Manon Bolshoi Theater Netrebko Aivazov YouTube. Anna Netrebko - Manon Lescaut: for the first time at the Bolshoi Theater. Interview with Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov on the eve of the premiere of the opera “Manon Lescaut” at the Bolshoi Theater

- a Russian singer who has been applauded by the whole world for many years - performed for the first time at the Bolshoi Theater. The performer chose the piece for her debut on the most famous stage in the country herself, appearing before the public in the title role in “”. This wonderful opera by G. Puccini had not been staged before at the Bolshoi Theater, but it occupies a special place in her life: while performing it at the Rome Opera, she met Yusif Eyvazov, who later became her husband. In the Bolshoi Theater performance, this singer performed the role of the Chevalier de Grieux. Equally wonderful performers performed in other roles: Lesko - Elchin Azizov, Geront - Alexander Naumenko, Marat Gali - Dance Teacher, Yulia Mazurova - Singer.

One of the main difficulties of the role of Manon Lescaut is the contradiction between the heroine’s youth and the vocal part, which requires a strong voice and considerable experience. Both appear in singers at a fairly mature age. She has these qualities - the artist delighted the audience with the richness of all registers, the richness of timbre colors, the subtlety of nuance and phrasing, and her amazing plasticity allows the experienced singer to look convincing in the image of a young girl. Having initially appeared very young - half a child, in the second act the heroine already looks like a seductive young woman, but as soon as her lover appears - and again in all her movements the features of a girl appear, so spontaneous in the sincerity of her feelings. 39-year-old Yu. Eyvazov looks just as convincing in the role of an impetuous young man in love. True, the singer’s voice did not always sound smooth, although on the whole the performer coped with the part.

Manon Lescaut - Anna Netrebko. Chevalier des Grieux - Yusif Eyvazov. Photo by Damir Yusupov

The performance was conducted by Yader Binyamini. The conductor's work made a pleasant impression on both the audience and the audience, who believe that singing with an orchestra under his direction is very convenient. The orchestra, choir and soloists' voices sounded balanced and clear, delighting listeners with the richness and subtlety of nuances. The cello solo was beautifully performed by B. Lifanovsky. The choreographic scenes staged by Tatyana Baganova looked very elegant.

The weak point of the play "" turned out to be the direction. Director Adolf Shapiro - like - is collaborating with the Bolshoi Theater for the first time, but - unlike the singer - he did not show his best side. The director’s idea in itself is not bad: to emphasize in the image of the heroine the features of a girl who has not completely left childhood and has found herself in a cruel “adult” world, where she can be used as a toy. But instead of psychologically working out the role with the performer, the director is carried away by demonstrating symbols - such as, for example, a doll in the hands of Manon, dressed in the same dress and hat as the heroine herself. Carried away by such external attributes, the director seems to forget about the performers - and as a result, Manon looks somewhat cold. But she knows how to create such lively, emotional images on stage - just remember her Natasha Rostova! One can only regret that the director ignored this side of her talent. In some moments of the performance, the director reaches outright surrealism, completely out of harmony with G. Puccini’s music: a giant doll with a rotating head and moving eyes in the second act, a “freak show” in the third act, more appropriate in a circus than in an opera house...

Despite such directorial mistakes, the debut at the Bolshoi Theater can be considered successful. I would like to believe that the singer’s first role on the main stage of Russia will not be her last, and the audience of the Bolshoi Theater will discover new facets of her talent.

“The first two days were a shock, then we somehow got used to it”

The unusual, wildly riotous crowd of press at the entrance is a sure sign that somewhere behind the scenes they are hiding the Diva - the star of the first magnitude of the opera stage, Anna Netrebko. On October 16, the Bolshoi gives its version of “Manon Lescaut,” directed by Adolphe Shapiro (conducted by Yader Binyamini). Actually, the Bolshoi Theater does not hide the fact that the project arose “due to the firm desire of the management” to invite Anna to perform on the historical stage. Well, Yusif Eyvazov will perform in the role of Chevalier Rene des Grieux.

