OPERA & BALLET NIGHTS
Aida & Rasputin at the Sava Centre
“Opera & ballet nights”, which continue celebrating the art of opera and ballet in Belgrade, arrive at the city’s reconstruct- ed Sava Centre on 6 th and 7 th September. The first day will see the audience enjoy the Verdi opera Aida, with the second day reserved for the ballet Rasputin, featuring Sergei Polunin in the lead role. Opera AIDA We spoke to Aida director Aleksandar Nikolić, who says that he found this work extremely challenging because it comes with the audience expectations, given that it’s famous and well-loved. “Aida is Verdi’s masterpiece, like the Mona Lisa to Leonardo. Of course, I could have taken some easier path and chosen an easier work, but taking on greater chal- lenges is important.” This is a complex and demanding piece – in terms of music, dramaturgy, per- formance... What will you bring that’s new from those depths to the stage? “Aida and Radamès live imprisoned un- der the altar of a wrathful god. Radamès then says “I cannot” for the first time, hav- ing been broken for the first time. But the beauty of this opera lies in the fact that Aida, who is herself a victim of circum- stance and often appears weak through-
out the performance, is the one who tells them that they are not losers, but victors. Despite enduring the most terrible cir- cumstances in life, their final duet reveals true words of conviction in the existence of another, parallel world of joy and relief – Aida and Radamès are going to that new world. For me, those words have always carried the weight of Verdi’s art. They con- tain the proof that a man shouldn’t fear death, because after the life with which we’re familiar, when we head over the horizon, I believe that we’ll meet some- where. That’s Verdi’s thesis. We think that Aida and Radamès are parting, that they are going to die. But no. They are only now moving together, because it is only now that they can’t be separated by anyone.” Ballet RASPUTIN The Belgrade public will once again have an opportunity to enjoy the dancing of Sergei Polunin, who became the young- est male principal in the history of the Lon- don Royal Ballet at the tender age of 19, subsequently becoming the director of this artistic company. He has also per- formed at Milan’s La Scala, London’s Al- bert Hall, the Bolshoi Theatre and on nu- merous other prestigious ballet stages around the world. He is said to represent
the ideal combination of the three great- est artists in the history of ballet – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev. Sergei himself says that he al- ways looks forward joyously to coming to Serbia, where he has citizenship, and that he comes to Belgrade at least once a year and has his own favourite places in the capital that he visits regularly. “Rasputin is a dramatic ballet with a pret- ty fast rhythm. It is intelligent, easy to watch and packed with meaning and emotion. It has a very modern look in terms of light costume choreography and stage décor. The powerful and excellent music was spe- cially created for this ballet,” says Polunin. Serbia is very important for this ballet artist, given that it was right here that he gained the opportunity to create new ballets like Rasputin, which was created in Belgrade. “The people here are good, which is the most important thing, but they also have dignity and awareness,” says this artist Asked who Rasputin actually was, chore- ographer Yuka Oishi, who created the bal- let with Sergei in mind specifically, says that this will “forever remain a mystery”. “In the end, he was just a human being. I believe that he possessed legendary heal- ing powers, and I understand why the em- press would contact him to help her hemo- philiac son. I have read many writings that contain contradictory versions of the truth. Through this choreography, I tried to un- derstand the feelings of each character and to present them in clear images,” says the choreographer. We will soon have an opportunity to see whether or not she succeeded, at the Sa- va Centre.
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