Opera premiere

Anna Netrebko, together with her husband Yusif Eyvazov, performed for the first time on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater in the premiere of Puccini's opera "Manon Lescaut". Specially for the world star, the performance was shortly composed and staged by director Adolph Shapiro, artist Maria Tregubova and conductor Yader Binyamini. Even if the new production is not included in the number of theatrical sensations, the very appearance of a star couple in it has already made "Manon" more than an event of the season and one of the main achievements of the new administration of the Bolshoi Theater. By YULIA BEDEROVA.

Two "Manons", Massenet and Puccini, are performing on world opera stages with equal success. Anna Netrebko, with her well-established reputation as a light soprano, but consistently expanding her repertoire, in the demanding part of Puccini's Manon, made her debut not so long ago at the Rome Opera with conductor Riccardo Muti. Success and an important biographical detail (in this production Netrebko met her future husband Yusif Eyvazov) made Puccini's "Manon" the favorite score of the star couple. In it, the voices of both singers are revealed in all the nuances of vocal expressiveness, and the stage charm adds strength and beauty to the main theme of "Manon" - this is an opera about love, and Netrebko and Eyvazov play love easily, passionately and with pleasure.

In the performance of the Bolshoi Theater, they spend a lot of time kissing and hugging, and this circumstance can hardly be considered a disadvantage of the performance - rather, on the contrary. In the end, the performance was staged for Netrebko's sake, her presence explains the most fundamental moments of the premiere - from choosing a name to choosing a conductor. Yader Binyamini carefully furnishes the voices of the main characters with vigorous, athletic pace in a smooth balance, although the choir and ensemble of soloists (brilliant Elchin Azizov - Lesko, spectacular and neat Alexander Naumenko - Geront, Marat Gali - Dance teacher, Singer - Yulia Mazurova and others) all eyes follow the athletic-purposeful conductor's hand, so as not to disperse and not be late somewhere.

For the directors of the play, the minimum task was to create such a theatrical setting that would not interfere with the world star, but would only decorate her debut on the main stage. And apparently, the only thing that Netrebko had to cope with not without effort was a difficult acoustic situation, which arose, probably due to the staging decision, when the great depth of the stage box began to pick up and absorb sound. At least this (and additional instructions from the conductor), most likely, explains the unusually uncertain sound of the excellent choir of the Bolshoi Theater. But the main pair of soloists, staying almost always close to or on the stage, coped well with this problem.

In the meantime, the performance has turned out to be perhaps the most amazing production of the Bolshoi Theater in recent years. And her main visual metaphor is a huge bobblehead in huge beads with massive iron beetles and ants on a giant plastic body (Manon's metaphorical jewels) - an image as strong as it is strange and surprisingly abandoned in the final acts. If the theme of the performance is the transformation of Manon, first from a child with a doll into a doll - a toy of adults and circumstances, then into a real, non-toy loving woman, then, of course, there is no time for dolls in the finale. But still, many episodes of the play look like excerpts of metaphors or spectacular visual tricks (that bobblehead turns his head and blinks slowly, it seems that now he will get up and go as a Golem) and cause more amazement than empathy. The parade of freaks in the scene of the loading of exiles on a ship in Le Havre (not the first in the history of the performances of "Manon") is a magnificent fireworks display of funny and monstrous types in bright colors, exploding the black and white palette of the performance. But in music, meanwhile, a real Puccini catastrophe is unfolding, the image of Manon grows to a cosmic tragic volume. The contrast of the heroine's black sadness with the freaks' circus could work for the power of the impression, but in this crazy parade there is so much movement and eerie miracles that it inevitably draws attention to itself: Manon is lost in the crowd, her voice and image have to be fished out of the mise-en-scene.

The listener has to apply the same amount of effort to stay with the music in the final scene, where, it would seem, there is no one and nothing. The scenic desert embracing the heroes in the center is beautiful, but here the text projected onto the backdrop (fragments of the libretto and the novel) begins to talk to the audience with surprising detail. The entertaining, explanatory pathos of the production, as if addressed to an inexperienced audience, is understandable in its own way. The lack of musicality of the theatrical solution is perhaps the main thing for which the new performance can be blamed. But with the task of a spectacular frame for the voices and acting skills of the protagonists, from which the audience does not get bored, he copes something is not needed at all.

