27.07.2012
A Groundbreaking Season of Online Theatre
During the 2011/2012 season, the Mikhailovsky Theatre organized eight live Internet broadcasts of its best productions and special events in conjunction with Rostelecom and the ParaClassics web portal. Internet users worldwide were able to watch operas, ballets, and concerts in real time, free of charge.
The first event to be broadcast was the traditional Mikhailovsky Theatre Grand Prix, held on 30 November and 1 December 2011. The Internet broadcast made it possible for parents, teachers, and classmates to watch the young competitors’ performances live. Ballet schools in Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Perm, Ufa, Moscow, and St. Petersburg were able to ‘root for their own’.
The Sleeping Beauty was broadcast on 20 December 2011. Nacho Duato’s new version of the ballet had been awaited with enormous anticipation: all tickets for the seven performances in December were sold out several weeks before the premiere. Ballet lovers who had not been able to purchase tickets got an amazing opportunity to watch the performance on their computers or mobile devices.
The series of live broadcasts continued in 2012. The first of the year was Verdi’s opera Un ballo in maschera on 21 January. On the podium that evening was the theatre’s new Musical Director and Principal Conductor Mikhail Tatarnikov.
Interest in the opera Cavalleria Rusticana, which was broadcast live on 10 February, was very high, particularly because of the performer in the principal female role. Santuzza was sung by the Swedish opera star Iréne Theorin. Pietro Mascagni’s vivid, dramatic music and the subtle direction of Liliana Cavani transported the audience into a little Sicilian town where ‘veristic’ passions raged.
During the premiere of Nacho Duato’s ballet Multiplicity. Forms of Silence and Emptiness on 22 March, viewers all over the world had the chance to see on stage not only the Mikhailovsky Theatre ballet company, but also its Artistic Director. Nacho Duato himself performed the choreographic prologue and epilogue to the ballet.
In La Juive on 10 May, viewers of the broadcast were able to appreciate the technique of a brilliant ensemble of vocalists, including two representatives of the American school of singing. The principal role was performed by the celebrated tenor Neil Shicoff, who has made the part of Eléazar his own. The role of Prince Léopold was sung by Robert McPherson, who was making his Russian debut. The conductor was Peter Feranec.
In July the Mikhailovsky Theatre staged concerts to mark the composer Sergey Slonimsky’s 80th birthday. They were planned and conducted by Vladimir Yurovsky. On 10 July Internet users were able to be virtually present at the world première of Slonimsky’s 32nd Symphony and to watch Act I of the opera The Master and Margarita online.
The season of live broadcasts concluded with the ever-popular Don Quixote, featuring the brilliant dancing of Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev — indisputably the best Kitri and Basilio of our time. The live broadcast gave ballet lovers all over the world the opportunity to see the dancers in their most celebrated roles.
After each broadcast, the theatre received numerous responses with expressions of delight and gratitude. Viewers wrote messages and left comments on social networks in Russian, English, and Spanish: “Thank you for the live broadcast — it was a real pleasure!”; “I have become a real ballet fan after watching the broadcast from the Mikhailovsky Theatre”; “Bravo, bravo, bravo!” The Mikhailovsky Theatre productions were watched in China, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, and Spain. High quality video and sound was guaranteed for every user thanks to the telecommunications expertise of Rostelecom and the ParaClassics web portal. These events have helped the Mikhailovsky Theatre to substantially increase the number of its fans over the past season, and gain a devoted ‘virtual audience’.
The first event to be broadcast was the traditional Mikhailovsky Theatre Grand Prix, held on 30 November and 1 December 2011. The Internet broadcast made it possible for parents, teachers, and classmates to watch the young competitors’ performances live. Ballet schools in Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Perm, Ufa, Moscow, and St. Petersburg were able to ‘root for their own’.
The Sleeping Beauty was broadcast on 20 December 2011. Nacho Duato’s new version of the ballet had been awaited with enormous anticipation: all tickets for the seven performances in December were sold out several weeks before the premiere. Ballet lovers who had not been able to purchase tickets got an amazing opportunity to watch the performance on their computers or mobile devices.
The series of live broadcasts continued in 2012. The first of the year was Verdi’s opera Un ballo in maschera on 21 January. On the podium that evening was the theatre’s new Musical Director and Principal Conductor Mikhail Tatarnikov.
Interest in the opera Cavalleria Rusticana, which was broadcast live on 10 February, was very high, particularly because of the performer in the principal female role. Santuzza was sung by the Swedish opera star Iréne Theorin. Pietro Mascagni’s vivid, dramatic music and the subtle direction of Liliana Cavani transported the audience into a little Sicilian town where ‘veristic’ passions raged.
During the premiere of Nacho Duato’s ballet Multiplicity. Forms of Silence and Emptiness on 22 March, viewers all over the world had the chance to see on stage not only the Mikhailovsky Theatre ballet company, but also its Artistic Director. Nacho Duato himself performed the choreographic prologue and epilogue to the ballet.
In La Juive on 10 May, viewers of the broadcast were able to appreciate the technique of a brilliant ensemble of vocalists, including two representatives of the American school of singing. The principal role was performed by the celebrated tenor Neil Shicoff, who has made the part of Eléazar his own. The role of Prince Léopold was sung by Robert McPherson, who was making his Russian debut. The conductor was Peter Feranec.
In July the Mikhailovsky Theatre staged concerts to mark the composer Sergey Slonimsky’s 80th birthday. They were planned and conducted by Vladimir Yurovsky. On 10 July Internet users were able to be virtually present at the world première of Slonimsky’s 32nd Symphony and to watch Act I of the opera The Master and Margarita online.
The season of live broadcasts concluded with the ever-popular Don Quixote, featuring the brilliant dancing of Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev — indisputably the best Kitri and Basilio of our time. The live broadcast gave ballet lovers all over the world the opportunity to see the dancers in their most celebrated roles.
After each broadcast, the theatre received numerous responses with expressions of delight and gratitude. Viewers wrote messages and left comments on social networks in Russian, English, and Spanish: “Thank you for the live broadcast — it was a real pleasure!”; “I have become a real ballet fan after watching the broadcast from the Mikhailovsky Theatre”; “Bravo, bravo, bravo!” The Mikhailovsky Theatre productions were watched in China, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, and Spain. High quality video and sound was guaranteed for every user thanks to the telecommunications expertise of Rostelecom and the ParaClassics web portal. These events have helped the Mikhailovsky Theatre to substantially increase the number of its fans over the past season, and gain a devoted ‘virtual audience’.
