Script by J. Doberval.
"Ballet about Straw, or From Good to Good, Just One Step"
Ballet in 2 acts (3 scenes) to combined music, choreographer J. Doberval.
1. Aunt Simone's farm (in Russian productions of Marceline). She forces her daughter Lisa to do various housework. And the girl thinks about meeting her beloved Colin. Peasants come to be hired to harvest Simona's harvest. Kolene is among them, but Simone drives him away. She does not need a poor groom, she is going to marry her daughter to the son of the winemaker Tom (in Russian productions by Michaud). So he is light in sight, he came with his son Nikez (in Russian productions Alain). Nikez promises a rich dowry, Simone, after bargaining, agrees. Lisa is stubborn, snatches from young man his hand and runs away. The others follow her.
Field. Harvest. In the midday break, Lisa finds Colin, but Simone again interferes with the lovers. General fun and dancing of the peasants. A thunderstorm begins. Nikez opens his umbrella, but strong gusts of wind knock him down. The downpour forces everyone to leave. In the turmoil, the lovers are together again.
2. A room on Simona's farm. In the background there is a staircase to the bedroom. Simone tells her daughter to sit at the spinning wheel. She herself also tries to spin, but she is overcome by sleep. Lisa tries to steal the key from her mother's pocket. She wakes up and, in order to drive away the dream, invites her daughter to dance. Lisa happily agrees and brings her mother a tambourine. Simone tries to accompany Lisa's dance, but falls asleep again. Colin appears in the window above the door, Lisa again tries to steal the key. Simone suddenly wakes up and desperately hits the tambourine. Simone is dancing with her daughter.
The reapers and reapers come. They bring many sheaves and ask for reckoning. Simone sparingly distributes money and sees off the workers. Suddenly, Colin appears from the sheaves. A touching meeting, lovers exchange scarves. Hearing that her mother is returning, Lisa, in fright, sends the young man to the bedroom, and she herself pretends that she fell asleep at work. Simone wakes up her daughter. Seeing her new kerchief, she angrily tells Lisa to go to the bedroom. In vain, the girl begs not to do this - the mother drives her daughter to where Colin is with a spinning wheel, and locks the door behind her.
Enter THOMA, NIKEZ, the notary, and behind them the peasants. Toma puts two bags of money on the table, everyone is ready to sign the prenuptial agreement. Simone gives the groom the key to the bedroom and offers to go get the bride. Nikez puts on his gloves and solemnly climbs the stairs. But as soon as he turns the key in the lock, in the doorway everyone sees the embarrassed, but happy Liza and Colin. Nikez refuses to marry, Simone is in despair. Young on her knees ask her to agree to their happiness. Everyone, including the notary, joins them. Simone has no choice but to agree. Only Tom and Nikez are indignant; they have no choice but to leave in shame.
A rural feast ends the show.
“A Vain Precaution” is the oldest surviving masterpiece of the choreographic heritage, so to speak, the great-grandmother of modern ballet. The renowned dancer, teacher and choreographer Jean Bershet (1742-1806), nicknamed Doberval, was called by his contemporaries "The Moliere of Dance", his art was admired by Diderot, the brothers Grimm and Beaumarchais. The premiere took place at the Bolshoi Theater in Bordeaux two weeks before the storming of the Bastille. It is not surprising that the first viewers found themes in the ballet that were consonant with their own time. First of all - the struggle of heroes for their happiness, regardless of property and class prejudices. Over time, this conflict in society intensified, and Michaud became the owner of a rich mill, then faded into the background, and Alain became only a silly kid.
Over the years, the name of the ballet has changed: "Ballet on Straw", "Poorly Spared Daughter" (La Fille mal gardée), "From thin to good, one step", "The Deceived Old Woman" and, finally, "A Vain Precaution" - the name on the Russian stage. For more than two centuries, both the original choreography and the music have been erased from memory. The main thing has been preserved - the spirit and style of the ballet, which has not lost its freshness, cheerfulness and immediate fun.
The drama of "Vain Precaution" is rightfully considered exemplary - the action, masterfully designed by Doberval, moves with utmost simplicity and at the same time with inexorable consistency. The story abounds in unexpected and poignant twists and turns. Expressive pantomime is combined with a varied dance and successfully sets it off. The heroes of the ballet are no longer conventional comedy masks, but real people, although the influence of the traditions of fairground comedians is undoubtedly. The characters, as is often the case in ancient ballets, today accumulate the artistic successes of many generations of outstanding performers of "Futile Precaution". Marie Theodore, Fanny Elsler, Virginia Zucchi, Matilda Kshesinskaya, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Ekaterina Geltser, Elena Lucom, Tatiana Vecheslova, Pavel Gerdt, Timofey Stukolkin, Mikhail Fokin, Mikhail Mordkin, Nikita Dolgushin - these are just a few glorious names.
