Credits The Mariinsky Ballet Don Quixote Ballet in four acts Music Choreographer Gypsy and Oriental Dance Choreographer Libretto Conductor Ludwig Mink

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1 香港文化中心大劇院 Grand Theatre Hong Kong Cultural Centre 09 Credits 10 Cast 13 Synopsis This programme is printed on environmentally friendly paper. Running time: approximately 3 hours with two intervals 18 Background 29 The Mariinsky Theatre and Valery Gergiev 30 The Mariinsky Ballet and Yury Fateyev 31 The Mariinsky Orchestra and Alexei Repnikov 32 The Dancers 34 Company Members 37 Orchestra Members Please switch off all sound-making devices. Unauthorised photography or recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Thank you for your co-operation. Unless otherwise specified, all photographs N Razina Dancer in cover photograph: Alina Somova

2 Credits The Mariinsky Ballet Don Quixote Ballet in four acts Music Choreographer Gypsy and Oriental Dance Choreographer Libretto Conductor Ludwig Minkus Alexander Gorsky after Marius Petipa Nina Anisimova Marius Petipa based on the novel by Miguel de Cervantes Alexei Repnikov Creative and Production Team Set Designer Set Restorer Costume Designer Alexander Golovin and Konstantin Korovin Mikhail Shishliannikov Konstantin Korovin With The Mariinsky Orchestra Hong Kong Arts Festival Supernumeraries World Premiere 14 December 1869 Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow Gorsky s Version Premiere in St Petersburg 20 January 1902 Mariinsky Theatre Global Partners of the Mariinsky Theatre 9

3 Cast dates performing Don Quixote Sancho Panza Lorenzo Gamache Vladimir Ponomarev Stanislav Burov Andrey Iakovlev Soslan Kulaev Kitri Alina Somova Anastasia Matvienko Elena Yevseyeva Basilio Vladimir Shklyarov Denis Matvienko Alexei Timofeyev Espada Karen Ioanissian Street dancer Alexandra Iosifidi Tatyana Tkachenko Daria Vasnetsova Ryu Ji Yeon Mercedes Alexandra Iosifidi Ryu Ji Yeon Polina Rassadina Gypsy dance Polina Rassadina, Sergey Kononenk Alisa Sokolova, Sergey Kononenk Ryu Ji Yeon Ryu Ji Yeon, Sergey Kononenk Flower girls Yulia Kasenkova, Nadejda Gonchar Queen of Dryads Daria Vasnetsova Oksana Skoryk Tatyana Tkachenko 10

4 Variation Elizaveta Cheprasova Oksana Skoryk Valerya Martinyuk Amour Valerya Martinyuk Elizaveta Cheprasova Ryu Ji Yeon Fandango Ryu Ji Yeon, Karen Ioanissian Alexandra Iosifidi, Karen Ioanissian Ryu Ji Yeon Ryu Ji Yeon, Karen Ioanissian Horse Groom Turf King Bernd Knorr Horse provided by HKJC Tuen Mun Public Riding School, Trainer: Mr Bernd Knorr. Please note that the cast is subject to change 加料節目 ( 日 ) 下午 5:45 6: ( 日 ) 下午 6:30 7: ( 日 ) 中午 12:00 下午 1: ( 二 ) 下午 5:00 晚上 6:30 Festival Plus (Sun) 5:45 6:15pm Backstage Tour No of participants: (Sun) 6:30 7:00pm Pre-Performance Talk Speaker: Yury Fateyev, Acting Director of The Mariinsky Ballet No of participants: (Sun) 12:00noon 1:00pm Company Open Class No of participants: 50 Free admission for the above activities Venue: Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre (Tue) 5:00 6:30 pm Ballet Masterclass Venue: Rehearsal Room 2 Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre No of participants: 30 Fee: $200 All activities are conducted in English For details please refer to the Festival Plus Booklet or go to the Festival Plus website: 11

