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The jubilee of Elena Obraztsova was marked at the Bolshoi Theatre with the "Opera Ball " The exhibition, brought to the UK by the Bolshoi Theatre and the Russian Museum, tells the history of the Russian costume The ballet "A Legend of Love " returned to the Bolshoi Theatre; the influence that it has on the audience is just as powerful as it was in the past Facebook: photos from the "Opera Ball"; congratulations to artists on their birthdays October 29th - People's Artist of the USSR and the Bolshoi Theatre ballet master- repertiteur Mikhail Lavrovsky celebrated his birthday "Don Carlo ". Debuts : October 31st - Aquiles Machado (Don Carlo) will make his debut at the Bolshoi Theatre November 1st - Oleg Dolgov will make his debut with the part of Don Carlo, Dmitry Ulyanov - with the part of Philip II, the King of Spain, Agunda Kulaeva - with the part of Princess Eboli November 5th - 9th - premiere performances of the ballet "A Legend of Love " New Stage - The Bright Stream. Comic ballet in two acts Beethoven Hall - Baroque. A Journey Festival. Italia Historic Stage - rehearsal day The biggest world stars took part in the "Opera Ball", organized at the Bolshoi Theatre to mark the 75th birthday of Elena Obraztsova. Photo: M. Logvinov /…/ Her voice made the audience hall applaud for 15 minutes; the performances had to be stopped. She says that music is "a blessing, God's grace, life, breath and a means to exist" for her. Colleagues from different countries came to congratulate her. Elena Obraztsova says: "I am happy that the greatest singers came; I am happy that Cura and Eugene Kohn came. There is the atmosphere of youth; it feels like I returned to the times when I sang a lot and travelled around the world. I am very pleased; I am grateful that all of them came to congratulate me". Elena Obraztsova started her career at the Bolshoi Theatre; in 1963 she performed the part of Marina Mnishek in the opera "Boris Godunov". Her wonderful mezzo- soprano has delighted the whole world ever since. This time Anna Netrebko, Maria Guleghina, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and other famous singers performed in her honor. Elena Obraztsova celebrated her jubilee at the Bolshoi Theatre The gala was attended by Svetlana Medvedeva, the spouse of the Russian Prime Minister, V alentina Matviyenko, the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, and Olga Golodets, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Elena Obraztsova. Photo: ITAR-T ASS/Gennady Khamelyanin On Tuesday the People's Artist of the USSR Elena Obraztsova celebrated her 75th jubilee at the Bolshoi Theatre. The "Opera Ball" was organized in honor of the famous singer; world stars took part in the gala concert. Elena Obraztsova first came to the Bolshoi Theatre when she was a third-year student at the Leningrad Conservatoire. Obraztsova performed the part of Marina Mnishek in the opera "Boris Godunov" by M. Mussorgsky. She made her debut on December 17th 1963. The gala was attended by Svetlana Medvedeva, the spouse of the Russian Prime Minister, Valentina Matviyenko, the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Olga Golodets, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and People's Artists of the USSR Tamara Sinyavskaya and Makvala Kasrashvili. The Ball opened with the performance of Maria Guleghina. It was followed by performances of José Cura, Olga Peretyatko, Bruno PraticГІ, Ekaterina Siurina, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Yulia Lezhneva. Anna Netrebko performed the aria of Macbeth from the same-name opera by Verdi. Then Elena Obraztsova appeared on the stage as the Countess from the opera "The Queen of Spades" by P. T chaikovsky. Hibla Gerzmava, Dinara Alieva and Yusif Eyvazov performed in the second part of the concert. Then the Mariinsky Theatre's prima Yulia Makhalina and the famous flamenco dancer Maía Pagés congratulated Elena Obraztsova. The Ball closed with "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from the opera "La Traviata" by Verdi. It was performed by all participants of the gala, headed by Elena Obraztsova "Legend" is alive The ballet "A Legend of Love", choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich, returned to the Bolshoi Theatre; the influence that it has on the audience is as powerful as ever The part of the Queen suited Svetlana Zakharova very well. Photo: Damir Yusupov The main theatre of the country continues to bring back to the repertoire productions that could not be performed on the New Stage during the reconstruction of the Historic Building, because they would simply not fit on the stage. The time has come for "A Legend of Love", a large-scale ballet, choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich. The court of the Queen Mekhmene Banu marches and rushes in an inexorable chase in some ancient eastern kingdom; the painter, who paints the walls of the palace, causes emotional chaos in the souls of the queen and her younger sister. "A Legend of Love" (in ballet slang called simply "Legend") premiered at the Mariinsky (Kirovsky) Theatre in 1961; four years later it was staged at the Bolshoi and has never been absent from this stage for long ever since. The secret of its success is the well-coordinated work of a mechanism that consists of many parts. The score by Arif Melikov (when the ballet premiered, he was 27 years old) combines the practicality of ballet music and the orientation on symphony models. As the production was being staged, the composer had a serious quarrel with the choreographer, who wanted to get rid of one piece which was "too symphonic": he slammed the door and took the plane to his native Baku. Several days later he got a letter from the choreographer saying he was sorry and asking him to come back. The choreographer staged this scene (it was the chase scene, which turned out to be one of the best in the whole ballet). Yuri Grigorovich was 34 at the time, his career was developing successfully and his name was associated with such words, as "discovery", "talent" and "success", but not "multiplying of old discoveries" and "hunt for those who did not agree with him", which came much later. He created not just dances, but the distinct characters of the heroes: the Queen Mekhmene Banu, her sister Shireen and the painter Ferkhad. The Queen, who sacrificed her beauty for the life of her sister (this was the price that the wicked magician, who came when the girl was dying, asked for), and then found out that the only person, who was dear to her (Ferkhad), chose that very girl, got a part where a woman's pride and a woman's jealousy scream