The Doberval ballet, like many choreographic performances of that time, was performed to music collected from popular melodies and couplets. In an unpretentious accompaniment to the dances, French folk intonations sounded. In 1828, during the first production of "Vain Precaution" on the stage of the Paris Royal Academy of Music, the famous composer Louis Gerold tactfully processed scattered musical fragments, preserving their naive simplicity and national character... In 1864, when staged at the Berlin Court Opera, the ballet acquired a new musical outfit, composed by the German composer Peter Gertel. Having lost its former naivety and French flavor, music has become typically ballet, sometimes sentimental, sometimes banal. In the future, it was supplemented with fragments of a different plan and quality: waltzes, polkas and even czardash.
In Russia, ballet appeared at the beginning of the nineteenth century almost at first hand. The ballet master of the St. Petersburg theater Charles Didlot danced the Colin in his youth at Doberval himself. Subsequently, "Vain Precaution" was often staged both in Moscow and in the capital. Great success was enjoyed by Fanny Elsler's tour, who painted Lisa as a naive, flirtatious and playful simpleton. In 1885, Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa composed a three-act performance to the music of Hertel for the debut in St. Petersburg of the Italian ballerina Virginia Zucchi. Dancing was given more and more place: in the second picture a dance of Bohemian gypsies appeared, and the third act was a continuous divertissement in a rustic French style. Since 1896, for almost a decade, the role of Lisa was monopolized by the omnipotent Matilda Kshesinskaya. The ballerina shone in the famous dance with ribbons from the first picture and in pantomime scenes and, of course, in a spectacular pas de deux. The production continued at the Mariinsky Theater until the end of the 1920s.
In 1937, in another Leningrad theater - the Maly Opera - young Leonid Lavrovsky decided to abandon the former, in his words, "pastorals with charming shepherds and shepherdesses indulging in various pranks." Hertel's music was cleared of later layers by conductor Pavel Feldt, who at the same time composed a new third act, dedicated to the birth of the first child to Lisa and Colin. The perky and funny ballet was seemingly out of time in 1937, but it withstood 26 performances and left the stage "under the pressure" of Pushkin's jubilee. In difficult years of the Great Patriotic War both Leningrad theaters in the evacuation again recalled the comedy "Vain Precaution". In Maly, returning to the leadership, Fyodor Lopukhov composed a new choreography with the preservation of three fragments from the play by Lev Ivanov.
In the Kirov Theater, the ballet revision in the 1923 edition fell to the lot of Vladimir Ponomarev. The only ballet review by the composer Sergei Prokofiev is associated with this performance. In it, he explains the enduring interest in Vain Precaution: “The plot, composed by the famous French choreographer Doberval, is simple, but danceable and easily conveyed by ballet means. In it one does not have to resort, as in some ballets, to desperate gestures to explain between two dance numbers that “he” loves “her” and “she” loves “another”, and the audience feels awkward, why are “they” so They wave their hands a lot and still does not understand who loves whom. In "Vain Precaution" the action is clear from the dance itself. " However, upon returning to native city both ballet companies did not retain the comedy performance in their repertoire.
In the second half of the twentieth century, with new productions of Vain Precaution, they returned to Herold's music, renewing its orchestration and overall composition. In 1960, the choreographer Frederick Ashton staged Futile Precaution at the Royal Ballet in London. The conductor of the play, John Lunchbury, made a successful transcription of Herold's music, and the legendary Tamara Karsavina consulted the production. A successful performance not only long years adorned the London poster, but had practically no competition if other Western troupes wanted to realize "Vain Precaution". In 2002, he was transferred to the Moscow Bolshoi Theater, finding worthy performers there. Meanwhile, in Kiev and Frunze, Riga and Odessa, Tallinn and Saratov they danced a completely different version of the old ballet.
It was performed in 1971 at the Leningrad Maly Opera Theater by Oleg Vinogradov in collaboration with the famous ballet historian Yuri Slonimsky. The choreographer composed the entire choreography anew, relying on the best traditions of the past and not avoiding modern means of expression. The three acts of the play are essentially three dance suites, each with a mandatory pas de deux. The range of moods of these duets is wide: modest, closely related to the development of the plot in the first picture, more developed, emotionally saturated in the picture of the harvest and, finally, the final joyful celebration of the heroes, using the diverse wealth of classical dance. In the last act, a kind of quartet-competition of sabotagers stands out, presenting considerable difficulties for the performers and always delighting the audience. The entire performance is immersed in the poetic atmosphere of everyday life, there is a lot of light, bright, sometimes funny decorations. This is a mischievous and enthusiastic game of old ballet from rural life. Actors now and then "give remarks", play a lot and successfully with sickles, rakes, etc. The style and manner of dance, details of stage behavior develop the traditions of the French comedy ballet Doberval. Only on the native stage, this performance, replete with many acting successes, was performed 186 times. The fact that such "Vain Precaution" is not outdated in the twenty-first century has been shown by its recent performances in Perm, Kazan and the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater.
A. Degen, I. Stupnikov
Photo: "Vain Precaution" at the Mikhailovsky Theater
Price:
1500-3500rub
Ticket prices:
1 tier 1500-2500
Mezzanine 2000-3000
Amphitheater 2500-3000
Parterre 2500-3300
Fragments of music by Riccardo Drigo, Louis Herold, Caesar Puni, Georges Bizet are used.
Set restoration artist - Mikhail Sapozhnikov.
The parts are performed by students of the Moscow state academy choreography.