5 Synopsis A room in Don Quixote s House. Having read some tales of chivalry, Don Quixote decides to set out in search of adventure, defend virtue and punish those who violate the code of honour. It occurs to him to make his servant Sancho Panza his armourbearer. Act I In front of Lorenzo s inn in Barcelona, a holiday crowd has gathered. Among the crowd are Kitri, the flirtatious daughter of the innkeeper, and her lover Basilio, the barber, who has come to tease her; Basilio is over-attentive to Kitri s friends. Lorenzo catches his daughter kissing Basilio and forbids them ever to meet again; he won t have any penniless suitors. In vain Kitri tells her father how much she loves Basilio, but Lorenzo is implacable and turns the barber out of the house. Gamache, a rich and pompous nobleman, walks in, resplendent in his brocaded clothes. The crowd jeers at him. He has come to ask for the hand of the beautiful Kitri. Lorenzo would be delighted to have so highborn a gentleman for a son-in-law, but to Kitri the idea of marrying him is detestable. The innkeeper is shocked at his daughter s impertinent manner towards Gamache. A street dancer enters, cheered heartily by the crowd. The girl is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Espada, the famous toreador. Espada appears, accompanied by other toreadors. They dance, flourishing their cloaks, enacting scenes from a bullfight. The people are struck with astonishment at the appearance of an extraordinary-looking horseman. Sancho Panza blows a horn to announce the arrival of the knight-errant of la Mancha. Lorenzo welcomes the traveller courteously and invites him to partake of some refreshment. The girls seize the opportunity to have a bit of fun by playing tricks on the fat armour-bearer. They start a game of blind- 13

6 man s-buff. After that, the poor, harried Sancho becomes sport for the men, who toss him in the air. Sancho screams for help. Don Quixote comes to his rescue, armed with a huge toasting-fork and a plate for a shield. The knight sees Kitri and is struck by her beauty. Is it not she who has haunted his dreams as the beautiful Dulcinea? In rapture, Don Quixote bends down on one knee and asks her to dance a minuet with him. To annoy Basilio, Kitri graciously accepts 14

7 the invitation, flirtatiously imitating the manners of a fine lady. While no one is looking, Sancho steals a fried fish from the kitchen and is about to slip away, but the scullions give chase and catch the thief. Amidst the general confusion, Kitri and Basilio slip away unobserved. Act II Scene 1 Fleeing from Lorenzo and Gamache, the two lovers, Kitri and Basilio, wander into a Gypsy camp. The Gypsies dance for their guests. A girl informs them of the approach of a queer-looking horseman it is Don Quixote. Basilio and Kitri greet him like old friends. The Gypsies invite Don Quixote to attend a play they are about to perform. He takes what is happening on stage to be reality, and rushes, sword in hand, to rescue the unhappy heroine; the improvised theatre is destroyed. The frightened actors and spectators scatter in all directions. The turning sails of a windmill then catch Don Quixote s eye. They are the arms of giants! Don Quixote attacks the windmill. His clothes get caught on a sail and he is first swung up into the air, then hurled to the ground. Kitri and Basilio attend to his injuries. They spend the rest of the night resting by the Gypsies caravan. Scene 2 Don Quixote is tormented by a nightmare. In his sleep, he sees a huge spider crawl out of a dark, dense forest. The knight boldly attacks the monster and overpowers it. At the same moment, the forest is transformed into the beautiful Kingdom of the Dryads. Among them is Kitri, who has assumed the form of Dulcinea, the queen of his heart. 15

8 Cupid presents Don Quixote to the Queen of the Dryads. The nymphs are grateful to him for rescuing them from the power of the monster, and dance for their deliverer. Scene 3 Morning breaks and Kitri and Basilio wake up only just in time, for Lorenzo and Gamache are close upon them. The lovers flee. Don Quixote, their protector, sends Lorenzo and Gamache on a false trail, but Sancho Panza corrects his master s mistake. The chase goes on. 16 Act III People are gathering for a fiesta at an inn. Kitri and Basilio, having given Lorenzo and Gamache the slip, have also come here to take part in the merrymaking. The toreador and Mercedes the dancer enter, hailed heartily by the crowd. The

