"Raymonda" from Moscow

Standard YouTube Licence


Bolshoi Ballet Raymoda  Streamed from Moscow to cinemas worldwide 27 Oct 2019 15:00

Although Act III of Nureyev's production is in the current repertoire of the Royal Ballet, Raymonda is not a ballet that we see very often in this country. That is a pity because it has a pretty score by Alexander Glazunov and plenty of exciting choreography. It was after all created for Pierina Legnani who pioneered the 32 fouettés in the seduction scene in Swan Lake. Also, Sergei and Nicolai Legat, Olga Preobrajenska and Giuseppina Cecchetti were all in the first show. It was one of Petipa's last ballets and it has a fin de siȅcle feel to it. By that, I mean that it is close to the border in artistic as well as chronological terms between the age of the Imperial Ballet and that of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.

The action is set in medieval Europe at the time of the Crusades. The male lead is Jean de Brienne who was a real historical character. He was king of Jerusalem for a while and even took over Constantinople but none of that features in the ballet except in so far as he follows Andrew II of Hungary on crusade. I can find no reference to a historical Raymonda, Abderakhman or even Castle Doris where the ballet is set.  But then I suppose Lidiya Pashkova, who wrote the libretto, would have claimed to be writing historical fiction rather than history.

As ballets go, it is quite a good story. Raymonda is betrothed to Jean de Brienne who visits her in Castle Doris just before he is due to go on crusade. After he has left she falls asleep and dreams of an eastern prince called Abderakhman who declares his love for her.  She wakes up in a cold sweat and finds that it was all a nightmare.  In the second Act, however, the real Abderakhman appears and offers to carry her away.  She politely turns him down but Abderakhman will not take "no" for an answer. He and his followers try to adduct her but are interrupted by de Brienne. They fight each other with swords and de Brienne kills his rival. In the last Act, Raymonda weds de Brienne and they all enjoy a long Hungarian divertissement.

On Sunday's transmission, Olga Smirnova was Raymonda, Artemy Belyakov was de Brienne and Igor Tsvirko was Abderakhman.  All performed well as did the rest of the cast.  I particularly liked Tsvirko who was the most realistic of the leading characters. I have seen him several times in London as well as on screen. Ekaterina Novikova who is an excellent interlocutor switching effortlessly between her own language and English and French interviewed him while he was still in costume in the second interval. Tsvirko showed real emotion when Raymonda rejected him.  It seemed he was tearing out his heart - a gesture that his followers echoed by waggling their shields. There was some great jumping for Belyakov and some moves that must have required considerable stamina as well as skill from Smirnbiva.

The costumes were gorgeous but I was not taken with the set design.   The orchestra played well under Pavel Klinichev, their conductor.  Apart from a couple of seconds when the sound was lost temporarily the transmission was good.  Altogether it was a successful start to the Bioshoi and Pathé Live's new cinema season which is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary. 

Grigorovich's Swan Lake in Bradford

National Media Museum

Photo Wikipedia

Last Saturday Bradford City Association Football Club beat Premier League leaders Chelsea by 4 goals to 2, a remarkable achievement for a first division club. But the city has more than just a successful football club to celebrate. It has fine public buildings such as the City Hall, Salt's Mill and St George's Hall, a great cathedral and, more recently, some impressive mosques, famous sons and daughters like the Brontës, Hockney and Delius and some great museums including the National Media Museum.

The National Media Museum is part of the Science Museum Group. It has 7 floors of galleries with permanent exhibitions on photography, television, animation, video games, the internet and optics. It often hosts temporary exhibitions on those topics. It maintains a collection of 3.5 million pieces in its research facility. It has 3 cinemas where it hosts the Bradford International Film Festival. One of those cinemas is named after Cubby Broccoli who made the Bond films. It was to that cinema that Pathe Live transmitted Yuri Grigorovich's production of Swan Lake. That was probably the best venue outside the theatre to see the show because it attracted a mature, appreciative crowd who had seen ballet before.

Pathe Live treats its audience like adults. It has an excellent presenter in Katherina Novikova. Yesterday she interviewed Ludmila Semenyaka who had danced Odette-Odile as well as many of the other great roles and Artemy Belyakov who danced von Rothbart (or "the evil genius" as he is called in Grigorovich's production) in yesterday's performance. It would have been nice to have had an interview with Denis Rodkin who danced Siegfried and Svetlana Zakharova who danced Odette-Odile. However, Rodkin did talk to Ms Novikova in the interval of The Nutcracker transmission so I know what he is likely to have said (see Clara grows up- Grigorovitch's Nutcracker transmitted directly from Moscow 21 Dec 2014). Mercifully Pathe Live does not see the need to project audience tweets during the screening unlike the Royal Opera House's screenings.

Grigorovich's version of Swan Lake is different. As I have noted von Rothbart becomes "the evil genius". The show is compressed into two acts instead of three or four. There is no prologue explaining how Odette became a swan, no gift of a bow, no trip by the lads to the lake to try it out, the lovely divertissements in the royal palace in what is normally Act III are turned into a pitch by the various princesses and the whole episode takes place in Siegfried's imagination so that nobody has to jump into the lake in the last scene. Looking on the positive side there are expanded roles for the jester (danced by Igor Tsvirko) and also for von Rothbart danced by Belyakov.

Now I was brought on Ashton's version for the Royal Ballet  which has been lovingly preserved by English National Ballet (see What Manchester does today 10 Oct 2014) and I have to say that I do prefer that version. I don't take kindly to change for change's sake when it comes to my favourite ballets such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake but that's not to say that I am against innovation. Grigorovich's versions of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker do work though not perhaps as fairy tales as much of the magic of those stories is removed from them. 

Overall I enjoyed the performance very much indeed. Tchaikovsky's magnificent score remains which was conducted well by Pavel Sorokin. Above all there was some glorious dancing. Particularly the pas de deux in the seduction scene in the palace. Rodkin and Zakharova are fine artists. His jumps and her fouettés were thrilling. They were both supported well by Tvirko and Belyakov and a splendid corps. Simon Virsaladze's designs did not show up well in the cinema but they may well have been more impressive on the Bolshoi's historic stage.

The last production in this series of transmissions will be Ivan the Terrible on 19 April 2015. That is not a ballet that is well known in this country and I have never seen it. The transmissions that I have enjoyed most have been of ballets that are not performed here regularly such as A Legend of Love, Spartacus and Marco Spada. I look forward to Ivan very much indeed.