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July 1999 New York, Metropolitan Opera House by Jeannie Szoradi |
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It is hard to believe that Rotislav Zakharov's FOUNTAIN OF BAKHCHISARAY, premiered in 1934 in St. Petersburg/Petrograd, is only now being seen in North America. It is equally hard to believe that this ballet - considered one of the earliest and best examples of the Soviet genre "dram-ballet" - was created the same year that George Balanchine produced the abstract SERENADE (also danced by the Kirov in NY & reviewed earlier); they are as different as night and day. If one takes FOUNTAIN for what it is - a mindless, old-fashioned melodramatic world populated by manly men and female-females - then one can have a jolly good time with it, as I did. I'll dispense with the scenario and details, as the English readers have seen this ballet danced by the Kirov at both the 1995 and 1997 London tours. If you want the details...e-mail me privately, please! Maya Dumchenko was utterly delightful - lyrical and dramatically convincing - in the role of the Polish Princess, Maria. Her blonde partner, Andrei G. Yakovlev, danced with gusto and offered strong support in the role of Maria's sweetheart, Vatslav. Unfortunately, he is killed by invading Tatars at the end of Act I and we never see him again. New York did not see enough of the brilliance of Uliana Lopatkina - unbeatable as the harem favourite, Zarema, who kills the sweet Maria in a fit of jelousy. Uliana IS Zarema. True, Assylmuratova is wonderful in this role, too (as I have seen in St. Petersburg)...but Lopatkina owns the role! She drove the Met audience crazy with her incredible kick-the-head leaps and soaring jetes in the Act II Harem Scene. Vladimir Ponomarenko - so good as the King in SLEEPING BEAUTY - was a bit of a disappointment as Girai. He played the role as a wildly gesticulating caricature. Perhaps he could benefit from a couple of viewings of the videotape of FOUNTAINS which features Piotr Gusev in the role? The huge surprise of the afternoon was the high-flying Nikolai Zubkovsky II as Nur-Ali, the leader of the Tatar pack. Zubkovsky had his hands full of hair after he accidentally pulled a ponytail-hairpiece off one of the slave maidens; other than that awkward moment, though, he was fine. Zubkovsky and the Kirov male corps performed a magnificent "Dance of the Tatars" at the start of Act IV, driving the Met audience to a frenzy of "bravos." [Oh, I'd LOVE to see these guys in the Polovtsian Dances of PRINCE IGOR some day!] The female corps was exotic in the undulating group dances in Act II - including the white-clad girls bearing trays of fruit and another group in multi-colored stripes, bearing wine decanters. There was a cute "Bell Dance" for the lovely Elena Chmill (star of the 1998 Vaganova graduation class), and lanky, raven-haired Alexandra Iosifidi primped and posed seductively as the "Second Wife" of the Harem. Cecil B. DeMille couldn't have done it better!
I've always admired the special flourish with which the Kirov corps flings itself into Eastern European national dances. This was very much in evidence at this performance, particularly in the Polish Act (Act I). Kudos to the Quartet of Young Poles featured in the Sword Dance: Ruben Bobobnikov with Yulia Kasenkova, and Anton Korsakov with Irina Golub (the latter a talented olive-skinned beauty who graduated from Vaganova in 98, and from whom we saw too little in this season). Also impressive were the dancers leading the Krakoviak: Polina Rassadina and Andrei S. Yakovlev. One couldn't but note, however, that the Kirov dancers may have spent a bit too much time in the hot New York sun; those white-powdered wigs in Act I didn't look quite right against the bronzed complexions!
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