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Giacomo Puccini wrote 12 operas during his life, and “Manon Lescaut” is the third (painfully created in the period 1890-92), in which Puccini’s talent as a lyricist and melodist was revealed more than ever. “My Manon is Italian, it is passion and despair,” the composer wrote, comparing his heroine with the French woman Manon from Massenet’s opera of the same name.

Anna appeared in a strict black suit with white dots, lavishing smiles.

This is very important work for us,” noted the theater’s general director Vladimir Urin. “A year ago we agreed with Anna and Yusif that we would do this project; it was not in the theater’s plans at all.” Yesterday there was a run-through, we already understand what we did there, I hope this will arouse interest....

Anna immediately picks up:

It is a great honor for me to perform here, this is a great theater, the work was wonderful, the production was very interesting; the director was patient with us, and the conductor worked in difficult conditions, because the orchestra and choir saw this score for the first time.

“I can only join the words of the Prima Donna,” noted Yusif Eyvazov, “the team is well-functioning like clockwork, people help in everything.” There are a lot of impressions.

It should be noted that this is the debut of dramatic director Adolf Shapiro on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater; he noted that it was easy for him to work with Urin and the soloists, “it’s interesting: everywhere they talk and talk and talk, but here they sing and sing about love.” All the musicians noted that Shapiro was always open to new ideas, and expressed confidence that the production managed to maintain the language of Puccini.

This is one of my favorite Puccini operas, strong, dramatic, especially when I have such a strong and passionate partner with me,” continues Anna. - Manon is, first of all, a woman, it doesn’t matter what her nationality is, what matters is what emotions she evoked in men - strong and passionate. This opera is performed live extremely rarely; it is difficult to create a good production: the plot is so fragmented, in some ways even abstract...

This performance means a lot to us,” echoes Yusif, “and tears just flowed from my eyes when I heard Anya in the fourth act... for a second it really seemed to me that we were in the desert and these were the last moments of life.

The image is very complete,” says Anna, “you can add only in small things, or make Manon more experienced from the very beginning, or innocent. Well, if I don’t like the director’s interpretation, then I just leave... but here everything was very good. Although the acoustics are very difficult for singers standing on stage. The sound does not return. The first two days it was a shock, but then we somehow got used to it.

By the way, Anna met Yusif in Rome precisely at the production of “Manon Lescaut.”

I knew that there was such a star, but I didn’t attach much importance, but when I heard her sing, I also realized that she was a healthy person, without quirks... and this is a rarity in the opera world. And I fell in love. So we invite everyone to the premiere!

In addition to participating in “Manon Lescaut”, on February 7, 2018, a solo concert by Anna Netrebko is planned with Spivakov at the controls.

Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” appeared in the repertoire of the main theater of the country at the personal request of our prima donna - the theater wanted to get the singer, but she was only satisfied with this opera. The director was also chosen according to her - so that he would not be too avant-garde, the diva does not like cool experimenters. Nevertheless, it was not a benefit performance of a superstar, but a performance of the highest class.

An inclined panel spans the entire stage, on it is a snow-white toy city (the buildings are somewhere up to the actors’ waists). The story of Manon Lescaut - a girl from a decent family who was brought up in a monastery, and then rushed between great love and big money - is told by director Adolphe Shapiro as the story of a woman-toy. This white town - Amiens, where the young poet de Grieux wanders and where he meets Manon traveling with his brother - is an absolutely fabulous place. It is inhabited by some cheerful people in colorful (dwarven?) caps, the means of communication between Amiens and Paris is not a trivial horse-drawn carriage, but a hot air balloon, romantic snow is falling from the sky - and in general it seems that this story will certainly be happy. Here is this girl - and Netrebko here plays just a girl in a doll’s fur coat and with a doll in her hands - and this young man (39-year-old Eyvazov, a gentleman with no child’s build, perfectly reproduces youthful plasticity - impetuosity, inability to cope with one’s own hands, the desire to approach to the object of love and dying fear) should be happy in this New Year's fairy tale, right?