9 Vladimir Shklyarov as Basilio innkeeper warns Kitri of her father s approach; Kitri tries to escape, but her father overtakes her and drags her to Gamache to give them his parental blessing at their betrothal. Gamache kneels before Kitri. Act IV Basilio, seeing this, stabs himself and falls to the ground. Kitri rushes to him. She guesses at once that he is pretending, but slyly begs Don Quixote to go to Lorenzo and persuade him to grant Basilio s dying wish to give their love his blessing. Basilio is sure to die. Why not ease his last moments? Gamache protests, but is driven out unceremoniously. At Don Quixote s earnest entreaty, Lorenzo blesses the lovers. The very next instant, Basilio jumps to his feet and kisses the astounded Lorenzo. The merrymaking at the inn continues late into the night. Lorenzo, assisted by the scullions, the maidservants and Kitri s friends, is putting the final touches to the wedding feast. Don Quixote is the guest of honour. The happy lovers dance for him. Wishing the newly-weds every happiness, the knight-errant departs in search of new adventures. 17

10 Background DON QUIXOTE Text: Natasha Rogai Don Quixote is ballet at its most spectacular, as accessible to the general public as it is satisfying for aficionados. Set to an irresistible score by Ludwig Minkus and filled with the sunshine of an idealised Spain, its lively characters and universal humour have been entertaining audiences for 140 years. It is also a show-case for all aspects of classical ballet dazzling technical virtuosity from the principals; pure, noble style in the Dryad sequence and tempestuous character dances. The electrifying final act pas de deux is the most performed gala piece in ballet. Miguel Cervantes great novel Don Quixote de la Mancha inspired numerous ballets, from Franz Hilverding s production in Vienna in 1740 to George Balanchine s modern treatment for the New York City Ballet in However, the definitive version stems from the work of two master choreographers Marius Petipa ( ) and Alexander Gorsky ( ). Petipa is without doubt the most influential classical choreographer and balletmaster of all time. It is to him that we owe the cream of the classical heritage masterpieces like Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, definitive versions of Romantic ballets like Giselle and Coppelia. His work continues to be performed a hundred years after his death, and continues to influence new generations of choreographers. Born in France, Petipa was the son of a well-known balletmaster and followed in his father s footsteps. He became a successful dancer and in 1847 moved to St Petersburg as premier danseur of the Imperial (now Mariinsky) Ballet. In addition to dancing, Petipa had been choreographing since his early

11 Alina Somova as Kitri s. In St Petersburg he worked as assistant to the great choreographer Jules Perrot, then began to create his own ballets from 1855 onwards, becoming Second Balletmaster in In 1869 Petipa was appointed First Balletmaster of the imperial theatres and later that year created his first undisputed masterpiece, Don Quixote for the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. Two years later he revised it for the Imperial Ballet, refining the comic and theatrical elements for the more sophisticated St Petersburg audience and ushering in the golden age of 19th century ballet. 19

12 Ironically, while Don Quixote had marked the beginning of Petipa s reign as Tsar of Russian ballet, it was also to mark the end of it. Although he was still producing exceptional work in his old age, the management of the imperial theatres felt it was time he made way for new blood. In 1900 the 29 year-old Alexander Gorsky was commissioned to create a new version of Don Quixote for the Bolshoi and in 1902 was asked to re-stage it for the Imperial Ballet. Born near St Petersburg, Gorsky had studied under Petipa and been a premier danseur at the Imperial Ballet. However, influenced by the ideas of artists like Isadora Duncan and Konstantin Stanislavsky, he took a fresh approach to ballet which focused more on the narrative and dramatic aspects, less on spectacle and technical bravura. His Don Quixote used parts of Petipa s choreography but added new dances, cut material extraneous to the plot and introduced more naturalistic acting. The 1902 production boasted some of ballet s most legendary names among them Mathilde Kschessinskaya, Enrico Cecchetti, Tamara Karsavina and Anna Pavlova and included two new variations for the heroine to music by Riccardo Drigo which have become highlights of the ballet. The 82 year-old Petipa was incensed by the changes he is said to have shouted during rehearsals Someone tell that young man that I am not yet dead! but Gorsky s production was a triumph and became a staple of the repertoire. It remains in essence the version performed worldwide today and the one the audience will see tonight. 21

