NEW STAGE
5 October 2007
Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
The Queen of Spades
The Theatre opens its 232nd season with the premiere of a new production of the opera
Conductor — Mikhail Pletnev
Director — Valery Fokin
Designer — Alexander Borovsky
Making their opera debuts in this production of one of the best known and most loved operas in the Russian and world opera repertoire are pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev and theatre director Valery Fokin.
Mikhail Pletnev, People’s Artist of Russia, Grammy and Russian State Prize winner — distinguished pianist and conductor, founder of the Russian National Orchestra. His triumph at the 1978 Tchaikovsky Competition brought him world fame and was followed by performances at major concert halls in both solo programs and accompanied by leading orchestras under the baton of Claudio Abbado, Loren Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Sanderling and others. In 1980, Pletnev made his debut as conductor, and in 1990 he created the Russian National Orchestra which incredibly rapidly became ranked among the world’s best symphony orchestras. Recently, the maestro has devoted a lot of his time to composing.
In recent years, the Bolshoi Theatre has several times commissioned productions from leading film and theatre directors, for instance, Robert Sturua, Eimuntas Nekrosius, Alexander Sokurov. And now another top-ranking name in the world of theatre is added to their ranks.
Valery Fokin, People’s Artist of Russia, winner of four Russian State Prizes — theatre director, artistic and general director of Moscow’s Meyerhold Centre, artistic director of St. Petersburg’s Russian State Academic A.S. Pushkin Theatre of Drama (Alexandrinsky). He has over 70 productions to his name at the Alexandrinsky, the Sovremennik, the Moscow Theatre of the Young Spectator and other Russian theatres, as well as at theatres in Poland, the USA, Germany, Japan, Hungary and at the Avignon Festival.
28 October 2007
George Delerue
The Lesson
Based on the play La Lecon by Eugene Ionesco
Part of the Kings of Dance project
Choreographer, scenographer, costume and lighting designer — Flemming Flindt
Costumes — Tine Sander
Conductor — Igor Dronov
The ballet is of special interest in that it requires huge powers of dramatic expression from the soloist dancing the role of The Teacher.
Flemming Flindt — Danish dancer and choreographer. He made his debut as choreographer in 1963 with The Lesson. Following its transmission on Eurovision, the ballet received the Italia prize for best European television musical work of the year. In April 1964, The Lesson had its Paris debut at the Opera Comique and, in October of the same year, its Copenhagen debut at Royal Danish Ballet.
As artistic director of RDB (1966-78), Flindt built up an “unconventional” repertoire: The Young Man Must Marry (mus. Per Nergad), The Miraculous Mandarin (mus. Bartok), Three Musketeers (mus. Delerue), The Triumph of Death (mus. Koppel); and he re-staged Bournonville’s La Sylphide and Toreadoren. He did new versions of the classics — Swan Lake and Nutcracker. He was the first to introduce Glen Tetley, Jose Limon, Paul Taylor to Europe. In 1978, he formed his own company. Among his other ballets are The Overcoat (mus. Shostakovich) and Death in Venice for Rudolf Nureyev, Legs of Fire (mus. E. Norby).
He was a jury member of the two first International Ballet Competitions in Moscow.
20 February 2008
Herman Lovenskjold
La Sylphide
Choreography by August Bournonville
Johan Kobborg’s new version
Designer — Peter Farmer
Conductor — Pavel Klinichev
La Sylphide is the pearl of the romantic repertoire. The Oleg Vinogradov production, for many years a staple of the Bolshoi Theatre repertoire, is in need of renovation. The new production injects this classical ballet with the joie de vivre and beauty which are the hallmarks of the Bournonville style.
Johan Kobborg — one of the most distinguished dancers of his generation. On completing his studies at the Royal Danish Ballet School in 1991, he joined the Company. Having made his debut in La Sylphide, he was promoted to principal soloist. Since 1999, he has been principal dancer with London’s Royal Ballet. He has mounted several ballets by August Bournonville. La Sylphide, in his production, opened the 2005/06 season at Covent Garden. He has often danced in Bolshoi Theatre productions.
22 April 2008
Georges Bizet
Carmen
Conductor — Bolshoi Theatre Principal Guest Conductor Yuri Temirkanov
Director — David Pountney
Scenography — Robert Innes-Hopkins
Costumes — Marie-Jeanne Leca
The Bolshoi Theatre presents the opera in its original version with dialogues.
The Bolshoi Theatre has done seven productions of Carmen. But now, in its 232nd season and, for the first time in its history, the Theatre is to produce the opera with dialogue in place of recitative. The public will have a unique opportunity of hearing one of the most popular operas of all times in its original form, i.e., as it was heard by the audience at its world premiere at the Paris Opera Comique. The new production is by Yuri Temirkanov and David Pountney, two performing arts personalities of world renown.
