© Damir Yusupov Bolshoi 'Le Corsaire' reviews 'Le Corsaire' reviews Zakharova in reviews Matvienko in reviews recent Bolshoi reviews more Lynette Halewood reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months) Gallery of Photographs

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.