Support The Moscow Times!

Bolshoi Announces Plans for 2015-2016 Season

The Bolshoi Theater's 2015-2016 season, which was announced at a press conference Wednesday, will include a number of new stagings and modern productions in both opera and ballet.

In the first half of the season, the Bolshoi will debut a children's opera, “The Fables of The Vixen, The Duckling, and Balda.” The production will combine three operas about fairy tales — Sergei Prokofiev's “The Ugly Duckling,” Igor Stravinsky's “Renard,” and Alexander Pravednikov's “The Tale of the Priest and his Workman Balda.” The opera will be conducted by Dmitry Belyanushkin, who also directed last year's children's opera “The Legend of Kai and Gerda.” Musical director Tugan Sokhiev told attendees at the conference that the opera will include “interactive elements.”

Also in October, the Bolshoi will premiere a program that includes both the Nutcracker Suite and the opera Iolanta, a realization of Tchaikovsky's initial plans for the two productions to be perfomed on a single bill.

In December, the Bolshoi New Stage will feature a production of Handel's Rodelina in collaboration with the English National Opera, a rare staging of a baroque opera at the theater.

In the spring, the theater will offer a new production of Donizetti's opera-buffa Don Pasquale, under the direction of Timofei Kulyabin, who was fired for his modern staging of Wagner's Tannahauser at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater. When asked at the press conference if he faced any pressure for working with Kulabin, Bolshoi General Director Vladimir Urin said cleary, “No,” Russian daily Kommersant reported.

The Bolshoi's Historical Stage will also welcome several modern ballets durin the season. In addition to Jiri Kylian's classic “Symphony of Psalms,” the Bolshoi ballet will present “Frank Bridge Variations” featuring music by Benjamin Britten and choreography by Hans von Manen, as well as Max Richter's “Short Time Together,” with choreography by Paul Lightfoot and Saul Leon.

Berlioz's “dramatic legend” The Damnation of Faust will close the season.

Although the theater is celebrating its 240th season this year, it does not plan any celebrations of the anniversary. However there will be a gala concert in honor of ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, who died earlier this year at the age of 89. The program for the concert, which was planned for Plisetskaya's 90th birthday, will remain the same as was agreed with the ballerina before her death.

Tickets for productions at the Bolshoi are generally available for purchase three months in advance either online or at the box office.  For more information, visit Bolshoi.ru

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more