"SNOW MAIDEN"
Ballet in two acts to music by P.I. Tchaikovsky
Libretto by W. Burmeister, based on the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Snow Maiden"
Choreographer - director - People's Artist of the Russian Federation, Moscow Prize laureate Andrey Petrov
Stage designer - People's Artist of the Russian Federation, laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation Stanislav Benediktov
Assistant choreographer - Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Lyudmila Charskaya and Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Valery Ryzhov
The image of the Snow Maiden is unique for Russian culture and, in particular, for choreographic art.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s music for Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky’s play “The Snow Maiden” was a true masterpiece, one of the most inspired compositions, filled with light, a wealth of colors, and a riotous flowering of fabulous colorful images.
“The Snow Maiden” became the creative path of P.I. Tchaikovsky is a bridge from the first composer's experiments and brilliant insights to “Swan Lake”, “Eugene Onegin”. As P.I. himself admitted. Tchaikovsky, he liked the play “The Snow Maiden” so much that he composed all the music in three weeks without any effort.
On the stage of the State Kremlin Palace, a spring fairy tale staged by Andrei Petrov acquired the power of an ancient pagan myth. The grandiose stage, dazzling costumes, powerful scenery, original choreography, the perfection of classical dance and the acting skills of the talented troupe create an unforgettable, fantastic impression on both the adult and young audience.
The performance is accompanied by the Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra. Artistic director and chief conductor - Sergei KONDRASHEV.
Duration: up to 3 hours (with intermission).
ACT ONE
PICTURE ONE
In the land of the Berendeys, where they worship the sun god Yarila, the Snow Maiden lives on a magical hill. Her parents are Frost and Spring, her friends are snowflakes and Leshy. Nature can feel the approach of Spring. Snowflakes dance around the Snow Maiden and slowly melt. The Snow Maiden is sad without her friends.
PICTURE TWO
A clearing near the Berendey village. From here the Snow Maiden watches people. A pair of lovers appears - Kupava and Mizgir. The Snow Maiden experiences an irresistible desire to be next to them; she wants to experience a hitherto unknown and incomprehensible feeling of love. Mizgir captivates the Snow Maiden's imagination.
PICTURE THREE
The Snow Maiden persistently asks Frost to let her go to people. This strong desire of the Snow Maiden causes foreboding and despair in Frost, the winds and Leshy. Frost resolutely refuses Snegurochka's request. Accompanied by a flock of birds, Spring appears. She understands that her daughter has firmly decided to go to people. With excitement, Frost and Spring release the Snow Maiden into an unfamiliar new life.
PICTURE FOUR
Berendey village. Villagers celebrate farewell to winter. Suddenly the Snow Maiden appears. Her unusual beauty captivates everyone. Bobyl and Bobylikha call Snegurochka their daughter. She happily agrees.
ACT TWO
PICTURE ONE
Spring has come to the Berendey village. Leaves are blooming on the trees. Nature awakens to new life. Snow Maiden waiting for love. The boys of the whole village and the shepherd Lel look after her, but he is too fickle and flighty. It is not he who gives rise to the serious feeling of the Snow Maiden. She carries in her heart only a single image - the image of Mizgir.
PICTURE TWO
Spring wedding ceremonies of the Berendeys. Girls weave wreaths from primroses and give them to their lovers. Kupava presents his wreath to Mizgir. Young Berendeys chase girls, wanting to confirm their choice with a ritual. The Snow Maiden appears. Mizgir is fascinated by her beauty. He leaves Kupava and rushes after the Snow Maiden. Kupava's wreath falls to the ground.
PICTURE THREE
Desperate Kupava tells Tsar Berendey about Mizgir’s betrayal. He violated the sacred rituals of the Berendeys and disgraced Kupava. Berendey forbids Mizgir to attend the celebration of the meeting of Yarila the Sun.
PICTURE FOUR
Night. Valley of Yarila the Sun. Berendeys meet the dawn. Contrary to the royal ban, Mizgir appears here. The Snow Maiden is here. She confesses her love for Mizgir. Berendey and all the inhabitants of Berendey's kingdom are unable to resist such strong love. Tsar Berendey betroths Mizgir and Snow Maiden. The very first ray of the Sun illuminates the valley with bright light and falls directly on the Snow Maiden. The Snow Maiden melts and disappears. Everyone is horrified by what happened. Mizgir, distraught with grief, throws himself into the lake. The Berendey people mourn the sacrifice, but still glorify Yarila the Sun and offer him their gratitude for the coming of spring.
Furtseva sent a congratulatory telegram to the choreographer to protect him from suspicions of dissent
Let’s say right away that there are only three ballets known for which the music was written by a brilliant Russian composer: “Swan Lake”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “The Nutcracker”. However, there is another ballet, which is sometimes called Tchaikovsky's "fourth ballet". We are talking about “The Snow Maiden,” the famous ballet by the Soviet choreographer Vladimir Burmeister, which is still performed at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater to this day. This truly New Year's performance with Father Frost, the Snow Maiden, buffoons and other fairy-tale characters is a success not only among enlightened balletomanes, it is also wonderful for children's audiences: age rating 6+.
Scene from the ballet “The Snow Maiden” (photo from the 1963 premiere, courtesy of the MAMT press service)
Although ballet is a silent art, children will not have any difficulties in understanding the plot of this fairy tale - they have known the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden since childhood, and the feature fairy tale film by Pavel Kadochnikov, created by him after Burmeister in 1968, is a classic our cinema. And in general, “The Snow Maiden” is one of the best ballets of the Musical Theater. It was staged by one of its founders, choreographer Vladimir Burmeister, more than half a century ago and since then has enjoyed the constant love of the public.
