Sergei Vikharev RIP

[Mme. Hermine]

Posted yesterday:

 

Alexander Novikov: " The preluminary information, requiring confirmation tomorrow: The Wake to be held on June 8th, at 10:30 a.m., in Mariinsky Theater followed by the Funeral at Seraphimovskoe Cemetery":

[Natalia]

Amy (DarkDancer06 on YouTube): Your beautiful tribute video has made it onto Ismene Brown's column on Vikharev!  (Scroll down...an overall great article)

 

http://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/sergei-vikharev-master-ballet-reconstructor-1962-2017

[sandik]

Thanks for the link -- since I don't read Russian, a lot of the coverage is out of my ken.

[Natalia]

2 hours ago, Gnossie said:

It was a very beutiful farewell to a very beautiful person, Pavel (Gershenzon) will not give up on recons, is all I can say and Novikova, poor woman, she was was probably the only person from the Mariinsky crying as much as me, my heart goes to her.

reportage on Russian television http://www.5-tv.ru/news/133109/

 

Thank you so much for this report & link, Gnossie! My husband's sister is one of the last persons shown, standing with flowers, as the camera pans to the right. I see Novikova (for whom SV was the official coach at the Mariinsky...one of very few assigned to him). I also see Selina. 

 

Another article at the bottom of that web page reports that Vikharev's heart failed in the middle of a dental operation, after being given general anesthesia.  As per the headline, Vikharev's sister is filing court papers against that dental clinic. So he died while sitting in the dentist's chair. Wow.

 

link to story of SV's sister taking legal action: http://www.5-tv.ru/news/133176/

Edited June 9, 2017 by Natalia
Added link to legal action vs dentist

[tabitha]

  am so devastated!what a terrible loss.and so young. his ballets  of sleeping beauty and la bayadere  were by far  my favorite  i have ever ever  seen .

 

the sets and costumes were magnificent , why mess  with  the original i say! the acting and  story  put back to the original 

 made all the difference the  variety of  the orignal steps brought back so wonderful.

 

i hope there will be dvds of all his ballets is a disgrace there never were .all i can say is the kirov have no taste  to have stopped performing these magnificent ballets  and  to not have put out dvds of them .

 and  to not have brought the awakening of flora to the u.s.what a loss was looking forward to all the  future magnificent reconstructions by the one and only  sergei vikharev  in years to come. am devastated beyond words.

Edited June 9, 2017 by tabitha
lots of typos !

[Natalia]

Agree that Vikharev's "Fab5" Petipa recons should be filmed & released as a set! Of the five, only the one produced outside of Russia - the LaScala Raymonda starring Novikova - is commercially available as DVD. The Bolshoi has "filmed" COPPELIA for cinemas (and will do so again this fall). That's two out of the five on commercial film, in some form or another. Only the Mariinsky refuses to take action to commit its three Vilharev-Petipa to full filming (SB, BAYA & FLORA). If anything, the sets & costumes for those three productions are being dispersed/dismantled. For example, the last time that I saw Aurora's A2 tutu, Lopatkina had "borrowed" it for a comic routine! Shame.

 

Also, as many others have noticed, in the past few years the Mariinsky has been using some of the sets of the Vikharev new-old production on tours of their current (Soviet) production.

Edited June 9, 2017 by Natalia
Added Lopatkina comedy pdd link, using Vikharev Aurora tutu

[tabitha]

 am beginning to hate lopatkina... comic routine?!  how could she .those sets and cosutmes are the best i have ever seen !

[Amy]

On 06/06/2017 at 6:00 PM, Natalia said:

Amy (DarkDancer06 on YouTube): Your beautiful tribute video has made it onto Ismene Brown's column on Vikharev!  (Scroll down...an overall great article)

 

http://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/sergei-vikharev-master-ballet-reconstructor-1962-2017

Oh wow! Thanks Natalia for alerting me to that.

[Amy]

It is disgraceful how the Mariinsky won't release Sergei's reconstructions onto DVD; the only thing they have done was the third act of his Sleeping Beauty reconstruction for that New Year's Gala a few years ago.

 

How dare Lopatkina use such a beautiful costume in such an appalling manner! If the Mariinsky is not going to use all these gorgeous sceneries and costumes, why don't they just let other people use them?!

