Each year, theater universities release new directors. Every year, theaters put on new performances. Some “shoot at the bullseye” and win the love of the viewer, some pass by. But only a few produce real sensation. Such a highly successful ballet "Ivan the Terrible."
Start
In the middle of the twentieth century, the film was seen by Sergei Eisenstein “Ivan the Terrible”. A wonderful melody for him was written by Sergei Prokofiev, and conductor Abram Stasevich helped to voice it. It was he who, admiring the wonderful music of Prokofiev, and thought for the first time about how to make a play based on this music. Back in the early sixties, he composed an oratorio (he received permission “to do what you want” from the author a few years earlier), and later voiced his idea to two people - music editor Mikhail Chulaki and production designer Yuri Grigorovich. According to their recollections, this idea was relevant precisely because both the film and the music had great opportunities for choreography, as if the dance was born out of thin air. Grigorovich later said that it was precisely and exclusively from music that he based himself on the creation of the libretto of the ballet Ivan the Terrible.
In the early seventies, Abram Stasevich died, but Chulaki and Grigorovich independently continued work on the future ballet. In addition to the oratorio of Stasevich, the music editor organically interwoven three more compositions of Sergei Prokofiev in the outline of the work.
As a result
“Ivan the Terrible” is a ballet in 2 acts. This is a story that revolves around three real-life characters - the young Ivan the Fourth (future Grozny), his wife, Queen Anastasia and the closest ally of Andrei Kurbsky. At first, this was supposed to be a historical performance, but later this idea was abandoned, and the output was a love story of the great Russian Tsar. It is interesting that at first the role of Kurbsky in the libretto of the ballet “Ivan the Terrible” was not spelled out at all, however, according to mature thought, Grigorovich introduced it to the plot - and he did not lose it, the performance turned out to be more saturated and dynamic.
“Ivan the Terrible” was ready by the beginning of 1975 and became by that standards an extremely unusual occurrence in the ballet world: ballets based entirely on Russian subjects, and even on a historical theme, are a rarity. The uniqueness of this performance, among other things, also lies in demonstrating the life of the whole country in that distant difficult time.
A bit about the creators
The author of the ballet Ivan the Terrible is usually called Yuri Grigorovich. His merit is really great. By the time of work on this work, the master already had such performances as “Stone Flower”, “Swan Lake”, “Spartak”, “The Nutcracker” and others, which he put on the stage of various theaters and went there with great success. Grigorovich, People's Artist of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labor, is rightly called one of the outstanding choreographers of the last century. By the way, the maestro still lives on and in January of this year celebrated his ninetieth anniversary.
Strictly speaking, Sergei Prokofiev, who passed away in 1953, has no relation to the ballet "Ivan the Terrible" - he did not participate in the creation of the play. However, if not for his beautiful music that inspired others, there would have been nothing at all. Therefore, he can also be called the author of the ballet Ivan the Terrible. Prokofiev was the People's Artist of the RSFSR, the laureate of the Lenin and Stalin Prizes, the creator of many works in a wide variety of genres.
One cannot but say about the composer of the ballet "Ivan the Terrible" Mikhail Chulaki. Until 1970, he was the director of the Bolshoi Theater, was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, the author of several ballets, published memoirs and a book on the instruments of the symphony orchestra.
The ballet artist "Ivan the Terrible" Simon Virsaladze is also a colorful figure. Those who happened to collaborate with him remember him as the “last of the Mohicans,” a man who surprisingly subtly felt the direction of the play and the stage space. He created masterpieces directly on the actor, "in front of a surprised audience." So no one else worked. Virsaladze was the chief artist of the Opera and Ballet Theater in St. Petersburg, the winner of the Lenin and Stalin Prizes, worked as an artist in various theaters in Russia and Georgia (he was Georgian by nationality), and he designed many magnificent performances.
The ideological inspirer of the ballet “Ivan the Terrible” Abram Stasevich, a respected conductor and artist, deserves a special mention. Being a big fan of Prokofiev, he conducted his music in many works of art. He worked in the Great Symphony Orchestra of the Union, toured the United States.
