<Translated from Russian automatically, will be edited later>
The Bolshoi Theatre's largest tour in recent years has begun at London's Covent Garden. It will last nearly a month and feature not only the theatre's ballet company, familiar to British audiences, but also its opera company, which tours far less frequently and will be performing at Covent Garden for the first time. Alexander Vedernikov, the Bolshoi's principal conductor and musical director, spoke to Vedomosti about the expectations of the Moscow theatre and London audiences.
— Opera companies tour far less frequently than ballet companies, but this is far from the Bolshoi Theatre's first tour. Are there any special features?
— We need to navigate the Scylla of heightened enlightenment and the Charybdis of heightened conservatism, which simultaneously characterize the British public." Through a joint effort between us and the host, we chose two titles for this: Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" and Prokofiev's "The Fiery Angel." These titles reflect the two sides of the Bolshoi Theatre's opera house. They represent its history and its present day. Furthermore, the art of management lies in balancing commercial and creative issues, avoiding excessive compromise in either case.
Our tours are a normal relationship between economic entities: the theatre and the host. State support is essential because our project is financially challenging: there are a lot of people, and cutting them is certainly possible. We tried it — we cut 10 extras from "Boris Godunov," and what remains is similar, but not as impressive.
— The Covent Garden stage is noticeably smaller than the Bolshoi stage. Will the performances require adaptation?
— After the recent renovations, Covent Garden's stage has become very technologically advanced. It allows us to present virtually any production without alterations.
— Do you strive to take into account the tastes and expectations of the English public?
— We need to truly understand the needs of the people who will come to see our performances. For example, when ticket sales for our London productions first opened, "The Fiery Angel" was the most popular of all the titles, including ballet ones. But don't be fooled, because it was likely during the first days of sales that the people who came to the box office were not random, but rather were specifically interested in this opera, specifically in our performance. The success of the tour will depend on how successfully we manage to imbue this picture with real art.
— To what extent do your personal artistic passions align with the general line of the Bolshoi Theatre's musical director?
— There can't be a complete coincidence: I am me, and the Bolshoi is the Bolshoi. Today, there's a healthy balance. Otherwise, I wouldn't work here.
— What does this balance look like?
— I have the opportunity to work on the operas that interest me as a conductor. For example, 'The Fiery Angel.' And the works we plan also depend largely on my interests. For example, we will never stage 'The Merry Widow.'
— So the repertoire depends on the director's voluntarism?
— There is no voluntarism. The repertoire policy is spelled out in the 'Bolshoi Theatre's mission statement.' There is no stretching. Classic Russian opera is limited to ten works.
— You've repeatedly expressed doubts about the legitimacy of the 1948 version of 'Boris Godunov' at the Bolshoi. Nevertheless, you will conduct it in London.
— There are two aesthetic approaches here. One is to try to squeeze your own content into such a production. Or you can try to delve into the details that the directors intended. This product is not a living theater; it has the significance of a monument." And the audience wants to see a beautiful set with a fountain and a life-size St. Basil's Cathedral, and they are delighted, as expected. And we must take this into account, too.
— What approach is most acceptable to you?
— I always enjoy working with aesthetically consistent structures. If we're working on the old "Boris," we try to restore the production to its original concept.
— For you personally, as a musician, isn't it a burden to constantly feel your "mission" fulfilled?
— Not at all. I'm also a citizen, not just a conductor. Which means I'm interested in theater in the context of society. In the sense that it can have an ennobling effect on society. And that's the point of the Bolshoi being the premier theater: it doesn't prohibit anything, but rather obliges you to do everything you do, but with the utmost care and perfectionism.
— If people come to the theater to see St. Basil's Cathedral, do they need an ennobling effect?
— Of course they do. They came to see the cathedral, not McDonald's. And you can't paint everyone with the same brush. Some come because it's prestigious to go to the Bolshoi. And we act as fishers of men here: we catch some, and we don't catch others... But there are people who come to the theater to hear a certain fermata. And if it doesn't work, they consider the evening a waste. For the theater that..."Of course it is. They came to see the cathedral, not McDonald's. And you can't paint everyone with the same brush. Some come because it's prestigious to go to the Bolshoi. And here we act as fishers of men: we catch some, and not others... But there are people who come to the theater to hear a certain fermata. And if it doesn't work, they consider the evening lost. For the theater we strive to create, they too are lost, even though they know the notes.
— Many people perceive the Bolshoi as a theater of Russian opera, first and foremost. Don't you strive to expand these perceptions?
— To draw such conclusions, you need to look 10-15 years ahead. I'm finishing my fifth season. It's difficult to calculate the vectors over that time. Let's come back to this question in 10 years...
— But five years is enough time to sense whether the theater's audience has changed.
— Not long enough. But it is changing." For example, a lot of young people go to see War and Peace.
— Is it important to you how the London tour is received?
— Imagine if I said it wasn't. That wouldn't be sincere. The Bolshoi Theatre is a player in the music market, and we care about expanding our influence and strengthening our reputation worldwide. Therefore, any tour is important. But it's impossible not to consider that some venues are key in that what happens there influences the entire cultural process. In our business, such venues are London and New York. Moreover, Covent Garden is one of the most important theaters; it has the most discerning critics and a rather unique audience. The very fact that our opera company has never performed there before lends a special tone to this tour: once you've finally made it there, you want everyone to remember it for a long time. But above all, we perform for the public. What matters is the public's appreciation and a certain public opinion, not what two John Smiths write in the newspapers.