Yuri Temirkanov — People’s Artist of the USSR, winner of USSR State Prizes and of the State Prize of Russia, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor Laureate of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 1978, he conducted a production of Rodion Shchedrin’s opera Dead Souls at the Bolshoi.
David Pountney made his opera debut in 1972 with a production of Janбиek’s Katya Kabanova for the Wexford Festival. From 1982-93, he was Director of Productions for London’s English National Opera (his production of Macbeth was seen at the Bolshoi during the ENO’s 1989 Moscow tour). He has produced several dozen operas for the Metropolitan, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and for the Salzburg and Bregenz Festivals. In 2003, he was appointed Intendant of the Bregenz Festival.
3 July 2008
Boris Asafiev
The Flames of Paris
Choreography by Vasily Vaynonen
Alexei Ratmansky’s new version
The Flames of Paris was first presented by Vasily Vaynonen at the Bolshoi in 1933, with decor by Vladimir Dmitriev, and Yuri Fayer conducting; the lead roles were danced by Vakhtang Chabukiani and Marina Semyonova. Revived in 1947, with Olga Lepeshinskaya, Alexei Ermolayev, Asaf Messerer and Sofia Golovkina, it was awarded a USSR State prize. The last production was in 1960 and remained in the repertoire till 1964.
The 20th century gave us the ballets of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Frederick Ashton, Roland Petit, John Neumeier, Twyla Tharp — and all these names may be seen on Bolshoi billboards. (Along with the names of Christopher Wheeldon, Declan Donnellan, Pierre Lacotte who, in the 21st century, created productions specially for the Bolshoi Theatre). The 20th century, however, also has a rich Soviet legacy which has been well and truly forgotten and not always justifiably so. In many ballets of that time, after all, there were dances of great beauty on which more than one generation of dancers and spectators were brought up. Today there is a tendency throughout the world to return to narrative ballet and therefore the revival of works by the outstanding Russian 20th century choreographers is more than fitting.
13-15 June 2008
Marina Semyonova 100th Anniversary Festival
13 June — Swan Lake
14 June — La Bayadere
15 June — Raymonda
At the end of the season, Marina Timofeyevna Semyonova celebrates her 100th birthday. The festival to mark this amazing jubilee consists of the ballets in which the great 20th century ballerina once shone.
The Studio of New Choreography presents works by Russia’s young choreographers.
28-31 October 2007
Kings of Dance
The Kings of Dance project gives Moscow audiences the opportunity of seeing the best modern dancers, including Bolshoi Theatre soloists Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Sergei Filin, in works by choreographers Christopher Wheeldon, Nils Christie, Roland Petit, Tim Rushton and Stanton Welch. Included in the program, is Flemming Flindt’s The Lesson.
13, 14 May 2008
Dmitri Shostakovich
The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
Conductor — Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Season Ticket Concerts at the
BIG HALL OF THE MOSCOW CONSERVATOIRE
Included in the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra’s varied program for its forthcoming season at the Conservatoire are all the Rachmaninov piano concertos — in this way the Bolshoi has chosen to mark the composer’s 135th anniversary to be celebrated in 2008. The soloist is the world famous pianist and interpreter of Rachmaninov’s music, Nikolai Lugansky, a longstanding partner of both Orchestra and Alexander Vedernikov.
During the season, the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra will also play works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Sviridov, Dvorak, Berlioz and Janacek. The concerts will be conducted by Bolshoi Theatre Music Director Alexander Vedernikov, and also by Jiri Belohlavek and Bolshoi Principal Guest Conductor Yuri Temirkanov.
7 November 2007
Ludwig Beethoven
Symphony No. 7
Georgi Sviridov
Oratorio Pathetique for soloists, chorus and orchestra to verse by Mayakovsky
Conductor — Alexander Vedernikov
Soloist — Vadim Lynkovsky (bass)
20 December 2007
Leos Janacek
Glagolitic Mass — oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra
Antonin Dvorak
Symphony No. 8
Conductor — Jiri Belohlavek (Czechia)
Soloists: Hibla Gerzmava (soprano)
Yevgenia Segenyuk (mezzo-soprano)
Maxim Paster (tenor)
Mikhail Kazakov (bass)
21 May 2008
Sergei Rachmaninov (to mark the 135th anniversary of his birth)
Piano Concerto No. 1
Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini for Piano and Orchestra
Piano Concerto No. 2
Soloist — Nikolai Lugansky
Conductor — Alexander Vedernikov
24 May 2008
Sergei Rachmaninov
Piano Concerto No. 3
Piano Concerto No. 4
Soloist — Nikolai Lugansky
Conductor — Alexander Vedernikov
30 June 2008
Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy
Hector Berlioz
Love Scene from the symphonie dramatique Romeo et Juliette
Sergei Prokofiev
Fragments of music from the ballet Romeo and Juliet
Conductor — Yuri Temirkanov
Art. Lebedev Studio