out loud, using the most classical yet revolutionary language. Mekhmene Banu throws her legs up and in front of her, like blades; the court Vizier, who decided to calm her down for practical reasons, is scared away by such a violent rebuf f. As she is thinking about Ferkhad, Mekhmene Banu bends into a bridge - in 1961 this was considered scandalous, but even today, when the theatre is open to the most straightforward choreographers and very naked bodies, this episode with the Queen, wearing leotards, looks like a provocative declaration of freedom. This ballet is about freedom. Nazym Hikmet, who wrote the story that the libretto is based on, spent one third of his life in Turkish prisons, because he was a communist and encouraged his fellow countrymen to start a revolution (The talent of a poet did Newsletter October, 30 2014 " A Legend of Love " at the Bolshoi not save the situation; for many years after his death it was prohibited to stage his ballet in Turkey, because the authors did not agree to take the librettist's name down from the playbills. It took several decades for everything to calm down). Ferkhad makes a choice not between the commanding but disfigured queen and her pretty and naГЇve sister, but between power and freedom. After the failed attempt of the lovers to run away from the palace Mekhmene Banu makes Ferkhad make a whole in the mountain: the valley needs water, so let the man, who did not appreciate her, work with a mining pick (this is quite a natural reaction for someone who has power). But even when the Queen tempers justice with mercy, Ferkhad decides to continue working. Water is equal to freedom and love; this is what the dancing in the third act is all about. /.../. The Bolshoi Theatre exhibition opened in Belfast The exhibition From Bolshoi to Belfast: the Theatre of Costume opened in Belfast as a part of the Russia-UK year of culture; the Bolshoi Theatre brought its best costumes to the city The exhibition, organized by the Bolshoi Theatre and the Russian Museum in the UK, tells about the history of the Russian costume and the history of one of the world's largest theatres. The costumes from such famous Russian ballets as "Swan Lake" and "The Golden Cockerel" are presented at the exhibition as well. Dresses of simple peasants were brought to Belfast together with theatre costumes. One of the ideas that the organizers had was to demonstrate how traditional folk costumes were transformed into ballet costumes. Discussions, master-classes, public talks and film screenings will be organized during the exhibition as well. Russian costumes were exhibited in Belfast before: in 1895 developments of Russian design of that time were presented here at a local cinema and industry exhibition. From Bolshoi to Belfast: the Theatre of Costume will continue until December 13th. Mikhail Lavrovsky, a People's Artist of the USSR and the Bolshoi Theatre ballet master-repertiteur celebrated his birthday on October 29th. Our best wishes to the artist! Mikhail Lavrovsky T o mark the jubilee of Elena Obraztsova, the opera singer and a People's Artist of the USSR the company "Melody" issued an album that has fragments of Russian and foreign operas, which represent only a part of Elena Obraztsova's vast repertoire (it includes over 80 parts!). The album can be purchased at the Bolshoi Theatre souvenir shop as well. She performed on the best opera and concert stages around the world, millions of listeners from different continents know and love her opera heroines, the most prominent opera directors, conductors and soloists worked with her… However, the singer still considers the Bolshoi Theatre to be her main opera house. She made her debut here more than half a century ago in the role of Marina Mnishek in the opera "Boris Godunov". That was the time of the "golden cohort" of artists in the history of the Bolshoi Theatre; Elena Obraztsova with her remarkable voice and acting skills shone together with other outstanding representatives of the Soviet music art… That was the epoch of the Bolshoi Theatre's first international triumphs, when the young singer and other new soloists of the company were given very warm welcomes during tours in Italy and the USA… That was the epoch when long-time traditions combined harmoniously with the spirit of novelty, brought to the Bolshoi by young artists and gained from exchanges with foreign colleagues. The album has fragments of Russian and foreign operas, which represent only a part of Elena Obraztsova's vast repertoire (it includes over 80 parts!). Still, they mostly convey the main characteristics of her performing individuality, the mastery of Newsletter October, 30 2014 Mass media about the Theatre Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet Newsletter , 7 musical and dramatic identification. This is what allows us to recognize the singer's voice in recordings of different years. The Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, conducted by outstanding maestros - B. Khaykin, O. Dimitriadis, A. Juraitis and M. Ermler, performs music of G. Donizetti, G. Verdi, C. Saint-SaГ«ns, G. Bizet, P.I. Tchaikovsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and M.P. Mussorgsky. On the Bolshoi Theatre official pages in the social networks you can find photos from the gala concert "Opera Ball": Photos: Mikhail Logvinov For articles published 28 October 2014 Many editions including The Times (UK), The Irish News, The Western Morning News, etc continue to announce the exhibition of costumes from the Bolshoi Theatre in Belfast. The Irish Independent also includes a video about the costumes. Ismeme Bronw the dance critic for the Spectator (UK) writes in her blog based on translations of Russian newspapers about Ivan Vasiliev who says it was nothing to get excited about that he left the Bolshoi Theatre. Sarasota Herald-Tribune (USA) reviews the Bolshoi's revival of A Legend of Love based on the transmission of the ballet in cinemas writing that there is nothing to fault technically but that the ballet is too Soviet for the taste of the reviewer. Newswires AFP and DPA (German newswire) announce that FIFA world football boss Sepp Blatter opposes any boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia and backed the huge preparations undertaken by President Vladimir Putin's government for the mega event. Blatter said a boycott will not have any positive effect. The articles mention that the 2018 World Cup logo was simultaneously presented to the public on a live Russian TV late chat show and also as a part of a light show projection on the facade of Russia's historic Bolshoi Theatre. 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