sun 01/12/2024

Swan Lake, Mariinsky Ballet, Royal Opera House | reviews, news & interviews

Swan Lake, Mariinsky Ballet, Royal Opera House

Swan Lake, Mariinsky Ballet, Royal Opera House

Torpid conducting and nervous principals weigh heritage production down

The slender women of the Mariinsky’s corps de ballet make lyrical, tender work of Ivanov’s fabulous choreography.© Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters

For a dance company, the always delicate balance between preserving your heritage and creating an exciting future becomes especially hard to negotiate when you are the most venerable institution in your field. The Mariinsky Ballet, now on tour in London, have this problem magnified by a general perception (theirs and the public’s) that they are the world’s keepers of the great Russian ballet tradition, which they are expected to represent at its finest.

For a cocktail of reasons – a dash of genuine history, topped up with a large splash of public perception, and garnished with the promoters’ need to sell a lot of very expensive seats – that means Swan Lake.

Their 1950 Sergeyev staging is almost as dated as the Lavrovsky Romeo and Juliet they showed earlier in the week, and has, somewhat surprisingly, a very similar Italian quattrocento setting (with extra pointy medieval headdresses for the women in the court scenes). It’s pretty enough, but as dated as – and coloured in much the same tones as – an aquatint photograph, and yesterday’s matinée performance showed it teetering dangerously close to museum-piece territory, despite the presence of much-hyped young British dancer Xander Parish.

There’s a glitter to Parish’s story: talent-spotted in the corps of the Royal Ballet and lured to Russia’s oldest ballet company by its director, Yuri Fateyev, who promised Parish the star roles the Royal Ballet had precisely no interest in giving him. But this fairy tale has a context: Fateyev has been stocking the top ranks of the Mariinsky with dancers from "outside", and while it has obviously been to Parish’s benefit, there are plenty who see Fateyev’s policy as disastrous for the company.

Parish acquitted himself manfully as Siegfried. He looks just right - ever so handsome with the tall, sculpted physique directors love - but it is a tricky part to act. Siegfried’s choreography presents him as a stuffed shirt dullard, and faithless lover to boot; you need to emote all over the shop to get the audience to like him, but poor Parish looked like he was trapped in a suffocating Russian heritage Siegfried suit, which kept his back and shoulders constantly scraped back in maximally “grand and aloof” setting and never allowed him to run messily or collapse in grief.

He never looked particularly in love either, but the famous lakeside pas de deux is fiendish, and both he and Odette/Odile Yulia Stepanova were concentrating too hard on the steps throughout to be able to do much about their lack of immediate chemistry. Stepanova’s acting was better overall, mustering both Odette’s fragility and Odile’s minxiness, but then the part helps: all the emotions of the elegant and affecting swan-woman are there in Ivanov and Petipa’s steps, which still remain a choreographic masterpiece for their combination of form and emotion. Stepanova is Vaganova trained and does beautiful swan arms, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that she too was trapped into performing the part faithfully, rather than living it.

These two are still quite junior for principal roles (Parish is a Second Soloist, Stepanova one step lower, a coryphée): I wouldn’t necessarily expect them to be perfect, but it’s sad to see them so nervous (such a contrast to the equally-young dancers debuting in ENB’s Coppélia last week). If the Mariinsky’s directors think Parish and Stepanova have potential, they should be encouraging them to relax and feel and grow in the part, not constricting them with weighty tradition.

I hold Boris Gruzin (conducting the Mariinsky Theatre orchestra instead of the advertised Alexei Repnikov) responsible for much of yesterday’s tedium: he took Tchaikovsky’s score at a glacial pace that seemed designed not to raise any heartbeats. The corps de ballet were neat, and some were charming (the pas de trois in Act I, scene 1, the Hungarian dance in Act II), but with that musical deadweight the two court scenes, with their parades of jolly dances, were bound to drag. Soslan Kulaev was the dullest old tutor I’ve ever seen: in a black velvet scholar’s cape and hat he was the spit of a Holbein painting, but considerably less lifelike. The sparky jumping of Grigory Popov as the jester supplied some much-needed fireworks, but not many laughs - it’s hard to laugh at a jester whose creaking smile and heavyset frame suggest he has a moonlight sideline in duffing up the prince’s political opponents.

There is more to like at the lakeside, where the slender women of the Mariinsky’s corps can still make lyrical, tender work of Ivanov’s fabulous choreography. But the best bit is when Andrei Yermakov’s Rothbart explodes onto the serenely moonlit stage like a raven blown in hurly-burly on a hurricane: sinister and explosive in black and silver feathers, his fey, spiky jumps crackle with the energy so lacking elsewhere.

Audiences may love this museum piece – or feel they ought to – because it’s authentic Russian ballet. But Russian ballet also gave the world Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Balanchine, Fokine and Ratmansky, all of whom are featured in the two mixed bills the Mariinsky will present next week.  Those will have a lot of work to do to prove that the company can still do excitement, beacause this ossified Swan Lake is not just living in the past: it’s dying in it.