Duration - 2 hours 10 minutes.
Libretto by Jean Doberval
"A Vain Precaution" is a comedy ballet born over two hundred years ago! The genre of comedy ballet was founded by the creator of this production, French choreographer Jean Doberval. Ordinary people appeared in his ballet performances - simple, unassuming, with the usual vices and everyday problems. Such an approach for that era became truly innovative, because before on the ballet stage only "heroes of antiquity" or "celestials" shone. Characters from the social base were not allowed to enter ballet performances!
An interesting fact is that Jean Doberval did not attract a single composer to write music for the ballet; instead used French folk motives. The premiere of the ballet "A Vain Precaution" took place in Bordeaux on July 1, 1789. There are various legends about how the plot of this production was born. Initially, it was believed that the plot was invented by Doberval himself. The second version - not invented, but inspired by a real funny story of a peasant family. There is even a third version - Jean Dobervalu somehow caught the eye of an etching by Choffard based on a painting by the artist Baudouin. The etching depicted a cheerful everyday scene - a young girl, looking down, listens to her mother's scolding, and in the background, the girl's lover runs down the stairs, holding her trousers in her hands. The most daring legend claims that in the ballet "A Vain Precaution" Jean Doberval shares with the audience the moments of his own love affairs!
In any case, the ballet turned out to be really funny - light, funny, colorful. Literally, the original title of the production is translated as "Poorly Spared Daughter" - due to the dissonance for the Russian ear, the name in Russian theaters was changed. The plot is unassuming and simple. The young girl Lisa is distinguished by charming beauty, and her mother dreams of marrying her to a rich groom. However, Lisa already has a lover - a beggar guy, the peasant Colin. Mother in every possible way prevents her daughter from meeting Colin, and in the end she completely locks her in the closet. But neither she nor Lisa know that Colin has already made his way into the closet, who does not want to leave his beloved! Meanwhile, the mother is actively preparing for the wedding and gathering guests. And when the house is already full and everyone is ready for a solemn denouement, the closet is unlocked ... and Liza and Colin appear in the eyes of the audience, and in what form! As a result, the mother has no choice but to bless the marriage of loving young people.
Vain Precaution is a wonderful ballet, rare in its genre. Tickets for this performance at the Bolshoi Theater are a wonderful opportunity to spend a memorable evening enjoying classical art dance and at the same time a playful, funny and comic plot.
A vain precaution (ballet)
| A vain precaution | |
| La fille mal gardée | |
| Composer |
P. Gaveau (1796, adaptation into a comic opera); |
|---|---|
| Choreographer | |
| Number of actions | |
| First production | |
| Place of the first production | |
"A Vain Precaution" (fr. La fille mal gardée - in literal translation Poorly looked after daughter) is a ballet in two acts, created by the French choreographer Jean Doberval.
"A Vain Precaution" is the only ballet of the classical repertoire that has survived to our time, in which the heroes were contemporaries of the viewer during the days of the premiere.
History of creation
According to another version, he was inspired by the etching work of Pierre-Philippe Choffard (1730-1809) based on the painting by Baudouin depicting a comic everyday scene: an elderly lady scolds a young girl, and her lover, with trousers in his hands, is hurrying down the attic stairs.
And there is a version that in the image of the handsome Colin, Jean Doberval hinted at himself and his own amorous adventures.
Characters and plot
Characters and the plot is given according to the version of the composer L. Gerold, translated into Russian, recorded by L. Entelis. Initially, as conceived by J. Doberval, the names of the characters were somewhat different from the later editions. So, the main characters were not called Lisa (French: Lise) and Colin (French: Colin), but Lison (Lison) and Cola (Colas). And the modern Marceline was called the widow Ragotte (Ragotte) or in later versions - Simone (Simone), while her ballet part was always at the mercy of male performers.
Characters
Lisa's friends. Peasants and peasant women.
Plot
Marcelina wants to find a profitable place for her beautiful daughter Liza to marry Nikez, the son of a local rich man Michaud. But the daughter has already chosen her beloved - this is the neighbor's poor peasant boy Colin. This turn of events does not suit the mother, who is looking for material well-being, at all, and she does not take her eyes off her daughter, hindering her from dating Colin. But the agile poor man is not going to betray his beloved. He sneaks into the closet of the house where Marcelina and Lisa live, and hides in a haystack. And Marceline, not knowing anything about Colin's treachery, conceived her own insidiousness: so that her daughter does not run away to her beggar lover at an inappropriate moment, she locks her in the closet - the very one where Colin hid. She herself is actively preparing for the upcoming wedding of her rebellious daughter, and only when everyone gathers in the house: the notary, the rich Michaud, his son, the groom Nikez, the peasant guests, does she solemnly release the prisoner-daughter from the closet. But two people appear before the eyes of those present - Lisa and Colin in love, and in what form! .. Marceline's plans for material well-being are not destined to come true - the unhappy mother, who has thought out everything so carefully and took all precautions, has no choice but to agree to marriage Lisa and Knee.