The new "Manon" at the Bolshoi is a production of those in which the opposition "traditional performance - director's performance" is dying. That would be good, but here the performance turns out to be not entirely clear. For the director's work, he lacks conceptual harmony and balance, for the sensation of simple operatic organics without concepts, there is not enough sincerity and nuances. The whole tone of the production is hypertrophied, uplifted, interesting solutions with unusual scaling (a tiny city, huge people, a giant bobblehead, small characters), it would seem, they are talking about something, but it turns out that they are not saying something to the end. However, they do not interfere and even help the Puccini heroes to clearly communicate everything.

Anna Netrebko's Manon is not only brilliant and charming, but also unusual. The star plays her Manon as almost a Wagnerian heroine, as a passionate and strong nature - even in the role of a toy, she deliberately plays with people rather than with her. Netrebko builds the part powerfully and complexly, using a huge variety of vocal colors - from subtle, almost watercolor to dark and dense. Her Manon is hypnotically attractive not only because of her vocals. It is she herself, no matter what the libretto says, for the sake of her beloved she will do anything, it is she with her power and the force of passion that leads him into the desert of love that cancels everything, even life, where there is only love, everything else is simply unimportant, nothing There is no other. And the sincerity and ardor of de Grieux's response in the wonderful performance of Eyvazov, captivating the audience with great vocal skill and acting trepidation, become her reward.

The long-awaited event finally happened: the main Russian singer sang at the main Russian opera house. And she not only sang, but also played in a full-fledged production. Especially for Anna Netrebko, the Bolshoi staged an opera of her choice - Puccini's Manon Lescaut. This is her current preference. The singer, who once shone in frivolous sauteous parts for the light soprano, is now more interested in the repertoire of a more solid weight category. She is not afraid of a large orchestra, a low register, exhausting distances. From Mozart it deliberately moves towards Wagner and Italian verism, one of the best exhibits of which is Manon Lescaut (1893; not to be confused with the French Manon Massenet, written just a few years earlier).

Another new incidental circumstance is the tenor husband, very vociferous, suitable for the role of des Grieux. So the couple prefers not to be separated, if possible. And the Bolshoi Theater, of course, provided it to them. For Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov, "Manon Lescaut" is painted in additional romantic tones - playing the roles of passionate but unhappy lovers on the stage of the Rome Opera a couple of years ago, they happily found each other in real life.

So, for the complete set, you also need a conductor, caring for the voices of the main newsmakers, who for the first time adapt to the huge space of the Historical stage. There is such a young Italian, Yader Binyamini, invited by Netrebko herself. Soloists can be heard, local singers are confidently sounding next to the distinguished guests, especially those performing the roles of villains: the rich old voluptuous Geront (Alexander Naumenko) and the cynical brother Manon, Sergeant Lesko (Elchin Azizov). The choir was less fortunate - its lines do not always catch up with an overly lively orchestra. Lack of accuracy, however, is compensated by temperament. After Intermezzo at the beginning of the third act, the famous symphonic sketch depicting des Grieux's longing for the arrested Manon, the maestro ceremoniously lifts the orchestra to bow in the pit.

Well, you also need to correctly select the production team. This is not to say that Netrebko is a conservative who wants to stand in the middle of the stage as a curbstone and only care about her voice. Not at all, she can be a very expressive actress. But to rebel, if something is against the grain, it also costs nothing. Do not forget the diva's spat with the German master Hans Neuenfels at the Bavarian Opera during the production of the same Manon Lescaut, as a result of which two weeks before the premiere it was necessary to urgently look for a replacement for her. I must say that there is now an alternative sweet couple for this opera in the world - Christina Opolais and Jonas Kaufman - and she is able to set the stage on stage no worse than our regal spouses.

The Bolshoi Theater invited the famous drama director Adolph Shapiro, who has recently started working in opera and already has experience of communicating with prima donnas, as stage director: his first opera production, Lucia di Lammermoor, which received the Golden Mask, he did with Khibla Gerzmava.