  • The Mariinsky Ballet are performing Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House until 14 August and other productions in repertory until 16 August.

Comments

Saturday evening cast Tershkina/Shklyarov were peerless in every respect - they made it look like a completely different ballet to the matinee performance.

Is this a review or was the author playing the ballet cliche bingo?

No, it would appear to be an honest and truthful review, probably more than we shall get from the dailies where the reviewers want to keep their press trips to St Petersburg and so always give positive reviews.

I cannot believe you have written this. I was present at this performance and Yulia Stepanova was the best Odette-Odile I have seen. I have never seen a ballerina with beautiful arms and upper body, always flowing and lyrical, like she has, or a ballerina with such expression and musicality. Her lines were impeccable and technique always at the service of artistry. It was truly a Great Odette/Odile performance.

With respect you can't have seen many Swan Lakes or ballerinas in your lifetime. Stepanova, an admirable dancer was cold and remote as Odette but a technically fine Odile. She has potential but needs time to grow. I think the reviewer was spot on, although I disagree with the pas de trois: this was not enjoyable, except for Anastasia Nikitina (2nd variation). And what about those `NOISY' pointe shoes? Completely ruined the 'white' acts for me. Remember how quiet the Bolshoi women were?

Weibye is an ignorant autodidact who fancies herself a dance critic. Every one of her torpid, unresearched, self indulgent diatribes masquerading as "critique" is full of bias, ignorance of dance and dance history and self satisfied pomposity. Weighed down by tradition? She knows nothing about ballet, nor tradition and certainly nothing about technique or dance history. What saddens me is that her sophomoric ramblings are published and taken as anything worth listening to or reading. Sound of "one hand clapping" Weibye? Perhaps she should stick to what she's good at? If anything.

And you are a cad desiring to kill anybody who gives opinion that doesn't coincide with yours In fact Stepanova is just a beginner with some potential and for now nobody knows where it will take her. Time will tell, but for now she is unsecure and insipid from time to time. Mr. Parish is guite ordinary too. There is a question if he at all deserves to represent Mariinsky. I think his dancing has too many flaws...

Wherefrom did you get the notion that Stepanova is a beginner? Who did tell you that? Are you new to ballet? She is well known among ballet professionals and balletomanes alike to be one of the most accomplished, technically secure and, most of all, interesting young dancers in the world. This is the only reason why I decided to see her matinee «Swan Lake». And that proved to be a remarkably nuanced and subtle performance of «Swan Lake», among the most interesting and refined I ever saw. The audience went absolutely ecstatic. Stepanova's rank at Mariinsky is not in the slightest a reflection of her skills or talent as any moderately informed ballet lover knows.

Well, you, please, better skip all those "best I have seen" , "most accomplished" and "well known". I describe here what I saw. And I saw really timid unsecure dancer who has a loooong way to go to become a real professional! Yes, she is very interesting already, but really not "the most accomplished". Audience went ecstatic ABOUT ALL THE PERFORMERS OF THAT NIGHT! Wonderful corps first of all and others then the leading couple, dancers who deserved and GOT the most appreciation from the audience. Talking about "went ecstatic", Lopatkina cast on August 4 got the longest standing ovation, but even with all that I woudn't say she alone is responsible for this as you dare to say about Stepanova. Face the reality and be reasonable. Also I don't think you help Yulia a lot exagerating the things. As to Mr. Parish. In fact he is now serving as a a proof that a trainee program of the Mariinsky theatre is working. "Look, we will take some rejects and will make a ... Prince. We can do it". There is a certain commercial goal - to get young dancers come to MT as a trainees. Of course with some sponsors behind them. This is business. Teachers of Mariinsky are really the best. So I think this trainee program really makes sense.

With respect to the person criticizing my review below, I travel frequently to St Petersburg to see the Mariinsky, and have probably seen 40 performances there in the last year alone. I have seen every ballerina in the company many times, and in Swan Lake every ballerina who has Odette-Odile currently in her repertoire - most recently, Lopatkina, Kondaurova, Somova, Tereshkina, Matvienko, Skorik, Kolegova and also Stepanova's debut in this role in St Petersburg. I saw no sign of nerves in Yulia Stepanova's performance, which was, as said, the finest have seen. Furthermore, Stepanova herself is also regarded by St Petersburg critics as one of the finest ballerinas in this role for many years and there are none with her liquidity of movement and exquisite arms and upperbody. I must ask you how many ballerinas you have seen yourself?

I am no expert, just a ballet enthusiast. I thought Stepanova gave an amazing performance saturday at the matinee, it is certainly the best Oddete-Odile I have seen ( and there have been a few in Royal Opera House over the past decades).

'Lovely to look at - 'but not delightful to know .I was bored and left after the 2nd ice cream . The corps de ballet are amazing in the precision of the execution but not the anorexic Odile I saw nor the limp Prince How many pirouettes and leaps can one stand without screaming ? Not many in my cas.e.

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters