There are few people in Russia who have not seen, or at least never heard of the "Carmen" performed by Maya Plisetskaya. The premiere of this opera in 1967 caused a shock among the audience and critics. Culture Minister E. Furtseva was angry: the sexuality of the main character and the subtext of the play were obvious. But the production was defended. In 2010, the Mariinsky Theater "Carmen" received a new birth. This is not a copy of the play with the participation of the Soviet prima ballerina, but rather a modern vision of the theme of personal freedom.
Production history
The ballet of one act was staged by the Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso based on the novel by Prosper Merime. Maya Plisetskaya had long dreamed of staging this plot, but none of the choreographers took it. When the Cuban Alonso arrived in the Soviet Union, the prima turned to him with a proposal to create a ballet. He liked the idea, and he began to implement it. Of course, without the highest permissions he would not be allowed to do this, but he was from Liberty Island, and that meant a lot.
The ballet was based on scenes from the opera of the same name. However, there were problems with the music. D. Shostakovich did not dare to compete with Georges Bizet, A. Khachaturian did not see anything interesting for himself in the plot. Plisetskaya was advised to turn to her husband, the composer Shchedrin. All conceivable deadlines have already passed, the performance was in jeopardy ...
R. Shchedrin, on the advice of Alonso, combined music from the opera Carmen and the Arlesian Suite, authored by Bizet. The arrangement was brilliantly successful; its distinguishing feature was string and percussion instruments with the introduction of bell ringing elements. The orchestra got acquainted with the score at the same time as the soloists, since the first rehearsals were accompanied by the piano.
Scandalous premiere
The premiere of Carmen Suite took place on April 20, 1967 at the Bolshoi Theater. Furtseva left the building without waiting for the end of the performance. Her greatest desire was to close the production and forget about it.
By common efforts and persuasion, it was possible to defend the ballet, however, on the condition that some especially provocative scenes be removed. Since then, the performance has been shown 132 times in the USSR, and on the stages of the world - more than two hundred.
43 years later, on April 19, Carmen premiered at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, attended by Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin. Their participation in the rehearsal process was invaluable because the idea of the production was conveyed.
Several ballerinas prepared the Carmen party at the Mariinsky Theater: Ulyana Lopatkina, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Irma Nioradze. Ballet soloists Danila Korsuntsev and Ilya Kuznetsov got used to the role of Jose. The performer of the torrero party is Evgeny Ivanchenko. Teacher Viktor Barykin invited from the Bolshoi Theater led the rehearsals. He was one of the performers of the Jose party.
Maya Plisetskaya, defending the right to the play, said E. Furtseva: “Carmen will live as long as I am alive.” Today at the Mariinsky Theater “Carmen Suite” is one of the most popular productions.
Opera Carmen
In 2015, there were no two of the greatest performers of the main part - prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya and opera singer Elena Obraztsova. Their performance of the role of gypsy Carmen is recognized as exemplary throughout the world.
The premiere of the opera in Paris in 1875 was a failure. And only true connoisseurs of music, such as P.I. Tchaikovsky, predicted a brilliant future for this work.
The first performance in Russia took place in 1878 in St. Petersburg. And at the Mariinsky Theater, the opera Carmen was staged in 1885. And today there are few people, even those far from classical music, who would be unfamiliar with the arias of Jose, Carmen or the bullfighter.
In 2016, viewers saw and heard an updated version of the work of J. Bizet. In this edition, the choreography that Ilya Ustintsev worked on and the decoration (Alexey Stepanyuk) was changed. The musical part remained untouched.
In the main parties, Anna Kiknadze, Alexander Kasyanov and Evgeny Akimov are masters of opera performance.
We can say that the Carmen of the Mariinsky Theater only benefited from the changes made. Therefore, three and a half hours of opera fly unnoticed.