True, Puccini's music, in which there is too much passion for a happy-candy story, hints to us that there will be no happiness - but the young conductor Yader Binyamini slightly holds back this passion for now. And no one is forbidden to hope, is it? And while between the first and second acts the scenery is being rearranged behind a closed curtain (where at this moment fragments of the book by Abbe Prevost about Manon and the Chevalier des Grieux, which inspired many authors for operas and ballets - including Puccini in 1893), are projected, she did not bother to read libretto, the secular public rejoices at the plot in which no one, it seems, is going to die tragically (not like in other works by Puccini like “Tosca” or “Madama Butterfly”).

There is a lot of secular audience, “going to Netrebko” gives not only a chance to listen to a wonderful voice, but also a feeling of belonging to the “cream of the cream”. (It’s not for nothing that tickets for 15 thousand rubles flew away on the day sales began). The secular public is upset: no one is going to tell them fairy tales. When the curtain opens in the second act, the audience first gasps, then begins to applaud nervously: Manon’s Parisian apartment (which she has already left her poor lover des Grieux and settled with Geronte, a very rich lover) makes a frightening impression. The gigantic - almost to the grate - mirror is tilted so that the reflection of the most expensive part of the stalls also falls into it: yes, yes, dear viewers, some of you live exactly like this, say director Adolf Shapiro and set designer Maria Tregubova. And next to this mirror sits an equally giant doll - the baby doll that was in the hands of the girl Manon has turned into a monster, turning its head and carefully examining the heroine and her visitors. This doll has cosmetic flies stuck on it... but no, they are not cosmetic at all. Huge black flies sit on this toy - some kind of surreal, Buñuelian horror.

Photo: Kirill Kallinikov / RIA Novosti

Actually, this is all just a makeup table: jewelry is thrown here, a pearl necklace is on the doll (each pearl is like a cannonball). There has simply been a dramatic change in scale: whereas in the first act people were larger than houses, now they are smaller than precious trinkets. This house, where Geront (the colorful role of Alexander Naumenko, the cane in the hands of his character turns into some kind of spider's paw, emphasizing the danger of this man), was designated by Manon - a specially designed doll's house with such terrible amusements. The elderly man clearly wanted to keep his little girl, his little property - but the girl in an evening dress with seductively bare shoulders is no longer a girl, she looks differently - she learns to take advantage of the situation. When des Grieux appears, she, however, remembers what it means to be sincere and to be happy - and Netrebko amazingly plays all this: both in her voice and in her plasticity, Manon is again a girl. But at the decisive moment, when she needs to escape from the cursed house, Manon rushes to collect jewelry - and wastes time, and gets caught by the police, who were set on her by a “benefactor” enraged by her escape attempt.

If the first and second acts took a long time to unfold the picture, introduce the characters, and let you look at the details - the third and fourth acts are in a hurry, the characters will soon run out of time. The scene in Le Havre, where de Grieux unsuccessfully tries to arrange the escape of Manon, who is being sent to hard labor in America, is filled with such rapid despair that even the stalls stop rustling the candy wrappers. This is a very colorful despair - with a wild parade of Manon’s “comrades in misfortune”, where next to the heroine there are clearly inexpensive workers in the sex industry, a hefty transvestite, sufferers from the “circus of freaks” and for some reason a black girl in a wedding dress. The moment of the ship's departure is fantastically done: a triangular piece with the heroes suddenly breaks out of the previously flat stage and, swaying like an ice floe, travels into the darkness. Uncertainty, danger, the unnaturalness of this fate - everything is in this piece of floor, which suddenly ceased to be reliable and firmly standing in place.