Premiere
- July 1, 1789 - Bordeaux, Bolshoi Musical Theater; entitled Le Ballet de la paille ou Il n'y a qu'un pas du mal au bien ("Ballet about Straw, or From Good to Good Just One Step"), to the combined music. The main parts were performed by Lizon - Marie-Madeleine Crespe, Cola - Eugene Hus, the severe widow mother Ragotta - the dancer François le Riche.
Performances
J. Doberval also repeated his ballet, which is invariably popular with the audience, on other stages. Then the performances began to be renewed by other choreographers. At first, music was used whatever the tastes of the directors. In 1796 P. Gavo wrote music for the transformation of the ballet into a comic opera, and this music was used by Omer for his ballet production. However, Pierre Gaveau's music did not last long. In 1828, the composer L. Gerold finally endowed the ballet with permanent music. And in 1864 another composer made his own musical version - P. Hertel. Thus, one piece had two scores at once. The ballet took place in almost all the world's musical theaters.
The ballet itself was full of frivolous humor and ambiguous hints. These love scenes were staged in different ways at different times, depending on the generally accepted norms of morality, which were changing rapidly: a haystack was either placed in the middle of the stage as the main scene, then chastely removed behind the scenery away from eyes, and in the foreground the hardworking Lisa - depending on the director's imagination and knowledge in the field of peasant life and its color - she fed real chickens, did the laundry and ironing, spinning or, sighing sadly, vividly imagined a happy family life with her beloved Knee and the birth of their children - in a word, she did anything, but not scripted in the hayloft in the arms of a loved one.
Some productions:
Since that time, the ballet by J. Doberval has triumphantly walked across European stages.
In the same edition, the ballet was staged in Vienna (1794), Marseille (1795), Lyon (1796), Naples (1797).
- September 15, 1837 - Royal Academy of Music and Dance, Paris, resumption of the production with music by Louis Herold, but with the addition of a pas de deux, written by E. Leborn for F. Elsler. First performers: Liza - F. Elsler; Knee - J. Mazilier.
In the version of Louis Herold's music, the ballet was repeatedly staged on European stages, including in Russia: in St. Petersburg at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theater: November 20, 1848 (edited by C. Didlot, Liza - F. Elsler; Knee - H. P. Johanson; Marcelina - J. Perrot) and October 28, 1854 (choreographer J. Perrot, Liza - Anna Prikhunova) and at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater: February 12, 1845 (choreographer I.N. Nikitin, edited by S. Didlo, Liza - E. A. Sankovskaya; Knee - I.N. Nikitin) and May 11, 1850 ( Liza - F. Elsler).
Natalie Bock in the ballet A Vain Precaution. 1987
During its existence since 1789, this ballet has attracted the attention of many outstanding choreographers, and the performers of the parts were world-famous ballet stars. But all these performances created, with different music, are firmly based on the very first production of Jean Doberval.
Notes
Categories:
- Ballets alphabetically
- Petipa's ballets
- Gorsky's ballets
- Lopukhov's ballets
- Ballets of 1789
- Ballets of 1828
- Ballets 1864
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Details
DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE OF THE OMSK OBLISPOLKOM OMSK STATE MUSIC THEATER
L. Gerold
A Vain Precaution
Ballet in 2 acts, 4 scenes
Libretto by J. Doberval
Stage choreographers: D. Avdysh, V. Mogilda
Conductor - A. Leitush.
Artist - People's Artist of the RSFSR and Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, laureate of the S. Yulaeva V. Plekunov.
ACTORS AND PERFORMERS:
MARCELINA - V. Kuznetsov, V. Tzaptashvili
LIZA - V. Filyanova, E. Shikhova, F. Yakupova
KOLEN - A. Ivanov O. Karpovich V Kuznetsov
MICHO - Y. Nadeikin F. Pavlov V. Yakovlev
ALEN - Y. Efimov A. Ivanov A. Mineev
NOTARY - S. Kornilov
Friends, sabotagers, peasants, peasant women - soloists and ballet dancers.
Concertmaster - M. Shostak
Teacher-tutor - L. Ivanova
Head the literary part of G. Malbakhov
Head staged part - P. Dyumin
Performance technique:
Ch. stage machinist - Yu. P. Malinin
Art. stage machinist - G.V. Bondarenko
Art. make-up artist - P.V. Remizov
Art. lighting designer - V. N. Zadorozhny
Art. decorator - A. I. Bezgin
Art. props artist - G.M. Atramentova
Senior Property Manager - E. A. Maslakova
Art. costume designers - L.A. Malinina, G.F.Fezhorenko
Women's suits - E. I. Redina
Man's suits - A.G. Girina
Radio - M. M. Ionov
Shoes - B.I.Kravets
Chief director honored. active claim. Azerb. SSR A. T. USUBOV
Chief ballet master honored. active claim. RSFSR V. Ya. TULUPOVA
The price is 10 kopecks.
Ohm. region a type. 1982 Zak. 792, tier. 5000
"VINDLE PRECAUTION"
I action
The greedy farmer Marcelina wants to marry her daughter to the stupid guy Alain, the son of the tax farmer Michaud. But Lisa loves the poor peasant Colin and does not want to obey her mother.
Lisa's friends and Colin's friends sympathize with them, but they cannot help the lovers connect. Marcelina does not take her eyes off her daughter, interferes with her meeting with her beloved, forcing her to work around the house, not giving a minute of rest.