13 The Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre is the oldest musical theatre in Russia, and one of its most important emblems, embodying the legends and spirit of St Petersburg. Since it was founded, its international glory has been based on three elements: the opera company, the ballet company and the symphony orchestra. The Mariinsky Theatre, named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of Alexander II, was opened on 2 October 1860 with a performance of Mikhail Glinka s opera A Life for the Tsar. But the opera and ballet company however, appeared in St Petersburg much earlier. Its history dates back to 1783, when Empress Catherine II issued an imperial decree establishing a Russian opera and ballet company in St Petersburg. Valery Gergiev Valery Gergiev is one of the finest conductors in the world, having received numerous awards and prizes. He is the initiator of many international festivals including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Gergiev Festival (the Netherlands), the Moscow Easter Festival and the Stars of the White Nights (St Petersburg). Gergiev became Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Mariinsky in 1988 and General Director in At the Mariinsky Theatre, he has nurtured a plethora of international star singers, and he had the initiative to establish the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers, the Mariinsky Theatre Youth Orchestra and several instrumental ensembles saw the maestro s efforts rewarded with the construction of the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre. The combination of opera and ballet companies, several orchestras, a chorus, instrumental ensembles and the Academy for Young Singers in one theatre is truly unique. In May 2009 Valery Gergiev received the Conductor of the Year prize from the British Royal Philharmonic Society. 29

14 The Mariinsky Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet has produced many great ballet artistes: Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Galina Ulanova, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The Theatre s balletmasters Marius Petipa, Michel Fokine and George Balanchine have played a very important role in the development of ballet. With the arrival of Valery Gergiev, the theatre entered a phase of creative development, striving towards new horizons while at the same time returning to the Mariinsky Theatre s historic roots. Revolutionary changes came to the Theatre s Ballet Company. In 1989, for the first time the Mariinsky Ballet staged works by Balanchine, who began his career in St Petersburg. In the last decade the theatre s repertoire has expanded to include works by leading 20th and early 21st century choreographers, among them Kenneth MacMillan, Harald Lander, John Neumeier, William Forsythe, and Pierre Lacotte. Today the ballet repertoire covers the full spectrum of contemporary dance, from Balanchine s neoclassicism to Forsythe s radical productions. The Ballet has also invested much effort in reviving Marius Petipa s The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère and Le Réveil de Flore, which have received great acclaim from the international press. February 2001 saw the first Marinnsky International Ballet Festival. Yury Fateyev Born in Leningrad, Yury Fateyev graduated from the Vaganova Choreographic School in 1982, and joined the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet the same year. Since 2003 he has been the Ballet s coach and has directed premieres of productions by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon and others. Fateyev has been a guest instructor at the Royal Ballet in London and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and has also taught at the Swedish Royal Ballet and the Pacific Northwest Ballet in the US. Since 2008 Fateyev has been Acting Director of the Mariinsky Ballet. V.Postnov 30

15 The Mariinsky Orchestra The Mariinsky Orchestra The Mariinsky Orchestra is over 200 years old. It is one of the oldest orchestras in Russia and has the honour of being the first ensemble to perform many Russian opera and ballet masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Mariinsky Orchestra has always attracted brilliant conductors and composers, including Hector Berlioz, Richard Wagner, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler, Sergei Rakhmaninov and Jean Sibelius. In the latter half of the last century the great traditions of the St Petersburg school of conducting were tenderly nurtured by Eduard Grikurov, Konstantin Simeonov, Yuri Temirkanov and Valery Gergiev, who was appointed Principal Conductor in Under the baton of Maestro Gergiev, the Mariinsky Orchestra has emerged not just as one of the world s greatest opera and ballet ensembles, but as a leading symphony orchestra as well. In December 2006 Gergiev and the orchestra completed a world series of All Shostakovich Symphonies. In 2008, according to results of a survey of leading music critics from major publications in America, Asia and Europe, the Mariinsky Orchestra was included in the list of the top 20 ensembles of the world as published in the December issue of Gramophone. Of the three Russian orchestras on the list, the Mariinsky Orchestra was rated the highest. In May 2009, the Mariinsky label was launched. Alexei Repnikov Alexei Repnikov graduated from the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire. He joined the Mariinsky Theatre as a Stage Orchestra Musician in 1991, entering the Orchestra in He became Conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre Stage Orchestra in Valery Gergiev invited him to conduct Donvena Pandoursky s versions of the ballets Le sacre du printemps and The Magic Nut, which marked Repnikov's conducting debut with the Mariinsky Orchestra. Repnikov founded the Brass Evenings at the Mariinsky International Festival, first run in March