Four very conditional spaces in which the plot unfolds - the gabled city of Amiens, a rich house in Paris, a port in Le Havre and some completely mysterious America - are practically not connected with each other. They are connected only by excerpts from the corresponding novel by the Abbot Prevost, which are highlighted on the black curtain (during the change of scenery) - too long. But the pictures that appear after the curtain is lifted (the author of the scenery and countless costumes - Maria Tregubova, choreographer - Tatyana Baganova) reward the audience in full, delicately combining glamor, entertainment and pleasant non-binding.

Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theater

What is there just not. The lovers fly away in a balloon to Paris and float away on an ice floe to America. Among the prisoners' companions Manon are found a bodybuilder, a transvestite, a black woman in a wedding dress, a fat woman, a midget, a snake woman. The white paper town of Amiens and the white paper boat in Le Havre are opposed to the black kingdom of the luxurious life of Manon, in the center of which is a huge, slightly tilted mirror reflecting the stage, the conductor's pit and even the first rows of the stalls. At the moment when Manon remembers the poor student des Grieux, abandoned by her for this black boudoir, the mirror (thanks to modern scenic wonders) ceases to be a mirror, and a piece of lost happiness shines through it. In combination with the grave Netrebko, who instantly turns from a doll, a bitch and a friend of Offenbach's Olympia into a suffering woman, this scene turns out to be very effective.

Next to the mirror is another symbol: a monstrous doll that grew from the one that was in the hands of Manon at the time of her first appearance. She blinks fearfully with her eyes, moves her arms, and gradually becomes covered with monstrous flies, replacing innocent cosmetic flies.

Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theater

The world of unkind toys, morbid buffoonery and bizarre fantasies suddenly ends in the last, fourth, "American" action, which outweighs all the previous ones. This, in fact, is the farewell of Manon, who is dying in the arms of des Grieux, here she is not even Olympia's girlfriend at all, but the granddaughter of Wagner's Isolde. A couple in unremarkable black robes stand in the middle of the stage, singing about suffering, gradually coming closer and closer to the viewer. There is no America and no decorations at all. Only a huge empty cube, on the walls of which the just written lines-sobs of Manon endlessly flow down. That's all. The diva played in the play, now she can conquer the hall with her one voice, intonation, and a turn of her head. And she does it.

The first opera premiere of the Bolshoi Theater this season can hardly be called an ordinary event. It looks more like a meeting of top officials. We will assume that the meeting was successful.

"For a second it seemed that we are really in the desert"

Interview with Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov on the eve of the premiere of the opera "Manon Lescaut" at the Bolshoi Theater

On the eve of the premiere of the opera Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi Theater, VTB Senior Vice President Dmitry Breitenbikher met with Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov, their old friends and partners of VTB Private Banking.

Dmitry Breitenbikher: Good afternoon, Anna and Yusif. Thank you for taking the time to see me - I know what a busy schedule of rehearsals you have before the premiere at the Bolshoi Theater. By the way, as far as I remember, it was at the rehearsals of Puccini's Manon Lescaut at the Rome Opera that you met. Can we say that this is a landmark composition for you?

Anna Netrebko: This work itself is very strong, dramatic, about love. I perform this opera with great happiness and delight every time. Especially when such a wonderful, strong and passionate partner is with me.

Yusif Eyvazov: In fact, this performance means a lot to us. There is something magical in him, some kind of magnetism in the hall and on the stage. Yesterday at the rehearsal, when there was the final scene - the fourth act, I just had tears. This happens to me very rarely, because the artist needs to control emotions. And tears and even the slightest excitement are immediately reflected in the voice. I completely forgot about it yesterday. The emotional message and Anya's voice - everything was so strong that for a second it seemed to me that we are really in the desert and these are really the last moments of life.

Dmitry Breitenbikher:Yusif, how was your first meeting with Anna at the production of Manon Lescaut in Rome?