[Amy]

That video clip and the photos of Sergei's funeral made cry I know I never met him, but I would've liked to have attended to pay my respects; I owe him so much. We all do

[Natalia]

1 hour ago, Amy said:

It is disgraceful how the Mariinsky won't release Sergei's reconstructions onto DVD; the only thing they have done was the third act of his Sleeping Beauty reconstruction for that New Year's Gala a few years ago.

 

How dare Lopatkina use such a beautiful costume in such an appalling manner! If the Mariinsky is not going to use all these gorgeous sceneries and costumes, why don't they just let other people use them?!

 

Also, bits of the Vikharev SB Prologue and a big part of the A2 Vision scene, starring Ayupova & (I think) Fadeev, are featured in the 2005 docum film SACRED STAGE (filmed 2003). The largest chunk can be seen as a Bonus in the DVD...we spotted then-corps member Victoris Tereshkina (now a star) as one of the 18 nereids.

 

That New Years Gala's A3 of SB that you mention is not complete...ending after the Aurora-Desire pdd (with Lopatkina's Dying Swan coming in as a surprise guest). So the grand apotheosis with the moving curtain - revealing the back tableau with the Gods, as floral swags are slowly lowered from the ceiling - is cut. Sacrilegious! 

 

Maybe Vikharev's most recent recon of a full Petipa ballet from the Harvard notes - the Ekaterinburg FILLE MAL GARDEE - will be filmed? Even though the Van Gogh-themed designs are new, they seem very pretty & colorful (not El Cheapo).

[Natalia]

2 hours ago, tabitha said:

 am beginning to hate lopatkina... comic routine?!  how could she .those sets and cosutmes are the best i have ever seen !

 

I wouldn't hate. Remember that Lopatkina & the other pupils of Natalia Dudinskaya (& her partner K. Sergeyev) simply wished to "do right" for their beloved teacher & coach. It's good to understand all sides.

[Natalia]

Ok - deleted earlier quip. Not intended as joke! I can't stand dentists and will be even more hesitant to go now.

Edited June 9, 2017 by Natalia
Rewording

[Dreamer]

I find the use of the word "hate" towards one of the greatest ballerina of our time inappropriate for this forum despite the sad circumstances Vikharev's passing.  I understand emotions are running high but Iwould appreciate more restrain in passing judgments. 

[Cygnet]

Re "Sleeping Beauty," the Prologue's scenery was sometimes used for the masquerade scene of the Mariinsky Opera's 1984 production of "Pique Dame."  Other than that, it has been rarely deployed (if ever).  Now there's a new production of that opera which premiered two years ago. When Vikharev produced "Beauty" in 1999, the production's realization was a costly enterprise, as the country was in the middle of financial crisis and devaluation of the rouble at the time.  The extravagance of the production was debated in the midst of economic uncertainty and upheaval.  I guess that was another point of contention against the production in addition to Sergei's revelatory work.  The Mariinsky's management wasted the opportunity to film "Beauty," "Bayadere" and "Flora."  They all should have been filmed for the sake of record, ballet history, and posterity.  

Edited June 9, 2017 by Cygnet

[cubanmiamiboy]

On 6/9/2017 at 8:08 AM, Natalia said:

If anything, the sets & costumes for those three productions are being dispersed/dismantled. For example, the last time that I saw Aurora's A2 tutu, Lopatkina had "borrowed" it for a comic routine! Shame.

 

 

This is very sad. Looking at that beautiful tutu...and knowing the noble cause that prompted its creation...to now see it in yet another of those ever present, awful "comic" ballet routine is quite disgraceful. When I went to Russia I spoke to several people, and I coult sense a longing for the Soviet past in some of them-(the older ones). The Mariinsky might have changed its name for the sake of going with the "new-old" times, but its core is still probably 80% Kirov/K. Sergueev. Same with the Bolshoi and its even worse Geigorovich versions.

[Helene]

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[tabitha]

5 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

 

This is very sad. Looking at that beautiful tutu...and knowing the noble cause that prompted its creation...to now see it in yet another of those ever present, awful "comic" ballet routine is quite disgraceful. When I went to Russia I spoke to several people, and I coult sense a longing for the Soviet past in some of them-(the older ones). The Mariinsky might have changed its name for the sake of going with the "new-old" times, but its core is still probably 80% Kirov/K. Sergueev. Same with the Bolshoi and its even worse Geigorovich versions.