16 The Dancers Alina Somova Born in St Petersburg, Alina Somova joined the Mariinsky Ballet after graduating from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in She was promoted to soloist one year later. Somova was prize-winner at the Vaganova-Prix International Ballet Competition held in St Petersburg in She dances the lead role in all major ballets and joins all of the Ballet tours, performing in the great ballet theatres of Western Europe, the US, Canada, Japan and China. Vladimir Shklyarov Born in Leningrad, Vladimir Shklyarov graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in He joined the Mariinsky Ballet the same year and was made soloist in Shklyarov was the winner of the 2002 Vaganova-Prix International Competition in St Petersburg and is the recipient of Ballet magazine s Spirit of Dance prize in the Rising Star category, the annual Leonid Myasin international prize for the Art of Dance held in Italy and the Zegna-Mariinsky New Talent Awards grant in Shklyarov has performed all the major roles in productions like La Sylphide, Giselle, Ondine, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. Anastasia Matvienko Ukraine-born Anastasia Matvienko joined the Shevchenko National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet after graduating from the Kiev State Choreography School in She has won numerous awards, including the silver medal at the 4th International Serge Lifar Competition (2002); the best duet prize and Press Jury first prize at the International Ballet Competition in Varna (2004) and the gold medal at the 10th Moscow International Ballet and Choreography Competition (2005). Since 2007 she has been a prima ballerina at the Mariinsky Ballet. 32

17 Denis Matvienko Born in Dnepropetrovsk in the Ukraine, Denis Matvienko attended the Kiev State School of Dance under Valery Parsegov. After making his debut at the National Opera of Ukraine as part of the graduating class, he joined the National Academic Shevchenko Opera and Ballet Theatre as a soloist. In 2001 Matvienko had a brief stint as first soloist with the Mariinsky Ballet, joining the Ukrainian National Theatre of Opera and Ballet as Principal Dancer in Elena Yevseyeva Elena Yevseyeva was born in Izhevsk. In 2001 she graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. From 2001 to 2008 she was a soloist with the Mikhailovsky Theatre. Some of the ballets she has performed in include The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and Swan Lake. Yevseyeva joined the Mariinsky Ballet in 2008 and has performed in all their major productions. In 2009 she won first prize at the international ballet competition in Seoul. Alexei Timofeyev Born in Leningrad, Alexei Timofeyev graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in 2004 and joined the Mariinsky Ballet. His repertoire includes La Sylphide, La Bayadére, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Balanchine s Symphony in C, Ondine and Cinderella. Unless otherwise specified, all protraits O Zotov 33

18 Company Members Artistic Director and Director of Mariinsky Theatre Valery Gergiev THE MARIINSKY BALLET Acting Dire Yuri Fateyev Balletmasters Redjep Avdyev Elena Evteeva Gabriella Komleva Liubo Kunakova Galina Kekisheva Ballet Teachers Dmitry Korneev Igor Petrov Elena Vorontsova Elvira Tarasova Tatiana Berezhnaya Vice Acting Ballet Director Tatyana Bessarabova Conductor Alexei Repnikov Dancers Female Soloists Alina Somova Anastasia Matvienko Yevgenia Obraztsova Tatyana Tkachenko Nadejda Gonchar Alexandra Iosifidi Yulia Kasenkova Elena Yevseyeva Assistant Acting Ballet Director Sofya Yadchenko Stage Manager Irina Suvorova Assistant Stage Manager Elena Serapina Pianists Alexandra Zhilina Merkulova Natalya Lidia Zrereva Doctor Turbin Mikhail Masseur Kharlanova Zoya Tatiana Nazarycheva Male Soloists Denis Matvienko Vladimir Shklyarov Andrey Batalov Vladimir Ponomarev Andrey Iakovlev Alexei Timofeev 34