Yusif Eyvazov: Three years have passed, and I don't remember the details (laughs). Indeed, it was Rome. Crazy romantic Rome, opera house. It was a debut for me. And of course, all this was very exciting for a person who is just starting a great career. Naturally, I prepared for this responsibly, taught the game for a year. The game is insanely difficult, so I had to work very hard. I came to Rome, and there was a meeting with Anya, who turned out to be ... I, of course, knew that there was such a singer, a star, but before her repertoire and performance I did not track. She then sang the part so magnificently that I was simply shocked! But I became absolutely happy when I learned that, in addition to her enormous talent, she is also a wonderful person. For a star of this level - a completely normal and easy-going person (both laugh).

Dmitry Breitenbikher:In the sense of the absence of star fever?

Yusif Eyvazov: Yes exactly. Today, there are very few singers and singers who can boast of this. Because in most cases, it starts with overshoots, quirks and everything else. This is how this acquaintance on the opera stage turned into love. We are very happy.

Dmitry Breitenbikher: You have performed both famous versions of Manon, Puccini's opera and Massenet's opera. What is the difference between them, which one is more difficult vocal and emotionally? And which Manon do you prefer - Italian or French?

Anna Netrebko: I think Manon is primarily a woman. It doesn't matter what nationality she is. She can be completely different, blonde, brunette - it doesn't matter. It is important that it evokes certain emotions in men: positive, negative, stormy, passionate ... This is perhaps the most important thing. And about the image - I have my own vision of this woman. In principle, it does not change very much from stage to stage. Everything is clear there, everything is written in the music, in the text, in its character. Only some details can be added or changed.

Dmitry Breitenbikher:Well, for example?

Anna Netrebko: For example, you can make her more experienced. Then from the very beginning she must understand what's what. Or you can make her completely innocent at first. That is, it already comes from the desire of the performer or director.

Dmitry Breitenbikher:What about the first part of the question? What is the difference between Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Massenet's opera?

Anna Netrebko: Earlier I very often performed this part in Massenet's opera. Now I have outgrown it a little, it is for younger singers. Besides, I don't think Massenet's Des Grieux part is for Yusif's voice, just as Manon is no longer for my voice. She is wonderful, interesting, but different.

Yusif Eyvazov: Massenet's music is less dramatic. Therefore, in the part of Des Grieux, there is a lighter voice, and, naturally, it is more mobile by the nature of the music. Well try to move me on stage, it will be a nightmare. Puccini's orchestration is quite heavy, respectively, and the movements of the same De Grieux are much more weighty and sedate, and the vocals are completely different. Technically, I might even be able to, but it seems to me that it would still be such an elephant's entrance to the porcelain shop. Better not to.

Anna Netrebko: There is almost nothing from the students in Puccini's opera, even the first duet when they meet is rather heavy music, it is so slow, measured. There is absolutely no youthful enthusiasm that Massenet has. This was calculated, of course, for other singers.

Dmitry Breitenbicher: You worked with drama director Adolph Shapiro on the new Manon Lescaut. What did this experience bring you? What was new?

Anna Netrebko: In fact, I want to say thanks to Adolf Yakovlevich for such a wonderful production. It was very comfortable and easy for us to sing. The director took into account absolutely all our problems and difficulties. Where it was necessary to sing - we sang, where it was necessary to concentrate on the music - it was done. Again, the production turned out to be very good. I think Adolf Shapiro is just a wonderful director.

Dmitry Breitenbikher: What interesting things did he ask you to do in terms of acting, what was new for you?

Anna Netrebko: The biggest conversation was just about the last scene, which is quite static physically, but very emotionally filled. And it was in this scene that Adolf Yakovlevich asked us to give all the best at the expense of some minimal gestures, due to some half-steps, half-turns - all this should be clearly calculated from the music, and this is what we worked on.

Yusif Eyvazov: In general, of course, it is difficult to work on stage when there is nothing there. Well, imagine a completely empty space. There is no chair to sit on, no details to play with, not even sand ... There is nothing. That is, only music, interpretation and voice remain. And that's all. I would call the concept of the last act brilliant, where the whole story that we are singing is written in black letters on a white background. This, together with the music, evokes very strong emotions. As an additional simultaneous translation, as a transcript of what you hear. Tragedy penetrates you in double size.

Dmitry Breitenbikher:Is this your favorite part of the opera?

Yusif Eyvazov: My favorite part is the very last, when it’s over, when I’ve already sung everything. (laughs).

