Opening of the 88th Season

The Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus will traditionally open new season with the premiere: on 8 and 9 September 2020 the audience will see the premiere of Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg.

The plot is based on a dramatic poem by Henrik Ibsen, created in 1867 －a work that today remains largely unsolved and therefore attracts attention. On the one hand it is a fairy tale story, on the other － a phantasmagoria in the spirit of surrealism, populated by outlandish characters, none of which can be clearly understood. And in the center is the path of the main character: both a series of adventures, and a romantic search for yourself in the world, and a complex existential experience.

The first Belarusian Peer Gynt remained in the repertoire until 1978, and now, more than 40 years later, this production again adorns the calendar of the Bolshoi Theatre. The People's Artist of Belarus Alexander Anissimov has been fascinated by this work for many years: in 2018 in his version and under his guidance a musical and dramatic composition to Grieg’s music based on the Ibsen’s play was performed from the stage of the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society. The conductor chose a non-trivial path: taking as a basis the music for Ibsen's drama, he supplemented it with Grieg’s works, many of which are little known in the orchestral sound. At the same time, the score is not limited to a symphony orchestra: the singing parts of soloists and vocal ensembles are of great importance. Thus, the ballet acquires the features of a synthetic genre.

Winner of international competitions and recipient of the national theatre award Sergey Mikel is the choreographer of the new production. Peer Gynt story in the view of Sergey Mikel is a whole series of "life projects" constructed by Him. These projects are not always successful, sometimes far-fetched, sometimes accidental, but always pursuing one goal: to find yourself.

The lead roles of the production will be performed by the leading ballet artists of the theatre: Irina Eromkina, Olga Gaiko, Maryna Vezhnavets, Liudmila Khitrova, Yana Shtangei, Alexandra Chizhik, Viktoryia Trenkina, Liudmila Ulantsava, Tatsiana Ulasen, Anna Fokina, Anton Kravchenko, Igor Artamonov, Oleg Eromkin, Egor Azarkevich, Konstantin Geronik, Even Capitaine, Igor Onoshko, Takatoshi Machiyama, Ivan Savenkov, Artem Bankovsky, etc. The ballet will also feature the leading opera soloists: Tatyana Gavrilova, Tatiana Petrova, Elena Bundeleva, Elena Zolova, Inna Rusinovskaya, Olga Malinouskaya, Alexander Gelakh, Dmitry Shabetya, Andrey Klipo, etc.

Фото: Михаил Нестеров