Here's the latest press release Although we will not be covering the opera performances here on CriticalDance, for completeness, we give the details of all the performances here:
THE KIROV OPERA AND BALLET
Artistic & General Director:
VALERY GERGIEV
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE, COVENT GARDEN
Monday, July 18 – Saturday, August 6, 2005
- Ballet highlights include the return of Uliana Lopatkina in Swan Lake, all-Forsythe programme and a new Balanchine triple-bill.
- Valery Gergiev conducts seven performances of The Kirov Opera, including Boris Godunov , Khovanshchina and Turandot
The acclaimed Kirov Opera and Ballet companies return to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for a three-week season (July 18 – August 6, 2005) presented by Victor Hochhauser.
THE KIROV BALLET (July 18 – 30)
Uliana Lopatkina, acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest ballerinas, opens the Kirov Ballet’s two-week season (July 18 – 30) in the role with which she has become most closely associated - that of Odette-Odile in Swan Lake.
The company shows its forward-looking face with a sensational programme of William Forsythe ballets – Steptext, The Vertiginous Thrill Of Exactitude In The Middle Somewhat Elevated and Approximate Sonata - and a Balanchine triple-bill comprising La Valse and The Prodigal Son and Ballet Imperial. Both Kirov programmes will be seen London for the first time.
Two of the most cherished ballets in the Kirov’s repertoire, Lavrovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Petipa’s La Bayadère, in the much-loved 1941 production, complete the repertoire.
The Kirov’s three reigning prima ballerinas, Uliana Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva and Daria Pavlenko appear throughout the season, together with the company’s finest male principals – Igor Zelensky, Igor Kolb, Daniel Korsuntsev and the young Leonid Sarafanov, who made such an impact during the Kirov Ballet’s last visit to London in 2003. There are also opportunities for many gifted newcomers to make their mark with London audiences, including Viktoria Tereshkina, Evgenia Obraztsova, Alexandra Iosifidi, Mikhail Lobukhin and Vladimir Shishov.
THE KIROV OPERA (August 1 – 6)
The great Russian maestro Valery Gergiev will conduct the Kirov Opera in all seven performances during the Kirov Opera’s visit to Covent Garden
(August 1 – 6). His artistic leadership of St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre and its two resident companies – the Kirov Opera and the Kirov Ballet – has made it into one of the world’s leading lyric theatres.
The Kirov, with its superlative ensemble of soloists, its wonderful chorus and world-renowned resident orchestra, will be seen at the Royal Opera House in three towering operatic masterpieces from the company’s vast repertoire: Mussorgsky’s two great historical operas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina and Puccini’s late masterwork, Turandot.
Boris Godounov, perhaps the greatest of Russian operas, opens the Kirov Opera’s season at Covent Garden on August 1, and is here presented in Mussorgsky’s 1869 original musical version, in a powerful production first performed in 2002.
The great Russian mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina heads a glittering cast in the role of Marfa in Khovanschina. When The Kirov Opera brought its esteemed production of Mussorgsky’s so-called ‘National Music Drama’ to London in 2000, audiences and critics alike were mesmerised by its sheer spectacle, the breathtaking beauty of its painted sets, the full-throated vigour of its chorus and, of course, the splendour of the Kirov Orchestra’s playing under Valery Gergiev.
The sensational Russian tenor Vladimir Galuzin returns to one of his most celebrated roles at Calaf in Turandot. With its glorious melodies and exotic colour, Puccini’s last opera - the mythical tale of the beautiful, cold-hearted Princess Turandot – is a celebration of the ultimate triumph of love and compassion.
Public booking is open:
Box Office: 020 7304 4000
Online booking:
www.royaloperahouse.org
Further information:
www.victorhochhauser.co.uk
PROGRAMME
The Kirov Ballet
18 July Mon 7.30 Swan Lake
19 July Tue 7.30 Swan Lake
20 July Wed 2.00, 7.30 Swan Lake
21 July Thu 7.30 Swan Lake
22 July Fri 7.30 Romeo & Juliet
23 July Sat 2.00, 7.30 Romeo & Juliet
24 July Sun 2.00, 7.30 Forsythe
25 July Mon 7.30 Romeo & Juliet
26 July Tue 7.30 Balanchine
27 July Wed 7.30 Balanchine
28 July Thu 7.30 La Bayadère
29 July Fri 2.00, 7.30 La Bayadère
30 July Sat 2.00, 7.30 La Bayadère
The Kirov Opera
1 August Mon 7.30 Boris Godunov
2 August Tue 7.30 Boris Godunov
3 August Wed 6.00 Khovanshchina
4 August Thu 7.30 Turandot
5 August Fri 6.00 Khovanshchina
6 August Sat 1.00 Turandot
7.30 Boris Godunov