The events here unfold in the kingdom of Berendey “in prehistoric times” against the backdrop of colorful folk festivals, where guys and girls dance fervently, buffoons entertain the people, and in one of the scenes even “cows” - residents of the village of Berendeyevka dressed in jester costumes - start dancing. It is to this village that Moroz’s daughter Snegurochka comes in search of “human love” that she has never experienced: at the edge of the forest she spied a meeting between Mizgir and Kupava and “suddenly she so wanted to go there to the village with people, with this handsome guy, so I also wanted to hug him and kiss him tightly, just like the girl did”...
But before we talk about the ballet, let’s first take a closer look at the choreographer who created it.
How the Stalin Prize laureate brought about an aesthetic revolution in Paris
Vladimir Pavlovich Burmeister was a fairly close relative of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, to whose music he created two of his best ballets.
Vladimir Pavlovich's mother Natalia Andreevna was the daughter of Major General Andrei Petrovich Tchaikovsky. His father, Pyotr Petrovich, is the brother of Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky, that is, the father of the great composer. It was he who dissuaded his famous nephew from studying music: they say, “Petrusha, he traded jurisprudence for a buzzer.” Natalia Andreevna, therefore, was the composer’s cousin. And Tchaikovsky’s music, as we know, will play a special role in the fate of her son.
Kupava - Eleonora Vlasova (photo from the 1963 premiere, courtesy of the MAMT press service)
It is also necessary to recall that the name of Vladimir Burmeister occupies a special place in the history of Stasik. The current season for the ballet of this theater is an anniversary one. The ballet troupe celebrates its 75th anniversary: in the theater season of 1939-1940, the Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater (still without the Stanislavsky prefix) had its own ballet. In fact, the theater as we know it today was formed the following year, 1941, with the merger of two troupes - after the death of its founder, the Opera House. K. S. Stanislavsky merged into one with the same Musical Theater, which was directed by Nemirovich-Danchenko.
So, from the same 1941, that is, almost from the very moment of the creation of the united Musical Theater and until his death on March 5, 1971 (almost thirty years!) Burmeister was the main choreographer of the troupe.
Premieres and performances of his first ballet performances as a director - Straussian and The Merry Wives of Windsor - took place in front-line military Moscow and were sometimes interrupted by enemy bombing... During an air raid, the audience fled to the nearest bomb shelter, then the performance resumed. Two other ballets created during the war, Lola and Scheherazade, were awarded Stalin Prizes in 1946. But the main creative achievements are still ahead. In subsequent years, such ballets as “The Coast of Happiness”, “Joan of Arc”, “Variations” (world premiere at the Grand Opera), “Appassionata” were staged... And the play “Esmeralda”, as well as “The Snow Maiden” " and "Swan Lake", is a decoration of the theater's repertoire today.
Special mention must be made about the last ballet, because, speaking about the place of this choreographer in the history of his native theater, we must not forget about his place in the history of world ballet in general. Let me remind you: Burmeister’s version of Swan Lake is known everywhere and has long been recognized as a classic of 20th-century ballet. Among other things, Burmeister was the very first Soviet choreographer who was invited to work abroad by the most prestigious ballet companies in the world. Back in 1960, he transferred “Swan Lake” to the stage of the Paris Opera, thereby producing a kind of aesthetic revolution in the French capital. Burmeister's version of the ballet did not leave the theater's posters for several decades, after which it migrated to another equally famous musical theater, La Scala, where it continues to this day.
Yarilina Valley and a new ballet to the music of Tchaikovsky
Speaking about “The Snow Maiden”, it was not for nothing that we stopped at “Swan Lake”. The circumstances were like this... After the incredible success of The Swan at the Paris Grand Opera, the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet) wanted to have “something” created by the outstanding Russian choreographer in its repertoire. There was only one condition: it must also be a ballet by Tchaikovsky.
The first Snow Maiden Valentina Danilovich (photo from the 1963 premiere, courtesy of the MAMT press service)
It was then that the idea of “The Snow Maiden” arose. No, Tchaikovsky, as we have already said, of course, does not have such a ballet. But there is music for Ostrovsky's play. After all, the libretto composed by Burmeister for this ballet was based on the fairy tale play by the classic of Russian literature Alexander Ostrovsky “The Snow Maiden”. By the way, “Yarilina Valley”, that is, the Valley of the Sun or the sunny valley, where the action of Ostrovsky’s “The Snow Maiden” takes place, is called that to this day, and actually exists in Shchelykovo, in the Ostrovsky museum-estate. There is a spring there, which, according to legend, is the heart of the Snow Maiden, who melted here from the ardent love.
In addition to Tchaikovsky's music written for Ostrovsky's play, the ballet also used music from other popular works by the composer. “When I received an invitation in Paris from the London Festival Ballet to stage Tchaikovsky’s ballet,” said Burmeister, “representatives of the English theater said that we were not talking about The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, since in their repertoire contains large fragments from these ballets.
But Tchaikovsky doesn’t have a fourth ballet, I told them.
Tchaikovsky is extremely popular in Europe, in particular, in our country the love for his music is growing, and we would like the Russian choreographer to stage for us a composition to the music of his brilliant compatriot,” they answered me.
Then I suggested staging “The Snow Maiden”. I was thinking of basing the future performance on the score of “A Spring Tale,” once created from Tchaikovsky’s works by Boris Asafiev and staged in Leningrad by Fyodor Lopukhov.”
The fact is that in March 1873, in three weeks, Tchaikovsky, at the request of the playwright himself, wrote music for this extravaganza fairy tale, which had just been composed at that time. The premiere took place on May 11 at the Bolshoi Theater, since the Maly Theater was being renovated at that time (however, it is still being renovated). Oddly enough, the play was not particularly successful. Many people liked the music. This work by Tchaikovsky, which became, as it were, one of the bridges from the first composer’s experiments to the brilliant “Swan Lake” and the opera “Eugene Onegin”, was taken by Burmeister (and before him by Lopukhov) as a basis. But besides this, the music of the First Symphony “Winter Dreams”, a serenade for strings, the Great Piano Sonata and other works by Pyotr Ilyich was also used.
Nowadays this practice of combining various works of the same or even different composers in a ballet score is ubiquitous. But Lopukhov in “The Spring Tale” in 1947, and after him Burmeister in 1961, were among the first to do this in ballet history and really created an extremely popular score, which is still used by other choreographers for their productions of Ostrovsky’s fairy tale. For example, quite recently Andrei Petrov did this for his own original (and also very successful) “The Snow Maiden”, staged at the Kremlin Ballet.
Acute political situation
The history of the creation of this ballet remembers a lot. It also happened: a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee and Minister of Culture Ekaterina Furtseva, having learned about the successes of the Soviet choreographer abroad, sent him a congratulatory telegram... She sent him, apparently, for a reason... The situation was not very favorable at that time: literally on the very eve of the premiere on June 16, 1961 years, Rudolf Nureyev, a dancer at the Mariinsky (then Kirov) Theater, the first Soviet defector, and the future partner of the famous Western European ballet star Margot Fonteyn, asked for political asylum in France. With this ballerina they will create one of the best “golden” duets of the 20th century. By the way, about Fontaine. During the production of The Snow Maiden, Burmeister also had meetings with her. And also with another outstanding ballerina Alicia Markova, the same British dancer who was the first in English history to be awarded the title Prima Ballerina Assoluta.
However, Burmeister, unlike Nureyev, did not even think about making any attempts to stay in the West. However, his long stay abroad in connection with Nureyev’s escape could not but worry the Soviet authorities.
So Burmeister flies to England in 1961. He had to stage the ballet, as they say, “on the fly.” The troupe of the London Festival Balle was touring the cities of England and Italy at that time. And Burmeister moved with the troupe from city to city.
On April 21, he writes in his diary: “Today we are leaving London for Wolverhamrton... We are drinking English tea. At 7 o'clock we go to the theater. Meeting. Slogan: “Welcome to Wolverhamrton!” First rehearsal."
May 19: “The last week in England ends. On Wednesday we are going with the troupe to Italy. We did half the performance.”
June 11: “Last day in Rome. At 12 o'clock rehearsal of "The Snow Maiden". I link Acts 2 and 3. In the evening we have dinner with Alisa Markova.”
June 22. The recording was made in Florence: “The performance is turning out good. This is my impression... Another of my ballets was born. It seems very touching and exciting.
This morning in the theater, we were lighting it and, as always, we didn’t have time. At 4 o'clock there is a dress rehearsal... Everyone is excited and nervous. We have lunch on the roof. I put on a calm face, but everything turns upside down inside. We go to the premiere as if we were going to an execution. Everything ended well. Congratulations, success. God bless!"
The ballet is then shown in London.
July 17: “In the morning we work with the orchestra and the lights. We walk and stagger. I slept for an hour in the theater. I'm going to get dressed for the premiere. I feel like I’m going to Golgotha.
The hall is full. At 8 o'clock the orchestra began the overture. Play.
Reception. Meeting with Margot Fonteyn. Conversation with Julien (the director of the Paris Opera was negotiating with Burmeister about creating the ballet “The Three Musketeers” on the stage of this theater). On behalf of the entire troupe - an invitation to the Grand Opera. The day ended at 4 am.”
July 18: “That’s it. The second trip abroad is over. The press is doing well. We're going home on Saturday. Congratulatory telegram from Furtseva."
The London Times wrote in those days: “It is a great idea to invite for a new work the Russian choreographer Vladimir Burmeister, whose production of Swan Lake at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater in Moscow and recently at the Paris Opera aroused universal admiration.. The plot of “The Snow Maiden” is familiar to London opera lovers from the opera of the same name by Rimsky-Korsakov. Mr. Burmeister slightly changed the plot, but retained the main lines of action ... The plot is suitable for ballet, since many of its episodes required dancing and Mr. Burmeister provided the corps de ballet of the troupe, who demonstrated considerable success in accuracy, clarity and grace of performance, as well as the fragile and technical dancer Belina Wright has a lot of room to show his capabilities.”
It is noteworthy that when many years later, at the beginning already in the 21st century, the theater again showed this ballet on tour in London (the performances were staged in the same Royal Festival Hall where The Snow Maiden premiered in 1961), the Independent newspaper called its "one of the main cultural events of the season". Especially for these tours, the then artistic director of the theater, Dmitry Bryantsev, made a new stage version of the play in 2001, in which it is still performed. Naturally, some cuts were made: the three-act performance became a two-act one. But the main changes affected, first of all, the design, which was created by production designer Vladimir Arefiev, making the performance more colorful and modern.