Anna Netrebko: (Laughs) Dmitry, seriously, I agree with Yusif that the last scene was very strong and thanks to our wonderful director it was solved in a very interesting way. It was not easy to stage it, but we were given the opportunity to really not think about anything and just sing this wonderful opera. Apparently, this is why it evokes such emotions.

Dmitry Breitenbikher: Continuing the theme of the production. Little is known so far: Internet users are intrigued by the sight of a huge doll sitting on the stage. How would you formulate: what was this performance about?

Anna Netrebko: In general, this opera is rarely performed live. I do not know why. Probably, it is difficult to find performers, difficult to stage. It has a very torn and not immediately readable, even abstract plot. And it is very difficult to make a good production. I really like the current one: both the huge doll and the grasshoppers ... This is where magic and symbolism are manifested, somewhere elements of farce - as, for example, in the same seduction dance of Geronte. Look, it will be very interesting.

Dmitry Breitenbikher: What was the feeling of the Bolshoi Theater - its space, acoustics? What, in your opinion, is its peculiarity in comparison with other opera houses in the world?

Anna Netrebko: When we first appeared on the stage of the Bolshoi two days ago, we had a shock ... For the singers who are on the stage, the acoustics are very difficult here. I don't know how it is in the hall, but nothing is heard on the stage. Therefore, we both immediately became hoarse. The scenery is large, the stage is open, that is, there is no wooden plug or sound. As a result, no sound is returned. Thus, you have to work twice (laughs). Well, then we somehow got used to it.

Yusif Eyvazov: Well, the theater is called "Bolshoi", so the space is large. And of course, as Anya correctly said, at first we did not understand at all whether the sound was coming into the hall or not. Then they calmed us down after rehearsals and said: I can hear you perfectly, everything is fine. You just have to trust your own feelings. This is exactly the case when you follow your inner feelings, you go, relying on them. At the Bolshoi, you will not hear the return of the voice, as it happens at the Metropolitan Opera or the Bavarian Opera. This is a very complex scene. And do not try to voice it completely, this is a bad job. You just need to sing in your normal voice and pray that this is enough.

On October 16, the Bolshoi Theater hosted the premiere of the opera Manon Lescaut with the support of VTB Bank. The Bolshoi Theater and VTB have longstanding friendly relations, the Bank is a member of the Board of Trustees of the theater and the non-profit organization Bolshoi Theater Fund.

At the Bolshoi Theater - a grandiose premiere, the famous opera "Manon Lescaut" by Puccini. The inimitable Anna Netrebko will debut in the title role on the Historical Stage. Together with her - husband and partner Yusif Eyvazov. The production is so innovative that it is already called "hooligan", and the costumes and decorations can shock.

Black formal suit, but on her face - a soft, charming smile: Anna Netrebko went to the press in a good mood. Indeed, at the Bolshoi she sings the premiere of Puccini's favorite opera Manon Lescaut.

“I perform it with great happiness and delight every time, and even more so when such a wonderful, strong and passionate partner is with me,” says the singer.

At the table he sits next to him, on stage - sings next to him, in life he walks next to him. After all, this is her husband, Yusif Eyvazov, the performer of the main male role - Chevalier des Grieux.

For Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov, this opera is special. The fact is that they met two years ago at a rehearsal of "Manon Lescaut" in Rome. The love story of the 18th century was the beginning of modern romantic history. This was the first joint work - an opera saturated with passion and despair, where every word is about love. Chevalier des Grieux, aka Yusif Eyvazov, then discovered Manon Lescaut, she is Anna Netrebko, both as a singer and as a woman.

“I knew that she sings a certain repertoire, light enough that I do not sing. Therefore, of special interest in her - I knew that there was such a star, a singer, and so on ... But this acquaintance turned into love. And we are very happy! " - says the singer.

Their duet does not play passion, he experiences it. When Manon leaves his beloved for a wealthy patron, it is a betrayal. When Manon realizes that money did not bring her happiness, and returns - this is forgiveness. When he goes into exile for her, it is love.