Source
The Bolshoi Theatre's largest tour in recent years has begun at London's Covent Garden. It will last nearly a month and feature not only the theatre's ballet company, familiar to British audiences, but also its opera company, which tours far less frequently and will be performing at Covent Garden for the first time. Alexander Vedernikov, the Bolshoi's principal conductor and musical director, spoke to Vedomosti about the expectations of the Moscow theatre and London audiences.
— Opera companies tour far less frequently than ballet companies, but this is far from the Bolshoi Theatre's first tour. Are there any special features?
— We need to navigate the Scylla of heightened enlightenment and the Charybdis of heightened conservatism, which simultaneously characterize the British public." Through a joint effort between us and the host, we chose two titles for this: Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" and Prokofiev's "The Fiery Angel." These titles reflect the two sides of the Bolshoi Theatre's opera house. They represent its history and its present day. Furthermore, the art of management lies in balancing commercial and creative issues, avoiding excessive compromise in either case.
Our tours are a normal relationship between economic entities: the theatre and the host. State support is essential because our project is financially challenging: there are a lot of people, and cutting them is certainly possible. We tried it — we cut 10 extras from "Boris Godunov," and what remains is similar, but not as impressive.
— The Covent Garden stage is noticeably smaller than the Bolshoi stage. Will the performances require adaptation?
— After the recent renovations, Covent Garden's stage has become very technologically advanced. It allows us to present virtually any production without alterations.
— Do you strive to take into account the tastes and expectations of the English public?
— We need to truly understand the needs of the people who will come to see our performances. For example, when ticket sales for our London productions first opened, "The Fiery Angel" was the most popular of all the titles, including ballet ones. But don't be fooled, because it was likely during the first days of sales that the people who came to the box office were not random, but rather were specifically interested in this opera, specifically in our performance. The success of the tour will depend on how successfully we manage to imbue this picture with real art.
— To what extent do your personal artistic passions align with the general line of the Bolshoi Theatre's musical director?
— There can't be a complete coincidence: I am me, and the Bolshoi is the Bolshoi. Today, there's a healthy balance. Otherwise, I wouldn't work here.
— What does this balance look like?
— I have the opportunity to work on the operas that interest me as a conductor. For example, 'The Fiery Angel.' And the works we plan also depend largely on my interests. For example, we will never stage 'The Merry Widow.'
— So the repertoire depends on the director's voluntarism?
— There is no voluntarism. The repertoire policy is spelled out in the 'Bolshoi Theatre's mission statement.' There is no stretching. Classic Russian opera is limited to ten works.
— You've repeatedly expressed doubts about the legitimacy of the 1948 version of 'Boris Godunov' at the Bolshoi. Nevertheless, you will conduct it in London.
— There are two aesthetic approaches here. One is to try to squeeze your own content into such a production. Or you can try to delve into the details that the directors intended. This product is not a living theater; it has the significance of a monument." And the audience wants to see a beautiful set with a fountain and a life-size St. Basil's Cathedral, and they are delighted, as expected. And we must take this into account, too.
— What approach is most acceptable to you?
— I always enjoy working with aesthetically consistent structures. If we're working on the old "Boris," we try to restore the production to its original concept.
— For you personally, as a musician, isn't it a burden to constantly feel your "mission" fulfilled?
— Not at all. I'm also a citizen, not just a conductor. Which means I'm interested in theater in the context of society. In the sense that it can have an ennobling effect on society. And that's the point of the Bolshoi being the premier theater: it doesn't prohibit anything, but rather obliges you to do everything you do, but with the utmost care and perfectionism.
— If people come to the theater to see St. Basil's Cathedral, do they need an ennobling effect?
— Of course they do. They came to see the cathedral, not McDonald's. And you can't paint everyone with the same brush. Some come because it's prestigious to go to the Bolshoi. And we act as fishers of men here: we catch some, and we don't catch others... But there are people who come to the theater to hear a certain fermata. And if it doesn't work, they consider the evening a waste. For the theater that..."Of course it is. They came to see the cathedral, not McDonald's. And you can't paint everyone with the same brush. Some come because it's prestigious to go to the Bolshoi. And here we act as fishers of men: we catch some, and not others... But there are people who come to the theater to hear a certain fermata. And if it doesn't work, they consider the evening lost. For the theater we strive to create, they too are lost, even though they know the notes.
— Many people perceive the Bolshoi as a theater of Russian opera, first and foremost. Don't you strive to expand these perceptions?
— To draw such conclusions, you need to look 10-15 years ahead. I'm finishing my fifth season. It's difficult to calculate the vectors over that time. Let's come back to this question in 10 years...
— But five years is enough time to sense whether the theater's audience has changed.
— Not long enough. But it is changing." For example, a lot of young people go to see War and Peace.
— Is it important to you how the London tour is received?
— Imagine if I said it wasn't. That wouldn't be sincere. The Bolshoi Theatre is a player in the music market, and we care about expanding our influence and strengthening our reputation worldwide. Therefore, any tour is important. But it's impossible not to consider that some venues are key in that what happens there influences the entire cultural process. In our business, such venues are London and New York. Moreover, Covent Garden is one of the most important theaters; it has the most discerning critics and a rather unique audience. The very fact that our opera company has never performed there before lends a special tone to this tour: once you've finally made it there, you want everyone to remember it for a long time. But above all, we perform for the public. What matters is the public's appreciation and a certain public opinion, not what two John Smiths write in the newspapers.
Source
Anna GALAYDA, Vedomosti, July 26, 2006
The Bolshoi is large, even by London's high standards