“Snow Maiden” with “taratula” in real time.
In 1963, the choreographer transferred his ballet to the stage of the Musical Theater, which he headed. Moreover, Burmeister gave the role of the Snow Maiden to a little-known dancer at that time, Valentina Danilovich. Since then, this theater has had a tradition: in the main roles in this ballet you can see both recognized stars of the Musical Theater, as well as very young and even beginning artists. For example, the role of Bobylikha - the adoptive mother of the Snow Maiden, the crowning role of Anton Domashov, a master of character dance, heir to a famous ballet dynasty, a descendant of one of the best soloists of the Bolshoi Theater at the end of the 19th century, Nikolai Domashev, the same artist whose jump was compared by his contemporaries with the legendary jump of the God of Dance Vaslav Nijinsky.
"The Snow Maiden" to the music of P.I. Tchaikovsky. Snow Maiden - Anna Ol, Mizgir - Semyon Velichko, Kupava - Erika Mikirticheva © Anna Klyushkina
And in the role of the Buffoon comes the representative of another ballet dynasty, 20-year-old Alexei Babaev, a recent acquisition and rising star of the Musical Theater, an artist who came from Philadelphia, where he graduated from his parents’ ballet school two years ago. More recently, he made a successful debut as Lensky in the premiere performance of John Neumeier’s “Tatyana”, also danced the Golden God in “La Bayadère”, and now “The Snow Maiden”.
And in general, modern artists love to dance in this performance.
Although this is only the second time I will perform the role of Mizgir, I like dancing in “The Snow Maiden,” Semyon Velichko, the leading soloist of the Musical Theatre, tells me. - I danced for the first time quite a long time ago, almost two years ago. Now, finally, I can repeat it. There are no specific positions here, there is a lot of freedom, you can open your soul. Dancing, joy, fun... In general, a rather positive ballet. Although it all ends in tragedy: my hero falls in love with Snegurochka, despite the fact that he had previously met with Kupava. And at the end, when it melts, he throws himself off the cliff.
Leading soloist of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater Anna Ol will also have her debut performance in this performance. On January 9, together with Semyon Velichko-Mizgir, she will perform the role of the Snow Maiden.
This is such a fabulous performance that is very pleasant to dance. Especially on New Year's and Christmas days - because it has a New Year's theme. And not entirely standard: usually all theaters dance “The Nutcracker” on New Year’s holidays. And in the Musical Theater, in addition to this ballet, there is also “The Snow Maiden,” the ballerina told “MK”. - And the role of the Snow Maiden itself is very interesting for me, because this is such an unreal character, and it is necessary to show him in development. At first, my heroine, getting into the world of people, does not understand anything, then a feeling of love arises in her, which finally melts her cold heart and on the first day of spring she melts. This is the only role of this nature in my repertoire: for example, in “Sleeping Beauty” there is no need to show any special development of the character. At the same time, Tchaikovsky’s music is very helpful in preparing the part, because it characterizes it in many ways.
Burmeister's choreography also in this ballet has its own bright style, its own style. This is one of the best performances he created. As for the Snow Maiden's part specifically, it has such a bright Slavic orientation. The Snow Maiden's movements, poses, and hands are choreographically isolated from other characters. The choreography very clearly distinguishes between this unearthly creature and the common people, the Berendeys. In Burmeister, in principle, such leitmotif themes can be traced quite clearly in all his performances.
But Alexey Lyubimov dances Mizgir, and has long been known as one of the best interpreters of this role.
- I don’t even remember how many times I’ll dance this part. Lost count. True, unfortunately, the performance is not performed very often.
In general, “The Snow Maiden” is one of my favorite ballets. I have my own special affection for him. In fact, there are few performances that would be so interesting to experience and reveal on stage. This is our story, not foreign, here is the Russian soul, the pagan names of the heroes: Mizgir, Kupava and the Snow Maiden herself - these are mythological original Slavic names: Mizgir is the Old Slavic name for the tarantula spider from the family of “wolf spiders”, Kupava - from “kupala”, “bathing”, in my opinion, was such a Slavic river fairy...
I really love the old film that was based on this Ostrovsky fairy tale. I had the premiere with Natalya Ledovskaya. It was this wonderful ballerina who introduced me to ballet. And I actually danced with her during almost all of the Snow Maidens. And on January 10, I will introduce myself to the performance: I will dance this ballet for the first time with Tatyana Melnik. In fact, this performance really appeals to me, because it is endowed with deep meaning. There is not a simple opposition here, as is usually the case in ballet: an evil and a good hero. Burmeister essentially has neither good nor evil, it’s just how the situation develops and it’s interesting how people experience certain emotions, and it’s interesting to convey to the viewer certain dramatic turns. In this ballet, the music is also such that it touches the soul, unlike many modern ballets.
It remains to be reminded that the next performances of this ballet will be held at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater on the Christmas holidays - January 9 and 10. Merry Christmas!
Scene from the ballet “The Snow Maiden” Photo from the 1963 premiere, courtesy of the MAMT press service
Let’s say right away that there are only three ballets known for which the music was written by a brilliant Russian composer: “Swan Lake”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “The Nutcracker”. However, there is another ballet, which is sometimes called Tchaikovsky's "fourth ballet".
We are talking about “The Snow Maiden,” the famous ballet by the Soviet choreographer Vladimir Burmeister, which is still performed at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater to this day.
