Dali to light

In the 90s, Gergievskaya Mariinka was the opera leader of the country, in the 2000s he actively entered the game Bolshoi with Chernyakov, Ratmansky and Tratnikov, in the 2010s the Kurentsisov Perm became the new “place of power”. Probably, not everyone remembers that in the 80s the most interesting opera city was Sverdlovsk. It was the era of the young director Alexander Titel, the young conductor Evgeny Brazhnik, who replaced Evgeny Kolobov in this post, and the legendary performances - “Prophet”, “Hoffmann's fairy tales”, “Katerina Izmailova”.

In recent years, the Yekaterinburg Theater has already been talking about the Ekaterinburg Theater - first of all, thanks to his ballet artistic director Vyacheslav Samodurov. But the opera also gives a light. Last year, Satyagraha, Philip Glass, whose name was just impossible to imagine at the poster of the Russian Opera Theater. The next season, the first Russian production of Passenger Moses Wineberg is stated. The current season the other day has opened just the most popular name - “Carmen”. But the wonderful in this event is no less.

“Carmen” is the second performance of the current artistic director of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Titel at his old workplace. And it turned out to be so fresh, clumsy and convincing that the good acquaintance of Titel Vladimir Urin, who recently acquired his “Carmen” at the Bolshoi Theater, is just going to bit his elbows.

Firstly, we can congratulate us all on the birth of two new performers of the main parties, young, vocal and norovable. Titel brought Ksenia Dudnikov to the role of Carmen from his Moscow theater, where she is already quite ascending a star (Amneeris in Aida, Martha in Khovanschina). 23-year-old Liparit Avetisyan, captivating with a boyish charm and with a comfortable light voice, was found in Yerevan, but soon they are waiting for him in the premiere “Manon Lesko” on Bolshaya Dmitrovka.

Secondly, a delicately stylized vintage charm, in which Titel and his permanent partner, the scenographer Vladimir Arefiev, feel very appropriate here. The action takes place in a certain Southern European town in the post -war period. It’s hot, a kiosk with water, women are not too dressed, but for special occasions wear colorful fitted skirts from the era of the 50s, men are rude, continuous propaganda of smoking. The scenery does not litter the scene, everything is very weighty, large and atmospheric. Three means of ground -size land transports appear alternately. An armored car is a shadow of a recent war. The tram is a peaceful life. The truck is smuggled chaos.

Thirdly, all the heroes are alive, interesting, easily and naturally turning from French singing to French conversation (the original version of the opera of Bizet with speech dialogues is taken) and forcing themselves to follow, although, it would seem, the plot is long known. The director at times still additionally spur and twist it. Jose, for example, is bewitched not by the Khabanerers not blurred by the fatality - he is generally not on stage during the performance of the main hit - but just with one free look of Carmen, her mocking gesture after an accidental clash. And for desertion, he is decided not because of jealousy, but from drunken horror. To do this, I had to sacrifice the lieutenant Tsuniga (Titel costs him tougher than prescribed) - the friend Carmen calmly shoot him in front of Jose.

Fourth, pleasant non-obviousness in this seemingly understandable and obvious story is introduced by the choreography of the leader of the domestic contemporary Dance Tatyana Baganova, who filled symphonic anthracies filled with thoughtful dancing of toraadors.

Well, fifthly, pleases the confident musical quality, for which the constant invited conductor of the theater Michael Guttler is responsible in this production. It is so far without perfectionism, not everything flies away from the teeth, not everywhere the perfect intonation, and the quintet of smugglers leaves in different directions, which is already there. But the orchestra and the choir, including children, work professionally, the general casting is strong (in the performance that I watched, Escamillo was Alexander Krasnov, Mikael - Olga Peshkova), and most importantly - there is a drive, the ability to listen to music and a very personal intonation in every note.