<Translated from Russian automatically>
The Bolshoi Theatre begins its tour in Paris on September 6, and this year the Bolshoi is opening the new season of the Paris Opera. From September 6 to 11, Tchaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin' in the production by Dmitry Chernyakov will be sung six times. On the eve of the tour, the chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre, Alexander Vedernikov, gave an interview to NG (Nezavisimaya Gazeta).
— Alexander Alexandrovich, what are you expecting from the tour in Paris?
— I try not to expect anything. Wherever you go, wherever you perform, you must honestly do what you can.
— Is touring at the Opéra Garnier something special?
— It is a very pleasant theatre, it is pleasant to play there. I conducted there once, and I like it more there than at the Opéra Bastille.
— The Parisian 'Onegin' will be recorded on DVD. Which other operas from the Bolshoi repertoire, in your opinion, are worth immortalizing?
— The fact is that the sound and video recording industry is not going through its best times right now, and the possibility of continuation depends on how much the people who head a particular company are infected with the ideological aspect. Our art is not commercial by definition. Some ballet performances, specifically 'The Bolt' and 'The Bright Stream,' have already been done. 'Onegin' is the first opera we will record on DVD. We are trying to do the same with 'The Children of Rosenthal', but somehow we cannot get to the end.
— What is hindering you, the technical side or some other reason?
— The calendar. We have already agreed two or three times, but it falls through every time.
— The first premiere of the Bolshoi in the new season – Rimsky-Korsakov's 'The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh' – is a joint project with the theatre in the city of Cagliari (Sardinia). The premiere has already taken place there. Share your impressions?
— A very good impression. This is a case where, in my opinion, the production turned out to be very substantial. The meanings embedded by the director would easily suffice for two performances. This is despite the fact that the external aspect of the production is very simple, in a good sense of the word. It corresponds to the inner nature of the opera. Because this opera, in my opinion, is about everything that starts with 'e' in Russian – about ethics, about ecology, about aesthetics too. And the solution for this performance completely lacks the unpleasant didactic moment that is often, unfortunately, present in productions of such operas. When we released this production, the reaction of the Italian newspaper community was unanimously positive. For Russia, this is an impossible scenario, unless perhaps we were staging an unknown Britten. Here, they will definitely say why, on the one hand, you cross yourself too little, and on the other hand, why you cross yourself too much. In my opinion, these kinds of things have no relation to the performance itself, but merely signify a certain degree of public critical thinking – how society reacts to a product, disconnected from the product itself.
— And how did this project come about in general?
— There is a very vibrant artistic director in Sardinia. I went there to conduct a concert. And they have a custom in their theatre to open each season with an opera that has never been performed there or hasn't been performed in a long time, meaning a novelty in a good sense. They have done many Russian operas, including 'The Oprichnik' and 'Cherevichki', and this year it was 'Kitezh'.
— When you were staging 'Kitezh' in Sardinia, 'Carmen' was running in Moscow, marked by, shall I say, an unusual story, when Yuri Temirkanov, after David Pountney's departure, allowed himself to rework the opera's finale. What is your attitude towards this?
— I won't comment. I would not do that myself. The performance has already happened, it has already been released, so the train, as they say, has left. But one should not treat this as something supernatural. We have long been part of a global opera process, within which each theatre has its own specifics. When I went out to conduct the same 'Kitezh,' I never knew if I was playing the whole opera or some part of it.
— How so?
— The fact is that we have one set of problems, and they have another: a constant struggle with trade unions. And this struggle keeps the whole process tense. If an opera lasts more than three and a half hours, you have to pay the musicians extra, and not a fixed amount, but negotiate from scratch every time, and the sum can be ten times higher. They don't care that the budget has been drawn up. I was warned that they had taken up the hatchet and that we needed to cut it down to three and a half hours. I said that we would not cut anything, but would simply not play one scene entirely, and then someone would come out and announce, so that everyone had accurate information, that we are not cutting the opera, but that the situation is simply complicated. They agreed: yes, that's a good option. We had it tucked away, thank God we didn't have to use it... It's never the case that everything is clean, smooth, and beautiful. Take the northern countries, where there is order and socialism. But two cellists are missing from the orchestra, and that's it. They don't come to work – they have depression.
— Does the contract allow that?
— No, they have such trade union concerns. The more developed the society, the more bizarre the processes look. Probably, if these cellists are caught moonlighting in another city, something can still be done, but otherwise – no. They have depression.
— And if you caught your own moonlighting?
— There were such cases. One of our singers didn't attend rehearsals, took sick leave, and went on tour with another theatre. When he was summoned, he ate his fake sick leave certificate in front of the HR manager. In general, they eventually cornered him, and he had to resign voluntarily.
— And your choir union keeps you on a short leash; you yourself told us about the revival of the old 'Boris Godunov'...
— They do this not because they are armed with some specific paragraph. It’s just that these people are of a different generation; they didn't work when the old 'Boris' was being released, when they spent two hours applying makeup and beards. Everything has changed since then. And a performance where there are 110 choir members and each one needs individual makeup is extremely difficult to achieve in modern conditions. Nowadays, there is no makeup – there is cosmetics. And so, the 'Tsar's Bride' is running now, for example, everyone is wearing the old costumes, but everyone's eyes are lined, which would have been unacceptable before.
