October, 23 2014 The Bolshoi Theatre became deserted for Instagram On October 20th the White Foyer, the Imperial Foyer and the audience hall of the Bolshoi Theatre were given to Instagram users for one hour. Twenty of the most popular Instagram users had a chance to take pictures of the country's main stage and its departments, while there were no visitors or staf f. The Bolshoi took this baton from the Royal Opera House (London), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and the the Tatens Museum for Kunst (Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen). All those institutions took part in the project #empty, which is organized in cooperation with the social network. Pictures, made by Russian photo bloggers during the excursion, will be uploaded to Instagram with the hashtag #EmptyBolshoi. The newspaper "Gaseta.ru" also took a tour around the main theatre of the country. " I would not have been able to live and sing there " Makvala Kasrashvili, the Bolshoi Theatre's opera diva, told "Nevskoe Vremya" about Galina Vishnevskaya's present and explained why she had not emigrated to the USA She has had everything in her long opera life: wonderful teachers, joining the main theatre of the country (this happened like in the fairy-tale about Cinderella), leading roles not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also at the Royal Opera, the Vienna Opera and at the opera theatres in Rome, Hamburg, Prague, Helsinki, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Chicago. Her genuine Natasha Rostova, touching Iolanta, funny Rosina, suffering Aida and cruel Turandot conquered the whole world. Of course, there were ovations, flowers and, as they say at the theatre, "wonderful press", which was fascinated with her "dimensional", "crystal" and at the same time "Italian-like, rounded" voice. Makvala Kasrashvili has recently come to St. Petersburg, where she was a member of the jury at the Elena Obraztsova International Competition of Y oung Vocalists and the Elena Obraztsova International Competition of Chamber Music in Memory of Conchita Badia. - W ere there many talented musicians at those competitions? Are there people that can take the baton from the older generation? - Of course, there are talented musicians. There was a boy at the Competition of Y oung Vocalists who simply amazed all of us! When he started singing, I started crying and just could not stop. He still has a high voice, a contralto, but it is starting to break, which is easy to notice when he takes top notes. But when he is singing, there are so many emotions! Where do they all come from? This is what we call "God- given talent". The jury decided it probably would be the Grand Prix (Valery Makarov, the 13-year old student of the Children's Music School from Samara did receive the Grand Prix - editor's note). As for the chamber music competition, we heard a lot of good singers, but I was very surprised with the fact that there were so many bright and expressive female voices. I wanted to let them all go to the third round, because all of them deserved it! We even argued with Juan Pons from Spain, who was a co- chair of the jury; he is a fantastic singer and a great musician. But he is also very strict. I managed to defend only one singer… - There is an opinion that a real talent will always find its way to the top, no matter how difficult it can be; I mean, people think that real talents will always attract attention… - Oh, no, it is necessary to help the young. This has to be done! For example, they noticed me by chance as well; I could have very well not been here and not talking to you today. But people helped me… - Are you talking about getting to the Bolshoi Theatre? Please, tell us how it happened. - I was in my fifth year of studies at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire; I studied in the class of Vera A. Davydova, an outstanding mezzo-soprano singer. She used to sing at the Bolshoi, and when she retired she moved to Tbilisi together with her husband Dmitri Mchedlidze, who was an opera singer as well. Then her colleagues from Moscow came to Tbilisi and she invited them to our concert. I was asked: "Would you like to audition for the Bolshoi Theatre?" I could hardly breathe; of course, I wanted to! It was in December, and I had only six months of studies left; on February 1st I was on the Bolshoi Theatre's stage, singing the monologue of Madame Butterfly and T osca. It was the third round of auditions. Then I waited in the corridor next to the opera company administrative office; I was terribly nervous, and an hour later they told me that I was accepted… - What did your mother say when she learned that you would sing at the Bolshoi? - She did not believe it. My mother brought me up by herself, there was no father and I was her only joy in this life. She had nothing to do with art, but she had a wonderful voice. She used to sing Georgian songs at home; she knew tons of them. My mother had moved closer to me, to Tbilisi; she exchanged our small flat in Kutaisi for a room in the basement. We lived in Spartan conditions; my mother sent me everything she could, but I was always hungry. Davydova often invited me to come to her place for lessons, and then she fed us dinner. And then I would find some money in my