The Mariinsky's Diamonds

Well, this post is rather belated, considering that the Mariinsky wrapped up their NYC tour over a month ago, but better late than never, I guess!

My friend, very much in awe of the Mariinsky's talented ballerinas, commented that they are all diamonds--all different, but all priceless! So I decided to take her comment a step further, and actually assign diamond colors/types to the six ballerinas I saw in leading roles during the NYC tour.

Here goes:

Ulyana Lopatkina: White (Colorless)
Flawless, impeccable, imperial; a purist of the highest order.

Viktoria Tereshkina: Yellow
Warm and sunny, radiating confidence and cheer.

Yekaterina Kondaurova: “Heart of the Ocean” Blue
Majestic, with a touch of mystique, and richly sensuous too.

Yevgenia Obraztsova: Pink
Flirty, feminine and youthful.

Diana Vishneva: Red
The rarest color of them all, one created by a special flaw in the crystalline structure. Not perfect, but unique, exotic, unforgettable.

Alina Somova: Synthetic
Not gem quality.  Industrial use only.

Vishneva's Giselle—one who uses all her body and soul and lives in the moment

Diana Vishneva is currently performing "Giselle" with Semyon Chudin and the Tokyo Ballet.  I happened to find this preview article by a Japanese ballet critic, and since I agreed with much of what she said, I decided to translate it as best I could and post it.  So here it is.

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Vishneva's Giselle—one who uses all her body and soul and lives in the moment
By ballet critic Akiko Shibata

There is no other ballerina who makes you feel her vitality as powerfully as Diana Vishneva. From the moment she appears onstage, she draws the audience in with her infinitely gorgeous presence. With her sure technique as a base, her dancing is richly nuanced. It generates an overwhelming force, and she makes you feel the life force common to each and every one of us, not just Vishneva herself.

In “Sleeping Beauty,” the peak of classic ballet, she is the Princess Aurora who shines radiantly. She is the “Firebird” who sets the devil and his underlings ablaze. And she is the Zobeide in “Scheherazade” who sacrifices herself for love. Those are the roles that surely seem to be made for Vishneva.

Based on her personality, “a Giselle who loves to dance but has a weak body” might not seem to fit her on first glance. However, this is what makes Vishneva amazing.

I feel her life force more strongly because of her profound interpretation of the character. For example, “Swan Lake,” which for a long time people said she was not suited for. She probed the role and herself, and she brought forth an original Odette and Odile that I have never seen before, one that only she can produce. That strength, those feelings that she pours into ballet must come from the sparkle of her life. If she takes hold of you—she will draw you toward her no matter what role it is. Indeed, her “Giselle” is one that only she can dance, one that is full of originality and is extremely moving.

Vishneva’s Giselle is overflowing with vitality. When she dances and when she shows her love for Albrecht, she uses her whole body and soul, and it totally seems like she is pouring all her life force into the moment. Even in the mad scene, it seems like her body cannot endure that intense life force, and in the end, her body gives out. That’s why, in the second act, when Giselle rises from the grave and spins so violently fast, I thought, “Ahh, now her soul can finally dance with all her strength, and love with all her heart, like she has always wanted to,” and I had this strange sense of relief and release. What protected Albrecht from the wilis, what whirls around her now that she’s dead, just might be that life force. In the last scene, there is the sadness one usually feels knowing that Giselle and Albrecht can never meet again, but beyond that, I was filled with the two-fold sadness of Giselle’s tragedy—she has finally won her freedom, but as a result, she must be separated from Albrecht forever. And I couldn’t hold back my tears.

This summer, Vishneva will dance “Giselle” in Tokyo for the third time. This time her partner is Semyon Chudin from the Moscow Musical Theater. There are probably many people who remember his performance as the cool-headed Phoebus in “Esmeralada” when the troupe came to Japan last year. He is a young performer with the Moscow Musical Theater to watch. It has been five years since Vishneva’s last “Giselle.” Now that she has deepened her understanding of the role and taken on a new partner, I wonder what kind of Giselle Vishneva will show us. I cannot wait!

