Buddy Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 (edited) This Raymonda has a significant change in plot. Raymonda falls in love with Abderakhman. This was done once before in a production from Russia. Olga Smirnova in her performance was apparently very well received as was Victor Caixeta. Here's a quick preview featuring Principal Dancer, Maia Makhateli, who debuted the work and can be seen with the complete work in May on an internet broadcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdgNplp8JQM (Thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie) Here's a look back from the Mariinsky archives. https://www.mariinsky.ru/about/exhibitions/petipa200/raimonda/ Google translator:https://translate.google.com Edited April 19, 2022 by Buddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Posted May 9, 2022 Share Posted May 9, 2022 (edited) I saw the stream--wonderful in every respect! Fantastic production...beautifully danced -- As anyone reading this probably knows, Rachel Beaujean's production of Raymonda rewrites the scenario just enough to dispense with some of the more potentially problematic white-crusader elements and (less talked about as far as I've read) also explicitly anoints Raymonda the future ruler of her feudal kingdom. Since the production makes these changes while still keeping much of the ballet intact and allowing one to wallow in its classical pleasures, I am hoping that it will be taken up by a major American Company. If someone made me the new director of ABT, then this would probably be one of the first productions I would try to obtain. (I have a longer list prepared in case I'm tapped for the job .) [Edited to add that just a few hours after I posted this, the job was given to Susan Jaffe. I hope she saw this livestream.] Any negatives? Jerome Kaplan's slightly autumnal color choices in Acts I and III were perhaps cued by the melancholy in the music, but I'm not sure how I feel about them. And I personally like to see Raymonda play the lyre in Act I--it's one of the ballet's most magical images and seems to be missing here. Also, and not really a criticism of this production, I can't help but miss some of the Sergeyev choreography that one sees in the Mariinsky Raymonda--especially in the first act Waltz ... Regarding the new scenario: maybe it doesn't fall into place without raising a question or two. Abdur-Rahman seems awfully philosophical about being knocked down by his lover's ex, and everyone except for Jean De Brienne and some of his immediate entourage is blasé about Raymonda's change of heart. But I was largely fine with the new scenario. I even think that the gorgeous music and choreography of the Act II pas d'action actually makes more sense if Raymonda and Abdur-Rahman are falling in love -- as they are in this production... That aspect of the new scenario worked very well for me. Anyway, an extremely enjoyable performance. I hope others had a chance to see it--though I realize that perhaps not everyone will have liked it as much as I did. Edited May 9, 2022 by Drew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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