“Naughty ditties” again became a ballet

The 90th birthday of composer Rodion Shchedrin was celebrated at the Mariinsky Theater

The Historical Stage of the Mariinsky Theater hosted the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the composer Rodion Shchedrin. As part of the anniversary evening, ballet star Diana Vishneva and the Mariinsky dancers performed Bizet-Shchedrin’s immortal hit, Carmen Suite, which is part of the famous theater’s repertoire. But the evening was opened, as it should be in such cases, with a world premiere: the artists of the Yakobson Theater performed a new ballet by Vyacheslav Samodurov to the music of the hero of the day “Naughty ditties”.

In the famous “Carmen Suite” by Bizet-Shchedrin choreographed by Alberto Alonso, a ballet invariably associated with Maya Plisetskaya herself and danced in the second part of the evening, the unfading Diana Vishneva set the tone. This Carmen Suite, Moscow in origin and irrepressible passion, showed that in St. Petersburg they can dance this ballet no worse than in the Bolshoi. Those streams of sensuality and “madly rebellious” passion that Diana put into her dance brought down on the auditorium a tsunami of pressure and awe, demonstrated by the famous ballerina in this role; Jose, Konstantin Zverev, managed to support her with an excellent acting game. Stepan Stenyushkin did not spoil the picture either: the role of Corregidor was clearly given to the young dancer “for growth”. The weakest link in the sentimental bullfight was Torero – Roman Belyakov, who unsuccessfully imitates the burning sexuality of his hero by numerous pats on his thighs.

But the main event of the evening was the premiere of “Naughty Ditties”. The first concerto for the orchestra, or simply “Mischievous Chastushkas” is an old work of the composer, the result of the first decade of creativity and persistent passion for the ditty. Having become acquainted with the bright genre during folklore expeditions, Shchedrin found a place for them both in the First Piano Concerto (1954) and in his first opera Not Only Love (1961). But it was in his First Concerto for the orchestra that ditties appeared in their entirety.

“Mischievous ditties” are very short in time, written by Shchedrin back in 1963. The young composer had already married Maya Plisetskaya, and his interest in the ballet theme was very clear. But it was “Naughty ditties” that brought him then truly worldwide fame. In the spring of 1967 Chastushki was heard in New York, and two orchestras at once competed for the right to present their American premiere: Arthur Fiedler was several weeks ahead of Leonard Bernstein, who was preparing to perform new Russian music at the New York Philharmonic. Bernstein commissioned the composer for another concerto for the orchestra, and a year later he conducted Shchedrin’s Zvons in New York.

In the last 50 years before Vyacheslav Samodurov staged ballets to this music, for some reason, no one staged, although the legs themselves start dancing from these melodies. But almost immediately after the creation of the choreographers literally lined up to turn the music into a ballet. Already in 1969, she inspired the Soviet figure skaters Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov to create the now legendary program. Ballets to the music of Chastushki appeared in the repertoire of many Soviet theaters, the most famous was the ballet film of the same name in 1970 in the choreography of Natalia Ryzhenko. In it, the famous artists of the Bolshoi Theater competed in prowess and dashing, combining crouching and folk fractions with classical pirouettes.

However, the very first reference to this music in the ballet was Leonid Yakobson’s “Malyavinsky Women”. Back in 1965, a fragment of the score formed the basis of a miniature staged by the great choreographer for the Mariinsky Theatre. This composition has not reached our time, but it is quite natural that the troupe now turned to the work made by its founder.

In his ballet, Vyacheslav Samodurov picks up the idea of ​​variations of folk ditty themes. In the first part, the mirror-silver curtain, cut into noodles, does not open completely, but in fragments, showing the fourth part of the stage space – a kind of showcase or a transparent portal-cabinet, in which the dancers are given room for theme variations. The first to appear here is Andrey Sorokin, whose costume of the captain of a sports team defies description: a collar from a Russian kosovorotka, football shorts over sweatpants with stripes, a corset belt tightens the waist, and ballet flats on the legs are painted like football boots. The girls have leotard-bicycles peeking out from under the dress. The main idea of ​​the directors is to transfer the ballet to the modern street, where “today’s bright, daring characters from the street subtly feel the nature of the Russian character and mentality, street rhythms, fashion and vibe.” And in general, “Naughty Chastushki” is a synthesis of the traditions of folklore, jazz and academic orchestral music.

Eight minutes of the concert to create a full-fledged ballet instead of a miniature Samodurov increases to 18 minutes. The first part goes to the piano (the part was performed by Nikolai Mazhara), the second is orchestral. The first involved seven of the best soloists of the Yakobson troupe, three dancers and four ballerinas (except Andrei Sorokin, these are Vyacheslav Spilchevsky, Murad Kerimov, Alla Bocharova, Svetlana Svinko, Anna Skvortsova, Maria Repetieva); the second part (to the orchestra, conductor – Arseny Shuplyakov) is massive, 19 artists dance in it. The choreographer builds intricate combinations in a plotless, but colorful and atmospheric ballet, giving them a mocking character. And, as always in his ballets, almost every note of the score is danced. Moreover, in the first part, there is a kind of competition between dancers who appear in their “portal”-rooms one or two, trying to outdo one another with dashing, twisted and complex variations. In the second part, the dancers line up like a train, dance in threes, and form an ensemble. At the same time, Samodurov increases the already high-speed pace, bringing it to super-speed. The ability of the dancers to sustain such pace without sacrificing the technical complexity and sophistication of the choreography is the super idea of ​​the new ballet. Well, the dancers of the Jacobson Theater did a great job with it.