There are two English language reports on its June premiere, from Clement Crisp and Raymond Stults, but by all accounts it has been revised to "more audience friendly proportions" for its London staging. We had a thread going on the Moscow premiere here

What do we think? Thoughts here please!

You imply Ian, that the running time has been reduced. But at what expense? Tomorrow will reveal all.

Nina Kaptsova and Ivan Vasiliev in Le Corsaire

Maria Alexandrova and Nikolai Tsiskaridze in Scene 2 of Le Corsaire

Natalia Osipova in rehearsal for Act 2 of Le Corsaire

Bolshoi, Le Corsaire - Coliseum, July 2007
Ballet.co Gallery Area
all images © John Ross

If you spot a wrongly named dancer please contact John direct - John Ross Contact Details


Edit: Natalia Osipova correctly credited in last picture. BM

- Zakharova's Medora: I found her to be a better actress since I have last seen her.
- Osipova's Odalisque: she was doing double tours in retire (what's the proper name for this? Not a saut de basque I think because she just plie in 5th and jumped) in her variation. Wow!
- Shipulina's Gulnare: Precise dancing with huge stage presence. Actually my favourite of the night.

All round the company danced very well, the men were outstanding but when everything is really good it's difficult to say "what's good".

Not so nice for me:

- Over running!!
- the garden scene (sorry the proper name of the scene escapes me): the stage was simply too small. It was visibly crowded and I could just feel that the dancers were uncomfortable (and I was sitting the 2nd from the last row in the balcony). People nearly knocked over the props, had to squeeze past each other. Can't help but wonder if they should have altered the numbers for the small stage. But of course artistically the director must have their reasons. It did look lovely with all the white tutus and so many people but they just didn't look comfortable at all.

And a question: I read somewhere that I'm supposed to see a water fountain in Le Corsaire, and I don't think I saw one last night. Is it because it's a different version or I'm just being dumb and confused it with a different ballet altogether???!!

Fish

There were two enormous fountains rear stage, left and right, in Act 2. One is visible behind Natalia Osipova in the rehearsal photo above.

Must be because I'm sitting so far up I couldn't see them at all!

Thanks,
Fish

The Bolshoi’s new version of Le Corsaire was premiered in June in Moscow and this is its first presentation outside Russia. Ratmansky, the Bolshoi’s Artistic Director must have been hoping that this production would replicate here the great success the company had with his “The Bright Stream” in London last year, a lovable and engaging narrative fizzing with unlikely fun. That was effectively a new work, but this is an attempt to get back where possible to the last of Petipa’s many versions of Le Corsaire, but with an eye to the sensibility of modern audiences.

Many doctoral theses could be written on how the score been patched together from multiple composers in successive versions and how the text has been reworked and reshaped by different hands over time, and the plot details varied. Doubtless more viewings will help us get the measure of the material that has been preserved, revived and added. However, on the first viewing, my initial question was, setting aside the research and scholarship, does this really work as a theatrical experience ? Is it alive, does it draw you in sweep you along ?

The answer was yes, although this particular performance didn’t quite fizz consistently. The plot remains completely daft, with heroic pirates, a heroine who is repeatedly kidnapped, a comedy pasha who manages to marry the wrong woman, and a shipwreck. However, the narrative is as clearly presented as such nonsense can be and is easy to follow. Le Corsaire is not with us for its plot but its gorgeous opportunities for dancing and exposition of the values of classical ballet.

It’s an amazingly handsome production. It looks ravishing in both the grand scale of the sets (looking a little cramped on the Coliseum stage) and the exquisite detailing of the costumes. I lost count of the heroine Medora’s costume changes after about the sixth one. The resources of the company seem vast. At any moment yet another group of soloists will be launched for another dazzling display. It is impossible not to be impressed or even crushed by the sheer scale of it all, and yet the experience doesn’t always have the verve and sense of fun that sweeps you along. There were some wonderful moments and a few dancers who illuminated the stage and looked as if dancing was the most joyful experience anyone could possibly have, but overall there weren’t quite enough bubbles in the champagne. The running time was the best part of three and a half hours with two short intervals, and the cast need to deliver high energy levels to keep us with them for so long.

