Here are the first photos from the dress rehearsal of tonight's opening cast at The Royal Opera House of Natalia Makarova's La Bayadère. Solor is danced by Vadim Muntagirov, Gamzatti by Natalia Osipova, and Marianela Nuñez is Nikiya. This is also the cast that will be dancing when the ballet is transmitted live in cinemas on 13 November 2018. An iconic 19th-century Russian … [Read more...]
Raina Kabaivanska on the importance of Maria Callas: She’s up there and we’re down here
I was born in Bulgaria. I’m a daughter of communism. I lived with communism behind the iron curtain. We had no idea of the voices in the West because it was forbidden to listen to radio from those countries. We were able to listen to radio from Russia and the Bolshoi Theatre. When I finished at the conservatory I won a scholarship to study at the Bolshoi. In the meantime, … [Read more...]
Bolshoi Ballet’s Vladislav Lantratov on the cancelling of Nureyev: There is nothing worse for an artist…
On 8 July, after the dress rehearsal of the Bolshoi Ballet’s ambitious new ballet on the life of Rudolf Nureyev, the premiere was cancelled. Vladislav Lantratov was to have played Nureyev and, stunned by the announcement, wrote on Instagram, Нет слов...... понимание что ты только полюбил роль, начал вживаться в спектакль, всё начало складываться... и в секунду, вот эту … [Read more...]
‘Ousted’ ENO director gets top job at the Bolshoi
In an unprecedented move, it seems that 'ousted' English National Opera artistic director, John Berry, has been snapped up by the Bolshoi Theatre. It is extremely rare for non-Russians to hold administrative posts. Gleaning information from today's Financial Times and The Times, it seems - though there has been no official announcement by the theatre or by Berry - that the … [Read more...]
Maya Plisetskaya’s 90th birthday celebrated in concerts and exhibitions
20 November 2015 would have been Maya Plisetskaya's 90th birthday. The great Russian ballerina, who died on 2 May this year, will be remembered in a series of events in Moscow and St Petersburg. On 18 November her friend, and musical director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev gave a concert at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in her memory, with a programme that … [Read more...]