Royal Ballet (live broadcast), 13/11/2018
Minkus : La bayadère
Artists of the Royal Ballet
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Boris Gruzin
There are two things that prevent La bayadère from being widely seen outside the major ballet companies. The first is the demands it places on the company in terms of numbers of dancers required, and a multitude of costumes, and the second is editorial, in that we do not really have a reliable record of Petipa's original choreography, and even the music isn't absolutely certain in places. It was confined to Russia for decades, until the Kirov brought the famous "Kingdom of the Shades" act on tour to Paris, and then Nureyev staged it for the Royal Ballet shortly after defecting. Nowadays, the Russians still have their versions, Nureyev created one for the Paris Opera Ballet shortly before his death, which ends with the 'white' act, but the most widely performed elsewhere is probably Natalia Makarova's reconstruction, originally mounted for American Ballet Theater in the early 80s.
This is the version the Royal Ballet staged not long afterwards, in a lavishly costumed, but somewhat dimly set production, and it comes complete with its final act, which really makes much more sense than ending with the Kingdom of the Shades act. That said, I have seen this production, on stage in London shortly after its introduction to the company, and as a filmed performance from around the same period, but I had forgotten - or not fully realised at the time - just how stylistically different that last act is, both musically and choreographically. The score during this last act is definitely more Lanchbery than Minkus, and much of the choreography doesn't quite ring true to Petipa. However, in the end it doesn't seriously detract from what was a magnificently danced spectacle.
Any production of Bayadère will, of course, stand or fall on its 'white' act, and the famous Sortie of the corps de ballet, in a long progression of a repeated set of movements that allows absolutely no room for error in its stark simplicity. No matter how good the soloists may be, if the corps falters here, that is what will be remembered - just as a flawless rendition will equally be remembered. Really, it should be desperately boring, and yet it is anything but, and the ladies of the Royal Ballet turned in a lovely, ethereal performance that was greeted with justifiably enthusiastic and prolonged applause, that would probably have gone on a good deal longer had the conductor not decided to get things moving again.
The principals tonight were Marianela Nuñez in the title role of Nikita, Natalia Osipova as her rival Gamzatti, and Vadim Muntagirov as their mutual love interest Solor. Nuñez and Muntagirov were, as usual, excellent, she with her lovely lines and that certain radiance to her dancing, he with effortless, flying leaps and cool elegance. However, the show was well and truly stolen by Osipova, who aside from spectacular dancing, also turned in a spectacular acting performance, every emotion vividly depicted without ever overdoing it. At the end of the second act, when Solor has woken from his dream, he is confronted again with the reality of his situation, that he must marry Gamzatti, and (in this production) she appears before him in a red dress that is a clear reminder of the red dress Nikiya was wearing the last time he saw her alive. He recoils from her, and in Osipova's face, you know immediately that Gamzatti's choice of dress was deliberate, that she is trying to substitute herself for Nikiya in his eyes, and that she is immediately aware of her failure. There's nothing blatant about it, it's the slightest freezing of the posture, a minute fall in expression, but infinitely telling, and this was just one example of many throughout the evening.
It's easy to make Gamzatti out to be the villain of the piece, or at least a spoiled brat of the first order, but Osipova's character was much more realistic and human than that. Spoiled, yes, probably; certainly not accustomed to not getting what she wants, but her pain and jealousy, and later her despair, went far beyond a mere tantrum, and her misery as she is wed to a coldly remote Solor is almost tangible. This was a beautifully judged performance dramatically, allied to a phenomenal technique on full display.
Excellent secondary characters rounded out the show, with Gary Avis an expressive High Brahmin, Alexander Campbell a bounding, energetic Bronze Idol (I thought it used to be a Gold Idol - his body paint certainly suggested that), and Yasmine Naghdi a particularly gracious Second Shade. La bayadère may be a preposterous affair, but staged and danced like this, it remains an experience to be treasured.
[Next : 22nd November]
Artists of the Royal Ballet
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Boris Gruzin
There are two things that prevent La bayadère from being widely seen outside the major ballet companies. The first is the demands it places on the company in terms of numbers of dancers required, and a multitude of costumes, and the second is editorial, in that we do not really have a reliable record of Petipa's original choreography, and even the music isn't absolutely certain in places. It was confined to Russia for decades, until the Kirov brought the famous "Kingdom of the Shades" act on tour to Paris, and then Nureyev staged it for the Royal Ballet shortly after defecting. Nowadays, the Russians still have their versions, Nureyev created one for the Paris Opera Ballet shortly before his death, which ends with the 'white' act, but the most widely performed elsewhere is probably Natalia Makarova's reconstruction, originally mounted for American Ballet Theater in the early 80s.
This is the version the Royal Ballet staged not long afterwards, in a lavishly costumed, but somewhat dimly set production, and it comes complete with its final act, which really makes much more sense than ending with the Kingdom of the Shades act. That said, I have seen this production, on stage in London shortly after its introduction to the company, and as a filmed performance from around the same period, but I had forgotten - or not fully realised at the time - just how stylistically different that last act is, both musically and choreographically. The score during this last act is definitely more Lanchbery than Minkus, and much of the choreography doesn't quite ring true to Petipa. However, in the end it doesn't seriously detract from what was a magnificently danced spectacle.
Any production of Bayadère will, of course, stand or fall on its 'white' act, and the famous Sortie of the corps de ballet, in a long progression of a repeated set of movements that allows absolutely no room for error in its stark simplicity. No matter how good the soloists may be, if the corps falters here, that is what will be remembered - just as a flawless rendition will equally be remembered. Really, it should be desperately boring, and yet it is anything but, and the ladies of the Royal Ballet turned in a lovely, ethereal performance that was greeted with justifiably enthusiastic and prolonged applause, that would probably have gone on a good deal longer had the conductor not decided to get things moving again.
The principals tonight were Marianela Nuñez in the title role of Nikita, Natalia Osipova as her rival Gamzatti, and Vadim Muntagirov as their mutual love interest Solor. Nuñez and Muntagirov were, as usual, excellent, she with her lovely lines and that certain radiance to her dancing, he with effortless, flying leaps and cool elegance. However, the show was well and truly stolen by Osipova, who aside from spectacular dancing, also turned in a spectacular acting performance, every emotion vividly depicted without ever overdoing it. At the end of the second act, when Solor has woken from his dream, he is confronted again with the reality of his situation, that he must marry Gamzatti, and (in this production) she appears before him in a red dress that is a clear reminder of the red dress Nikiya was wearing the last time he saw her alive. He recoils from her, and in Osipova's face, you know immediately that Gamzatti's choice of dress was deliberate, that she is trying to substitute herself for Nikiya in his eyes, and that she is immediately aware of her failure. There's nothing blatant about it, it's the slightest freezing of the posture, a minute fall in expression, but infinitely telling, and this was just one example of many throughout the evening.
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| Natalia Osipova as Gamzatti © ROH/Bill Cooper 2018 |
Excellent secondary characters rounded out the show, with Gary Avis an expressive High Brahmin, Alexander Campbell a bounding, energetic Bronze Idol (I thought it used to be a Gold Idol - his body paint certainly suggested that), and Yasmine Naghdi a particularly gracious Second Shade. La bayadère may be a preposterous affair, but staged and danced like this, it remains an experience to be treasured.
[Next : 22nd November]