The ‘Bolshoi Ballet in cinema’ season is back! To come are seven ballets including two productions by Alexei Ratmansky (Romeo and Juliet and The Flames of Paris), John Neumeier’s The Lady of the Camellias and Jean-Christophe Maillot’s The Taming of the Shrew. The season is completed by three big audience-favourites, Giselle, The Nutcracker and Coppélia.
Maillot’s The Taming of the Shrew is modern-looking but follows the story of Shakespeare’s comedy nicely. Baptista struggles to marry off his tempestuous daughter Katharina, a shrew who denies that any man is worthy of her. But has she met her match in Petruchio? Bolshoi Principal dancers Ekaterina Krysanova (Katharina) and Vladislav Lantratov (Petruchio) clash, challenge and eventually give themselves to one another in a wonderfully witty, fast paced production. Pre-recorded, the production also stars Olga Smirnova (Bianca), Semyon Chudin (Lucentio), Igor Tsvirko (Hortensio), Vyacheslav Lopatin (Gremio) and Artemy Belyakov (Baptista). The Taming of the Shrew is on November 12.
Photo J Devant
Christmas means The Nutcracker, and two hours of Bolshoi magic can be caught December 3. With choreography by Yuri Grigorovich, the ballet stars Denis Rodkin (the Nutcracker Prince), Anna Nikulina (Marie), Andrei Merkuriev (Drosselmeyer) and Vitaly Biktimirov (the Mouse King).
January 21, 2018 sees a new production live from Moscow of the Shakespearean tragedy Romeo and Juliet staged by Ratmansky.
More doomed love follows on February 4 with Neumeier’s beautifully told The Lady of the Camellias. Set in Paris and based Alexandre Dumas fils’ novel, it tells the story of the young and naive Armand, who is utterly captivated after meeting the ravishing and desirable courtesan Marguerite Gautier. Bolshoi prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova (in London with a programme of her own, Amore, later in November 2017) is the ailing Marguerite, while Edvin Revazov dances Armand.
Ratmansky’s revival of Vasily Vainonen’s The Flames of Paris follows March 4. Jeanne and her brother Jérôme leave Marseille for Paris in support of the revolutionary effort that is taking over the capital. While fighting for freedom, they both encounter love along the way.
On April 8 is Grigorovich’s take on the classic romantic ballet Giselle with Zakharova in the title role alongside the Sergei Polunin (back at the London Coliseum in December in Satori) as Albrecht.
The final screening is of Coppélia on June 10, live from Moscow. The Bolshoi’s version of this ebullient comedy by Sergei Vikharev is an interesting reconstruction as far as is possible of the original 19th-century choreography,
To discover where and where you can catch the Bolshoi in your local cinema go to www.bolshoiballetcinema.co.uk
Listings (all Sundays)
November 12, 2017: The Taming of the Shrew (approx. running time 2 hours 5 minutes)
December 3, 2017: The Nutcracker at (approx. running time 2.15)
January 21, 2018: Romeo and Juliet at (approx. running time 2.30)
February 4, 2018: The Lady of the Camellias (approx. running time 3.05)
March 4, 2018: The Flames of Paris (approx. running time 2.15)
April 8, 2018: Giselle (approx. running time 2.20)
June 10, 2018: Coppélia (approx. running time 2.45)