A ballet manqué

Commissioned by and originally published on Mumbai Theatre Guide here:

http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/reviews/swan-lake-english-play-review.asp

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
Royal Russian Ballet,
Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA.
March 2018.

Some classics are so representative of their genre that it is impossible to think of either without recalling the other. In this, “Swan Lake” is the quintessential ballet in the Russian classical tradition. The image that it conjures, of ballerinas in white tutus representing maidens turned into swans, has remained steadfast in our consciousness for more than a century.

It is one of three fairy-tale ballets by Peter Tchaikovsky, whose music is lyrical and impassioned, poignant and thrilling, symphonic in its scope. The haunting “swan theme” is surely one of the most easily recognisable pieces of music ever written, ubiquitous in its popularity.

The original version of the ballet is rarely performed. Most productions are based on the 1895 revival by the Kirov Ballet, supervised by Tchaikovsky’s brother after the composer’s death; and choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, with additional music by the conductor Riccardo Drigo. This revival also made changes in the story of the ballet.

The scenario currently performed is this: Prince Siegfried, while hunting in the forest, comes across a lake with a group of swans who turn into beautiful women, headed by their ‘swan queen’ Odette, with whom he falls in love. She and her maidens have been cursed by the magician Von Rothbart -- a spell which can only be broken through true love. The prince promises to make her his own, if she will come to his palace the next day for a celebration during which he will announce his choice of bride. But the magician makes an appearance at the party with his daughter Odile, who has been made to look exactly like Odette. She captivates the Prince, who swears his love to her. At that time, Odette is seen fluttering at the window. The Prince, realising his error, rushes to the lake, into which she jumps, killing herself. After a battle with Rothbart, the Prince follows her, the spell is broken, the magician dies and the swans become human; the Prince and Odette are seen united in the hereafter.

In keeping with Soviet ideology, a new version was created for the Kirov Ballet by Konstantin Sergeyev in 1950, based on the 1895 revival but with a happy ending, in which Siegfried fights Rothbart and tears off his wing, killing him. Odette is restored to human form; she and Siegfried are happily united.

This production by the Royal Russian Ballet follows the Sergeyev version, with a few alterations. There are a couple of surprising additions, such as an extra variation for Odile; and the inclusion of the seldom performed Russian Dance among the other “national dances” which make up the divertissement (show-pieces unrelated to the story) in the palace scene. There are some minor cuts; but the beautiful and melancholic Dance of the Swans at the beginning of the final act has also been removed and this is a real loss, like some of the more daring and difficult dance-movements (unforgettable to anyone who knows this ballet) which have been omitted or simplified.

Not surprisingly, considering this is essentially a touring company, the number of dancers has been downsized. Many of the set-pieces have fewer dancers than usual; and sometimes the stage looks too sparsely populated, for example, in the scene at the palace. Even so, the dancing on the whole is more than competent. The corps de ballet seems to be made up of young, well-trained dancers with sound, disciplined technique. Thus, the famous dance of the four cygnets in Act 2 was executed with razor-sharp precision and in perfect unison; the Neapolitan Dance was delivered with pizzazz by Arina Chumak and Alexei Bogutskiy; Yurii Gregul stood out for his unbridled energy in the Spanish Dance; and the Russian Dance was performed solo by Natalia Kazatskaia with great charm and delicacy.

Denis Tarasov as the Jester was agile and graceful, though he missed some of the character’s impishness. The rest of the principals have been double-cast, each set dancing on different days. Anatolii Khandazhevskyi did what was required as the Prince, with decent if not spectacular execution of scissor-leaps and other balletic demands, while Artem Tymchuk as Rothbart was quite unremarkable in the earlier parts of his role but came into his own during the final act, becoming a creature of real power and menace.

Any performance of “Swan Lake” depends ultimately on the prima ballerina who has to portray both Odette and Odile. It is a well-known fact that it is extremely difficult for any dancer to do equal justice to both, as they are in extreme contrast. So was Olga Kifyak’s level of accomplishment. Her dancing of Odette could best be described as grammatical. There was cold classicism and an aristocratic mien with an expressionless face…but where was the vulnerability, fragility and, ultimately, heartbroken despair? Her Odile, on the other hand, was near-electrifying. The dancer suddenly seemed to come to life, investing this character with the sly sexuality that was needed; and was able to dispatch the role’s notoriously demanding choreography, including the famous 32 fouettés (turns) with aplomb.

This production uses a pre-recorded soundtrack, most of which is played by the orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre (home of the Kirov Ballet) and conducted by Valery Gergiev. Thus there are inevitable compromises, since a live orchestra isnt present to tailor the music symbiotically with the dancing. Moreover, the sound-levels appear to have been ‘normalised’ so that softer passages (for example, the violin solo in the pas de deux) seem unnaturally loud. And there is a fatiguing excess of bass…though this could well have been a contribution of the sound-system at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre. Speaking of which, its stage looked cramped, in spite of the fewer than usual dancers involved.

The set is old-fashioned (which is not necessarily a bad thing!) using painted backdrops to represent the palace gardens, the lake and a hall in the palace. The initial impression is favourable, as the wings on either side of the stage and the flies at the top are also replaced with painted images of pillars and an ornate ceiling. However, these remain during the scene at the lake and thus become extremely incongruous. The lighting leaves much to be desired, since is rudimentary and unable to convey much atmosphere; the appearance of Odette at the window lacks the requisite magic. The costumes, though, are quite pretty, authentic and entirely appropriate.

