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Ballet GrigorovichOctober 2002 Birmigham, Hippodrome by Trog |
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This production is truly excellent. The only other ballet of Spartacus I've seen is the recording of the Australian Ballet, with Lisa Pavane and Steven Heathcote. This is a very bleak looking ballet, and I was expecting this version to have the same bleak look. It doesn't; it looks much more like the grandeur of Rome that we know and love from those Hollywood movies. One could almost imagine a certain Kirk Douglas appearing on stage; well he does star in the best known of the three films made of the story. There are a lot of chaps in this ballet (naturally) and Grigorovich has choreographed some excellent sequences for them. For me, the best of these was the sword fight between Crassus and Spartacus. This is a non-literal interpretation. Rather than the usual clash of swords punctuating a mirrored dance, it is performed as a canon. One could feel the tension between these two adversaries. The two pdds for Spartacus and Phrygia and Crassus and Aegina feature some spectacular high lifts. Only the Soviet stars seem to be able to perform these with any conviction. The lifts were solid as granite. I was very impressed with the role of Crassus. This is a very "butch" role and was danced to perfection by Nikolay Morstchakov, who has phenomenal elevation. He portrays the look of mania very well, not that Crassus was maniacal. People were wont to say that the many virtues of Crassus were darkened by the one vice of avarice, a vice that consumed him. Thus in the ballet, the driven look is a central part in the role of Crassus. The fragile looking Phrygia (Anna Zhukova) has some very tender looking solos. The reunification pdd with Spartacus (Yiny Dayuny, sporting a truly awful greasepaint beard), is extremely dramatic. Miss Zhukova is extremely flexible too (lots of legs around her ears). Finally the smiley and confident Aegina (Tatyana Vladimirova); she convinced me that she was the manipulative courtesan. He pdd with Crassus in the orgy scene is extremely sexy. The work looks very spectacular, especially the opening chariot and the final tableau. The costumes are excellent, with the possible exception of the satyrs. They are, of course, mimes performing the roles of satyrs, so perhaps the costumes are intentionally funny looking. Crassus' armour really does look like Roman armour. Sets are simple painted backdrops. Any "clutter", such as rocks or the dais used in the orgy scene, sits at the back of the stage, leaving plenty of room for those big leaps. This space is definitely required. There is a live orchestra too, which always adds to the sense of occasion. I am really in no position to judge the quality of the playing of the very familiar score written by Aram Khachaturian. It sounded OK to me. I am seeing their Romeo and Juliet later this week. I have a feeling it will be a bit of a let down after seeing Spartacus.
The dancers are unknown to me, but here are the principals : -Spartacus - Yiny Dayuny (truly awful fake beard - xlnt) Crassus - Nikolay Morstchakov (phenomenal elevation) Phrygia - Anna Zhukova (fragile looking) Aegina - Tatyana Vladimirova (smiley and confident)
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