— And what is happening with the old 'Boris...' by the way, is it being preserved?
— If we are in normal conditions, that is, we don't need to specifically destroy performances that aren't running just because we have nowhere to store them. Although that problem exists. But, naturally, no one will destroy the 'Boris Godunov' from '48. And at some point, we can return to it.
— Of course, the sets were restored before the London tour, and it would be a shame to dispose of them.
— No, no one will! It is a pity that some other things were disposed of. I didn't make it in time...
— What?
— For example, it would be interesting to return to the production of 'The Stone Guest'. It was a good performance, grand, made with taste.
— What about 'The Queen of Spades'?
— Why does everyone refer to the past tense? Why not the future!.. And so, the old 'Onegin', the old 'Pique Dame'... Everything can be restored, if there is a point, an inner need. Many people tell me: 'Your 'Onegin' is a debatable production.' And when it is not debatable, what is it then?
— 'Kitezh' in Italy. You say yourself, the reviews are consistently positive.
— So what? Here, it will be terrifyingly debatable. In Russia it is always like this: a performance is either debatable or archaic, there is no third option. In my opinion, that is how it should be. I don't want to throw any objects at the old production, God forbid. But when I watched the old 'Onegin', I was constantly haunted by a feeling of global senselessness. All the meanings that were embedded in it just died out, and a long time ago.
— And how did you manage to restore relations with Gennady Rozhdestvensky? Was it difficult to persuade him to conduct at the Bolshoi?
— Nothing special... Gennady Nikolaevich is a very enthusiastic person, and if his interests coincide with what is proposed, then interest prevails over everything else. He was the chief conductor at this theatre, more than once. And he was not the chief conductor too...
— He took such offence after 'The Gambler', though...
— That's normal. Another thing is that you don't necessarily have to be offended for life. He is interested in conducting Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, and he will conduct it... In general, the orchestra has a strong desire to play symphonic programs. I am happy to talk about this. Orchestral music occupies a significant place in the orchestra's upcoming plans.
— Can you share the plans?
– The immediate ones are France, Switzerland, Italy, and Bulgaria. Then Paris again and the Lucerne Festival.
— What about operas?
— We will go with the women: Verdi's 'La Traviata' and Richard Strauss's 'Salome'. I am more interested in the second one, and Yuri Khatuovich is more interested in the first one."
Source
The Bolshoi Theatre begins its tour in Paris on September 6, and this year the Bolshoi is opening the new season of the Paris Opera. From September 6 to 11, Tchaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin' in the production by Dmitry Chernyakov will be sung six times. On the eve of the tour, the chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre, Alexander Vedernikov, gave an interview to NG (Nezavisimaya Gazeta).
— Alexander Alexandrovich, what are you expecting from the tour in Paris?
— I try not to expect anything. Wherever you go, wherever you perform, you must honestly do what you can.
— Is touring at the Opéra Garnier something special?
— It is a very pleasant theatre, it is pleasant to play there. I conducted there once, and I like it more there than at the Opéra Bastille.
— The Parisian 'Onegin' will be recorded on DVD. Which other operas from the Bolshoi repertoire, in your opinion, are worth immortalizing?
— The fact is that the sound and video recording industry is not going through its best times right now, and the possibility of continuation depends on how much the people who head a particular company are infected with the ideological aspect. Our art is not commercial by definition. Some ballet performances, specifically 'The Bolt' and 'The Bright Stream,' have already been done. 'Onegin' is the first opera we will record on DVD. We are trying to do the same with 'The Children of Rosenthal', but somehow we cannot get to the end.
— What is hindering you, the technical side or some other reason?
— The calendar. We have already agreed two or three times, but it falls through every time.
— The first premiere of the Bolshoi in the new season – Rimsky-Korsakov's 'The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh' – is a joint project with the theatre in the city of Cagliari (Sardinia). The premiere has already taken place there. Share your impressions?
— A very good impression. This is a case where, in my opinion, the production turned out to be very substantial. The meanings embedded by the director would easily suffice for two performances. This is despite the fact that the external aspect of the production is very simple, in a good sense of the word. It corresponds to the inner nature of the opera. Because this opera, in my opinion, is about everything that starts with 'e' in Russian – about ethics, about ecology, about aesthetics too. And the solution for this performance completely lacks the unpleasant didactic moment that is often, unfortunately, present in productions of such operas. When we released this production, the reaction of the Italian newspaper community was unanimously positive. For Russia, this is an impossible scenario, unless perhaps we were staging an unknown Britten. Here, they will definitely say why, on the one hand, you cross yourself too little, and on the other hand, why you cross yourself too much. In my opinion, these kinds of things have no relation to the performance itself, but merely signify a certain degree of public critical thinking – how society reacts to a product, disconnected from the product itself.
— And how did this project come about in general?
— There is a very vibrant artistic director in Sardinia. I went there to conduct a concert. And they have a custom in their theatre to open each season with an opera that has never been performed there or hasn't been performed in a long time, meaning a novelty in a good sense. They have done many Russian operas, including 'The Oprichnik' and 'Cherevichki', and this year it was 'Kitezh'.