Field. The peasants are resting. Marcellina, Michaud and Alain appear. They are looking for Lisa. Alain dreams of a wedding, dreams of his happiness with Lisa.
II action
A room in Marceline's house. Lisa thinks about her lover. Marcelina tries to distract her from these thoughts by giving lessons in good form, teaching secular manners. Finally, the tired Marcelina falls asleep. Lisa tries to open the door and run away from the house, but her mother wakes up in time ...
Girlfriends come to Liza. Together with them, Colin sneaks into the house. He hides in a closet. Suspecting that something was wrong, Marcelina escorts the guests out of the house and leaves herself.
Lisa is alone. She dreams of Knee, of future children. Colin appears. The hearts of lovers are overflowing with happiness - at last they can be together. Marceline's footsteps are heard. The frightened Lisa hides Kolene in her bedroom.
Marceline brings her daughter's wedding dress. The notary comes. Michaud and Alain. Now a profitable marriage will be concluded. In order not to show her daughter ahead of time in her wedding dress, Marcelina makes Lisa hide in her room. Alain follows Lisa ... The bedroom door opens, embarrassed Lisa and Colin appear on the threshold. Michaud is indignant. Marceline's plans collapsed. She has no choice but to agree to the marriage of her daughter with Colin
The peasants run to look at the bride and groom. Lisa and Colin come out of the church. Everyone joyfully congratulates them, asking Marceline to forgive the lovers.
Marcelina generously forgives the young, in whose honor the village holiday begins.
History reference
In 1789, in Bordeaux, France, the ballet performance "Vain Precaution" was staged with great success. The music for the ballet was a combined team made up of excerpts from works that were popular at that time: Louis Herold, a famous French composer, whose operas were world-famous, decided to partially process and write music for this popular ballet. On November 27, 1828, in Paris, on the stage of the Grand Opera, the premiere of the two-act ballet "A Vain Precaution" with music by L. Gerold took place.
The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater hosted the premiere of the ballet Futile Precaution, first staged by Oleg Vinogradov exactly 30 years ago.
Over the years, Oleg Vinogradov's performance has undergone 40 performances around the world. For the audience, it is a tightly knit, cheerful, dynamic ballet. For theaters - a guarantee of box office receipts. For artists - a scattering of great roles. For specialists - an instructive example of the relationship of the sixties with classical dance. At that time, no one thought about authenticity and restoration of the heritage. It was decided to "develop creatively" the classics. Oleg Vinogradov wore out the old pantomime, replacing it with half-dance; instructed "effective" dances, where the heroes dance "not just like that", but "because"; transformed French peasants of the time into porcelain peyzan and restored the music of Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold, to which they danced at the 1789 premiere.
Vinogradov's "Vain Precaution" curiously introduces into practice the theoretical postulates of the 60s. In those days, acrobatism was considered a sign of technological progress, but they also observed "loyalty to the era": although the partner carries the ballerina in his arms all the adagios, he does not lift her above the shoulder - the choreographer remembers that the "upper" supports came into use a hundred years later. Feet "ironing" were considered an indispensable attribute of ballet humor, and the desire to "dance" every eight of the musical clavier was considered to be an adequate reading of the score. To solve formal problems, the choreographer inserts into a two-act performance as many as three pas de deux of the main characters. One is built on the synchronized movements of dancers (a sign of pre-romantic ballet), the other develops "modernity" - the inclusion of elements of acrobatics in the classics, the third is a digest of classical exercise, playing out the then fashion for all kinds of class-concerts.
The troupe of the Stanislavsky Theater reproduces the production of the Soviet classic with reverence, sometimes excessive. The corps de ballet and luminaries are absorbed in "technology" - they monitor the accuracy of the hands and feet, the correct work of the body and are trying hard to put the sophisticated cascades of pas into the music. These aspirations are commendable, but so far too striking. Soloists are worse at playing. Ekaterina Safonova grimaces especially assiduously, having successfully overcome the technical reefs of Liza's party. Her partner Roman Malenko also has problems with acting organics, but also lacks natural twistiness, sharpness and speed of legs: by the middle of sophisticated variations, his knees begin to "rake" his feet and completely forgets about decent fifth positions. From the pleasure of seeing the classic premiere Vladimir Kirillov in the role of the comic old woman Marceline, the audience is ready to forgive him for some monotony of mimicry. And only Anton Domashev in the role of the silly groom is truly relaxed and, accordingly, homerically funny.
The production of "Vain Precaution" 30 years ago does not look like a random action. Reanimation of the Soviet legacy of the 60s and 70s has become the main trump card of the capital's theaters: recently, the Bolshoi restored Yuri Grigorovich's Swan Lake. The matter is clearly not limited to this: the state fashion for patriotism and the preservation of foundations has found devoted adherents in the Moscow ballet. Only the successful Mariinsky can afford to flaunt European cosmopolitanism or fail a domestic experiment. Muscovites have relied on the officially recognized "golden fund" of the national heritage - inexpensively and for sure. However, the contents of the fund do not always stand the test of time. Thus, the unprincipled ballet comedy turned out to be far more viable than the "philosophical poem", the choreographer Vinogradov is more interesting than the choreographer Grigorovich, and the choice of the Stanislavsky Theater is much more accurate than the Bolshoi's bid.