 

5 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

 

This is very sad. Looking at that beautiful tutu...and knowing the noble cause that prompted its creation...to now see it in yet another of those ever present, awful "comic" ballet routine is quite disgraceful. When I went to Russia I spoke to several people, and I coult sense a longing for the Soviet past in some of them-(the older ones). The Mariinsky might have changed its name for the sake of going with the "new-old" times, but its core is still probably 80% Kirov/K. Sergueev. Same with the Bolshoi and its even worse Geigorovich versions.

 

5 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

 

This is very sad. Looking at that beautiful tutu...and knowing the noble cause that prompted its creation...to now see it in yet another of those ever present, awful "comic" ballet routine is quite disgraceful. When I went to Russia I spoke to several people, and I coult sense a longing for the Soviet past in some of them-(the older ones). The Mariinsky might have changed its name for the sake of going with the "new-old" times, but its core is still probably 80% Kirov/K. Sergueev. Same with the Bolshoi and its even worse Geigorovich versions.

oops sorry am very bad at computer  sorry have quoted 3 x... so far ...i agree  cubanmiamiboy- is like a slap in the face .

Edited June 11, 2017 by tabitha

[tabitha]

10 hours ago, Gnossie said:

Today is the Ninth Day, those who understand about the Orthodox Church know what it means...

Ismene Brown has translated Kuznetsova's beutiful euology so those who don't understand Russian can enjoy it here : "Ballet's magician is gone"

http://www.ismeneb.com/blogs-list/170608-magician-vikharev-is-gone.html

 

thank you gnossie very much for the translation.is wonderful.i love sergei vikahrevs sleeping beauty so much .is so wonderful to see how it was  as petipa and  Vsevolozhsky originally  wanted it .there's no comparison to me bewteen that and  the  later ones its so far above them .

 same for la bayadere and the wonderful 4th act especially .

 

im wondering why the original la fille mal gardee sets and costumes were not   recreated , was it the managements idea rather than  sergei vikharevs  or maybe  there were no photos of the originals  because what i loved about the sleeping beauty and la bayadere were the reconstructed sets and costumes  besides the reconstructed steps acting and story.is there anyone  at all who can continue   what segei vikahrev has done including the original sets and  costumes? i know no one can take  his place ever but just hoping  there is someone with his knowledge and appreciation of the old ballets  ,maybe even earlier  ones than petipa  too even though he is my favorite  but maybe  saint leon  and others although maybe they arent as notated but maybe someday more information will turn up .am still stunned and sad .and also reminded  again  how disgracefully  he was treated by the  kirov . is so unfair 

 

 what does the 9th day mean?

 

Quote

 

photos added to previous page

 

Edited June 11, 2017 by tabitha

[dirac]

Quote

 Because of that choreographic greatness, his ballets are much more than nostalgic luxury items or celebrations of absolutism. (That was more or less Wendy Perron's objection to ABT's investment in the Ratmansky Sleeping Beauty reconstruction.) 

 

Quite right. Probably the original political subtext of the ballet would be less problematic if attempts at political rehabilitation of the Romanovs weren't very much ongoing.

[tabitha]

thank you gnossie so much so glad to find someone who agrees with me !and that i agree with. i thought that  might be  the reason. money. glad  that sergei  vikharev would have wanted the sets and costumes also reconstructed . i hope someday

 

 mr pavel  Gershenzon  ,so glad to know he is there ,could redo the orignal sets and  costumes  and  that  for all future ones money will be found  to pay for reconstructed sets and  costumes it makes all the difference . there must be some big companies that would fund it or more money from the govermnent  

 like before  would be great.as pretty as the costumes  are its just not the same to me  as the ones before , i know they  did the best they  could   but how i wish they will someday reconstruct the original sets and costumes 

 thank you so much for kind offer of p m. i might bug you more! i love ballet and none more than sergei vikharevs reconstructions a total  revelation of beauty and magic and  another world and time .i loved so many details. 

 thank you for the 9 day information too .

Edited June 12, 2017 by tabitha
typos