purse… When I had to go to Moscow, my mother altered her old beaver-lamb coat that was three sizes bigger; my teacher gave me her woolen scarf. - Still, I am convinced that the real talent will make its way, just like grass finds its way through the asphalt. People heard you and paid attention to you, which happened rather early… - I was 12 years old and I was staying at a summer camp; we were getting ready for a concert and my friend told one of the leaders that I could sing. So I sang. When I came home, I told my mother: "I am going to Tbilisi to study". My mother realized that music was my vocation. Later I took her to live with me. She did not miss a single one of my performances; she was in the box and I sang for her. She was happy when she got old. I am very grateful to her, because when I was 12 years old she took me to a music college in Kutaisi. They took me there at once; I had a naturally trained voice, it Newsletter

Mass media about the Theatre October, 23 2014 happens sometimes. I sang; there were no obstacles and I copied opera singers. I sang so much and so unskillfully, that I almost lost my voice. At that time I did not understand it; I deafened myself, and did not hear anything… - Like in the film "Come Tomorrow"… - Y es, indeed! When people started talking about me and saying how talented I was, I went to Tbilisi, to the conservatoire, but I was not accepted there for the first year. They hardly accepted me for the preparatory course, all because of some top note, which I did not take much care of. I went to Vera Davydova, who was already a legend. I wore her down! I came every day, cried hysterically, sat under her door, on the staircase. It continued for a month! She did not surrender and said: "What will I do with you, you are so plump and have no voice!" Oh, she even said: "You are as square as my table!" Ha-ha! I am laughing at it now, but back then… - Can it really happen? - Y es, it can. In a month she pitied me and said: "OK, study". I studied with all my strength. I stayed in her class when she had lessons with others, and really absorbed everything like a sponge. She called me "my monkey". Then recordings of Renata T ebaldi appeared, I fell in love with her voice and started copying her. When my teacher heard it, she was shocked. I started singing! My voice came back. - You were lucky to have such teachers; you studied in the class of Davydova in Tbilisi, and Boris Pokrovsky taught you when you came to the Bolshoi Theatre. - Yes, I was incredibly lucky; again, it happened by chance. I worked with the genius opera director Pokrovsky and the genius Rostropovich, whom I made my debut with in "Onegin" and "War and Peace". I remember when the accompanist Lia Mogilevskaya and I presented the part of Natasha Rostova to Mstislav L. Rostropovich. He said: "Girls! Let's go and celebrate!". So we went to the House of Composers, where he lived, to the restaurant, I mean. He did not give us any negative comments. - Y ou said that you stayed friends with Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya even though there was the iron curtain… - I saw Slava and Galina off at the airport. - Did you realize that you could have been punished for it? - I did not care. I loved them so much! By the way, even though I performed all the leading parts at the Bolshoi, they did not give me the title of People's Artist for a long time. Soon after my friends had stayed in the West, the Bolshoi Theatre went on tour to the Metropolitan Opera. Suddenly their daughter Olga called my hotel room. She said her Mom and Dad wanted to meet with me and added that she would come in a taxi. I still remember the name of the hotel; it was the "Mayflower Hotel"! We went outside, and there were those people… who kept an eye on who went where and with whom. The taxi came, but Olga was not seen, she laid on the floor, because she understood everything, she was so smart… I have a golden necklace to remind me of that meeting; Galina took it of f and put on my neck. I will never forget Rostropovich playing his famous Stradivari cello for us; that cello had marks from Napoleon's sword. Of course, a certain agency learned about that meeting and later they did not want to let me go on other tours. - Did you think about staying in the USA? I mean, it was impossible to make an opera career when all borders were closed. - When I was in New York on tour, the famous conductor Giuseppe Patanè asked me if I had a family. It was the time when the USSR brought its troops to Afghanistan, and it seemed that music had nothing to do with politics. But it turned out it had. Although politics separates people, while music brings them together… I told him I did not have a family, and had only a mother. Giuseppe was glad to hear it; he said I should have stayed, because I could have made a career there! But I could not imagine for a single moment that I would be able to leave my mother and the theatre. If I had known that I might not have been able to come back home, I would not have been able to live and sing there. - Once I was told how the girls that study at the Conservatoire lived. They do not have enough money, they have to study, work and give concerts at the Philharmonic Hall. At the same time they know that not all of them will be soloists at famous