Ballet "Ivan the Terrible": a brief summary
As already mentioned, the whole action takes place around Ivan the Terrible, Anastasia and Andrei Kurbsky. In the first act, the young Ivan begins his reign (in front of the audience in 1547, Ivan is seventeen years old), which is why the boyars, who themselves were aiming for him, are extremely unhappy. The new tsar must choose a spouse for himself - and he chooses Anastasia, to whom Ivan Kurbsky, a companion of Ivan, has sympathy. Aliens attack Russia, the battle begins, at the head of which is the young tsar and Kurbsky. The king’s army triumphs and triumphantly returns home, but the joy is premature: an unexpected illness defeats Ivan. The boyars are waiting with hope for the liberation of the throne, but the king is coping with the disease and is ready to get even with the offenders.
The second act begins with a conspiracy of the boyars against the tsar, and Andrei Kurbsky also takes part in it. The first victim of the conspiracy is the poisoned Anastasia, Kurbsky escapes from the country, the people begin a riot. Ivan is suffering a loss, his anger is terrible. He orders the new environment from the guardsmen to crack down on the boyars. A harsh trial is taking place. At the end of the play, Ivan the Terrible remains alone, having lost everything except power (this is 1568, the tsar is already thirty-eight).
The director’s sympathies are on the tsar’s side, and this is also unusual - the terror of Grozny is usually condemned, but Grigorovich does not condemn him, considering cruelty necessary in that case. Oddly enough, the censors also agreed with such an interpretation (in Soviet times, any work had to undergo indispensable censorship - permission to go out), calling Grigorovich's brainchild “epoch-making”.
Central characters
As already mentioned, there are three main characters, but the “most important” among them, of course, is Tsar Ivan the Fourth. Not because the king, but because the performance vividly shows the transformation of character - from a young man, still almost a boy, happy and in love, to a lonely, wise man of experience, whose life is full of cruelty and blood. Ballet shows not only and not so much a love story as a true tragedy of a personality - and with the help of dance.
Such a large-scale role was required to play on a grand scale. They expected from the artist not only good physical preparation, but also a special charisma, the viewer had to believe that he was a villain. Grigorovich recalled that under each new performer of the main part, he selected the dance and drawing, rehearsing and choosing with him. It was after the last actor in 1990 left for London, and they could not find a suitable artist in his place, the performance was closed.
Ivan the Terrible in the play is shown, in the general opinion of many historians, much softer than he actually was. So, for example, the relationship between the real king and the real Kurbsky was not built solely on the love of both for the same woman - their confrontation was of a political nature. In addition, the real Ivan did not defend the Russian lands, but only he conquered new territories for Russia. However, Grigorovich always answered in the same way to reproaches of this kind - that this is a ballet that did not set as its goal a reliable depiction of historical events, here the motive is of a slightly different kind.
The first performer of the second main part - Andrei Kurbsky - Boris Akimov, recalled that the roles of Ivan and Andrei were built on the contrast: one blond, the second brunette, one in a dark suit, the other in a light one and so on. The task of the artist was to make his Kurbsky as strong-willed as Ivan, but more lyrical.
First performers
The “Golden Composition” of the ballet “Ivan the Terrible”, which, according to many, was never managed to be surpassed by anyone, looked like this: the part of Ivan was performed by Yuri Vladimirov (it was later said that he alone managed to find the image of the “ideal” tsar), Anastasia - Natalia Bessmertnova (who, by the way, was the wife of Yuri Grigorovich) and Kurbsky - Boris Akimov, already mentioned above. He recalled in an interview that they had worked with this team for two and a half seasons, and admitted that such a term was a rarity, because usually there is always a second line-up for insurance. Akimov also proudly mentioned that not a single performance was disrupted - in the troupe reigned complete understanding and unity.