The entire final act is Netrebko and Eyvazov alone on stage. The stage is empty; According to the plot, Manon and des Grieux wander through an endless wasteland in America, having escaped from the commandant who harassed the heroine (these circumstances are behind the scenes). In Shapiro’s play they are “in the middle of nowhere”: a bare floor, dark backstage, and only in the backdrop do ragged phrases appear, as if written by hand - “help”, “I don’t want to die”. Phrases melt, as if washed away by tears, letters flow, disappear completely, new ones appear in their place, until the entire backdrop turns into a jumble of half-erased words and phrases written on top of them. This is the incredible mental and physical fatigue of the heroine, who is exhausted on the way and close to death: from Manon’s gloomy, gentle, masterly monologue (Netrebko was even better than herself here), the main desires and emotions are highlighted. Replies from de Grieux, who consoles the unfortunate woman and tries to ask for help from the Almighty, emphasize the deafness of the surrounding world and the deafness of heaven; they are also erased by tears. All games end here - Manon is no longer a toy, Manon is already dead.

Recently, inviting drama directors to stage opera performances has been the policy of the Bolshoi Theater. This policy did not always bring success: next to the subtle and precise “Don Pasquale” by Timofey Kulyabin in the repertoire now stands the disappointingly vague “Iolanta” by the excellent director Sergei Zhenovach. But in the case of “Manon Lescaut,” the Bolshoi emerged victorious: Adolf Shapiro (not a debutant in opera - at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater he staged “Lucia de Lammermoor,” which received the “Golden Mask”) managed to convey both the nerve and tenderness of this operas by Puccini. It is clear that Anna Netrebko was magnificent. Another victory of the performance is the work of Yusif Eyvazov: he sings a lot on the first world stages, but until now he has been slightly shielded from the Russian public by his wife (he and Anna Netrebko got married last December). Now his work could be fully appreciated - and his des Grieux became one of the important successes of the current season. Thus, the project, which began in the spirit of “we will do everything for the star, as long as she sings,” turned into a triumph for the theater. It would be good if the theater remembered him - and did not hesitate to continue inviting stars of the first row. Even if they set fairly strict conditions.

This weekend, opera stars are shining in Moscow, 20 bright film premieres from around the world are being shown in “October”, and the updated and improved Usachevsky market invites you to try and buy fresh farm products and home-made dishes

Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov in the opera Manon Lescaut. Photo: Damira Yusupova/Bolshoi Theater

"Manon Lescaut" with Anna Netrebko

The diva will sing on Saturday, October 22. This is the most eventful premiere of the season. There have been no tickets on the official website for a long time, and resellers’ price for the performance reaches 112 thousand for a seat in the stalls

Tickets are, of course, the main intrigue of the upcoming premiere. Just two weeks ago Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov sang in Barvikha. The cheapest tickets on the eve of the concert cost 50 thousand, in the stalls they were more expensive - 90 thousand and 85 thousand rubles each, but they could be purchased on the official website of the concert hall - just pay. In the Bolshoi, however, buying is also not a problem - there are plenty of sites: there are boxes for 33 thousand, and a mezzanine for 27 thousand, and a balcony, fourth tier, for 15 thousand rubles.

“When the sale of tickets to the Bolshoi Theater for Manon Lescaut opened and it was clear that there were no tickets left for our dates in just half a day, people began writing to us on Instagram and Facebook from different parts of Russia, who had bought plane tickets in advance , wanted to fly, but there are no tickets for these dates anymore, and resellers cost crazy amounts of money,” Eyvazov said in an exclusive interview with Business FM. “We asked the Bolshoi Theater, and the third performance will be screened and broadcast live both on the Culture channel and in front of the Bolshoi Theater.”(Full interview with Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov at).

Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” is Anna Netrebko’s signature role: she herself chose this material for her debut on the historical stage of the country’s main theater. Once upon a time, he and Yusif Eyvazov met at a rehearsal of this particular opera. The first impression is very strong, largely thanks to the stunning scenery of Masha Tregubova. One gets the feeling that for Moscow theaters this season she is the main star and trendsetter: she was the artist at the last premiere of Sovremennik, the play Late Love (where Tregubova’s scenography is generally the main advantage). For “Manon,” she made it like a paper town, the kind you draw for playing games on a smartphone: people walk between houses, lights come on in the windows from time to time, and smoke comes out of the chimneys. Looking at all this is a great pleasure, comparable to Netrebko’s impeccable singing. Before the performance, she mentioned that she was scared by the acoustics of the Bolshoi, but technically she performed everything flawlessly.