orchestras; some will just teach children and get paid very small money. You know, simple musicians do not get paid very well… - Yes, it is true. It is good that there are such people! After the collapse of the Soviet Union we lost two generations. Remember, earlier there were lectures, concerts of classical music and the halls were full, but in the 1990s those halls suddenly were empty. It seemed that there were no talented young people. At the same time, untalented pop-music could be heard everywhere. And now - The Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Center is working in Moscow; the School of Vocal Arts at Elena Obraztsova Cultural Center is working in Saint Petersburg. This is wonderful. There is the Denis Matsuev Festival, the Mariinsky Theatre and its festival "White Nights", there also are many great festivals in the regions… There are many talented musicians in Russia. It is necessary to look for them, to help them and to teach them… W e have to hurry in order to make sure that we pass the baton to them. - By the way, your name "Makvala" is so musical… - "Makvali" means "blackberry" in Georgian. Y ekaterinburg mass media: The charity concert of Vladimir Matorin, the main bass of Russia, will take place in Yekaterinburg on December 7th Vladimir Matorin, the People's Artist of Russia and the Bolshoi Theatre's soloist, will give a charity concert in Yekaterinburg on December 7th. The concert will mark the Day of St. Ekaterina, the patron saint of the Urals capital. The program, presented by the main bass singer of Russia, will include church songs, folk songs and romances. He will be accompanied by the State Russian Folk Orchestra "Malakhit" (chief conductor - the People's Artist of Russia V. Lebedev) and the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra (chief choirmaster - the Honored Artist of Russia A. Petrenko). Vladimir Matorin has a unique voice; he is also a talented actor. At the main theatre of the country he performs the leading bass repertoire (more than 60 parts). He often takes part in governmental concerts at the Kremlin; he has also performed at the French Senate and is famous in European capitals (Paris, London, Berlin, Rome and others). The famous bass singer receives a warm welcome at the world's leading theatres; most importantly, people in small towns in Russia know and love him. Apart from performing his main repertoire, he also gives many charity concerts in various regions of Russia every year. All funds raised from those concerts are donated to the construction of churches and monasteries and the development of Sunday schools, hospitals, orphanages and museums. This is how Vladimir Motorin formulates his life philosophy: "I am for people. This is my way to be kinder". All funds raised from the concert on December 7th will be donated to the social projects of the Orthodox mercy service: assistance to orphans, disabled people, lonely old people, families with many children and the homeless. Roman Muravitsky, Honored Artist of Russia and Bolshoi Theatre tenor, celebrated his birthday on October 22nd. Our best wishes to the singer! Roman Muravitsky

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Bolshoi Theatre in the Internet October, 23 2014 Newsletter

, 7 October, 23 2014 For articles published 21 October 2014 Many local editions all over the world publish announcements of the upcoming transmission of the Bolshoi Theatre's Legend of Love in cinemas. The New Jersey Stage (USA) writes "the internationally renowned Bolshoi Theatre" will be broadcast LIVE Legend of Love in local cinemas. "The legendary Bolshoi Ballet is one of the most celebrated ballet companies in the world. The company is made up of more than 250 dancers including some of the world's most celebrated artists today - Svetlana Zakharova, David Hallberg, Maria Alexandrova, Evgenia Obraztsova, Ekaterina Shipulina, Olga Smirnova, Artem Ovcharenko, Anna Nikulina, Vladislav Lantratov, and Semyon Chudin." The Greenwich Post (USA) reports about a local girl who studied at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Her local ballet school the Greenwich Ballet Academy said "Through participation, Olivia truly has become the face of future international communication between two of the world's most politically and culturally important countries." Corriere della Sera (Italy) publishes a large article about the growing trend to show live performances in cinemas including those from the Bolshoi Theatre. It reports that the recent show La Prima della Scala in cinemas was "most watched ever in Italy: 120 000 spectators, involved 288 rooms, a box office of € 1,350,000. Shows including those broadcast from the Bolshoi Theatre are increasingly popular. Laureates of the literary award "Yasnaya Polyana" were announced on October 21st As the Press Office of the museum-reserve "Yasnaya Polyana" announced, the award ceremony took place at the Bolshoi Theatre Beethoven Hall. Many Russian authors took part the competition; the expert jury, composed of famous writers, critics and literature historians, awarded those people whose works preserve the traditions of classical literature and at the same time mark relevant tendencies of modern Russian literature. /…/
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