Alastair Macauley on Diana Vishneva: luscious and lustrous

Reading through a recent review of "Giselle" at American Ballet Theater by the N.Y. Times' head dance critic Alastair Macauley, I was struck by the fact that he seems to use very similar words to characterize Diana Vishneva's performances, no matter what she is dancing.

About her recent Giselle, he writes:

Ms. Vishneva, who also brings to the role great personal beauty, has a fullness to her dance tone and a luscious sheen that set her apart from almost every other ballerina today.

(My emphasis added.)

That reminded me of his characterization of her dancing last year in Ashton's Thais pas de deux:

But “Thaïs,” despite a couple of blips amid the most complicated lifts, still looked ravishing, with Diana Vishneva lusciousness incarnate and Jared Matthews both handsome and devout.

In comparison with NYCB's Ashley Bouder, he wrote:

My mind flies to two: Diana Vishneva (seen with American Ballet Theater, with the Kirov and in her own program, “Beauty in Motion”) and Ashley Bouder (at New York City Ballet). They’re diametrically dissimilar: the doe-eyed Ms. Vishneva is luscious and lustrous while the narrow-eyed Ms. Bouder is sharp-edged, scintillating, sometimes scorching.

Finally, opining on her 2009 appearance as Kitri, he writes:

The sheer luster of her presence is often startling; I know of no dancer today who so gloriously seems a source of light.

I can't say I disagree!

All I want for Christmas...

Just a few things on my Christmas wish list:

1) I would love for Julia Fischer to record the Shostakovich and Sibelius violin concertos, for I have the sinking feeling that I will never get to hear her perform them otherwise!  If not, perhaps I can wish for her to perform more in the US, preferably in New York City or close to the Northeast!

Speaking of the Sibelius and Shostakovich, here are some pictures of her playing those very concertos that I happened to find:

Sibelius violin concerto - Summer 2007 - 1
Sibelius violin concerto - Summer 2007 - 2

Shostakovich violin concerto - August 2010

2)  I wish to see Diana Vishneva perform "Don Quixote" or "The Sleeping Beauty."
It occurs to me that despite having seen two full seasons of Vishneva performing, I have yet to see her in a full-length ballet where her character is alive at the end of the show.  I know that she prefers the dramas, which all seem to end in death, but since she has received such critical praise for her performances of Kitri and Aurora, I would love to see them for myself.

Of her 2009 performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Alistair Macauley wrote:

On Tuesday’s opening night Diana Vishneva — injured for much of 2008 — was in bright, flashing form as the heroine Kitri. The sheer luster of her presence is often startling; I know of no dancer today who so gloriously seems a source of light.

And Sarah Kaufman of the Washington Post ranked her performance in "The Sleeping Beauty" in February as one of the best performances of 2010:

Diana Vishneva in the title role of "The Sleeping Beauty," performed by the Mariinsky Ballet in February at the Kennedy Center Opera House. Vishneva, one of the supreme dance artists of our day, warmed an audience that had braved a snowstorm to see her with luminous acting and dance phrasing that was sensitive to both the music and the moment.

3) I wish for Mao Asada to fulfill her goal of reworking all her jumps. I know that it will take a lot of time and effort to do this, and I just hope that she can maintain her motivation and not be too disheartened if she isn't able to put everything together this season. I firmly believe that Mao will succeed eventually, but eventually might not come before March!

December-born composers and random music-related musings

1)  As I write this, I'm listening to various tunes and incidental music by Jean Sibelius, whose violin concerto I especially adore.  Today I say it's my favorite, but I'm awfully fickle in these sort of matters.  It was, however, one of those rare pieces of music (like Bach's Chaconne) that I liked from the first listen, and from the very first bar.

Anyway, what makes Sibelius of particular interest to me is that his birthday is one day before mine.

Indeed, I was listening to Berlioz on Friday for a similar reason--his birthday is two days after mine.

And then there's Beethoven, whose birthday is a week later.

In general, I don't believe in astrology and psychics and all that, but it is fun to think that we Sagittarii have something in common. ^_^

2) I've always been curious how orchestras find/pick substitutes when a particular artist cancels a concert.

Last week, Julia Fischer played the Brahms violin concerto with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Madrid.  However, a quick glance at the Orchestra's schedule reveals Janine Jansen was originally scheduled as the soloist.  Interesting.