Denis Matvienko was swaggeringly exuberant as the hero Conrad, and delivered his variations to great acclaim. The much-excerpted pas de deux was enthusiastically received. I felt much less convinced by Zakharova’s Medora. She is prodigiously gifted technically and can deliver the complexities of the steps with confidence and authority. But she has a hard edged, calculated quality, as if aiming to impress the audience rather than to charm them, and her winsomeness in the first scene was unconvincing. They are not ideally matched in terms of height but Matvienko’s partnering was attentive enough to make you rarely aware of this.

Shipulina looked to be having a wonderful time as the slave girl Gulnare, relishing each moment on stage. The grand set piece of this work is the Jardin Animée scene in the second act, where more dancers than you think possible fill the stage with a grand display including tiny children, flower garlands, a formal garden, a huge corps in ever evolving groupings, and fine solos from the leading ladies. The company as a whole looked to be still getting the measure of the size of the Coliseum stage and often the experience looked somewhat congested with not enough space for the choreography to breathe properly. There was a certain sense of caution in the air.

A standout moment came in the pas de trois for the odalisques who entertain the pasha. One of these solos (Osipova) was delivered with such zest, feeling for the music and joy to be alive that it illuminated the entire performance for a moment. This, you think, is what the experience of Le Corsaire should be like – swept along by adrenalin and delight.

The shipwreck that closes the production is a splendidly staged affair, but it perhaps a shame that the work concludes on rather a downbeat note, authentic though it might be, rather than on a rousing dance finale. Again there was a slight air of anxiety here with many of the cast visibly descending with care from the tossing ship rather than jumping into the waves.

This production is beautiful to look at and stuffed or even overstuffed with good things. Be prepared for a long evening, suspend disbelief in the plot, and enjoy.

People might be interested to know that today there are half priced seats available from the Leicester Square box office
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts/today
this was also the case yesterday. Since very few of the shows have sold out (I think the exceptions are Acostas' Spartacus and the opening night of Don Q) this might continue.

Deiniol

I thought it nevertheless (with a few reservations about certain aspects of the dancing) a splendid production of Corsaire and I for one am hugely grateful that few cuts appear to have been made (though be warned - it finishes around 11.05pm). Has the Jardin Anime ever looked more gorgeous? But have you noticed how the page boys are not "blacked-up" as they were in Moscow? A wise decision I feel.

For me one of the absolute pleasures was the character dancing of Anna Rebetskaya and Andrei Merkuriev, especially in the Dans des Forbans. Also, who would recognize the wonderful Gennadi Yanin under all that make-up as Lankedem?

For those attending tonight you are in for a real treat because I saw Tsiskaridze and Alexandrova at the general rehearsal yesterday and Tsiskaridze especially is on absolute top form. How I wish I were still down in London for tonight, rather than back in the office!

Keep your thoughts coming...

They most definitely are blacked up in La Bayadere, however. And their comedy African capering during the Bronze Idol variation is... unappealing. Do Moscow audiences really enjoy that type of thing?

<<<<she was doing double tours in retire (what's the proper name for this? Not a saut de basque I think because she just plie in 5th and jumped) in her variation. Wow!>>>>

If the dancer did a plié in 5th (two feet would then be on the ground) jumped straight up into the air, one leg lifted in retiré, and rotated twice in the air - I would call it a double tour en l'air en retiré. I can't recall seeing it done - and probably not by a female dancer.

You are right that it would not be a saut de Basque - which begins with one foot brushing out to launch the dancer into the air - and it is usually not done straight up- but propels the dancer forward into space. The dancer most usually lands on one foot - the other in retiré.

So the difference would be how it is initiated/propelled into the air - from 5th or a brush out - and the trajectory - straight up or thrusting forward.

Hope this helps.

In looking at the pictures - which are lovely (thank you John Ross!) - except for some hands....I'm really really picky about hands - especially thumbs - probably too picky.

Editted to add:

Ian said:

<<<< But have you noticed how the page boys are not "blacked-up" as they were in Moscow? A wise decision I feel.>>>>

When I interviewed Tsiskaridze he mentioned this - it is also true for La Bayadere. When the company travels west it eliminates this bit of makeup.

Someone put it on youtube!

(Mods please remove link if inappropriate - I am not aware if this board has a video link policy?)

Fish

Link to YouTube removed, as we do not post links to them on Ballet.co.

In that case, searching for her name should come up with the video if you search for it by "date added".

Fish