Ballet Ivan the Terrible

27 enero, 2015
Imprimir

Ballet in two acts to music by Sergei Prokofiev. Libretto by Yuri

Grigorovich.
The world premiere took place on February 20, 1975 at the Bolshoi Theatre.
Revival — November 8, 2012.

Choreographer: Yuri Grigorovich

Sets and costumes: Simon Virsaladze
Music Director: Vassily Sinaisky
Lighting Designer: Mikhail Sokolov

Designers of scenery revival: Natalia Pavlova, Mikhail Sapozhnikov

Designer of costumes revival: Elena Merkurova
Music: excerpts from music to the film Ivan the Terrible, Russian Overture, cantata
Alexander Nevsky, The Third Symphony Mikhail Chulaki’s version and additional
music excerpts.

Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes.

Ivan the Terrible. Bolshoi Ballet. Photo Damir Yusupov. Bolshoi Theatre.

Synopsis
Act I
The bell-ringers proclaim young Ivan IV’s accession to the throne.

The boyars are disgruntled by the fact, each claiming to have the ancestry at least
as noble as the tsar’s.

At the bride show Ivan is to select one of the Boyar daughters as his wife and
Tsarina in the future. Eventually, he chooses Anastasia. Prince Kurbsky is in
despair: he is in love with Anastasia, and now he’s losing her for ever. The alarm
bell tolls. The bell-ringers signal a foreign invasion. Ivan leads Russian regiments
into the battle side by side with Kurbsky.

Death mows down the soldiers, but the harbingers of victory portend defeat for the
invaders. Russian regiments force the enemy back. The battle is won! Anastasia is
anxiously awaiting Ivan’s return.
The Russian warriors return victorious and joyously meet their loved ones. Ivan
and Anastasia are reunited again. Russian people rejoice in their country’s triumph
over the enemy.

However, grim news begin to spread all over the country: the tsar has suddenly
fallen ill. Anastasia is appalled; the boyars are growing active, each of them
aspiring to the throne. Yet furious is the Tsar, who has unexpectedly recovered
from his sickness, and merciless will he be with the treacherous boyars.

Act II
Ivan and Anastasia are enjoying mutual happiness.

The boyars are planning a conspiracy and Kurbsky is engaged in it. A poisoned
chalice is brought in, and Anastasia falls their first victim. Kurbsky beholds the
agonizing Tsarina in horror. The terrified boyars scatter. The bell-ringers knell
Tsarina’s death and the treachery of the boyars. The tumultuous nation stands on
the verge of revolt. Ivan mourns at Anastasia’s coffin. His imagination conjures up
an image of his beloved. Kurbsky has nothing to do but flee the country, dreading
the tsar’s revenge. The boyars are expecting vengeance, too.

People dressed in monastic garb appear: these are the Oprichniki the tsar decided
to surround himself with. He entrusts them with exterminating treason and
crushing the power of the boyars. The boyars are seized and massacred by the
Oprichniki. Ivan the Terrible personally takes reprisal against them.

Dark are Ivan’s thoughts — the thoughts of a man who lost his love, of a tsar
surrounded by enemies.
Haunted by phantoms, Ivan writhes at the thought that he has given up humanity
in his struggle and has doomed himself to a life of loneliness.
Frantically does Ivan the Terrible seek a way out of the labyrinth of contradictions
set up by history.

Come back of Ivan the Terrible – Yuri Grigorovich about his ballet:
“The ballet world believe that Prokofiev belongs to ballet. And my production was
being brought into existence quite naturally, despite seeming contradictions
between the central character and the essence of ballet itself. There were no doubts
whatsoever that this music can bring the stage dance to life. My conception was
based primarily on music, not on something else — stories from Russian history,
characters’ biographies, their psychological characteristics, folk “background” and
the like, assigned to or even imposed on me by numerous ballet analysts. No —
and I will repeat again and again — it was only Prokofiev’s music. My concept
started with it forty years ago and it is still confined to music now.

The opening night performance at the Bolshoi, Moscow took place in February
1975. Yuri Vladimirov (Ivan IV), Natalia Bessmertnova (Anastasia), Boris
Akimov (Prince Kurbsky) danced the leading parties, Algis Juraitis conducted the
first performance. The premiere caused great resonance. That same summer the
troupe toured in the USA, where “Ivan the Terrible” created a great sensation and
collected innumerable comments from viewers and media. Next year the ballet was
staged at the Paris Opera, where it met the same warm reception, and soon it was
shown on the stage constructed specifically for this performance in Louvre during
the summer season.

The ballet lasted in the repertoire of the Bolshoi till 1990 inclusively, and 99
performances were given all in all. Approximately the same number (may be a
little less) were given while touring in France, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Britain
and other countries.

I started to work with “Ivan the Terrible” for the third time with great relish. It was
when I staged it for the Kremlin Ballet troupe in 2001. In 2003 I was invited to the
Paris Opera again and there I revived the ballet with French dancers from the new
generation. After that I ran one more production at Krasnodar.

Referring once again to the same music and plot I still do not strive to make
collisions of that era actual now. Of course we have no power over associations
and possible coincidences between XYI and XXI centuries. But in my
performances I have never aspired to make assessments of such global events…
The message of ballet is quite different!” ©Bolshoi Theatre.

Ivan the Terrible. Bolshoi Ballet. Photo Damir Yusupov. Bolshoi Theatre.
Ivan the Terrible. Bolshoi Ballet. Photo Damir Yusupov. Bolshoi Theatre.