This truly New Year's performance with Father Frost, the Snow Maiden, buffoons and other fairy-tale characters is a success not only among enlightened balletomanes, it is also wonderful for children's audiences: age rating 6+.
Although ballet is a silent art, children will not have any difficulties in understanding the plot of this fairy tale - they have known the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden since childhood, and the feature fairy tale film by Pavel Kadochnikov, created by him after Burmeister in 1968, is a classic our cinema. And in general, “The Snow Maiden” is one of the best ballets of the Musical Theater. It was staged by one of its founders, choreographer Vladimir Burmeister, more than half a century ago and since then has enjoyed the constant love of the public.
The events here unfold in the kingdom of Berendey “in prehistoric times” against the backdrop of colorful folk festivals, where guys and girls dance fervently, buffoons entertain the people, and in one of the scenes even “cows” – residents of the village of Berendeyevka, dressed in jester costumes – start dancing.
It is to this village that Moroz’s daughter Snegurochka comes in search of “human love” that she has never experienced: at the edge of the forest she spied a meeting between Mizgir and Kupava and “suddenly she so wanted to go there to the village with people, with this handsome guy, so I also wanted to hug him and kiss him tightly, just like the girl did”...
But before we talk about the ballet, let’s first take a closer look at the choreographer who created it.
How the Stalin Prize laureate brought about an aesthetic revolution in Paris
Vladimir Pavlovich Burmeister was a fairly close relative of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, to whose music he created two of his best ballets.
Vladimir Pavlovich's mother Natalia Andreevna was the daughter of Major General Andrei Petrovich Tchaikovsky. His father, Pyotr Petrovich, is the brother of Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky, that is, the father of the great composer.
It was he who dissuaded his famous nephew from studying music: they say, “Petrusha, he traded jurisprudence for a buzzer.” Natalia Andreevna, therefore, was the composer’s cousin. And Tchaikovsky’s music, as we know, will play a special role in the fate of her son.
It is also necessary to recall that the name of Vladimir Burmeister occupies a special place in the history of Stasik. The current season for the ballet of this theater is an anniversary one. The ballet troupe celebrates its 75th anniversary: in the theater season of 1939-1940, the Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater (still without the Stanislavsky prefix) had its own ballet.
In fact, the theater as we know it today was formed the following year, 1941, with the merger of two troupes - after the death of its founder, the Opera House. K. S. Stanislavsky merged into one with the same Musical Theater, which was directed by Nemirovich-Danchenko.
So, from the same 1941, that is, almost from the very moment of the creation of the united Musical Theater and until his death on March 5, 1971 (almost thirty years!) Burmeister was the main choreographer of the troupe.
Premieres and performances of his first ballet performances as a director - Straussian and The Merry Wives of Windsor - took place in front-line military Moscow and were sometimes interrupted by enemy bombing... During an air raid, the audience fled to the nearest bomb shelter, then the performance resumed. Two other ballets created during the war, Lola and Scheherazade, were awarded Stalin Prizes in 1946.
But the main creative achievements are still ahead. In subsequent years, such ballets as “The Coast of Happiness”, “Joan of Arc”, “Variations” (world premiere at the Grand Opera), “Appassionata” were staged... And the play “Esmeralda”, as well as “The Snow Maiden” and “Swan Lake” is a highlight of the theater’s repertoire today.
Special mention must be made about the last ballet, because, speaking about the place of this choreographer in the history of his native theater, we must not forget about his place in the history of world ballet in general. Let me remind you: Burmeister’s version of Swan Lake is known everywhere and has long been recognized as a classic of 20th-century ballet.
Among other things, Burmeister was the very first Soviet choreographer who was invited to work abroad by the most prestigious ballet companies in the world. Back in 1960, he transferred “Swan Lake” to the stage of the Paris Opera, thereby producing a kind of aesthetic revolution in the French capital. Burmeister's version of the ballet did not leave the theater's posters for several decades, after which it migrated to another equally famous musical theater, La Scala, where it continues to this day.
Yarilina Valley and a new ballet to the music of Tchaikovsky
Speaking about “The Snow Maiden”, it was not for nothing that we stopped at “Swan Lake”. The circumstances were like this... After the incredible success of The Swan at the Paris Grand Opera, the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet) wanted to have “something” created by the outstanding Russian choreographer in its repertoire. There was only one condition: it must also be a ballet by Tchaikovsky.
It was then that the idea of “The Snow Maiden” arose. No, Tchaikovsky, as we have already said, of course, does not have such a ballet. But there is music for Ostrovsky's play. After all, the libretto composed by Burmeister for this ballet was based on the fairy tale play by the classic of Russian literature Alexander Ostrovsky “The Snow Maiden”.
By the way, “Yarilina Valley”, that is, the Valley of the Sun or the sunny valley, where the action of Ostrovsky’s “The Snow Maiden” takes place, is called that to this day, and actually exists in Shchelykovo, in the Ostrovsky museum-estate. There is a spring there, which, according to legend, is the heart of the Snow Maiden, who melted here from the ardent love.
In addition to Tchaikovsky's music written for Ostrovsky's play, the ballet also used music from other popular works by the composer. Burmeister said:
“When I received an invitation in Paris from the London Festival Ballet to stage Tchaikovsky’s ballet, representatives of the English theater said that we were not talking about The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, since their repertoire contains large fragments from these ballets.
“But Tchaikovsky doesn’t have a fourth ballet,” I told them.