This production has already been dubbed a little "hooligan". Here are the costumes of the heroes - long dresses and frock coats in the fashion of the 19th century, and at the same time - sneakers, knitted hats and black glasses. And the soloist of the Bolshoi Marat Gali went out to sing on his native stage in a ballet tutu! In this production, he is a dance teacher.

“All my life I wanted to feel like a ballet dancer, and now, after 14 years of my career at the Bolshoi Theater, I finally come out in a tutu. It is very pleasant and easy for me! " - the singer laughs.

Apparently, Anna Netrebko feels the same way: in the same scene with the dance teacher, she stands on the ball without any insurance and sings at the same time!

“When we did this scene with Anna, this moment of risk came from her:“ I can try to be on the ball! ” But in general, an idea that is not directly related - a girl on a ball - she is present, ”says choreographer Tatyana Baganova.

And a six-meter doll is calmly watching all this. This is also a symbol of luxury - Manon really wanted expensive toys for herself - and partly, the heroine herself. The image of a "doll with a doll" becomes a farce.

“Such a lively stream, young, modern in this. Especially in the first act, she somehow lifts the mood a little before lowering it completely into a complete drama, ”says Anna Netrebko.

But all the same, the costumes, decorations are just entourage. The immortal music of Puccini reigns over everything. And the performers of the main parts prefer not to think about the upcoming premiere in order to reduce the degree of excitement.

“If someone tells you that the singer is not worried before singing 'Manon Lescaut' - do not believe it! Everyone is worried, ”says Yusif Eyvazov.

“I don’t know… I will wake up the day after tomorrow and it will be seen!” - says Anna Netrebko.

The premiere was triumphant

The parterre and five tiers in the gilding of the Bolshoi Theater stand and shout. This is the finale of the long-awaited premiere on the historical stage of Puccini's opera Manon Lescaut. The production of theatrical director Adolph Shapiro in many ways rehabilitated the risky project of the BT Directorate, which for the last two seasons had invited drama masters to the performances. With details from the main musical theater of the country - columnist "MK".

The Bolshoi website has not had a single ticket for a long time - after all, Anna Netrebko sings the main part, and even with her new husband Yusif Eyvazov. However, on the way to the historical stage, exactly at the corner of Novaya, a man, who by his appearance in life is identified as the most ordinary hanyga, asks me: "Do you need tickets?" - "And how much do you have?" - "There are three good ones" - "Really in the stalls?" “The dealers have everything,” he confirms ironically, intending to take me to these same dealers. The topic of speculation with scarce tickets is interesting in itself, but not at the right time - in 20 minutes the very premiere, which has been expected in Moscow for a long time, will begin. And which was not in the plans of the Bolshoi, but, obviously, whatever pleases God, happens in spite of everything and in spite of everything. Even at the Bolshoi.

Adolph Shapiro, a director with great, I'm not afraid of this word, world authority, went to the prima donna in Vienna and told me after the premiere that they quickly found a common language and that the opera diva was an amazing partner in her work. And I remembered one of her first roles in the Leningrad MALEGOT (now the Mikhailovsky Theater) - Suzanne in Le Nozze di Figaro: a little-known artist, thin, pure soprano, incredibly artistic, who made her stand out from the entire opera cast. I must say that Netrebko of the perestroika period practically did not change - except that she gained weight, physical. There is nothing to say about the world - opera houses are patiently queuing up for it.

But here's the third bell, the boxes are so packed that they stand. During the overture (conducted by Yader Binyamini), white handwritten lines run across the hard black curtain: “Today we only need to say what is appropriate today. Postpone everything else and say at the right time. " This is a quote from the forewarning of the author of Notes of a Noble Man, who opens the novel by Abbot Prévost, The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut, from which Giacomo Puccini made his four-act opera with great music. A well-dressed opera audience will literally read the story of the fatal passion of the beautiful Manon and her gentleman on a hard black curtain more than once in more than three hours. And this text on behalf of the latter will serve as navigation in the stormy sea of ​​events.

