Past Production Reviews
4La Bohème is an unpretentious and rather sad story from the life of a poor creative public in the Latin Quarter of Paris, where poverty and talent, despair and love go hand in hand. During the lifetime of the author, Giacomo Puccini, the opera received mixed reviews. Immediately after its premiere in 1896, venerable critics called it empty, childish, meaningless and too primitive for such a genius composer. However, La Boheme is a case that has stood the test of time. The love story of the poet Rudolph and the flower girl Mimi, which unfolds in 19th-century Paris against the backdrop of bustling city life, has become one of the most demanded for performances on opera stages in the world. Chelyabinsk is no exception. This year, they decided to modernize Bohemia: the director Vyacheslav Starodubtsev rebuilt all the details of the crowd scenes, worked with the artists on a thorough, deep drawing of the images. Of course, graceful scenery, costumes and appropriate and stylish video inserts also did their job, but still the main thing in a love story is the heroes. Bohemia has a well-played ensemble of actors. Remarkable scenes where bohemian characters - the poet Rudolph, the artist Marcel, the musician Schonard and the philosopher Collin - heat the stove with manuscripts, fleeing the hellish cold in an attic with ice windows, and collect a meager supper on the table - bread and wine. Anyone who remembers student revels will surely breathe a sigh of nostalgia. It doesn't matter what year is outside and what city is outside the window: bohemians and poor students everywhere live about the same. The two love lines - Rudolph and Mimi and Marcel and Musetta - are also superbly played. Mainly because, apparently, deliberately displayed in strong contrast. Tenor Alexey Pyankov plays Rudolph as gentle and restless, sensitive and loving. He's all - softness and vulnerability. While baritone Dmitry Nikitin in the role of Marcel is the whole embodiment of temperament: dry, harsh, nervous and slightly infernal. Soprano Natalia Bystrik in the role of Mimi plays exactly what is in the libretto - secrecy and at the same time gullibility, thirst for love and fear of losing it. And the beauty Musetta, played by the burning Elvira Avzalova, becomes the most multifaceted character - and this is largely due to the actress herself, who managed to turn the spoiled lady of the world into an almost tragic figure. The massive stage in a Parisian cafe against the backdrop of the Bolshoi Theater scenery is a real feast for the eyes and ears. A party of cheerful bohemia, where people of different classes collide, where former lovers meet and new feelings arise, where the merchant Parpignol presents the children (a wonderful children's choir) with horses and dolls, where wine is poured and songs are sung - the viewer is transported to Paris at the end of the 19th century (original events take place in the thirties of the last century, but "Bohemia" was slightly modernized in this respect) and becomes a witness of the seething metropolitan life. The rendered quarters of the narrow streets of the city go into perspective, as if opening from the stage a portal to the beautiful colorful past. In the interval between the acts - there are four of them - the viewer is shown a black and white "movie": a chronicle of shots from Paris at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Carriages, carriages, ladies in fluffy dresses, men in bowler hats, crowds of people at the 1900 World's Fair - this cozy retro not only helps buy time for rearranging the scenery, but also envelops the viewer with the right atmosphere. The last unhurried generation - before a major technological breakthrough. A generation for which a moving electric sidewalk was a high-speed mode of transport, and death from consumption was a common, not so rare ending. A good melodrama will always sell well, and even more so in combination with the musical setting of the great Giacomo Puccini. La Bohème, starting its journey in the status of a shell-shocked by all, has become one of the most popular operas in the world. This is a good performance for those who want to touch someone else's life, sparkling with creativity and passion, to see its rise and fall. Starting on a major, fluffy note, the opera ends with lyrics and tears. Yet this is not a dark, not a tragic story. Artists, poets, philosophers are as light as moths. Bohemia - what to take from it? But it is beautiful, but there are always friends, bread and wine. And love is penniless. It’s a pity that it’s not for long.
