<Translated from French automatically, it will be edited later>
At the beginning of this century, the Bolshoi Theater wanted to make us rediscover the opera "Ruslan and Ludmilia" by Mikhail Glinka. This is a deeply symbolic step that underlines how important and significant the music of this composer remains for us. Out of nowhere, Glinka is a relatively enigmatic figure in the history of Russian music. Differing in this from our other classical composers, the genealogy of his work is quite difficult to trace. The operas previously written by Russian composers, were independent works from each other, which did not really contribute to the tradition of nineteenth-century opera.
We then ask: "What is Glinka's work?"Our current production provides an answer to this question, an answer from the twenty-first century. We had two main starting points. The first implied that maximum care should be taken in approaching the author's text, requiring analysis, research and careful study of the original sources. The second was related to production. We tried to avoid worrying excessively about everyday themes, psychological approaches, detailed elaboration of the characters' character, in other words, the Stanislavsky system that our theater loves so much and which could be called the refusal of entertainment in the name of entertainment.
The format we have chosen responds more precisely to the Glinka method, according towhich the music comes first, dragging the action behind it. Let's say that the logic of development is exclusively musical. The exposition of the material is built on a more epic than dramatic basis, which brings us closer to ancient theatrical genres such as tragedy and mystery. Therefore, like its ancient Greek equivalent, the chorus must only assume the role of commentator and not that of character of the opera. In our production, the characters are the soloists and the orchestra plays here, of course, a particular dominant role, to which in 40 minutes, it gives all its meaning.
I would like to emphasize that our work is also a tribute to Glinka, on the occasion of her jubilee in 2004.
Source, Page 44.
At the beginning of this century, the Bolshoi Theater wanted to make us rediscover the opera "Ruslan and Ludmilia" by Mikhail Glinka. This is a deeply symbolic step that underlines how important and significant the music of this composer remains for us. Out of nowhere, Glinka is a relatively enigmatic figure in the history of Russian music. Differing in this from our other classical composers, the genealogy of his work is quite difficult to trace. The operas previously written by Russian composers, were independent works from each other, which did not really contribute to the tradition of nineteenth-century opera.
We then ask: "What is Glinka's work?"Our current production provides an answer to this question, an answer from the twenty-first century. We had two main starting points. The first implied that maximum care should be taken in approaching the author's text, requiring analysis, research and careful study of the original sources. The second was related to production. We tried to avoid worrying excessively about everyday themes, psychological approaches, detailed elaboration of the characters' character, in other words, the Stanislavsky system that our theater loves so much and which could be called the refusal of entertainment in the name of entertainment.
The format we have chosen responds more precisely to the Glinka method, according towhich the music comes first, dragging the action behind it. Let's say that the logic of development is exclusively musical. The exposition of the material is built on a more epic than dramatic basis, which brings us closer to ancient theatrical genres such as tragedy and mystery. Therefore, like its ancient Greek equivalent, the chorus must only assume the role of commentator and not that of character of the opera. In our production, the characters are the soloists and the orchestra plays here, of course, a particular dominant role, to which in 40 minutes, it gives all its meaning.
I would like to emphasize that our work is also a tribute to Glinka, on the occasion of her jubilee in 2004.
Source, Page 44.
2004
Glinka — Ruslan and Lyudmila — Alexander Vedernikov