“Tchaikovsky is extremely popular in Europe, in particular, in our country the love for his music is growing, and we would like the Russian choreographer to stage for us a composition to the music of his brilliant compatriot,” they answered me.
Then I suggested staging “The Snow Maiden”. I was thinking of basing the future performance on the score of “A Spring Tale,” once created from Tchaikovsky’s works by Boris Asafiev and staged in Leningrad by Fyodor Lopukhov.”
The fact is that in March 1873, in three weeks, Tchaikovsky, at the request of the playwright himself, wrote music for this extravaganza fairy tale, which had just been composed at that time. The premiere took place on May 11 at the Bolshoi Theater, since the Maly Theater was being renovated at that time (however, it is still being renovated).
Oddly enough, the play was not particularly successful. Many people liked the music. This work by Tchaikovsky, which became, as it were, one of the bridges from the first composer’s experiments to the brilliant “Swan Lake” and the opera “Eugene Onegin”, was taken by Burmeister (and before him by Lopukhov) as a basis. But besides this, the music of the First Symphony “Winter Dreams”, a serenade for strings, the Great Piano Sonata and other works by Pyotr Ilyich was also used.
Nowadays this practice of combining various works of the same or even different composers in a ballet score is ubiquitous. But Lopukhov in “The Spring Tale” in 1947, and after him Burmeister in 1961, were among the first to do this in ballet history and really created an extremely popular score, which is still used by other choreographers for their productions of Ostrovsky’s fairy tale. For example, quite recently Andrei Petrov did this for his own original (and also very successful) “The Snow Maiden”, staged at the Kremlin Ballet.
Acute political situation
The history of the creation of this ballet remembers a lot. It also happened: a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee and Minister of Culture Ekaterina Furtseva, having learned about the successes of the Soviet choreographer abroad, sent him a congratulatory telegram... She sent it, apparently, for a reason...
The situation was not very favorable at that time: literally on the very eve of the premiere on June 16, 1961, Rudolf Nureyev, a dancer at the Mariinsky (then Kirov) Theater, the first Soviet defector, and the future partner of the famous Western European ballet star Margot Fonteyn, asked for political asylum in France.
With this ballerina they will create one of the best “golden” duets of the 20th century. By the way, about Fontaine. During the production of The Snow Maiden, Burmeister also had meetings with her. And also with another outstanding ballerina Alicia Markova, the same British dancer who was the first in English history to be awarded the title Prima Ballerina Assoluta.
However, Burmeister, unlike Nureyev, did not even think about making any attempts to stay in the West. However, his long stay abroad in connection with Nureyev’s escape could not but worry the Soviet authorities.
So Burmeister flies to England in 1961. He had to stage the ballet, as they say, “on the fly.” The troupe of the London Festival Balle was touring the cities of England and Italy at that time. And Burmeister moved with the troupe from city to city.
On April 21, he writes in his diary: “Today we are leaving London for Wolverhamrton... We are drinking English tea. At 7 o'clock we go to the theater. Meeting. Slogan: “Welcome to Wolverhamrton!” First rehearsal."
May 19: “The last week in England ends. On Wednesday we are going with the troupe to Italy. We did half the performance.”
June 11: “Last day in Rome. At 12 o'clock rehearsal of "The Snow Maiden". I link Acts 2 and 3. In the evening we have dinner with Alisa Markova.”
June 22. The recording was made in Florence: “The performance is turning out good. This is my impression... Another of my ballets was born. It seems very touching and exciting.
This morning in the theater, we were lighting it and, as always, we didn’t have time. At 4 o'clock there is a dress rehearsal... Everyone is excited and nervous. We have lunch on the roof. I put on a calm face, but everything turns upside down inside. We go to the premiere as if we were going to an execution. Everything ended well. Congratulations, success. God bless!"
The ballet is then shown in London.
July 17: “In the morning we work with the orchestra and the lights. We walk and stagger. I slept for an hour in the theater. I'm going to get dressed for the premiere. I feel like I’m going to Golgotha.
The hall is full. At 8 o'clock the orchestra began the overture. Play.
Reception. Meeting with Margot Fonteyn. Conversation with Julien (the director of the Paris Opera was negotiating with Burmeister about creating the ballet “The Three Musketeers” on the stage of this theater). On behalf of the entire troupe - an invitation to the Grand Opera. The day ended at 4 am.”
July 18: “That’s it. The second trip abroad is over. The press is doing well. We're going home on Saturday. Congratulatory telegram from Furtseva."
The London Times wrote in those days:
“It’s a great idea to invite Russian choreographer Vladimir Burmeister for a new work, whose production of Swan Lake at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater in Moscow and recently at the Paris Opera aroused universal admiration...
The plot of The Snow Maiden is familiar to London opera lovers from the opera of the same name by Rimsky-Korsakov. Mr. Burmeister slightly changed the plot, but retained the main lines of action ... The plot is suitable for ballet, since many of its episodes required dancing and Mr. Burmeister provided the corps de ballet of the troupe, who demonstrated considerable success in accuracy, clarity and grace of performance, as well as the fragile and technical dancer Belina Wright has a lot of room to show his capabilities.”
It is noteworthy that when many years later, at the beginning already in the 21st century, the theater again showed this ballet on tour in London (the performances were staged in the same Royal Festival Hall where The Snow Maiden premiered in 1961), the Independent newspaper called its "one of the main cultural events of the season".