This little incident reminds me of it's inverse--earlier this year I was extremely excited to be able to see Ms. Fischer play the Bach solo partitas and sonatas in Carnegie Hall, but about a month before the concert the tour was canceled.  I suppose it was a good thing that Carnegie Hall simply refunded my money instead of substituting another violinist--it would not have been the same at all!

I truly hope that Julia Fischer will play her solo Bach in New York some time soon!  Or else I really might have to try to travel to see her play...

3) Speaking of Julia Fischer, will her next recording be of  Joseph Suk’s Fantasy for Violin and Ottorino Respighi’s Poema Autunnale?  A press release about Monaco's Philharmonic Orchestra reveals this tidbit:

Julia Fischer, a young 26-year-old violinist, will be the artist in residence.  Julia Fischer is an internationally renowned violinist, one of the most brilliant of her generation, and one of Yakov Kreizberg’s closest musical partners.  She will perform in two concerts, interpreting Joseph Suk’s Fantasy for Violin and Ottorino Respighi’s Poema Autunnale on 20 November, and Brahms’ Double Concerto on 4 March.  She will also tour in Spain with the Orchestra, and will make a recording, conducted by Yakov Kreizberg.

I'm not familiar with these pieces, but I welcome any recordings with Julia Fischer!

4) A few weeks ago I happened to find a link detailing the audition process for NYCB's orchestra.  (I have no idea how I stumbled upon this.) According to the site, a violinist needs to play the first movement of the Tchaikovsky or Sibelius violin concertos as part of the audition!  I admit I'm not very familiar with the level of skill among your average professional violinist, but that seems awfully difficult--it's a ballet orchestra, after all, not the NY Philharmonic!!

Then again, NYCB does have all those violin concertos in its repertoire--Barber and Stravinsky, to name a few, so it would probably be useful to have a number of violinists who can tackle the solo.

Or perhaps the rigorous audition process simply speaks to the high level of skill of the NYCB orchestra.  I have to admit, one of my major qualms with the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra is that they can sound embarrassingly amateurish--the violin solo in the White Swan pas de deux from "Swan Lake" always seems to go out of tune on the high runs, and the horns are absolutely dreadful in "Romeo & Juliet."

Yes, if I had the money to be a major donor at ABT, that's definitely one thing I would change--beef up the orchestra into one that is worthy of Tchaikovsky's or Prokofiev's scores, and also, perhaps, premiere new scores for new ballets.

The Russian-est dancer at NYCB

So, let's be honest.  I have some serious Russian fetish when it comes to the arts.

My three heroines of the moment all have a connection to Russia.  My favorite ballerina, Diana Vishneva, is of course, Russian--she was born in St. Petersburg, trained at the illustrious Vaganova Academy and is the star of the Kirov/Mariinsky ballet.

My favorite violinist, Julia Fischer, is German/Slovakian, yes, but she has been heavily influenced by Russia. One of her important early teachers was Russian-born Lydia Dubrovskaya, and her current teacher is Ana Chumachenco, also of Russian origin.

According to this article:

While working with the Russian-born Dubrovskaya, “everything Russian” flooded into Fischer’s life, adding to the love she already had from her Prague-trained mother of such great musicians as Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, David Oistrakh, and Zinaida Gilels. Oistrakh was special, and she soon found herself buying all his recordings.

So it should come as no surprise that a recent Czech review (via GoogleTranslate) noted that "Julia Fischer has an extra round and full tone, reminiscent of the Russian violinist school."

And then, of course, there is the fact that Julia Fischer's first CD release was of Russian violin concertos and with the Russian National Orchestra under the baton of (Russian-born) Yakov Kriezberg.

And let us not forget that her parents grew up in communist countries:

“Both my parents came from communist countries. I was brought up knowing all the faults of that system”—faults, she says, that find their way into her interpretations.

So I think it's safe to say that Russia/the Soviet Union was a major influence on Julia Fischer as well.

What about my favorite skater, Mao Asada?  She is Japanese, yet her two foreign coaches, Rafael Artunian and Tatiana Tarasova, were Russian.  Her mother wanted her to work with Tarasova because she believed that the Russians were the best.  And Mao even began learning Russian so she could communicate better with her (former) coach.