If we return to the tickets, then the excitement is quite understandable: the diva does not appear in Russia so often, the next time the singer can be seen live only in the summer at the Mariinsky Theater. There are enough tickets for Saturday: the cheapest seats are 11 thousand, the most expensive, the eighth row of the stalls, 127.5 thousand. But it’s better to take row 16: it looks a little worse, but it’s 22 thousand cheaper. Details on the website.

Big premiere at the Bolshoi. The famous opera “Manon Lescaut” by Giacomo Puccini is on the main stage of the country. The first parts will be performed by the inimitable Anna Netrebko and her husband and partner Yusif Eyvazov.

A black formal suit, but with a soft, charming smile on her face: Anna Netrebko went to the press in a good mood. After all, at the Bolshoi she sings the premiere of Puccini’s favorite opera “Manon Lescaut”.

“I perform it with great happiness and delight every time, and even more so when I have such a wonderful, strong and passionate partner with me,” says the singer.

He sits next to you at the table, he sings next to you on stage, and he walks next to you in life. After all, this is her husband, Yusif Eyvazov, the performer of the main male role - the Cavalier des Grieux.

For Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov, this opera is special. The fact is that they met two years ago at the rehearsal of “Manon Lescaut” in Rome. The 18th century love story was the beginning of modern romantic history. This was the first joint work - an opera imbued with passion and despair, where every word is about love. Chevalier des Grieux, aka Yusif Eyvazov, then discovered Manon Lescaut, aka Anna Netrebko, both as a singer and as a woman.

“I knew that she sings a certain repertoire, quite easy, that I don’t sing. Therefore, there was a special interest in her - I knew that there was such a star, a singer, and so on... But this acquaintance turned into love. And we are very happy!” - says the singer.

Their duet does not play passion, it experiences it. When Manon leaves her lover for a rich patron, it is a betrayal. When Manon realizes that money did not bring her happiness and returns - this is forgiveness. When he goes into exile for her, that’s love.

This production has already been dubbed a bit “hooligan”. Here are the costumes of the heroes - long dresses and frock coats in the fashion of the 19th century, and at the same time - sneakers, knitted hats and black glasses. And Bolshoi soloist Marat Gali came out to sing on his native stage in a ballet tutu! In this production he is the dance teacher.

“All my life I wanted to feel like I was in a ballet role, and now, after 14 years of a career at the Bolshoi Theater, I’m finally going out in a tutu. I find it very pleasant and easy!” - the singer laughs.

Anna Netrebko apparently feels the same way: in the same scene with the dance teacher, she stands on the ball without any safety net and sings at the same time!

“When we did this scene with Anna, this moment of risk came from her: “I can try to be on the ball!” But in general, an idea that is not directly related - a girl on a ball - is present,” says choreographer Tatyana Baganova.

And a six-meter doll calmly watches all this. This is both a symbol of luxury - Manon really wanted expensive toys for herself - and partly, the heroine herself. The image of “doll with doll” becomes a farce.

“Such a living stream, young, modern in this. Especially in the first act, she somehow lifts the mood a little before lowering it completely into a complete drama,” says Anna Netrebko.

But all the same, costumes and scenery are just surroundings. The immortal music of Puccini reigns over everything. And the performers of the main roles prefer not to think about the upcoming premiere in order to reduce the degree of excitement.

“If someone tells you that the singer doesn’t worry before singing “Manon Lescaut” - don’t believe it! Everyone is worried,” says Yusif Eyvazov.

“I don’t know... I’ll wake up the day after tomorrow and we’ll see!” - says Anna Netrebko.