Highlights of the 2004/05 season at the Mariinsky

[Marc Haegeman]

As sent by the Mariinsky press office here are some highlights of the current season:

· Uliana Lopatkina as Nikia (La Bayadere, November 2004),

the Lilac Fairy (The Sleeping Beauty, December 2004, February 2005) and Odette/Odile (Swan Lake, January 2005);

· Daria Pavlenko and Igor Zelensky in Swan Lake (October 2004);

· Daria Pavlenko's debut as Manon (Manon, November 2004);

· Diana Vishneva and Igor Zelensky in La Bayadere (November 2004);

· Diana Vishneva as Juliet (Romeo and Juliet, November 2004) and Manon (Manon, December 2004);

· Uliana Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva and Igor Zelensky in the programme A Tribute to Balanchine (December 2004);

· Leonid Sarafanov as Prince Desire (The Sleeping Beauty, December 2004, January 2005) and Solor (La Bayadere, February 2005);

· An Artistic Evening with Diana Vishneva (January 2004).

This season's festivals:

In addition to the Theatre's traditional festivals - the Mariinsky

International Ballet Festival (24 March-3 April 2005) and the Stars of

the White Nights International Festival of Arts (28 May-16 July 2005)

- this season will see the thematic Tchaikovsky Festival (12-19

February 2005) and Shrove-Tide Week at the Mariinsky Theatre (7-13

March 2005).

I posted a more complete survey on For Ballet Lovers Only

[Thalictum]

Marc are these your highlights or what the press office considers highlights?

Because there are many performances at least as interesting that are not highlighted. Instead the biggest names or the dancers most hyped by the administration are foregrounded.

[Marc Haegeman]

Nothing of this is mine, thalictum, it's word for word what the press office considers "the highlights of the season". I'm sure everyone will have his or her own highlights, but that's another story. Please, feel free to share yours.

[Natalia]

Interesting, Marc. I can agree with some of this -- the Lopatkinas, no doubt. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Dec 15 Beauty is an event not-to-be-missed for any ballet-lover in St Pete (yet Novikova's debut as Aurora doesn't seem to warrant the theater's term of 'highlight')! I'd add the rare appearances of Maya Dumchenko, Zhanna Ayupova and Veronika Ivanova to the list!!!

And where on earth is Elvira Tarasova this season? We should ring bells when we see her name posted on the programmes!

I wonder if the Vishnyova Choreographic Evening in January coincides with the Kirov's appearances in Washington? If so, maybe we won't be seeing Vishnyova's Cinderella here. That would be odd, as she created that role in 2002 (along with 2nd-cast Sologub). The other interpreters of the title role in Cinderella include Sologub and Golub...Pavlenko too? Merkuriev and Fadeev are Princes who I've seen. I'm assuming that all of these dancers will appear in the DC showing of Cinderella. HOWEVER I'm not holding my breath to see the ballerina who, to me, was the best part of the Cinderella premiere in 2002: Yulia Makhalina as the Stepmother.

[Marc Haegeman]

Also interesting to note that both opera and ballet companies return to London next summer. The dates for the ballet engagement are July 18 - August 7, 2005, at Covent Garden.

[Natalia]

That's great news, Marc....after a one-year absence. At least DC will get to see then in on classic during 2005: Corsaire , in early July.

[Thalictum]

A two-year absence, they were last there in 2003.

[Alexandra]

They're also coming this January (January 2005). Let's not split hairs over months

[Thalictum]

Two-year absence refers to London.

[Cygnet]

The question is which cast lists are up to the moment accurate, the playbills from their website or program inserts? In my experience, its been the latter - and sometimes not even then.

[Marc Haegeman]

In the recent press release of the Mariinsky there was next to nothing about possible plans for the ballet company. In an interview with “Kommersant” company manager Makhar Vaziev nonetheless revealed some new things the Mariinsky ballet might have in store for the current season.

Vaziev mentions the reconstruction of Drigo’s one-act ballet “Le reveil de flore” choreographed by Marius Petipa in 1894 for Kshessinskaya. Since the reconstruction would be based on Sergeyev’s choreographic notations preserved at Harvard, this could be the major premiere of the season, and it should take place in the spring of 2005.

