Synopsis
Programme
Impressions/Performances
Marauding soldiers, rape, captivity, a dashing hero and an armed revolt - sounds like last night at Covent Garden and the Bolshoi's "Spartacus." But that is where the similarity ends. The Mikhailovsky's "Laurencia" is a brasher and far more colourful affair, making "Spartacus" seem a rather somber affair by comparison. And unlike "Spartacus", it isn't the hero's body that is going to end up on a spit! It is a fascinating piece, that bears much in common with the other 'peasant' ballets like "Don Quixote," "Coppelia," or "Giselle" - idyllic rustic locations inhabited by perky maidens, handsome young men, and comical village elders. But it has darker overtones in it's scenes of military brutality, rape and ultimate, violent revenge.
It is a rarely seen ballet that tells the essentially true story of a Spanish village that rose up against a local tyrant. The story was first made into a play by the Spanish playwright, Lope de Vega, and it is this version of the story that the ballet, created for the Kirov in 1939, closely follows. It centres around a capricious girl, Laurencia of the title, and her ardent admirer, Frondoso, ready to flit and leap all the way to their wedding. But standing in the way is the villainous military commander who wants Laurencia for himself. Laurencia wants nothing to do with him, and when her lover, Frondoso, springs to her defence she decides to end her capricious teasing and agree to marry him. The Commander exacts his revenge upon them both, but he fails to account for the villagers reaction, who rise up against him.
As one might expect from an internationally reknowned Russian the performances were first class. Marat Shemiunov as Frondoso is a tall, long-limbed dancer, who dances with eager fervidity and bounds across the stage like a feather floating on the breeze. Ekaterina Borchenko was an elegant and sophisticated Laurencia, dancing with with fine tuned precision. Her acting as a rape victim, all torn skirts, tousled hair, and hands clutching the skies, was particularly moving.
On the negative side, the music by Alexander Krein is, to be fair, mediocre compared to that of the other great Russian composers - lacking, as is does, for example, Tchaikovsky's natural flair for melody, Kachaturian's passion, or Prokofiev's intense orchestration. The largest failing of the music is that it has little authentic flavour, with even the castanet dances not sounding particularly Spanish. It is adequate, but it only provides a background to the movement - it does not fuse with it the way Tchaikovsky's great ballet suites do, or build and accentuate it the way Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" does. The choreography, likewise, follows in much the same vein, good, but, for the most part, not particularly inspiring. No such qualms about the production values, however, the costumes are superb, and the five colourful sets beautifully rendered with amazing depth. All in all, an excellent rendition of a worthy but rarely seen ballet, but one which, with its faults, is likely to remain a rare treat.
Verdict
Colourful and impressive, an excellent rendition of a rarely seen ballet.
Don Gillan - www.stagebeauty.net