the content of "The Merry Widow" will never become outdated - the story of how a rich young widow conquers all the men in the district, and in the end chooses a heartthrob who diligently demonstrates indifference, as if taken from the gossip of 2019. The small duchy of Pontevedro is about to fly into the chimney - in order to save money in the treasury, representatives of the authorities are ready to do anything. The wealthy widow Ganna Glavari is a happy owner of 20 million, but if she marries a foreigner, write lost - the funds will float abroad. Meanwhile, men of all ages and classes immediately begin to fight for the heart (and wallet) of the beauties - the diplomats Viscount Cascade and Raul de Saint-Brioche, the ambassador himself is not averse to leaving his wife, and a large crowd of young beauties shaking bouquets is also dragged behind the Glavari. At the same time, the situation in the embassy is still the same - the wife of Ambassador Valencienne is playing shura-mura with the attaché Camille de Rocillon, persuading him to remove the annoying hubby. The teetotal secretary Njegush is trying to remain calm and calm in this madhouse. In another way - almost constant sleep - Count Danilo, the heartthrob and first secretary of the embassy, is saved from stress. It is he who accidentally stumbles upon Ganna, and the heart of the cheerful widow completely thaws Like any comedy to the general public, The Merry Widow is packed with incredible coincidences, revelations and confessions. All plot hooks are tied well and effectively, and in the finale the worthy will remain with love, money, and honor. And funny villains will be left with a nose. The female theme in the production of the Chelyabinsk Opera House is embroidered with a large thread: Ganna Glavari, performed by the lively, temperamental Natalia Bystrik, is a real iron lady in a cloud of lace and satin. And how else, if you are by nature fragile and laughable, and government vultures are targeting your condition? Women twist intrigues, thus deciding the fate of the whole duchy! So it was, is and will always be, say the viewer of the "Merry Widow". No matter how iron hand the stern husband holds the state, there is always the possibility that a little capricious lady is leading him by the elbow. Men, as usual, are divided into mercenary and noble ones: some need money, others in principle, out of pride they do not want to marry millions. So Count Danilo, having learned about the widow's inheritance, pretends that he is indifferent to her. And Ganna Glavari goes for a little trick ... The main advantage of the performance of the Chelyabinsk Opera House is its absolute correspondence to the genre. Laconic yet colorful decorations; luxurious suits and accessories, corresponding to the spirit of the described era. Fortunately, the director Alexander Lebedev very carefully treated both the libretto and the circumstances suggested by the author Franz Lehár. "The Merry Widow" visually resembles bright, juicy musical comedies of the fifties and seventies. The main thing in this performance is the festive atmosphere. Operetta has always been considered a folk genre, the purpose of which is to amuse the audience. "The Merry Widow" copes with this perfectly - if you forget that you are sitting in a red velvet bed, it seems that the air sparkles like bubbles from champagne, and outside the window - New Year's week, and the stage is like a movie screen enlarged by a lens. Wonderful, half-forgotten sensations. Well spent winter evening.
What kind of fantasy the theaters do not provoke the crisis that has come. It seems that he has gone out in earnest, since he forces, tightening his belts tighter, not only to pull out old clothes and props from the storerooms and change, but also to use costumes from someone else's shoulder. This ingenious idea found a place in the anti-crisis program of the Chelyabinsk Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after Glinka. Theater director Vadim Keish has recently started staging Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly. While the rehearsals are underway, the wardrobe and apartments for Cio-Cio-San and her entourage are already waiting for fitting - they were brought from Yekaterinburg. There, this opera was staged by the famous (not only for the brilliant performances on the stage of the Chelyabinsk Opera, but also for the scandals around "The Demon") director Alexei Stepanyuk from St. Petersburg. The scenery and costumes for the upcoming eponymous premiere were borrowed from neighbors. This is much cheaper than the millions in costs for its registration. The management of the theater intends to use this economical form of creating performances in the future. The premiere of "Madame Butterfly" is scheduled for April. Together with Vadim Keish, the main (and still the only one in the theater) conductor Anton Grishanin is working on the production. The part of Chio-Cio-San is being practiced by four wonderful soprano holders - Natalya Zavarzina, Elena Mordasova, Elena Rotkina, Lilia Pakhomova, three no less remarkable tenors have been appointed to the part of Pinkerton - Fyodor Ataskevich, Denis Zakirov and Dmitry Polkopin. By the way, Dmitry Polkopin will first sing Pinkerton at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Musical Theater, with which he has a contract.
The opera house is currently running dress rehearsals for the season. It will be opened with the opera "Sadko". Never before has a fairy-tale performance been staged on the Chelyabinsk stage. A Novosibirsk director and artists from St. Petersburg were invited to create a modern and dynamic production. They promise that something from the realm of fantasy will happen on the stage. Therefore, we worked on technical tricks and tricks for quite a long time, the correspondent of the South Ural State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company reports A very realistic fire-breathing dragon will appear on the scene. So the effect of complete immersion is ensured. The musical interpretation itself will not be entirely classical: the epic canvas has been turned into a concise and dynamic performance so that modern viewers do not get bored. However, "Sadko" is the hero who is perhaps close to each of us. He is a dreamy and benevolent adventurer. He decides to put everything at stake in order to win untold riches. And, of course, modern opera cannot do without video projections. They were created especially for the Chelyabinsk performance by the outstanding Russian video artist Vadim Dulenko. By the way, he was the one who worked on the music video "I am a crow" by singer Linda, which revolutionized the music industry. The rest of the secrets have not yet been revealed.