Subsequently, the role of Ivan was danced by Vladimir
Vasiliev, Alexander Godunov and Irek Mukhamedov. The latter became the “final” performer - it was after his departure that the ballet was removed from the repertoire.
In Russia
The premiere of the ballet "Ivan the Terrible" at the Bolshoi Theater of Moscow with a full house was held in February 1975 and was a stunning success. It was said that this was a “coup” in the world of ballet. It was this performance that was lucky - being new, just “born”, it was outfitted on foreign tours just a couple of months after the premiere. At that time, such a practice was an incredible rarity. Over the course of fifteen years, Ivan the Terrible played 99 times on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater.
Abroad
Already in the summer of 1975, the Bolshoi Theater troupe with the ballet "Ivan the Terrible" left for the USA, where the performance was also a success. It was there that the director of the Paris Opera saw him. The ballet made an impression on the Frenchman that he immediately got behind the curtains and agreed on a performance in Paris. The contract was enforced next year. At the premiere, along with French artists, dancers of the Bolshoi Theater danced.
The success of the Russian performance in the French public was overwhelming. The press called it “grandiose”, “monumental”, “masterpiece”, “great in its design”, “large-scale”, “breakthrough”. They wrote that the Russians helped the French theater "break the deadlock", that this performance would certainly "go down in the history of ballet." Unsurpassed choreography, wonderful music and bewitching scenery were noted. For a long time the performance was in Paris, then it was removed from the repertoire, and in 2003 it was again returned to the stage. In total, the Bolshoi Theater troupe performed the ballet Ivan the Terrible abroad about the same number of times as in Moscow.
Return
After 1990, ballet was not heard for a long time - as many as eleven years. And then the long journey began to return to the big stage. First, Grigorovich staged the Kremlin Ballet for the troupe , then helped restore the performance in Paris, and in 2006 worked in Krasnodar.
But the performance did not return to the Bolshoi Theater, although many different people made attempts. The matter was complicated by the fact that the heirs of Sergei Prokofiev, who lived abroad, forbade anyone from using the music of their great ancestor. Permission was granted only to Grigorovich - and only in 2011. Thus began preparations for the return of the legend. Rehearsals began in September 2012, and two months later the first show was already held, which became a real event in the art world.
The "old men" helped the new performers of the main parties, talked about their experience, about the vision of the role. We watched old records, "delved" into memory. The scenery was also restored - unfortunately, without Virsaladze, who died in 1989. Together, everything happened - and received a wide variety of reviews.
Opinions
It rarely happens that everyone converges in a single point of view - whether positive or negative. So the ballet "Ivan the Terrible" received both disapproving comments and enthusiastic - that now, that forty years ago. They said that young people should be taught at this performance - in contrast, it was heard that he was too ideological. Some considered him creative luck, others - the glorification of the "demon".
The audience noted the scale of the era, which the artists managed to convey perfectly, were enthusiastic about the music that organically fit into the performance, and they never ceased to be amazed at the costumes and scenography. According to their reviews, all this created the might and greatness of the time of Ivan the Terrible. They also talked about the amazing game of the main characters, about how amazingly subtly this three felt each other (in this case we are talking about the first cast).
Interesting Facts
- The first foreigner to dance the part of Grozny on the Russian stage was Igor Ibra Iglesias.
- Preparing for the role of Andrei Kurbsky in 2012, the artist Pavel Dmitrichenko specifically searched for coins from the time of Grozny - to imbue the spirit of the era.
- To restore the ballet in 2012, part of the costumes was brought from Paris.
- The original title of the play is “Pictures from the Life of Russia”. It changed several times before the final was approved.
- The fact that the real Anastasia was really poisoned was proved only in 2000.
- Historical fact: the real Ivan the Terrible also danced, despite the severity of his nature.
- Many drew analogies between Ivan the Terrible and Joseph Stalin.
There are a lot of different performances, and there are only a few that have been talked about for decades. Talk about the ballet Ivan the Terrible has not been silent for many years. This gives rise to a sense of pride that such a masterpiece was delivered precisely in Russia.