So clearly I like the artists/athletes that have been heavily influenced by Russia.  Why is that?

Well, I think it has something to do with what a young American dancer training at the Bolshoi said:

“The standards are such and the work ethic is such in Russia that there is no room for failure, there is no room for laziness, there is no room to be nice when it is not appropriate to be nice,” Joy said. “Russia is the best because there is this demand for excellence that there isn’t in any other part of the world.”

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So that brings me to the title of this post.

In general, I am not a huge fan of New York City Ballet (NYCB).  They are, on the whole, too American for me.  I much prefer the Russian style (and Russian dancers).

But there is one ballerina that I really do like--Sterling Hyltin.  I saw her in early 2009 in "Coppelia" and found her quite charming, and I was also impressed with her technique when I saw the PBS broadcast of Peter Martins' "Romeo + Juliet." (Though the production as a whole pales in comparison the to MacMillan version.)

So I was quite tickled to find this quote about her in a review (emphasis added):

Hyltin is one of the company’s most exciting and well-rounded ballerinas: crystalline technique, warmth in spades, a delightful skittishness, silvery jumps, total engagement with her partners. In addition, her use of épaulement—the expressive coordination of the shoulders, back, and head so characteristic of Russian dancers—stands out in a company where full-bodied movement competes with speed and attack.

 Yep, I should've known!  Leave it to me to pick the Russian-est dancer at NYCB as my favorite!

Haglund, my favorite dance blogger, also had some nice things to say about Ms. Hyltin:

The final piece on the program was Danses Concertantes lead by Sterling Hyltin and Gonzalo Garcia. These days it's very hard not to adore Hyltin in anything she dances.  But for some funky fingers and excessive wrist whipping, she's a clear and unaffected voice for most every choreographer, and she makes every guy she stands in front of look better.

I always like it when the bloggers I like like the things I like.  ;)

Gratuitous...hair?!

So, I've been thinking a lot about hair recently.

Last weekend, I watched "The Nun's Story," a 1959 film starring the inimitable Audrey Hepburn, and I was struck by how much a nun's habit reminded me of a burqa.  I hadn't really thought about it before, but I guess nuns keep their hair concealed just as the stricter forms of Islam require.

And now that I think about it--hair, or specifically, haircuts, play a pretty big role in Audrey Hepburn films!  In "Roman Holiday," her first Hollywood film, she gets her hair cut as a sign of her new-found freedom.  In "Sabrina," she goes off to Paris and returns with a chic short hairdo.  And finally, in "The Nun's Story," her hair is brusquely cut off before she becomes a novice, and we never see her hair again until the very end.

But I digress...

What really got me thinking on this subject was a performance of "Serenade," Balanchine's first "American" ballet, at the opening night of New York City Ballet's fall season.  In one section (I am unfortunately not familiar enough with the piece to know what it is called), two of the ballerinas dance with their hair completely loose.  And since their hair was blond and waist-length, it made for quite a sight, flowing and swirling as they jumped and turned, much like their long tulle skirts.

It was a striking contrast to your typical "bunhead" ballerina, and since the choreography itself was somewhat sensuous, I couldn't help but think this display of hair felt gratuitous.

Here's a pic of the Suzanne Farrell ballet performing the piece, to give you an idea of the costuming and hair:

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since certain religions clearly find women's hair to be provocative, but it was the first time I had seriously considered the sensuousness of hair.

And then, with this in the back of my head, I happened to encounter this scene while reading Flaubert's Madame Bovary (Part Two, Chapter 14):

And the Homais children came to see her, along with Justin. He would go up to her room with them, and stand near the door, motionless, taciturn. Madame Bovary would quite often, unaware of him, sit down at her dressing-table. First she took out her comb, shaking her head with a quick gesture; and when he first saw it, that great mass of hair falling right down to her knees, the dark ringlets uncoiling, it was for him, poor boy, like a sudden initiation into something new and extraordinary, a splendour that set him trembling.

I'm guessing the fictional Justin would've enjoyed that little dance in "Serenade" quite a bit!

And, I guess this means I should let my hair grow out! ;)