Last night a Gala to celebrate Rudolf Nureyev was had at La Scala. It is the 80th Anniversary of his birth and also 25 years after his death. The Gala was previewed by a benefit audience on Thursday, and opened Friday 25 May, with further performances on 26 and 29 May. La Scala's Étoiles Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle were joined by guests Marianela Nuñez, Germain Louvet, … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Nureyev Gala at La Scala – Zakharova, Louvet, Nuñez, Muntagirov and Bolle (and Nureyev at La Scala facts and figures)
Raymonda
Eufemia Brancato, queen of the tutu, dies at 95
Eufemia Brancato died this morning three weeks before her 96th birthday. She was the head of Brancato Costumiers in Milan which she founded in 1961 after five years working at the Piccolo Teatro with Giorgio Strehler. Creating her own company came about after the great Italian designer Luciano Damiani asked her to make all the costumes for an opera he was designing. Being that … [Read more...] about Eufemia Brancato, queen of the tutu, dies at 95
A good, old-fashioned gala? Pignotti salutes Nureyev
Luigi Pignotti was Rudolf Nureyev’s massager then manager. He now has a company which produces evenings of ballet, flamenco and tango… though not together. It was, maybe, obvious that he would dedicate something to the memory of his old friend and still one of the ballet world’s most talked about personalities. For several years he has been producing galas in Nureyev’s honour … [Read more...] about A good, old-fashioned gala? Pignotti salutes Nureyev
Raymonda at La Scala… a year on
A year ago at Milan's Teatro alla Scala the ballet company scored a hit with its restaging of that difficult piece Raymonda. The ballet's improbable story, with a lack of obvious dramatic push, can make it seem lacklustre. Therefore when Rudolf Nureyev's version for Paris hit the stage in 1983, with Jean Guizerix's brilliantly macho Abderam making poor Yvette Chauviré quake … [Read more...] about Raymonda at La Scala… a year on
Being groomed for stardom: Italian ballerina Petra Conti
23 year-old Petra Conti is a dancer at La Scala in Milan, who is being slowly brought before the public by director (ex-director of the Mariinsky) Makhar Vaziev.He first saw her when she spent a year in St Petersberg at the Mariinsky to polish her technique. After the 2008-2009 season with the Bavarian State Ballet she decided to return to her homeland: I preferred to … [Read more...] about Being groomed for stardom: Italian ballerina Petra Conti
La Scala’s Raymonda “is a true banquet: pomp, circumstance, and an entire world on stage”, says the Financial Times
The Financial Times visited Milan's historic theatre to witness Sergei Vikharev’s reconstruction of Raymonda - a production which is sending ripples of interest and excitement around the ballet community.This blog alone, and its associated YouTube channel, has received thousands of extra visits to read about Raymonda, pushing the associated posts to the top of the most … [Read more...] about La Scala’s Raymonda “is a true banquet: pomp, circumstance, and an entire world on stage”, says the Financial Times
‘Restored’ video of Rudolf Nureyev’s version of Romeo and Juliet with Carla Fracci and Margot Fonteyn, now on YouTube
In 1983, Rudolf Nureyev's version of Romeo and Juliet was filmed in Milan, and broadcast in Italy and in Britain on Boxing day of the same year. It stars Carla Fracci as his Juliet and the extraordinary participation of Margot Fonteyn as Lady Capulet.This cameo is rather like another wonderful homage by Nureyev when in his Paris Raymonda, with Noella Pontois, the great … [Read more...] about ‘Restored’ video of Rudolf Nureyev’s version of Romeo and Juliet with Carla Fracci and Margot Fonteyn, now on YouTube
Olesia Novikova in the Raymonda Act III variation, joined by Friedemann Vogel for the coda
Another clip from Sergei Vikharev’s newly reconstructed version of Raymonda. Mariinsky ballerina Olesia Novikova is joined by Stuttgart Ballet's Friedemann Vogel in the Act III variation and coda. … [Read more...] about Olesia Novikova in the Raymonda Act III variation, joined by Friedemann Vogel for the coda
Olesya Novikova’s extraordinary thirty entrechat-quatre en pointe in Raymonda
The last great work from the glorious era of the Imperial ballets had never before been performed by the La Scala ballet until last night. The La Scala première marks the most faithful version of Raymonda yet to the original, which met with triumphant success in St Petersburg in 1898.In Sergei Vikharev's newly reconstructed version, Mariinsky ballerina Olesya Novikova … [Read more...] about Olesya Novikova’s extraordinary thirty entrechat-quatre en pointe in Raymonda