The ballet "Don Quixote" on stage on May 11

News публикувана на: 10.05.2021

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On 11 May at 19.00 on the stage of the Stara Zagora Opera you will again see the ballet "Don Quixote" by Ludwig Minkus. With this performance on 27 November 2018 was officially opened the 49th edition of the Festival of Opera and Ballet Art.

The ballet "Don Quixote" is among the top achievements of classical dance. Soloist and choreographer Arshak Ghalumyan is the choreographer and premier soloist of the Berlin Staatsballet. He is a graduate of the National Ballet School in Yerevan and the Hamburg Opera Ballet School. The assistant choreographer is Krasina Pavlova - prima ballerina of the Staatsballett-Berlin and the pride of her teacher Sylvia Tomova, artistic director of the Stara Zagora Opera Ballet. The set and costume designer is the Italian Salvatore Russo.

The whole multinational ballet company of the State Opera Stara Zagora took part in the performance on May 11. In the roles of Kitri and Basil the audience will see Haruka Suga and Tomoki Ishigo, Alexander Zhelev will be Don Quixote and Alexander Markov - Sancho Panza. In other colorful roles will dance Zornitsa Petrova, Eleni Marcu, Fiordi Loha, Ivaylo Yanev, Frederico Pinto, Clara Ferrer, Carmen Demirtas, Romina Slavova, Akari Morimatsu, Clara Ferrer, Martina Prefetto and others.

In 1869. In 1869, Petipa conceived a new ballet based on Cervantes' novel Don Quixote, a story that has been brought to life on stage many times. As early as the 18th century, many European theatres staged ballets under this title to music by various composers. However, they did not use the plot of the famous novel, but the added novellas which tell of the wedding of Camacho /in the French versions Gamache/ and the love of Kitri and Basil. Petipa also made use of this plot. The music was quickly written by Ludwig Minkus, an Austrian composer of Czech origin, and on 14 December 1869 the comic ballet premiered on the stage of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. In 1871 Petipa made a new revision for the production at the Kamenny Theatre in Moscow.

Marius Petipa had travelled extensively in various cities of Spain, had managed to capture the spirit and traditions of the dance folklore of that country and then translate them on stage in their variety and uniqueness. The great master created a colourful festive spectacle full of joy and gaiety and forever inscribed his ballet Don Quixote in the category of masterpieces of ballet classics.

Arshak Galumyan - choreographer

"For me as a choreographer "Don Quixote" is the first great classical title I am staging and I am happy that this is happening right in Stara Zagora! Every big opera theatre, like the Stara Zagora Opera, which has grown a lot in the last few years, should have this title in its repertoire. I have choreographed a lot of humorous scenes so that the performance is not only for adults, but also interesting for children and young people. It's very important that the show is engaging for young audiences. "Don Quixote was the first ballet I ever saw as a child and the first ballet I was involved in as a student at ballet school. The audience will see and experience a celebration that happens on stage. And I hope the production itself will become a celebration for the whole city."

Salvatore Russo, set and costume designer

The ballet is called "Don Quixote," but the story doesn't repeat Cervantes' plot. Don Quixote goes on a journey, but the ballet is about his dream, in a square in Seville. The main story is the love story between Kitri and Basil. The costumes are supposed to recreate the time of 1600, but are seen through the filter of 1800. Only a few of the costumes are "in period," as they say - Dulcinea's, Don Quixote's, Sancho Panza's, and to some extent Gamache's. The other costumes could be said to have been "born" in his imagination, from his, Don Quixote's, dream. In his dream he sees Dulcinea, but when he wakes up he realises that it is actually Kitri. The last act is not in Gamache's palace, but is as it was on opening night at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg /14 December 1871/ and the costumes are neo-romantic, colourful, bright, evoking a nice mood.