The latest in this season’s screenings from Moscow of the Bolshoi Ballet comes to cinemas this Sunday, March 13 when at 3pm you can catch them in Spartacus.
It’s the quintessential Bolshoi ballet, and has been described as the company’s “Swan Lake of the 20th century.” While there have been other productions, it’s this, by Yuri Grigorovich, which has achieved the greatest acclaim for the ballet, one of the best known in Russia, but seen relatively little in the West.
The ballet follows the exploits of Spartacus, born a free man but now a slave, the parting and reuniting with his love Phrygia, and his leading of a slave uprising against the Romans. It’s packed with exciting moments.
The music is by Khachaturian, and is full of strong rhythms and energy. It’s one of his best known works, in no small part because of the music for the scene in Act II when Spartacus manages to free his wife Phrygia and the lovers celebrate with a heart-rending pas de deux. Remember the theme to the 1970s and 80s drama The Onedin Line?
Casting:
Spartacus: Mikhail Lobukhin
Phrygia: Anna Nikulina
Crassus: Vladislav Lantratov
Aegina: Svetlana Zakharova
Spartacus is in cinemas on Sunday March 13 at 3pm. Visit www.bolshoiballettickets.co.uk to find your nearest venue and to book tickets.
After Spartacus, there’s one more Bolshoi screening this season, Don Quixote on Sunday April 12.