Time MN, June 1, 2001
Leila Guchmazova
Peysanques the old fashioned way
Having got used to the fact that there is a problem with fresh ideas in our ballet, the choreographers of the first galaxy are more and more affectionate towards remakes and renewals. Five years ago, leaving the post of chief choreographer with a scandal Mariinsky theater, Oleg Vinogradov is restoring ballet antiquity around the world. The Stanislavsky Musical Theater also joined. From now on, the repertoire includes "A Vain Precaution" from the 1789 harvest in the version of Oleg Vinogradov.
The choreographer did not hide the fact that he multiplied his "Vain ..." in cities and towns forty times. Having officially bought out the Kirov Ballet School trademark and settled in New York, "Leningrad Grigorovich", and now a candidate for "Russian Lyakott", is proud of his bestseller. In life, there is tough competition for a place in the sun, on the screen - action films and stress, and in the theater - the most problem-free ballet of the classics. Among the three whales of antiquity that has survived to this day, "Vain ..." is the oldest and most sane. She indicated that some no longer want allegories and myths with the Minervas in the ballet, while others still cannot romantically separate the dreams and reality of Sylphide and Giselle. "Vain ..." is a simple story "about life", that is, about "A poorly saved daughter" (the moralizing name of the old Moscow version, of course, not the French version). The daughter loves the poor but the glorious, the mother keeps her safe for the stupid but rich. I had already saved it, just about down the aisle, and suddenly - what an afront! The daughter, locked in the bedroom, is not alone, but with the very lucky one. Out of excitement, everyone for a moment forgets about the pirouettes and desperately mimics. The long-awaited wedding and dancing until you drop. In a word, the classics are not overshadowed by reflections.
Vinogradov, following Frederick Ashton, preferred the earlier musical score of Louis Herold as equal to the mood of the performance. Peizans and peyzans knit sheaves under the simple "one-two-three" - Gerold, interspersed with orchestrated pristine simplicity, the peasants could well have fun with such music. Everything that is needed, and even more, was done by the production designer Vyacheslav Okunev - it looks like majolica is pretending to be Gzhel, porcelain cows look luxurious in the gilded frame of the stage. Everything is light, joyful, smells of cultivated nature and a tapestry with shepherdesses. Artists would be able to cheat a little - and, you see, it would turn out to be a normal item on the poster. Alas.
The dance text is not complicated at all, except for the solo by Colin (Roman Malenko) in the final scene. The actors were not required to be technical, just a little taste and grace. If you dust with the sign of the Artistic Ballet, from which the troupe of the Stanislavsky Musical Theater has grown, then it is all the more necessary for them to be actorly precise and expressive. And here hilariously funny Vladimir Kirillov unwittingly made his mother Marceline the main character... Neither the cheerful rural youth, nor the main characters (although the rivals R. Malenko and A. Domashev were more interesting than the partner), nor the stilted supporting characters were in place. And the formula for positive emotions from the performance fit into a short one - Okunev plus Kirillov.
Ballet antiquity is, of course, convenient. Unpretentious simplicity can always be called simplicity and refer to the original source. But the old man is a delicate thing, you can approach it in different ways. You can really delve into the archives and make a museum replica (the case of The Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinsky). You can, by embellishing your right to a version by joining a continuous line of performers, which conveys pas from foot to foot in the ballet, you can make "your look in the taste of antiquity" (the case of "The Pharaoh's Daughter" by Pierre Lacotta). Vinogradov did not engage in PR, which does him honor, or speaks of opportunities - after all, this is a matter and a choice of the theater management. But somehow I did not find a promise, being stuck somewhere between "doing the old days" or "playing the old days". And the actors of the Stanislavsky Theater did not explain the difference between peyzan and collective farmers. That's all.
Izvestia, June 2, 2001
Elena Gubaidullina
Mother Goose's Tale
"A Vain Precaution" at the Theater. K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko
Yesterday the premiere of the performance was staged by the famous choreographer Oleg Vinogradov. In Soviet times, he headed the Kirov (now Mariinsky) ballet for about twenty years. The ballet master came to the Moscow production from Washington, where he runs the Kirov Ballet Academy (the name was officially purchased from the St. Petersburg theater for 250 thousand dollars). A month ago, Vinogradov's "Vain" was staged in Indianapolis. Thus, the number of theaters where this ballet is performed has exceeded forty.
The secret of the success of Oleg Vinogradov's performance, which he composed exactly thirty years ago for the Leningrad Maly Opera Theater, is easily explained. The original and complex choreographic text is "embroidered" on the canvas of the old libretto by Jean Doberval, filled with charming comic situations. For performers - sheer expanse. There is a place to show off both acting and classical dance techniques. No less pleasure for the audience - and aesthetic pleasures, and entertainment, and teachings. The moral of the ballet, expressed in the proverb "From bad to good - one step" (one of the original names of the old "Vain"), is also encouraging.