Especially for these tours, the then artistic director of the theater, Dmitry Bryantsev, made a new stage version of the play in 2001, in which it is still performed. Naturally, some cuts were made: the three-act performance became a two-act one. But the main changes affected, first of all, the design, which was created by production designer Vladimir Arefiev, making the performance more colorful and modern.
“Snow Maiden” with “taratula” in real time.
In 1963, the choreographer transferred his ballet to the stage of the Musical Theater, which he headed. Moreover, Burmeister gave the role of the Snow Maiden to a little-known dancer at that time, Valentina Danilovich. Since then, this theater has had a tradition: in the main roles in this ballet you can see both recognized stars of the Musical Theater, as well as very young and even beginning artists.
For example, the role of Bobylikha - the adoptive mother of the Snow Maiden, the crowning role of Anton Domashov, a master of character dance, heir to a famous ballet dynasty, a descendant of one of the best soloists of the Bolshoi Theater at the end of the 19th century, Nikolai Domashev, the same artist whose jump was compared by his contemporaries with the legendary jump of the God of Dance Vaslav Nijinsky.
And in the role of the Buffoon comes the representative of another ballet dynasty, 20-year-old Alexei Babaev, a recent acquisition and rising star of the Musical Theater, an artist who came from Philadelphia, where he graduated from his parents’ ballet school two years ago. More recently, he made a successful debut as Lensky in the premiere performance of John Neumeier’s “Tatyana”, also danced the Golden God in “La Bayadère”, and now “The Snow Maiden”.
And in general, modern artists love to dance in this performance.
“Although this is only the second time I will perform the role of Mizgir, I love dancing in The Snow Maiden. I danced for the first time quite a long time ago, almost two years ago. Now, finally, I can repeat it. There are no specific positions here, there is a lot of freedom, you can open your soul. Dancing, joy, fun...
In general, a rather positive ballet. Although it all ends in tragedy: my hero falls in love with Snegurochka, despite the fact that he had previously met with Kupava. And at the end, when it melts, he throws himself off the cliff."
– the leading soloist of the Musical Theater Semyon Velichko tells me.
Leading soloist of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater Anna Ol will also have her debut performance in this performance. On January 9, together with Semyon Velichko-Mizgir, she will perform the role of the Snow Maiden:
“This is such a fabulous performance that is very pleasant to dance. Especially on New Year's and Christmas days - because it has a New Year's theme. And not entirely standard: usually all theaters dance “The Nutcracker” on New Year’s holidays.
And in the Musical Theater, in addition to this ballet, there is also “The Snow Maiden”. And the role of the Snow Maiden itself is very interesting for me, because this is such an unreal character, and it is necessary to show him in development. At first, my heroine, getting into the world of people, does not understand anything, then a feeling of love arises in her, which finally melts her cold heart and on the first day of spring she melts.
This is the only role of this nature in my repertoire: for example, in “Sleeping Beauty” there is no need to show any special development of the character. At the same time, Tchaikovsky’s music is very helpful in preparing the part, because it characterizes it in many ways.”
Burmeister's choreography also in this ballet has its own bright style, its own style. This is one of the best performances he created. As for the Snow Maiden's part specifically, it has such a bright Slavic orientation. The Snow Maiden's movements, poses, and hands are choreographically isolated from other characters.
The choreography very clearly distinguishes between this unearthly creature and the common people, the Berendeys. In Burmeister, in principle, such leitmotif themes can be traced quite clearly in all his performances.
But Alexey Lyubimov dances Mizgir, and has long been known as one of the best interpreters of this role:
“I don’t even remember how many times I’ll dance this part. Lost count. True, unfortunately, the performance is not performed very often.”
In general, “The Snow Maiden” is one of my favorite ballets. I have my own special affection for him. In fact, there are few performances that would be so interesting to experience and reveal on stage. This is our story, not foreign, here is the Russian soul, the pagan names of the heroes: Mizgir, Kupava and the Snow Maiden herself - these are mythological original Slavic names: Mizgir is the Old Slavic name for the tarantula spider from the family of “wolf spiders”, Kupava - from “kupala”, “bathing”, in my opinion, was such a Slavic river fairy...
I really love the old film that was based on this Ostrovsky fairy tale. I had the premiere with Natalya Ledovskaya. It was this wonderful ballerina who introduced me to ballet. And I actually danced with her during almost all of the Snow Maidens. And on January 10, I will introduce myself to the performance: I will dance this ballet for the first time with Tatyana Melnik.
In fact, this performance really appeals to me, because it is endowed with deep meaning. There is not a simple opposition here, as is usually the case in ballet: an evil and a good hero. Burmeister essentially has neither good nor evil, it’s just how the situation develops and it’s interesting how people experience certain emotions, and it’s interesting to convey to the viewer certain dramatic turns. In this ballet, the music is also such that it touches the soul, unlike many modern ballets.
It remains to be reminded that the next performances of this ballet will be held at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater on the Christmas holidays - January 9 and 10. Merry Christmas!
If you love classic ballet, you should definitely buy tickets to the theater. Stanislavsky's ballet "The Snow Maiden". This is a magnificent performance, combining brilliant music, choreography, plastic movements, and beautiful costumes.
The ballet in three acts “The Snow Maiden” was created by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and the libretto based on the famous fairy tale was written by Vladimir Burmeister. It lasts 2 hours 15 minutes and is interrupted by one intermission.
The plot was created by Ostrovsky based on a folk tale. Burmeister created his interpretation in the 60s at the request of the London Festival Ballet. At the same time, the work began to be staged on the stage of the theater. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko.
