Customer Reviews

Macbeth / Kirill Molchanov, Vladimir Vasiliev, Bolshoi Ballet

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This ballet is a very accomplished example of a Russian "drambalyet".The music is by a pupil of Shostakovitch and has a dissonant quality which is not very common in Soviet composers. It is shrill and descriptive, rather than abstract. I think it suits the danced action very well. Mr. Fadeyechev - whom I only knew from a Sleeping Beaty video and a rather poor Giselle - is a very talented dramatic actor-dancer. I was surprised by the intensity of his actig. Mrs. Timofeyeva is incredible. Her portrayal of Lady Macbeth relies both on technique - which is always very commanding - plus as a tremendous theatrical intensity. It's not the regular - and boring pantomime of the old soviet school.

Macbeth ballet was created in 1980, during the glory period of the Bolshoi Theatre. The ballet is beautiful and correct, according to classic Russian ballet. The perfect and precise technique of the soloists is the expected. Alexei Fadeyechev plays a Macbeth with conviction and strength in reaching his murk aim. Nina Timofeyeva is brilliant throughout all the play, especially in Lady Macbeth's demise dance, at the final scene. Vladimir Vasiliev elaborated a creative choreography full of quirks. The warning from the witches, with face masks on the back, is charmingly devilish. In the second act, the superposition of the witches' images brings a beautiful as well as bizarre atmosphere which is accompanied by delighting Kiril Molchanov's music.