19 Female Corps de Ballet Maria Adjamova Elena Androsova Elmira Bagautdinova Olga Balinskaya Nadejda Batoeva Daria Vasnetosva Natalya Dzevulskaya Nadejda Demakova Evgenya Emelyanova Valerya Zhuravleva Darina Zarubskaya Marina Zolotova Lidia Karpukhina Anastasia Kiru Irina Kuznetsova Maria Lebedeva Lilya Lischyuk Valerya Martinyuk Irina Prokofyeva Anastasia Petushkova Polina Rassadina Oksana Skoryk Diana Smirnova Alisa Sokolova Ryu Ji Yeon Tatyana Tiliguzova Tatiana Urvantseva Svetlana Khrebtova Elizaveta Cheprasova Natalya Sharapova Olga Belik Male Corps de Ballet Alexey Bazhitov Vadim Belyaev Anton Boitsov Stanislav Burov Eduard Gusev Karen Ioanissian Alexander Klimov Valery Konkov Alexander Kulikov Alexander Kurkov Sergey Kononenko Fedor Lopukhov Maksim Lynda Kirill Leontyev Nikolay Naumov Alexander Neff Igor Nikitin Novfel Niyazov Ilya Petrov Grigory Popov Egor Saffin Ivan Sitnikov Dmitry Solovey Andrey Ushakov Dmitry Sharapov Hong Kong Arts Festival Supernumeraries Joe Chan Chan Yi-man Josephine Cheung Keene Chung Fung Hiu-ying Tiffany Constance Fung Boniface Ho Cliff Ho Tam Wing-pong Vincent Wong 35

20 Orchestra Members THE MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA First Violin Liudmila Chaykovskaya Khristian Artamonov Alexander Shirokov Leonid Kirichenko Artur Dzhavadyan Sergey Gavrikov Ildar Gatov Irina Sukhorukova Victor Zaytsev Marina Serebro Anna Vinogradskaya Kirill Murashko Cello Alexander Ponomarenko Natalia Baykova Dmitry Kirillov Riza Gimaletdinov Sarkis Ginosyan Inna Zalitsayl Double Bass Alexander Alekseev Victor Alekseev Vladimir Nefedov Maxim Afanasiev Trumpet Vasily Kan Konstantin Baryshev Gennady Kuteev Viacheslav Panasyuk Trombone Ilya Belyaev Victor Shirokov Nikolay Timofeev Tuba Boris Dzhioev Second Violin Zhanna Abdulaeva Andrey Tyan Svetlana Zhuravkova Marchel Bezhenaru Alexander Vasiliev Liubov Gavrikova Mikhail Zagorodnyuk M Lavneeva Viola Sergey Evtikhov Victor Zakharov Svetlana Kozlova Yury Baranov Dmitry Veselov Olga Neverova Ekaterina Stupnikova Flute Natalia Shlykova Diana Cherezova Oleg Mikhaylovskiy Oboe Andrey Yankovsky Pavel Terentiev Clarinet Vadim Bondarenko Vitaly Papyrin Bassoon Arseny Makarov Konstantin Shevchuk French Horn Igor Prokofiev Pozin Alexey Dmitry Chepkov Dmitri Lejnin Percussion Alexander Petrov Valery Kniga Nikolay Volkov Victor Ivanov Yury Mishchenko Harp Sofia Kiprskaya Stagehand Andrey Romanov Olivia Ma Artists Management Executive Management of Mariinsky Theatre in Hong Kong, SAR China 37