The musical part uses several works by P.I. Tchaikovsky. This is not only music for Ostrovsky’s play, but also serenades, a piano sonata, and the “Winter Dreams” symphony.
Three female ballerinas tried on the roles of the Snow Maiden in a modern production. These are Anastasia Pershenkova, Zhanna Gubanova and Anastasia Limenko. Each of them has its own style of presentation, which makes it worthwhile to attend the ballet several times in a row.
Mizgir is danced by Alexei Lyubimov and Sergei Manuilov, and five beautiful ballerinas were chosen for the role of Kupava. The same number of people are involved in the image of Lel.
The plot of this fairy-tale ballet is tied to Slavic mythology, in which the forces of nature are not only deified, but also acquire human traits. Frost, Yarilo, Vesna have intelligence, will and feelings. This quality is also inherent in the Snow Maiden. Being the daughter of two divine beings, she is very simple, humane and kind. Having experienced self-destructive love, she has no regrets at all. After all, this is the most important thing in human life. This is what kings sacrificed their thrones for, ancient gods descended from heaven, and heroes risked their lives for.
Of course, the ballet production is noticeably different from Ostrovsky’s play, but the main context in it has been preserved. You see another example of how dance can show the strongest human feelings.
Our site provides you with an excellent opportunity to get maximum pleasure from seeing the wonderful work of the choreographer and the beautiful movements of the Moscow ballet dancers. Order tickets online with delivery throughout Moscow.
Composer - Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Libretto author - Vladimir Burmeister
Choreographer - Vladimir Burmeister
Production and costume designer - Vladimir Arefiev
Conductor - Vladimir Basiladze
Lighting designer - Ildar Bederdinov
Genre - Ballet
Number of acts - 3
Original title: Snow Maiden
Duration - 2 hours 15 minutes (one intermission)
Premiere date: 11/06/1963
Age limit - 6+
Snow Maiden - Anastasia Limenko, Anastasia Pershenkova
Santa Claus - Stanislav Bukharaev, Nikita Kirillov
Mizgir - Alexey Lyubimov, Sergey Manuilov
Kupava - Natalia Kleimenova, Erika Mikirticheva, Olga Sizykh, Natalia Somova
Lel - Vladimir Dmitriev, Evgeny Zhukov, Denis Perkovsky, Georgi Smilevski, Innokenty Yuldashev
Tsar Berendey - Stanislav Bukharaev, Nikita Kirillov
Bobyl - Alexey Karasev, Evgeniy Poklitar
Bobylikha - Yana Bolshanina,
Snow Maiden
Composer - Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Libretto - Vladimir Burmeister
Choreography - Vladimir Burmeister
Production and costume designer - Vladimir Arefiev
Lighting designer - Ildar Bederdinov
Characters and performers:
Conductor - Vladimir Basiladze, Roman Kaloshin
Snow Maiden - Zhanna Gubanova, Anastasia Limenko, Anastasia Pershenkova, Ksenia Shevtsova
Santa Claus / Tsar Berendey - Stanislav Bukharaev, Nikita Kirillov
Mizgir - Alexey Lyubimov, Sergey Manuilov, Dmitry Sobolevsky
Kupava - Maria Beck, Natalia Kleimenova, Erika Mikirticheva, Valeria Mukhanova, Olga Sizykh, Natalia Somova
Lel - Vladimir Dmitriev, Evgeny Zhukov, Denis Perkovsky, Georgi Smilevski Jr., Innokenty Yuldashev
Skomorokh - Denis Akinfeev, Vladimir Dmitriev, Evgeny Zhukov, Dmitry Muravinets, Denis Perkovsky, Georgi Smilevski Jr., Innokenty Yuldashev
If you dream of giving yourself and your family a special gift during the New Year holidays that will be remembered for a long time and will give you an enchanting feeling of magic - buy tickets to the ballet “The Snow Maiden” at. It is difficult to imagine something more fabulous than Ostrovsky’s famous story, set to the beautiful music of P.I. Tchaikovsky. “The Snow Maiden” appeared in the repertoire of the Stanislavsky Theater back in 1963 - and since then has not left the posters, enjoying the constant love of the audience. The score for the ballet was composed by Vladimir Burmeister from various works by Tchaikovsky, including his Great Piano Sonata, String Serenade, episodes of the plays Kamarinskaya, In the Village and the First Symphony. Dmitry Bryantsev resumed the production for a new version of the Stanislavsky Theater. The scenery of the performance amazes the public with its scale and beauty, and in combination with the unique costumes of the ballet dancers, they turn the production into a real winter fairy tale, unfolding against the backdrop of a snowy, frosty forest.
The plot of “The Snow Maiden” introduces viewers to a young girl, Snow Maiden, the daughter of Frost and Spring. A quarrel between her parents causes the girl to go to live with people, and she is taken in by Bobylikha and Bobyl. However, life with people turns out to be full of difficulties. Snegurochka is looked after by Mizgir, she conflicts with Kupava and has tender feelings for the shepherdess Lelya. Experiencing mental torment, the Snow Maiden in desperation turns to Mother Vesna for help. Spring, unable to withstand her daughter’s bitter tears, turns her into an earthly girl and thereby dooms her to death... The ballet “The Snow Maiden” on the stage of the Stanislavsky Musical Theater will give you a spiritual and magical evening in which dance and music merge together, giving rise to a delightful spectacle, capable of surprising even the most demanding connoisseurs.
