Rodion Shchedrin composed Anna Karenina in 1972 and dedicated it to his wife, Maya Plisetskaya, who choreographed the first production of the ballet for the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. Whatever visions of the producers, Anna Karenina is first of all, a work by Lev Tolstoy. The ballet deals solely with the main theme of Tolstoy's epic novel - the love question, Anna Karenina's existential dilemma.
She is emotionally torn between her husband, the civil servant Karenin, and her love, the charming Vronsky. With her husband she lives a proper and ethical life, a life where she enjoys the highest social regard, and a life - most importantly - with her dearest infant son. But it is also a life without any passion, a life where she is hardly more than a piece of furniture to her husband. Passion is the domain of Vronsky, but while her emotions may circumvent the social conventions - a rather daring proposition at the time - the question is whether her passionate love of Vronsky can circumvent her being a mother. Shchedrin's score is penetrating in a dramatic expression of feelings. For Tolstoy's characters do not only act out; they contemplate, question and reflect as much… The score which ideally taps into the dramatic atmosphere, renders brilliant musical characterizations and manifests emotional intensity has proved an excellent score and guide of inspiration for the creative team.
In 1975, the ballet was first seen in Lithuania. The Bolshoi's production was put on at the LNOBT stage by the same creative team including choreographers Maya Plisetskaya, Natalia Ryzhenko and Viktor Smirnov-Golovanov and designer Valery Levental. The cast was led by a Lithuanian conductor, Jonas Aleksa. One of the most innovative productions of the day, Anna Karenina fascinated the audiences with the dance of Maya Plisetskaya and Lithuanian ballet stars such like Nina Antonova and Svetlana Masaniova (Anna), Vytautas Kudzma and Raimundas Minderis (Vronsky), Voldemaras Chlebinskas and Jonas Katakinas (Karenin).
Anna Karenina returns to the LNOBT in a version created for the Royal Danish Ballet by a young choreographer Alexei Ratmansky and designer Mikael Melbye. The performers of the leading roles include Egle Spokaite, Miki Hamanaka, Nerijus Juska, Aurimas Paulauskas, Vytautas Kudzma and Evardas Smalakys.
Booking Info:
2009 Season - Times to be announced
Budapest is proud of possessing one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world. The opening performance was held in the neo-Renaissance building, the jewel of the avenue, in 1884 after nine years of construction. The staircase and the auditorium of the palace, designed by one of the best architects of those days Miklós Ybl, are decorated with frescos of eminent Hungarian painters. The first director was Ferenc Erkel, Gustav Mahler held this post for several years. Puccini directed the premiere of two of his operas here.
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