Word: theaters
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Observers say that during the course of the restoration, the theater's administration has been focusing on the reconstruction of the building and taking little interest in the artistic aspects of the revamped theater. "There is a tendency to think of the Bolshoi as a building - to think of it as a brand," says Raymond Stults, a critic who has written about the Moscow opera scene for 15 years. "After a successful tour in Paris a few years ago, one of their ballerinas said to me, 'Finally the management realizes that it's not about them...
...German firm Müller-BBM, a leader in its field, had been hired at the start of the reconstruction to bring the theater's acoustics back to their former glory. However, in the past few months, as the financial crisis has torn through Russia, Vedernikov learned that the firm's contract had not been renewed. A Russian institute without Müller-BBM's expertise has been brought in to carry out the work instead - a move to which the music director is vigorously opposed. "When I hear [Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov say] that it is very important...
...theater has said it does not plan to replace the music director anytime soon. "His decision didn't come as a surprise," says Katerina Novikova, the Bolshoi's chief spokeswoman, echoing statements made by the theater's general director, Anatoly Iksanov, to the Russian press. "The Bolshoi management feels that the years that Mr. Vedernikov was with the company were fruitful, but maybe it is time [to move on]." Five prominent Russian conductors will now pass through the music director's role in Vedernikov's place, though the Bolshoi says he is welcome to come in as a guest conductor...
...about more than technical and financial issues. Also at play were different management styles and views on what direction the Bolshoi should take next - a clash that is possible only in a vibrant creative environment that encourages varying philosophies, something that's rare in the world of Russian theater, with its lingering Soviet ethos. "The Bolshoi Theater actually operates quite well as a theatrical organism. It is not like some other theaters where one man decides everything," says spokeswoman Novikova, making a reference to the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, which has grown to outshine the Bolshoi under the strong...
...That structure has helped create some world-class performances. But Vedernikov's resignation will leave a gaping hole in the theater's leadership, which can only worsen the Bolshoi's physical and artistic predicament...