Carmen Syuta

Rodion Shchedrin's "Carmen Suite" Ballet with Maya Plisetskaya, the great MAYA as Carmen is my most beloved version of Carmen. Plisetskaya was the greatest Russian/Soviet Ballerina of the 20th Century, the legend of the Bolshoi Ballet, "Prima Ballerina Assoluta". The composer Rodion Shchedrin and Maya Plisetskaya have been married for many years, and during their marriage he has written many works for her such as The Humpbacked Horse (1960), Carmen Suite (1967), Anna Karenina (1972) and The Seagull (1980). To dance Carmen had been her dream for many years and after Shchedrin saw some of the initial rehearsals with his wife and the world famous ballet master and choreographer Alberto Alonso he agreed to provide the music. For his Carmen Suite, Shchedrin re-scored Bizet's music for strings and percussion and inserted the farandole from L'Arlésienne and the Danse Bohemieme from La Jolie Fille de Perth. The ballet, the result of the talents and the inspiration of the incredibly talented people, starting with two Frenchmen, Prosper Mérimée and George Bizet, was the perfect match for Alonso's breakthrough choreography and Plisetskaya's dancing and dramatic skills. Now, after forty years since its premiere in 1967 at the Bolshoi, "Carmen" looks incredibly modern and original. It was truly ahead of its time, and the extremely negative responses from the Soviet authorities were not surprising. "Carmen Suite" literally turned Russian ballet that was known for its faithfulness to the classical traditions. Carmen was so alive, so deeply tragic, and so overly sensual that even many true ballet lovers could not accept its unusual uniqueness. Maya Plisetskaya recalls, "It was not just new but the newest choreography. It was so unusual that even the ballet experts could not accept it, let alone the authorities that were simply in panic. There was a real war against "Carmen" but we fought for it and the time has proved that "Carmen" has won."

Maya Plisetskay has broken many rules of the classical ballet at the same time setting the new heights in terms of technical and artistic perfection. She was known for the height of her jumps, her extremely flexible back, the technical strength of her dancing, the unparalleled artistry, the incomparable perfection and finesse of every movement, the unmatched fluidity of her "singing" "boneless" arms (just watch her interpretation of The Dying Swan,) and her charisma that the years have no power over. On the date of her 80th birthday, the Financial Times wrote about her: "She was, and still is, a star, ballet's monstre sacre, the final statement about theatrical glamor, a flaring, flaming beacon in a world of dimly twinkling talents, a beauty in the world of prettiness". Maya will be remembered for every one of her performances and each character she created but "Carmen" will always be my favorite ballet. . There is so much of herself Maya put in Carmen - pride, independence, strength, fearlessness, the intolerance to submission, love for freedom that is above anything and readiness to fight for it to the end. 45 minutes ballet has proved to be a triumph and has been remade perhaps hundreds of times since its premiere 40 years ago but I am sure, that the original version from 1973 with Maya Plisetskaya, Nicolai Fadeyechev, the famous dramatic dancer as Don Jose, and Sergey Radchenko in the role of the Bullfighter has been and will stay the best. There is Bonus segments on DVD that feature Plisetskaya in performances of The Dying Swan, Raymonda Variations, and Bach Prelude.

A wonderful production and a fascinating ballet. The story maintains its power, while Shchedrin's re-arranging of basically Bizet's score is clever, beautiful and energetic. The costumes and sets are simple, and there are times where the sets have a sparseness to them, but they are well-lit and have some nice colour so they are interesting in a simple way but never to the extent that they're ugly. The orchestral playing for a ballet with a relatively small amount of scoring is vibrant and incisive, while the conducting allows the passion to sear and the intimacy to touch. The choreography is very sensual, but not too much, and elegant while not diluting the fiery passion and tension. Escamillo's moves and gestures are strongly reminiscent of those that a toreno would do. The dancing is just great, Alexander Godunov is a dashing, expressive and tormented-by-love Don Jose and Sergei Radchenko is a swaggering Escamillo. But Maya Plisetskaya is the star here and she shows why she is considered one of the greatest, influential and most unique ballerinas of her time and perhaps even there is/ever was. Dramatically she is seductive, sultry and passionate while also heartfelt and expressive, and anybody who is in awe and envious of her jumps, strength, fluidity and her ability to make her dancing so clean and easy will not be disappointed here, her dancing and skill is a marvel. All in all a wonderful production of an interesting ballet, everything is done remarkably but Plisetskaya dominates and in a very great way. 10/10 Bethany Cox