The Bolshoi's "A Legend of Love" streamed from Moscow

 A Legend of Love is not well known in the UK which is a pity because there is a lot to like about the ballet. A fine score by Arif Malikov, spectacular choreography by Yury Grigorovich and striking set and costume designs by Simon Virsaladze. It was first performed by the Kirov (now the Mariinsky) Ballet in Leningrad (St Petersburg) in1961. Grigorovich introduced it to the Bolshoi when he moved to Moscow. The Bolshoi performed it for the first time in 1965 with Maya Plisetkaya and Maris Liepa in the leading roles.

My first encounter with the ballet was watching a rehearsal during World Ballet Day on 1 Oct 2014. I saw an HDTV transmission from Moscow at the Wakefield Cineworld this afternoon. An HDTV transmission is not the same as watching a ballet in the theatre but Pathé Live's broadcasts are the next best thing. Although the Royal Ballet's transmissions are getting better they are still some way behind Pathé Live (see "Manon Encore at the Huddersfield Odeon" 20 Oct 2014).

The scenario for the ballet was contributed by the Turkish poet and playwright Nâzım Hikmet who based it very loosely on the 12th century Persian poem The Labours of Ferhad. There is a synopsis on the Bolshoi's website but the point to remember is that the hero, Ferkhad, chose to sacrifice his love for the beautiful Princess Shireen in order to secure a water supply for his drought ridden neighbours. Very public spirited. Indeed very socialist minded.  Just the sort of thing that Stakhanov might have done.

There are six strong roles in the ballet:

• Queen Mekhmene Banu danced by Maria Allash
• Ferkhad danced by Denis Rodkin
• Princess Shireen danced by Anna Nikulina
• the vizier danced by Vitaly Viktimirov
• a stranger danced by Eugeny Golovin, and
• the jester danced by Igor Tsvirko.

Grigorovich inserted some exhausting looking jumps for the men, particularly the jester in act II and at least as many fouettés for the Queen as in Don Quixote or Swan Lake. Indeed, he really put that character through her paces forcing her to adopt the most awkward, angular poses including one that resembled a table with one leg thrusting in the air like a flag post,  Nearly all her movements were en pointe even in the reverence at the end.  The effect was spectacular - one feat after another - just as in a firework display.

The most remarkable thing about this ballet is that it was created by very young men.   Malikov was in his late twenties when he wrote the score and Grigorovich was in his early thirties when he choreographed it. Both of those gentlemen are still alive and Malikov was in the audience.  He was interviewed by Katerina Novikova in the second interval and it was wonderful to see him as he rose to acknowledge applause in his box when a spotlight beamed on him just before the start of the third act. He took a bow to thunderous applause at the end of the show when the conductor invited him onto the stage. 

In her interview Ms Novikova asked him about his teachers and mentors. He listed a number of distinguished composers and musicians culminating with Shostakovich. Charmingly and not at all cheesily he noted that the title of the ballet was A Language of Love and wished everybody a little bit of love in their lives.

One of the reasons for the success of Pathé Live's transmissions is the remarkable Ms Novikova.  Always elegant - today she wore a smart blue top and trousers - fluent in French and English and very knowledgeable her discussions and interviews are as unmissable as the dancing.  As well as Malikov she spoke to Rodkin who was down in Moscow from the Mariinsky. She got him to talk about how the great dancers of the past, Liepa and Plisetkaya, had inspired him and how he had realized his ambitions of dancing Spartacus and Ferkhad by the age of 24. 

Last week I was driven to the hot dog stand after the umpteenth gushing tweet about "Federico" and "Marianella" not to mention the platitudes of the presenter. The Bolshoi and Pathé Live know they are good. They have sufficient self-confidence not to need such endorsements. They make good use of the intervals. They don't refer to their principals as Denis and Maria as though they were the neighbours from number 36. They have what the Americans call class and therein lies the difference.

Post Script

I posted an edited version of this article on the BalletcoForum blog and received the following responses from a lady I know only as "Amelia" and a gentleman called "Bruce Wall".

Amelia wrote:

"Thank you, Terpsichore, for your tribute to this remarkable ballet, which, in my view, should be seen on the Bolshoi's historic stage.

I just want to mention that the 24-y-o Rodkin has never been a Mariinsky's dancer. The Bolshoi has been his only employer since 2009."

I replied:

"Thanks for that information, Amelia.

I was foxed by the absence of a hypertext link to Mr Rodkin on the Bolshoi cast list but the presence of a link to him on the Mariinsky's site. I should be grateful if you could shed some light on the apparent anomaly.

I am afraid that I do not follow either company as closely as I should wish because I see them only when they visit London (and even then only once or twice a season because I live 200 miles from the capital).

You on the other hand do follow the Russian companies much more closely and I am always grateful for your information and opinions."

Mr Wall wrote:

"Terspichore, Denis Rodkin was one of the two prized private students of Nikolai Tsiskaridze, when he was still with the Bolshoi prior to becoming the Acting Rector of the Vaganova School. The other was Angelina Vorontsova ......  She is by all reports a lovely dancer and......, is now with the Mikhailovsky Ballet and features prominently in that company's NYC season at the Koch theater next month frequently dancing with I. Vasiliev."

I thanked him for that information as well.

If anyone else can assist us with information about Denis Rodkin's background and antecedents I should be glad to hear from them.  I know this blog is read in Russia so I should be particularly glad to hear from anyone who follows ballet closely in that country.

Marco Spada Streamed From Moscow

Joseph Mazilier, choreographer of Marco Spada  Source Wikipedia

Pathé Live's HDTV transmissions from the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Bolshoi Theatre are the next best thing to a seat in the stalls and in some ways better because you gain insight into the production through interviews with the artists and the creative team. I wish I could say the same about the Royal Opera House Live Cinema Season but I can't. I was distinctly underwhelmed by the broadcasts of Don Quixote and Giselle and I preferred to watch The Chelmsford Ballet dance The Nutcracker on the night that The Sleeping Beauty was transmitted.

There are a number of reasons why Pathé Live's transmissions are better than the Royal Opera House's. The first is that they use their cameras more intelligently with shots of the full stage for much of the action with close ups only of the solos and pas de deux upon which spectators in the auditorium would wish to focus. Secondly, they employ a personable and knowledgeable presenter in Katerina Novikova, Darcey Bussell is a wonderful dancer and I admire her greatly but she is no presenter. Her quotation from Balanchine and interview with Sir Peter Wright when she introduced Giselle were distinctly laboured, Thirdly, Ms Novikova interviewed David Hallberg who danced the title role and the choreographer Pierre Lacotte. I love Lacotte's story of how Nureyev tore off a bit of the table cloth and promised to make himself for all the rehearsals if Lacotte would only give him the title role. Fourthly, Pathé Live dispenses with the live twitter feed of gushing but often ill-informed superlatives that I find distinctly irritating. Finally, I enjoyed the shots of the foyer during the interval, particularly of the little girl practising her turns oblivious of her international audience and the svelte young lady waving at the camera as she was making her call who was only too aware of it. I also liked the glimpse of the stage after the curtain fell when the cast clapped Hallberg and Evgenia Ovbraztsova and the two principals were peeked between the folds before taking a final bow.

So, Covent Garden, look and learn. This is how HDTV ought to be done.  There is nothing wrong with the dancing, choreography, music or designs in London. Bring the artists to the camera and tell us more about the production.  Let the audience feel as though it is actually in one of the greatest opera houses of the world.

Turning now to the production, Marco Spada or the Bandit's Daughter is not a new work. It was first performed at the Paris Opera in 1857 and was apparently very successful but it is not a work that is performed very often today. It was choreographed originally by Joseph Mazilier (who is perhaps better known for Paquita and Le Corsaire) to a score by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber.  The ballet was revived for the Rome opera house by the French choreographer Pierre Lacotte. Yesterday Lacotte recounted the story of how he and Nureyev were at a restaurant when the discussion turned to Lacotte's work. Nureyev asked Lacotte what he was doing and Lacotte replied that he was working on a new version of Marco Spada. Nureyev had not heard of the work and asked Lacotte for the story. After Lacotte told him the plot Nureyev exclaimed that that was the role for him and that he really wanted it. Lacotte protested that was impossible because Nureyev had engagements all over the world.  At that point wrote out and signed the pledge that I have mentioned above. I have been giving some thought as to whether the promise would have been enforceable and I think it would. At least in England and other common law countries.  After all the promise to cast Nureyev there and then would have been sufficient consideration. Not a bad scenario to give to first year law students.

Spada was danced by Hallberg who reminds me a little of Nureyev. He is a powerful young man and thrilling to watch. i have never seen him live on stage and I am going to make a point of seeing him whether in London, New York or Moscow. Ovbraztsova is delightful. Sweet and light but with considerable power and energy. She is someone else I really must see. Other major roles were danced by Olga Sminova (the Marchioness Sampietri), Semyon Chudin (Prince Frederici) and Igor Tsvirko (Count Pepinelli). In the first interval Ms Novikova asked Lacotte what were the biggest problems for the Russian dancers in adapting to one of the French classics and he replied speed, precision and detail. Well there was nothing loose or slow about any of yesterday's dancers from the corps upwards.

Unusually, Lacotte had designed the sets and costumes as well as the choreography. They were sumptuous and impressive. I left Wakefield Cineworld feeling that I had actually seen a ballet rather than a reflection of one. Maybe not the fillet steak upon which the lucky people in the Bolshoi feasted but definitely better than the high quality hamburger dished up at the Huddersfield Odeon in January.