The troupe of the theater copes with complex choreographic patterns easily and playfully. The level of the corps de ballet has noticeably increased. The soloists Ekaterina Safonova (Liza) and Roman Malenko (Colin) also shine with virtuoso grace. Although these performers of the parts of young lovers still lack acting freedom. And therefore, their sentimental romance somewhat recedes into the background. And the main heroine of the ballet is mother Marcelina.
Anyone who is too lazy to look into the program will never recognize in this funny village clever Vladimir Kirillov, who recently was the main ballet prince of the theater. K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. His Marcelina appears as an awkward self-confident goose, amusingly stamping her huge shoes, and a dashing chieftain, and an old woman with a sick heart.
"A vain precaution" has always been loved. For example, in Russia ballet practically did not disappear from the repertoire. Lev Ivanov and Alexander Gorsky staged based on Doberval's motives. For a long time, Gorsky's version was included in the repertoire of the Moscow Choreographic School. Jean Doberval was called the ballet Beaumarchais, and his most famous brainchild, born at the end of the eighteenth century, was considered the modern ballet of the time. Now the freedom-loving villagers have turned into pretty porcelain shepherdesses and shepherdesses. And in the technically complex performance of Oleg Vinogradov, there is almost no naive naturalness inherent in all the previous "Vain" ones. The choreography, undoubtedly, deserved the most popular sign of the Soviet era, the "quality mark", every now and then reminds of space speeds and other valiant achievements. Nevertheless, on "Vain" in the Musical Theater. K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko will be looking for antiquity.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 2, 2001
Maya Krylova
Porcelain in the barn
Ballet "Vain Precaution" on the stage of the Musical Theater
"Vain Precaution" was first staged in France, in Bordeaux, by choreographer Jean Doberval. This happened in 1789, but that production did not survive and was restored only at the end of the 20th century. The old sitcom was once a modern ballet that almost revolutionized: instead of sterile allegorical virtues and mythological characters, rude representatives of the third estate appeared on the ballet stage. Naturally, these representatives were ennobled to pastoral peizans. The plot is tied to the matchmaking of the silly Alena, the son of a wealthy miller, to the broken-hearted beauty Liza, the daughter of the peasant woman Marcelina (this role is traditionally played by men). Liza, naturally, loves poor but handsome Knee, and after funny misunderstandings everything comes to a happy end.
Whoever has not undertaken a pastoral, unpretentious plot - several versions of the ballet are known, including the world-famous production of the Englishman Ashton, selected by the Bolshoi Theater for staging next season. Russian choreographer Oleg Vinogradov, formerly the chief choreographer of the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theater for many years, also composed "A Vain Precaution" 30 years ago, since then the play has been staged in 40 theaters around the world.
Now Vinogradov lives in Washington, where he heads the ballet school - the Kirov Academy (the name "Kirovskaya" was bought for 25 thousand dollars from the Mariinsky Theater, which abandoned Soviet realities). The choreographer came to Moscow for only 10 days to perfect the work of his assistant Alla Malysheva. Vinogradov preferred the light music of the Frenchman Herold (who at the beginning of the 19th century brought together the combined hodgepodge of Vain) to the more famous, but also more ponderous version of the German Hertel, who wrote the ballet based on the score of Herold. A violin tutor with pieces of orchestration by Adam (the author of the music for Giselle) was found by Vinogradov in the library of the Kirov Theater, and later supplemented with fragments of Herold's works from the ballet Somnambula. It is a pity that the orchestra of the Musical Theater under the direction of Wolf Gorelik performed this sparkling music without any "spark" at all.
The ballet from the 18th century is a great opportunity to play with modern ideas about "beautiful France" before the French Revolution. The sought-after style of "Vain" is something like a figurine in a barn: a mixture of Rococo antics with healthy peasant self-confidence. In Vyacheslav Okunev's decorations, old houses of beige-pink-blue shades - surrounded by funny fake chickens and cows - remind of Sevres porcelain and Delft faience. Irina Press's costumes are especially successful in the harvesting scene (where they are the color of ripe wheat) and are moderately variegated - just enough so as not to interfere with the examination of the corps de ballet drawing, ingeniously composed by Vinogradov from combinations of triplets.
Vinogradov is half satisfied with the result of the dancers' work, which he stated quite frankly at a press conference. The ballerina for the main role, which the author especially liked, Natalia Shchelokova, was announced by the theater only in the second cast on June 11. There are reasons for criticism: during the performance, one often got the impression that the vocabulary of the ballet was given to the dancers as if "in growth", for future improvement. Roman Malenko (Colin) does not stretch his feet and knees at all during the dance. The corps de ballet does not always take into account that the hands should be "soft", and although it draws attention to the bottom of the legs, with varying degrees of success. But let's pay tribute to the performers who performed with full dedication - it is difficult to dance this "Vain". Not only are the movements set unusually "densely", it even seems that for every note. The author is rightly proud that his classical choreography based on a variety of small technology and sophisticated original combinations up to sportiness. Although there is absolutely no stylization of ballets of the 18th century here, the movement and semantic reference to ballroom and ancient folk dances require sophisticated acting skills. Plus several detailed choreographic suites with three climaxes - effective pas de deux. The adagio of the first duet is built on the ground technique, the second - on supports, among which there are those invented by Vinogradov. The third, wedding, pas de deux wittily begins with elementary movements of the ballet class, preparing dancers for more complex pas and, in addition, working as a theatrical metaphor for preparing young people for a new family life.
