Rimsky-Korasakov's ebullient and evocative score for the one-act ballet Scheherazade is in fine form here played by The Mariinsky Orchestra. I know the music well, but had never before seen the ballet for which it was written. YouTube pointed me towards the 2015 recording of the Mariinsky Ballet's production at their wrold-renowned venue in the heart of Moscow, and it was worth every second.
The ballet tells the story of an Arabian princess, Zobeide, and is based on the prologue to the Middle Eastern collection of folk-tales 'A Thousand And One Nights'. The Shahriyar, the Sultan of ancient Persia, is enjoying the pleasures and entertainment of his concubines and favourite wife Zobeide. His brother suggests that Zobeide is unfaithful and recommends that they pretend to go on a hunting trip. As soon as the Sultan and his brother have departed, the concubines bribe the Chief Eunuch with gifts and flattery to unlock the gates and free the male slaves. Their release ignites an orgy within the harem. Zobeide chooses the handsome Golden Slave, and they fall into a passionate embrace. To everyone's surprise, the king returns early and, in a rage, orders that all be killed. After all have perished and only Zobeide remains, she begs his forgiveness, but eventually realises the futility of it all. She then stabs herself, falling at the feet of the Sultan.
In this production the choreography was by Isabelle Fokine and Andris Liepa, after Michel Fokine; and the set and costumes were by Anna and Anatoly Nezhny, after Leon Bakst. The set was amazing, a huge, spacious tent with archways, statues and billowing curtains, creatively lit and looked superb. I was less keen on the choice of costumes, some of them resembling Cossack style more than Arabian, and some looking distinctly odd, but that is purely an aesthetic and subjective choice.
I loved the choreography, it was exciting, intricate, always changing, and beautiful to watch, with some rather daring leaps thrown in for good measure. For me, ballet choreography should always advance the narrative and not obfuscate just because something looks good. Here this was absolutely the case, and everything was danced in order to tell the story; the fact that it also looked good was purely a bonus!
The whole company were excellent and I loved the work done by the corps. In this production the main principal dancers were all superb and were Olga Belik (Zobeide), Yevgeny Ivanchanko (Zobeide's Slave), Vladimir Ponomarev (Shahriyar), Andrei Yakovlev (Shahriyar's Brother), and a fat-suit wearing rather comedic and put-upon Vasily Scheherbakov as the Chief Eunoch.
Superbly realised and a fantastic watch!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 1/7/20
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