One of the great things about Russia is the super abundance of cultural offerings-there seems to be numerous art galleries, theatre and ballet companies putting on shows. And even though some of the companies may not be as world famous as the Bolshoi or the Mariinsky, the artists, dancers and actors are just as talented.
So before we came, we decided that we wanted to see a ballet at the Bolshoi in Moscow. Just like New York or San Francisco or London, there are numerous ticket kiosks scattered around the city with available tickets for that day plastered up on the window. So on Sunday afternoon, a fine warm day with the whole evening stretching out before us, we figured we might try our luck at getting Bolshoi tickets.
With Miroslav (Dev's friend) along for lingusistic support, we approached the booth.
Bolshoi tickets for tonight? Da Da! (Hand waving, and money exchanging hands- about $16 US for two tickets.)
Two fourth row tickets for the 7pm show for $16US- wow---that's pretty good!
What's the name of the ballet? Well- it actually isn't a ballet- it's an opera by Igor Stravinsky. (We couldn't figure out the name). And it's not at the Bolshoi- but next door at the New Theater.
But still—opera at the Bolshoi!
Feeling excited, we ran back to the hotel to change, not wanting to look like the typical tourist in jeans and sneakers.
Scene One: Finding our seats
So we get to the orchestra level door and start walking in confidently, only to be waved back by an usher. She seems to be pointing up. Waaayy up.
So fourth row seats are actually second balcony, fourth row seats. But in reality, they are pretty good seats... no obstructed view and the stage is to our right. We settle in and look around. The theatre seems to be about half full, with a mix of younger and older folks and families. We see some tour groups from Finland, France, and Japan.
Scene Two: Curtain Rises
As the orchestra starts to play, and the theatre goes dark, we realize that we still don't know the name of the play. Neither of us has picked up a program, so we sit back and hope for the best. As the singing starts, the actors walk on stage, gesticulating and setting the scene. After about 5 minutes, I look at Dev and whisper - “What language are they singing in?”. Listening intently, he whispers back - “No clue. Definitely not English and can't be Russian because they have Russian supertitles.” So we sit watching some people prance around in a garden, thinking that it must be German or Italian.
Scene Three – The Lightbulb Goes Off
15 minutes and counting. Still no clue and we are starting to doze off. Must have been the multiple blinis with sour cream right before the play. Those carbs can really do a number on you. Then the hero of the play, who we have figured out is named Tom starts singing again. Suddenly we hear, “Tom Rakkkkkkkkewwwwhhhhhhale! Djjjjyoooouuu aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr vonduurrrfoooll” and “Eye luuuuuuuub uuuuuuu”. We look at each other. Wait. The opera is in English???????
Scene Four – The Rest of the Play
At the intermission, we buy a program for “The Rake's Progress”. Thereafter, we're reduced to reading the lyrics by the light of Dev's cellphone to understand what's being said. Anyway, there's much melodrama and then there's some Faustian Devil-steal-your-soul stuff (the Devil's called Tom Shadow here) and then the opera ends, thankfully. We've caught up on a couple of hours of sleep as well. Now all y'all know that both Dev and I both enjoy theatre, so we decided to try again in St. Petersburg.
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So now we're in St. Petersburg (another blog will talk about how we got there and other parts of Moscow and St. Petes). At the Hermitage museum, we found a ticket booth by accident - so we got tix to a ballet performance (finally!) of Swan Lake by the Saint-Petersburg Conservetoire Ballet Company. Amazing how cheap the tickets can be here - $15 per head for great seats in row 15. This time, we stayed in our day-clothes instead of dressing-up - after the Bolshoi experience, we were ready for another 2-hour nap, so we thought we might as well be comfortable.
The ballet, in 3 acts, was fantastic!
Some of the dancers were from the Mirinsky theatre which is the main ballet company here running from October through March. There were some great staqe effects, such as the lightning, the trees, and the swans swimming across the lake. The costumes were beautiful, as you can see in these photos - gorgeous colors and then the swans in pure white. We had a devil-like creature here also, named "Rothbat the Evil Magician". As in the Rake's Progress, good triumphed over evil, the devil was vanquished and love saved the day.
That's all for now.
-Smruti
Not enough guys! I am hungry for more!!
Lini
Posted by: linikumar | Tuesday, September 14, 2004 at 11:10 AM
What was the name of the opera, did you find out? And was it actually by Stravinsky?
Posted by: Kamalini | Wednesday, September 08, 2004 at 07:19 PM