But now the black curtain creeps up, revealing the city, as clean as the first snow. "Oh!" - exhales the hall, looking at a model of white houses, closely pressed to each other on the crooked streets. It was as if some skillful model had just cut it out and went, let's say, to smoke, leaving at the edges of the huge scissors, pencil, compasses. He left it a little carelessly, raising it at an angle to the proscenium by forty-five degrees. And brightly dressed people already inhabit it: red, green dots in sweaters and knitted hats - just a ski resort, over which a balloon with passengers floats three times, increasing its proportions three times. And when he becomes life-size, a well-dressed gentleman and a black-haired beauty in a white sweater, a hat with a pompom and a doll that looks like her one-on-one will come out of him. So the artist Maria Tregubova, the strongest and brightest in the generation of thirty, begins to amaze.

Together with the director Shapiro, she builds the first act in white, into which black will slowly and imperceptibly creep in. But so far, the triumph of the white is a bright meeting of the beautiful Manon with the poor student des Grieux. His first aria ends with shouts of "brave!" from the audience, and so it will continue - almost every aria or duet is accompanied by long "bravis!"

Anna Netrebko and Vladimir Urin

There is something: the orchestra sounds powerful, not only the spouses of Netrebko and Eyvazov sing magnificently, but also Alexander Naumenko, Elchin Azizov, Yulia Mazurova ... They applaud the scenery, especially the second act, which represents the Parisian house of Manon - this is a masterpiece of scenography and director's decision. Moreover, I observe that unique union of a director and an artist, when it is difficult even to imagine who is dictating to whom - everything is so natural. Here is how the second act is solved: on the right sits a huge Manon, probably seven meters high - this is a doll in a black silk dress with white beads around its neck. Nearby, a little in the depths, is a huge oval mirror, which, shivering as if in a chill, reflects what is happening on the stage. And on the stage in a ray of light - gorgeous Manon, all literally in confusion: poverty for her is a bad treasurer, but in luxury there is no love. A rich husband is trying his best to entertain the beauty, supplying her with all kinds of entertainment in the form of singing and dancing comedians, acrobats - nothing pleases the heart of a beauty prone to treason. Treason happens right at the feet of the Netrebko-doll, on the snow-white plastic of which black spiders, ants and other evil spirits crawl from plastic. These are jewels that she cannot part with, while wanting true love.

A disastrous delight is inspired by this plastic miracle, which, moreover, moves its hands and eyes. The dramaturgy of the puppet reactions is strictly calculated: she shyly closes her eyes to the embrace of her lovers. At the snow-white city of their first love, reflected for a moment in the mirror, he turns his head and looks longingly as at the irrevocable past. And in panic, he chaotically shifts his hands when the lovers, on the orders of her husband, are seized by the police and thrown into different prisons.

Who made such a miracle? Abroad? It turns out not - it was made by our craftsmen in St. Petersburg, and the doll turned out to be very functional and can be disassembled, which allows you to quickly change the decoration.

One can only admire the fine stylistics of the director's and artist's work, who managed to make the opera dynamically intense. The black-and-white color, which is decomposed by the light of Damir Ismagilov into many shades, gives this dynamics. From the luminous transparency of the white of the first two acts to the dull, hopeless blackness of the last two. White scenographic fantasy is aggressively absorbed by ascetic blackness. And also in the game - from white to black. Although in the third act, the parade of characters from the correctional prison - in a motley, glamorous - will suddenly crash into the black and white scale in the third act.

In the last act, the heroes find themselves in an empty stage box - black scenes with a white backdrop, and it is like a ghost of hope, according to which their dialogue is written in black ink in a slanting hand. Lines fill with invisible tears, which makes the letters merge, dark spots from them grow, slowly join into blots, while Manon and des Grieux mourn their last love in the foreground: "It's dark ... Alone ... No one around ... Scary ..." and etc. Repetitive "scary" merge into ink mud.

Standing motionless in the foreground, the singers in no way pretend to leave. The director deprived them of any visible support - no scenery, no mimance. Only Puccini's music and dramatic performance. But what a! How delightful she is with Anna Netrebko, how sincere with Yusif Eyvazov! Shapiro's concept is in the absence of any confused concept, and it has an incredible effect. The Bolshoi does not encore on bows, it just shouts - all five tiers merge in a single cry with the stalls and do not let the artists go for a long time. By the way, there were more than a hundred of them on stage bowing.