BOLSHOI POSTMODERN

Innovative Performance in HD

February 20 - March 12, 2016

Washington DC, New York, Boston

   The experimental side of the Bolshoi Theater is revealed in these screenings of select groundbreaking dance and opera productions from the past decade, all filmed in high-definition. View two of the ballets that put the renowned dancer Alexey Ratmansky on the map as a pre-eminent choreographer, while delving into the Bolshoi’s past. The Bolt and Flames of Paris were originally created in the 1930s but the choreography was largely lost: these new productions are reimaginings rather than restorations, even if suffused with the era that gave them birth. The operas, Eugene Onegin and Wozzeck, are presented in intensely emotional and visually stunning stagings by the celebrated director and designer Dmitri Tcherniakov. The production of Onegin was heralded for its distinctively contemporary approach toward a classic opera, as well as for being a sophisticated example of Russian psychological theatre. In Tcherniakov’s interpretation, Wozzeck presents a harrowing picture of twenty-first-century life and alienation. Most screenings include Q&A with Katerina Novikova, Press Secretary of the Bolshoi Theatre. Series presented in partnership with Bel Air Media, National Gallery of Art, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Individual screenings presented in partnership with other venues.

Please see below for details of dates, locations and programs. Detailed synopses and full production and film information found HERE

Where necessary, tickets may be purchased/reserved via the venues, using links provided below.The films have English subtitles.
All production photos copyright Bolshoi Theatre.

Overview by City

National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium
All screenings free and open to the public.
For complete details click HERE

Introduction and Q&A by Katerina Novikova & Anna Winestein:
   February 20, 1:00 pm, The Flames of Paris
   February 20, 3:30 pm, Wozzeck
   February 21, 4:00 pm, Eugene Onegin

Introduction and Q&A by Anna Winestein:
   March 12, 1:00 pm, The Flames of Paris
   March 12, 4:00 pm, The Bolt

New York

The New School, Mannes College of Music
Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall, Arnold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, fourth floor
   February 22, 7:00 pm, Wozzeck
   Introduction and Q&A by Katerina Novikova & Anna Winestein
Presented by the New School/Mannes College of Music and the Mannes Sounds Festival
   Free and open to the public. Details HERE

New York University, Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia
   February 23, 7:00 pm, The Flames of Paris
Presented together with the Jordan Center and the Russian & Slavic Studies Department at NYU.
   Open to NYU affiliates only. RSVP requested here.

Columbia University, Harriman Institute
Lecture Hall, 3rd Floor Pulitzer Hall
Graduate School of Journalism, 2950 Broadway at 116th St
   February 24, 6pm The Bolt
Presented together with the Harriman Institute and The Birch journal, Columbia
   Free and open to the public. Details HERE

Boston

Boston University, Modern Languages & Comp. Literature Dept
College of Arts & Sciences, Auditorium 522, 685-725 Commonwealth Avenue

   February 25, 6:00 pm, Panel: The Continuous Evolution of Dance
   Presented together with Boston Center for the Arts & MLCL Dept at BU.
   Panelists: Katerina Novikova, David Parker, Peter DiMuro and Rebecca Rice.
   Moderated by Dawn Simmons.
   Free and open to the public. RSVP required, click HERE

   February 25, 8:00 pm, Screening: The Bolt
   Introduction by Katerina Novikova & Anna Winestein
   $10 General Admission; Free with BU ID. Tickets HERE

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
465 Huntington Avenue
Tickets available on MFA website February 18th HERE

Harry and Mildred Remis Auditorium
   March 3, 6:30 pm, The Flames of Paris
      Introduction and Q&A by Katerina Novikova & Anna Winestein
   March 4, 7:00 pm, Wozzeck
      Introduction and Q&A by Professor Joseph Auner & Anna Winestein

Alfond Auditorium
   March 5, 11:00 am, The Bolt
      Introduction and Q&A by Professor Harlow Robinson & Anna Winestein
   March 5, 3:30 pm, Eugene Onegin
   March 6, 12:30 pm, Flames of Paris
   March 6, 3:30 pm, Wozzeck

The Productions

Brief summaries below. Detailed synopses and full production/film info HERE.

The Flames of Paris

As Philippe and Jeanne, young lovers caught up in the French Revolution, Ivan Vassiliev and Natalia Osipova defy gravity in Alexei Ratmansky's dynamic reconstruction and reimagining of the classic Soviet ballet, created for and first premiered on the 15th anniversary of the October Revolution in 1932. The original, optimistically ideological libretto has been updated, making it more tragic and humane. The boldly graphic sets and costumes channel French popular prints, and Ratmansky’s expressive choreography is executed by Vassiliev and Osipova in a tour de force performance.
Directed for film by Vincent Bataillon (Bel Air Media, 2010), 98 minutes
Read more

The Bolt

Composed by Dmitri Shostakovich when he was only twenty-five, Bolt was mothballed immediately after its 1931 dress rehearsal without ever being premiered. An all-new production with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky and splendid sets by Simon Pastuch captures the original’s caustic dissection of socialist realist fantasy through stunning dance sequences, inventive staging, and an even greater subversion of the storyline about an individualistic saboteur who attempts to impede production and progress in a factory.
Directed for film by Vincent Bataillon, (Bel Air Media, 2005), 87 minutes
Read more

Wozzeck

Wozzeck, Alban Berg’s first opera, premiered in Soviet Russia in Leningrad in 1927. At the time, its lurid plot of exploitation and murder fit well into narratives of corrupt capitalism, and its expressionist music was still accepted by the public. The talented director and stage designer Dmitri Tcherniakov’s film noir staging brings the production into a modern-day context while preserving the angst of the original. Conductor Theodor Currenzis leads the Bolshoi orchestra and an outstanding cast that includes Austrian baritone Georg Nigl as Wozzeck and American soprano Mardi Byers as Maria in a brilliant performance.
Directed for film by Andy Sommer, (Bel Air Media, 2010), 100 minutes
Read more

Eugene Onegin

Tchaikovsky’s warhorse receives an intensely uncanonical staging at the hands of talented director and designer Dmitri Tcherniakov. Drawing on the traditions of Russian theater, in which words, movements, and gestures are connected to precise psychological motivations, Tcherniakov shines a spotlight on the characters’ neuroses and strips away layers of cliché acquired over a century of performances. This Onegin has stimulated debate about the place of innovation in opera since its 2006 premiere. Taken on tour throughout Europe, after being performed over one hundred times in Russia, it was filmed in Paris at the Opera Garnier.
Directed for film by Chloé Perlemuter, (Bel Air Media, 2008), 140 minutes
Read more