According to Vaziev the Mariinsky will also perform Forsythe's “Approximate Sonata” which had already been scheduled for the Mariinsky Festival last season, but was withdrawn at the last moment. Vaziev also mentions that during the coming Festival next March ballets should be created especially for the three leading Mariinsky ballerinas, Lopatkina (by Hans van Manen), Vishneva (by Forsythe) and Pavlenko (by Kirill Simonov). Finally, there will be the full length “Princess Pirlipat” by Shemyakin in May.

Finally, Vaziev stresses it has always been his intention to keep the old Soviet versions of the classics "La Bayadère" and "The Sleeping Beauty" next to the new/old reconstructed versions.

Fingers crossed !

The interview in Kommersant.

[Natalia]

The article also refers to Vasiyev becoming upset with French choreographer-restorer Pierre Lacotte for Lacotte's earlier (Oct 15, 2004) interview with the same newspaper, alleging that the Mariinsky has not returned his communications asking about the fate of his reconstructed Perrot ballet, Ondine (set on the company in winter 2002/03, then indefinitely postponed just before its scheduled premiere in February 2003).

I'd heard about the Flora's Awakening reconstruction as a possibility for the Vaganova Academy (like their one-hour version of Sylvia two years ago) -- not for the main troupe.

[Thalictum]

Since when are Vishneva, Lopatkina and Pavlenko the three leading Kirov ballerinas? They are three wonderful ballerinas, but not superior to others in my humble opinion. Sologub's recent Giselle was just as good as Vishneva's, and Dumchenko is a major star -- by virtue of the quality of her dancing, not the hype. It would behoove us in the West not to acquiesce to the Soviet style propaganda. Remember the days when Irina Kolpakova was said to be the Kirov's greatest dancer, and Alla Osipenko listed in reference books as "a soloist."????

It is unfortunate indeed that Gergiev is vehemently opposed to the Vikharev reconstructions and is pressuring Vasiev to drop them. Thus Vasiev's comment.

[Marc Haegeman]

To be fair to Makhar Vaziev, the words « leading ballerinas » are entirely mine, not his (Vaziev of course only uses the word “balerin”). By doing so I implied nothing else than that these three are principal dancers of the Mariinsky – but that’s a fact, thalictum, not a matter of opinion. Apologize for any confusion this might have caused.

As for the “Soviet propaganda”, please explain your point. Of course, western company directors and ballet masters never have favourites and hype simply doesn’t exist here.

[Thalictum]

Marc, you're right that of course hype or favoritism or simply personal preference exists everywhere, but given that the Kirov in the old days was beholden to a police state, the coordination between Kirov and Kremlin resulted in disinformation on a scale not quite seen here, I believe. Perhaps I'm wrong.

At the Mariinsky earlier this year I heard an usher telling a tourist that Lopatkina, who was dancing Swan Lake that night, was the greatest ballerina of the Kirov. Was this simply the usher's opinion? I don't think so -- it had the sound of received pronouncement.

[carbro]

A Russian emigree taxi driver once enlightened me to the fact that Nina Ananiashvili was -- definitively -- the worlds' greatest ballerina. Same thing?

[Natalia]

Since when are Vishneva, Lopatkina and Pavlenko the three leading Kirov ballerinas?  They are three wonderful ballerinas, but not superior to others in my humble opinion. Sologub's recent Giselle was just as good as Vishneva's, and Dumchenko is a major star -- by virtue of the quality of her dancing, not the hype.  It would behoove us in the West not to acquiesce to the Soviet style propaganda. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's all a matter of taste, which varies greatly from country to country. Let's not forget the relatively lukewarm receptions given by Kirov-Mariinsky audiences to Darcey Bussell, Wendy Whelan & a number of other ballerinas who are highly regarded in the West. On the other hand, they love Alina Cojocaru...but is she really from the 'West'?

[Thalictum]

Good point, and taste is rather inscrutable.