Russian elite celebrate Bolshois lavish revival
MOSCOW, Oct 29 Russias Bolshoi Theatre re-opened yesterday with an exclusive party to celebrate a luxurious renovation that has taken six years, cost US$700 million (RM2.17 billion) and revived a revered cultural symbol scarred by centuries of use and abuse.
Politicians, billionaires, film directors and fashion designers of the Russian elite strolled the red carpet leading up to the cream-colored, eight-columned ballet and opera house that began life as a pet project by Empress Catherine the Great who founded it in 1776, the year the United States was born.
Medvedev paid tribute to all those involved in restoring lustre to a building that has been a physical witness to the rule of tsars, their brutal overthrow in the Bolshevik revolution, two world wars, the rise of the Soviet state, the collapse of communism and Russias latest resurgence in a capitalist world.
I would like to thank all those who took part in the rebirth of our miracle, our great national brand the Bolshoi Theatre, he told guests including Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian ballet legend Maya Plisetskaya, seated under a six-metre chandelier.
He then took a seat in a gold-lined box where tsars and Soviet leaders sat for performances.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is seeking a return to the presidency in a vote next March, did not attend the performance as he had a prior arrangement with a financial policing body, his spokesman said.
About 100 musicians and oper! a singer s in orange and white hard hats and workmens overalls took to the stage, where they burst into song performing Slavsya by the Russian 19th-century composer Mikhail Glinka.
Outside, Kremlin guards clad in charcoal grey wool overcoats encircled a Bolshoi all lit up in blue and gold for the event which Russian art enthusiasts hope will cement Moscows position as the arbiter of the classics.
The atmosphere is fantastic, the fact the theatre got finished is great, gushed Valentin Yudashkin, one of Russias top fashion designers.
The theatre, which has survived three fires, bombing in World War Two and was at one time perched above an underground river, has been restored to its opulent Tsarist beginnings, covered in gold leaf, and had cutting-edge acoustics added.
After years of neglect and heavy use during Soviet times, the theatre was closed in 2005 for restoration. The Bolshoi Ballet troupe continued performing on the neighbouring, but smaller new stage.
Yesterdays opening show featured top dancers such as Svetlana Zakharova and Maria Alexandrova, as well as guest opera singers including Frances Natalie Dessay and Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana.
A totally Russian repertoire was performed including pieces by composers Alexander Borodin, Dmitry Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev.
Elaborate set changes and an electronic backdrop showing black-and-white animations of the Bolshoi were part of the two-hour gala performance, receiving rapturous applause from the 2,000 guests.
Moscow city centre streets were grid-locked after security was beefed up to allow the guests in for a thoroughly Russian evening, which was broadcast live in Russia, Europe and the United States and live on video website Youtube.
Italian actress Monica Bellucci, swathed in diamonds and dressed in a strapless crimson dress, joined Russian officials as they crowded into the theatre, lined with plush red chairs that have been tested for sound absorption.
Rare pine wood applied to the w! alls als o helps improve the quality of the sound, which has won praise from leading opera singers, and even two of the nearest stations of Moscows sprawling metro will be soundproofed.
The Bolshoi had world-class acoustics before the Communist era, when sound-reflecting gold was scraped off and stolen and the hollow cylinder underneath the orchestra, thought to be impractical, was filled with cement.
Rigid Soviet-era seats have been replaced in the latest renovation with fewer, wider and more comfortable ones, cutting the number for the main stage to 1,720 from 2,200.
But not everyone was pleased with the grand revamp. The Bolshois principal dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze has repeatedly told local media the old theatres interior has been replaced with even cheaper material. Reuters
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