— When you were staging 'Kitezh' in Sardinia, 'Carmen' was running in Moscow, marked by, shall I say, an unusual story, when Yuri Temirkanov, after David Pountney's departure, allowed himself to rework the opera's finale. What is your attitude towards this?
— I won't comment. I would not do that myself. The performance has already happened, it has already been released, so the train, as they say, has left. But one should not treat this as something supernatural. We have long been part of a global opera process, within which each theatre has its own specifics. When I went out to conduct the same 'Kitezh,' I never knew if I was playing the whole opera or some part of it.
— How so?
— The fact is that we have one set of problems, and they have another: a constant struggle with trade unions. And this struggle keeps the whole process tense. If an opera lasts more than three and a half hours, you have to pay the musicians extra, and not a fixed amount, but negotiate from scratch every time, and the sum can be ten times higher. They don't care that the budget has been drawn up. I was warned that they had taken up the hatchet and that we needed to cut it down to three and a half hours. I said that we would not cut anything, but would simply not play one scene entirely, and then someone would come out and announce, so that everyone had accurate information, that we are not cutting the opera, but that the situation is simply complicated. They agreed: yes, that's a good option. We had it tucked away, thank God we didn't have to use it... It's never the case that everything is clean, smooth, and beautiful. Take the northern countries, where there is order and socialism. But two cellists are missing from the orchestra, and that's it. They don't come to work – they have depression.
— Does the contract allow that?
— No, they have such trade union concerns. The more developed the society, the more bizarre the processes look. Probably, if these cellists are caught moonlighting in another city, something can still be done, but otherwise – no. They have depression.
— And if you caught your own moonlighting?
— There were such cases. One of our singers didn't attend rehearsals, took sick leave, and went on tour with another theatre. When he was summoned, he ate his fake sick leave certificate in front of the HR manager. In general, they eventually cornered him, and he had to resign voluntarily.
— And your choir union keeps you on a short leash; you yourself told us about the revival of the old 'Boris Godunov'...
— They do this not because they are armed with some specific paragraph. It’s just that these people are of a different generation; they didn't work when the old 'Boris' was being released, when they spent two hours applying makeup and beards. Everything has changed since then. And a performance where there are 110 choir members and each one needs individual makeup is extremely difficult to achieve in modern conditions. Nowadays, there is no makeup – there is cosmetics. And so, the 'Tsar's Bride' is running now, for example, everyone is wearing the old costumes, but everyone's eyes are lined, which would have been unacceptable before.
— And what is happening with the old 'Boris...' by the way, is it being preserved?
— If we are in normal conditions, that is, we don't need to specifically destroy performances that aren't running just because we have nowhere to store them. Although that problem exists. But, naturally, no one will destroy the 'Boris Godunov' from '48. And at some point, we can return to it.
— Of course, the sets were restored before the London tour, and it would be a shame to dispose of them.
— No, no one will! It is a pity that some other things were disposed of. I didn't make it in time...
— What?
— For example, it would be interesting to return to the production of 'The Stone Guest'. It was a good performance, grand, made with taste.
— What about 'The Queen of Spades'?
— Why does everyone refer to the past tense? Why not the future!.. And so, the old 'Onegin', the old 'Pique Dame'... Everything can be restored, if there is a point, an inner need. Many people tell me: 'Your 'Onegin' is a debatable production.' And when it is not debatable, what is it then?
— 'Kitezh' in Italy. You say yourself, the reviews are consistently positive.
— So what? Here, it will be terrifyingly debatable. In Russia it is always like this: a performance is either debatable or archaic, there is no third option. In my opinion, that is how it should be. I don't want to throw any objects at the old production, God forbid. But when I watched the old 'Onegin', I was constantly haunted by a feeling of global senselessness. All the meanings that were embedded in it just died out, and a long time ago.
— And how did you manage to restore relations with Gennady Rozhdestvensky? Was it difficult to persuade him to conduct at the Bolshoi?
— Nothing special... Gennady Nikolaevich is a very enthusiastic person, and if his interests coincide with what is proposed, then interest prevails over everything else. He was the chief conductor at this theatre, more than once. And he was not the chief conductor too...
— He took such offence after 'The Gambler', though...
— That's normal. Another thing is that you don't necessarily have to be offended for life. He is interested in conducting Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, and he will conduct it... In general, the orchestra has a strong desire to play symphonic programs. I am happy to talk about this. Orchestral music occupies a significant place in the orchestra's upcoming plans.
— Can you share the plans?
– The immediate ones are France, Switzerland, Italy, and Bulgaria. Then Paris again and the Lucerne Festival.
— What about operas?
— We will go with the women: Verdi's 'La Traviata' and Richard Strauss's 'Salome'. I am more interested in the second one, and Yuri Khatuovich is more interested in the first one."
Source
Marina GAIKOVICH, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September 2, 2008
Sometimes they say we make the sign of the cross too little, sometimes too much. Alexander Vedernikov — on the Bolshoi Theatre's tour at the Paris Opera