Dancers must convey the combination of "dancing pantomime" with quick "rollovers" into the actual dance. So de basque, after which they fall to the floor. Arabesque - and the game of "okay". Grimaces alternating with grimaces of all temperaments. So Ekaterina Safonova (Liza) did not receive applause from the audience for nothing: with her somewhat dry manner and acting tightness, she basically coped with the eddies of technology. And the excellent ballet actor Anton Domashev irresistibly parodied the scene of madness from Giselle, rode a toy horse and caught flies with his hands in the role of the village idiot Alena (according to information from the dress rehearsal, Domashev also brilliantly made the role of Marceline, which he will play in the second composition). In the first performance, the part of the formidable mother was performed by the former classical theater premier Vladimir Kirillov. With an immense bust and in huge clogs, he jokes with pleasure in the role - brutally straightens his bodice, "heavily" stomping on a village holiday and threatening his unlucky daughter with his mother's finger. This humor, like the funny dance of the four sabotagers, was a tremendous success among the public, who quite recently watched Kirillov in the roles of princes and hero-lovers.
A well-built performance, in the finale of which the divertissement dance gradually grows to an apotheosis, will obviously receive a long-term registration in the playbill. After all, it can be considered with equal success both for children and adults, put on matinees and in the evenings.
Vremya Novostei, June 4, 2001
Olga Gerdt
It's a shame the cows don't dance
At the theater. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko staged "Vain Precaution"
"Vain" staged by Oleg Vinogradov ballet poster of the Musical Theater. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko literally enriched herself. The former chief choreographer of the Kirov Ballet, now heading a respectable school in America and a ballet troupe in Seoul, came to Moscow as a successful businessman. He staged the play in ten days, having previously sent tutors to the theater, who had trained the troupe, which had recently stagnated, at a shock Western pace. In the new works of the chief ballet master of the theater Dmitry Bryantsev, one does not particularly dance. In Salome, for example, you remember the severed head of the Baptist, which dangles across the stage on a rope like Foucault's pendulum, much longer than the soloists and the corps de ballet.
In Vinogradov's ballet "birds, cows, butterflies and flies are present, but do not dance." This notice in the poster is both a cute joke and a serious concept. "A Vain Precaution", staged thirty years ago at the Leningrad Maly Opera House, eyewitnesses recall as a "light and charming" performance. Played later in more than forty theaters, the ballet, as it turned out, has not lost its charm. Despite the fact that Vinogradov was clearly interested in the porcelain statuary of the performance, staged in the city of Bordeaux in 1789, they demonstrate here not the manners of the 18th century, but the very effective classics of the seventies, when everyone danced - both soloists, extras, and mimic characters. Vinogradov has tireless, like bees, a couple in love, Liza and Colin, and a fat boy Michaud with a silly son, and mother Marcelina (this part, created for the happiness of all retired premieres, is performed in a new production by the former hero-lover of the theater Vladimir Kirillov), and others peizans and peyzans in seductive costumes. We have not seen such density and elaboration of classical texts for a long time. Even the full-length cows standing on stage, hilariously shaking their porcelain heads, do not look static (artist Vyacheslav Okunev).
Today Vinogradov would probably have been dubbed a postmodernist, given that from time to time he does not forget to ironically “work” with the classical heritage, introducing, for example, into a sentimental vaudeville “memories” of “Giselle,” which was not staged at that time, a scene of madness of which Liza's unfortunate fiancé, Alain, imitates perfectly. The madness of this lover of butterflies and girls brings the audience to a hysterical hysteria. It can be assumed that Doberval and Gerold achieved the same effect in their time, simplifying high-flown allegorical plots in "Vain".
The troupe of the Stanislavsky Theater, however, was not very sensitive to stylistic subtleties. The corps de ballet takes on coherence and accuracy. Soloists, Ekaterina Safonova (Liza) and Roman Malenko (Colin) cope with technical nuances much more successfully than with acting ones. The lyrical scenes are much paler than the grotesque ones - the trio of Marcellina, Alain and Michaud or the dance of hippie sabotage tricks. The love triangle is falling apart for the same reason - the comic character of Anton Domashev is clearly in the lead in it, who is able to turn quite ordinary antrash into individual funny remarks. His acting reactions in ensembles are also amazingly quick - it's a pity that partners sometimes have nothing to answer them.
Nevertheless, the theater can be congratulated on a successful repertoire find. As it turns out, in order to make something that looks like antiques, it is not necessary to subscribe an expensive and fashionable stylist from Paris or rummage through the archives. It is enough, looking back into the recent past, to discover with amazement that someone has already done such work with no less creative passion, but with less pretense. Fortunately, Oleg Vinogradov, who returned Herold's lost score to "Vain", a simple musical text inspired by popular melodies (later more "serious", but not French music for the play was written by the German Gertel), it did not occur to him that he was making an archival revolution ... Otherwise, the result would probably be different.