Raymonda (Sergei Vikharev’s reconstruction)
La Scala Ballet
Teatro alla Scala, Milan
October 27 & 28, 2011

The lure of a new Vikharev reconstruction is hard to resist, and I travelled to Milan two weeks ago to see his latest production: a recreation of the original Petipa Raymonda for La Scala Ballet. The result is beyond fascinating – see the gallery below to get an idea of the scale of the enterprise. I reviewed the first cast for the Financial Times:

What is the real Petipa experience? Not many of us can claim to know, but Sergei Vikharev’s Raymonda, an attempt to reconstruct this 1898 ballet from notation, provides some answers. Premiered earlier this month, this lavish production for La Scala Ballet gives a taste of the grandeur the art form strove for under Marius Petipa in St Petersburg.

Raymonda is not an easy ballet to stage. With its big cast, difficult ballerina role and slight storyline, it has often been overlooked or changed beyond recognition, but Vikharev, who has reconstructed 19th-century ballets for companies round the world, has restored features long dropped from international productions. One of his great strengths is that he has complete faith in Petipa: the story is told as it was originally written, with extensive mime, and as a result everything finally makes sense. The White Lady, a non-dancing role, presides over Raymonda’s castle again, and the love story, so forgettable in most versions, benefits from the scale and unhurried rhythm of Acts I and II.

From the letters the chastely enamoured Jean de Brienne sends to Raymonda in Act I to the Vision scene – Raymonda apotheosised as a poetic ideal – medieval courtly love reigns supreme. The Saracen knight Abderahman is a threat to that ideal, and the structure of the ballet is plain: he is the obstacle that must be overcome before Raymonda and Jean de Brienne can be united. The choreography has been restored to its classical structure and simplicity, and at more than three hours, with the original painted sets and hundreds of reproduced costumes, the production is a true banquet: pomp, circumstance, and an entire world on stage to absorb over the course of an evening. (…)

» Read the full review in the Financial Times

I was also lucky to see another cast on October 28, led by Francesca Podini and Gabriele Corrado. Both were making their debuts, and while the performance was less cohesive than the previous night, this Raymonda doesn’t live or die on the lead dancers’ charisma. Given the scale of the world portrayed, even Olesya Novikova’s superb entrechats quatre on pointe (for the record, Francesca Podini only did changements) don’t stand out as a highlight in themselves – they’re seamlessly integrated into the fabric of the ballet.

Francesca Podini was the opposite of Novikova as Raymonda: a tall, gangly dancer, she looked almost too mature for Act I and II. Her best moments came in Act III, in the Hungarian Grand Pas and the “claque” variation, which she handled with aplomb. That part of the ballet makes very different demands on the ballerina, and where Novikova wasn’t fully in charge of the music or her character the previous night, Podini was able to command the stage. Her Jean de Brienne, Gabriele Corralo, did very well in the one variation he is allowed to dance in the production – the role is so slight that one wonders why La Scala brought in a guest (Stuttgart Ballet’s Friedemann Vogel) to partner Novikova in the first cast.

The company does seem to be changing under Makhar Vaziev, the former Mariinsky director who took the helm in 2009. The dancers’ proportions may be at odds with what you see in St. Petersburg, but there was something dictinctly Russian about the soloists’ épaulement, head placement and musicality in Raymonda, mixed with traits of the Italian school: speed, verve, joy.  Nearly all of the dancers featured in variations did Sergei Vikharev proud with brisk, precise renditions. I was particularly taken with Petra Conti, who danced Clémence on October 28 and went on to debut as Raymonda the next week. A strong dancer blessed with an expressive face, I hear (via @gramilano on Twitter) that she was promoted to Soloist at the end of the run.

In terms of ballet history,  I think the production also helps to understand why Petipa chose to choreograph this story. Much like The Sleeping Beauty, with its idea of a divine order restored, the medieval, courtly world of Raymonda is a vision of harmony – we see a structured household with every generation represented on stage, Raymonda and Jean de Brienne’s love is a noble ideal not unlike Aurora and Désiré’s, and Abderahman, the symbol of danger and disorder, is logically annihilated. It’s a softer take on the idea of a divine hierarchy, not Apollonian and triumphant but tinged with melancholy, and it makes the ballet all the more appealing.

One question lingers: Why wasn’t Sergei Vikharev invited to stage this Raymonda for the Mariinsky Ballet? Everything speaks of St. Petersburg traditions in this reconstruction, and from the lavish corps de ballet scenes to the dramatic detailing for the soloists, the entire company would shine. La Scala Ballet has done an extraordinary job with this production, and Mariinsky director Yuri Fateyev should take note: Spreading a company too thin with endless tours has a price, and his record is looking less and less impressive.

More around this Raymonda, which will be performed again next season in Milan:

» The full Italian TV broadcast on Youtube (in 4 parts)
» Historical photos and sketches on La Scala’s website
» Videos (trailer, behind the scenes feature, Sergei Vikharev interview) on La Scala’s website

Francesca Podini (Raymonda) and Andrea Volpintesta (Abderahman) in Raymonda © Marco Brescia & Rudy Amisano

Francesca Podini (Raymonda) and Gabriele Corrado (Jean de Brienne) in Raymonda © Marco Brescia & Rudy Amisano