In sum, though one may want to commend Navrasa Duende for their initiative in organising this India tour of “Swan Lake”, one cannot help wishing for more…especially when one considers the astronomical ticket-prices! With more accomplished principal dancers, a full-sized corps, a live orchestra, better sets and lighting, this would have been something special. Perhaps next time?

Beautiful but bloodless

The NCPA in Bombay has recently started screening ballet from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, courtesy Pathe Live. The first screening was of "Swan Lake" and I was commissioned to review it for Mumbai Theatre Guide. A slightly different version was also published on Seen and Heard International, modified for their somewhat more erudite readership! They are available online here: http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/features/13/apr/19-feature-swan-lake-screening-of-tchaikovskys.asp and http://www.seenandheard-international.com/2013/04/21/beautiful-but-bloodless/

The MTG piece is reprinted below:

There are certain works of art that become synonymous with the genre they belong to. And surely, when one thinks of ballet, “Swan Lake” springs to mind.

Though created in the late 19^th century, it has an evergreen, endlessly renewable quality that allows it to be interpreted afresh, keeping abreast with evolution in artistic sensibilities. Part of its appeal lies in its fairy-tale story…deceptively simple but loaded with deep shades of meaning and symbolism.

In this, Price Siegfried on his 21^st birthday must choose a bride. On a hunting expedition in the forest, he comes across a lake and a group of swans who turn into beautiful women, headed by their ‘swan queen’ Odette, with whom he promptly falls in love. She and her maidens are under an evil spell of the magician Von Rothbart -- a spell which can only be broken through true love. The prince promises to make her his own, if she will come to the palace the next day for a big celebration where he will announce his choice of bride. The magician, who has been on the scene disguised as an owl, makes an appearance at the party with his daughter Odile, the ‘black swan’. She is made to look exactly like Odette; and captivates the Prince who swears his love to her. At that time, Odette, the ‘white swan’ is seen fluttering at the window; and the Prince, realising his error, rushes to the lake…into which she jumps, killing herself. After a battle with Rothbart, the Prince follows her, the spell is broken and the swans become human; the Prince and Odette are seen united in the hereafter.

All this is set to music of great passion and lyricism, by the Russian composer Tchaikovsky. Indeed the ballet’s plaintive signature melody, the ‘swan’ theme associated with Odette and her tragic love, is familiar the world over in theatres, concert halls, car-horns and ring-tones.

Probably the most famous modern interpretation of the ballet is in the film “Black Swan” which presents the Odette/Odile dichotomy as both alter-ego and doppelgänger. There is even a hugely successful gay version by Matthew Bourne. More conventional alterations made to the story include Rudolf Nureyev’s Vienna production which ended the ballet in stark tragedy, with the lovers drowning in the flooded lake; while the Soviet authorities decided to give it a happy ending, with Odette saving the Prince from Rothbart and the couple living happily ever after.

The choreographer Yuri Grigorovich was the architect of a legendary production at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in 1969, which used such an ending. But the performances being screened at the NCPA, also from the Bolshoi and choreographed by Grigorovich (and others) are of a different scenario in which the entire swan saga is presented as a dream, or a figment of Prince Siegfried’s imagination. This robs the plot of impact and comes across as a half-baked cerebral exercise, inconsistent and somewhat pretentious.

Moreover, the music has been chopped and changed, most damagingly at the conclusion. The ballet’s climax is originally set to some of the most gloriously thrilling music ever written, ending with the ‘swan’ theme resounding in a triumphant peroration of brass, percussion and full orchestra. Here, the music reverts to the Prelude and ends with a muted reiteration of the theme, ending in a whisper, leaving the Prince alone onstage and the audience bewildered as to what just happened.

This production is staged in four scenes and divided into two halves. The sets for the palace are elegantly devised, with diaphanous hangings against a cyclorama of streaked sky. By contrast, the lake is drab, bare and monochromatic in a dull blue-gray, a far cry from the atmospheric settings one has seen.

The dancing in this production is exquisite…and bloodless. Maria Alexandrova dances Odette with a pure classicism that is utterly beautiful to behold; but where is the characterisation, the swan queen’s vulnerability, her fluttery nervousness and fear giving way to love? Alexandrova’s Odile has some sparkle but little sense of dangerous sexuality (made unforgettable by the great dancer Maya Plisetskaya) and is ultimately not enough of a contrast. And she almost misses one of her 32 fouettés (turns) near the climax of her ‘black swan’ scene with the Prince.

Among the other principals, Ruslan Skvortsov’s athleticism and long leaps as Prince Siegfried are impressive; but Nikolay Tsiskaridze is an unmemorable cipher as Rothbart. However, the young dancer Vyacheslav Lopatin makes an agile, perky Jester. The corps de ballet dances with charm and precision, the four Cygnets are a perfectly co-ordinated delight; but the Spanish and Hungarian Dances lack fire and pizzazz.

The presentation at NCPA’s Godrej Theatre (on Sunday 14 April) no longer had the severe audio anomalies experienced at the earlier Met Opera screenings reviewed here. In fact, the quality of sound was sweet and clear; but it lacked power, being played-back at an inordinately soft level. The audience was heard complaining bitterly during the interval, after which there was some improvement…but not enough. This reviewer was told the recording was to blame; and indeed there may be some truth in that, since some of the climaxes sounded distinctly compressed. However, the overall volume should have been much louder, to allow Tchaikovsky’s magnificent score to shine through.

This has been a recurring problem with some of the recent Met Opera performances as well, which makes one wonder why the NCPA doesn’t take the trouble to do a level-check before each screening.