maybe, to be a little hyperbolic, that noncompete clause that they enforced to the extent of forcing the cancellation of the Mikhailovsky tour a couple of years ago much to the disappointment of many ballet fans. That wasn't an artistic decision either on ABT's part--and I don't particularly hold it against ABT. But there you have it: they also have an eye on business considerations as indeed they have to do. Disappointment at Osipova dancing less with ABT--at least for those of us who like or love her dancing--I understand. Some of the rest of the criticisms baffle me rather.)

Ah, but would she have wanted something more? ;) That their lives, and careers, were intertwined, I think is obvious to us all. My sore point was just in the NY Times labeling. This person's life has ended, and who were they? A "Balanchine ballerina". Not a bad thing at all, but it doesn't explain why she needs to be mentioned on the front page of the Times. In your words, "Tallchief was the cornerstone of Balanchine’s young company". So of course there's more to the story than just Balanchine's contribution. I see this type of headline in the arts press everyday: people being identified according to their relation to Balanchine, or Diaghilev. The practice is lazy and superficial, imo, and it just makes gods out of B and D but doesn't actually do so much for everyone else involved in the art. I guess I don't necessarily see it as laziness, or an insult to Tallchief's achievement; it seems reasonable to me to refer to Tallchief as a muse to Balanchine. ...the second one deciding to get out and explore-(Farrell can be quoted as declaring this move Kirkland's grand mistake, but then...was't her Giselle and Kitri great achievements in her career...?). It is not an insult to name her as a "Balanchine ballerina"...it is definitely not untrue, but there were also other achievements of her, I believe, without him. Interesting reflection, but in some ways not an appropriate comparison: There is more than a small difference between Kirkland (or indeed Alonso) as a Balanchine Ballerina and Tallchief. Balanchine "discovered" Kirkland; featured her early in her career, only "creating" two somewhat important roles on her and both of those simply revised versions of roles done for other ballerinas--notably Alonso and Tallchief. Kirkland was never a foundational muse to Balanchine, never married him (ahem), and was never the "face" of his company though she was briefly one of its "stars" insofar as it can be said to have had stars. But even that period when she danced w. his company was a relatively brief one: she left in 1974--I believe she was about 22 years old and she had not yet even arrived at her full maturity as a dancer artist. Moreover she radically and explicitly turned against (what she judged to be) his aesthetic. Something that continues in the rhetoric of her dance academy. Kitri, Giselle among her great roles? -- yes and Kirkland gave many other great historic performances post-Balanchine including her creation of the lead in Tudor's Leaves are Fading and, I would add, her performance in Tudor's Lilac Garden as well. To say nothing of her Swanilda and her Sylphide. The magnificent Maria Tallchief also had a great "non" Balanchine career--I remember goosebumps when I tumbled over some stunning black and white photos of her in Swan Lake with Erik Bruhn--but she WAS a Balanchine muse, did create/originate major roles in his oeuvre--giving performances people remain in awe of today. And she was the face of the company -- for which she danced as a mature ballerina at the height of her power, for years. What would indeed be inappropriate to say of Kirkland (or, for different reasons, Alonso) is NOT inappropriate to say about Tallchief. There are other things to say about Tallchief as well -- for sure -- including things to say about her career as a director/teacher as well as a dancer beyond NYCB! She is major, major figure in 20th-century ballet. But her historic role in the Balanchine story is not just a part, but a big part of what made her so. It honors her to acknowledge that with the utmost forthrightness. Though by all means we should remember her entire career.

As one of the most important American Ballerinas and, too, specifically for her role as a history-making Balanchine Ballerina,Tallchief deserves every accolade. I never saw her except in video clips--which do indicate what a thrilling, beautiful dancer she was. RIP.

Agreed. Also, Semionova is another reason to not book tickets for Osipova. She's lovely. And versatile. Seriously, I don't think any dancer's desire for money or what one assumes about that desire (which I personally assume includes Seo's and Boylston's and Semionova's desire for money too) is a reason not to see them dance: nor do I assume that vulgar materialism explains any genuine ballerina's career and capabilities. And I firmly consider Osipova a genuine ballerina. Some prefer others to Osipova and that's one thing, but it doesn't make her any less an artist that she wants to get the best possible contracts for herself. There is certainly something appealing about dancers who are deeply embedded in their companies--which of course is not Semionova either--but I personally don't remotely hold it against Osipova that she has had a less stable career because I consider the performances I have seen her dance to be of historic quality, comparable to the best I have ever seen going back at least to the 70's. I note, too, that she has always said in interviews how much she loves London -- I remember that from at least a couple of years back. (I like it myself.) She also said--way back, when she was first dancing with ABT--that Fonteyn (with whom she shares a birthday) is one of her idols. I don't think going to the Royal is some artistically incomprehensible decision, actually rather less incomprehensible than going to the Mikhailovsky from a certain point of view. (Nor is it as if the Mikhailovsky OR the Bolshoi -- her two other home companies -- have been paragons of stability in recent years.) I'm sad she will be dancing less with ABT, but by no means puzzled by her decision.

If you'll be in Helsinki for a few days, do take a walking tour of the historic architecture, especially around the University. The architects also worked in St. Petersburg and they look strikingly similar. Those areas were often used for location shots to stand in for Russia when it was difficult to film in the Soviet Union (e.g., Warren Beatty's "Reds"). The Sibelius memorial park and gorgeous performing arts center are worth seeing. Great public tram system, so it's easy to get around. Also worthwhile: the daytrip to Tallinn, Estonia. It's an easy ferry ride (which is an international duty-free zone, with plenty of shops on-board) to see the best-preserved medieval city in northern Europe. Thanks for the suggestions. Not sure I will make it to Talinn, but certainly hope to do some walking/sightseeing around Helsinki.

Thanks for reports on your visit-- hope you feel better soon.

These tapes of dancer screw ups can be misleading and in that sense do call for comment. Kampa may or may not be a disaster--that she is being over-promoted, over-quickly seems from the outside to be the case But let's say she is a disaster: even so, the tape of a fall or bad slip (and completely w/o context) is nearly meaningless and a good example of why youtube is something of a distortion machine when it comes to judging dancers. Bouder? A famous "faller" -- by all accounts takes a nasty slip practically every season. Do experienced NYCB fans (familiar with the best of the "old days") think she doesn't deserve her status? Far from it. Gelsey Kirkland: in my head I have a tape of several of her falls, at the very height of her career when she was in good health and dancing performances I never expect to see equaled. I'm not defending what's going on at the Mariinsky or Kampa, but I do have strong reservations about the "youtube-ification" of the judging of dancers and their progress.

Thank you again Ilya for the translation.

Thank you Ilya for the translation. I agree that the status of the "300 signatures" is unclear when they have not been published somewhere -- if only online.

The new "artistic council" that has been put in place seems potentially a victory for the pro-Grigorovich (or anti-Filin) forces in the company -- Ismene Browne has an interesting commentary on her blog.