spamfree wrote:
So far, I sincerely haven't been persuaded that Russian musicians
are superior to the best of American or British or German, etc.
musicians.


There are two issues here. One issue is that Russian musicians are
superior to all others. The other issue is that European musicians
are superior to American, Asian, or African musicians. The first
issue is only possibly true for Russian music, and some listeners
believe that Russians play Russian music better than others. The
second issue is definitely true. In the case of historically informed
performances (HIP), the world's best musicians are Europeans,
especially the Dutch, Austrians, and some Britains. When one
thinks of the world's best orchestras, they are all European: Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra, etc. Chicago and Cleveland have been
great at various periods, but the VPO has always been superb.


The first time the Kirov and, then, the Bolshoi Ballet Companies
were included in our subscription, I went to the theater with great
anticipation. Now, many years later, I am more blase about these
two companies. Attending one of their performances, I can be
confident I'll see a fine full-length story ballet performance that is
technically excellent but -- to my taste -- too heavy on scenery,
costumes, and pantomime.


So, you admit that the technical skills of the Bolshoi and Kirov are
equal to the best in the world. So what's your point?

The word "admit" puts a spin in my post that wasn't there. I was totally
up front about Russian technical skill; re-read my post and you'll see I
rather objectively acknowlege the strengths of Russian ballet companies.
You're not grudgingly wringing any admission from me. My post simply
pointed out that as talented as the Russian dancers/companies may be,
they are not singularly entitled to that description. Furthermore, for
some types of dancing, they aren't even in contention. Since this is
true for ballet, I couldn't comprehend how others could make such
sweeping and universal claims of superiority for Russian orchestras.

The American Ballet Theatre is superb, especially Gillian Murphy,
as are some European ballet companies like the Paris Ballet.
However, look at the DVD of Swan Lake by the La Scala Ballet.
Odette / Odile is played by a Russian, Svetlana Zakharova. And
the skills of the general company are simply not as good as the
general company of the Bolshoi and Kirov.

Please, let's not compare apples and oranges. You can't be seriously
trying to compare the Bolshoi and Kirov to La Scalla Ballet. I won't
argue with your conclusion in that particular match-up. But that misses
the point. The American Ballet Theatre, Royal Ballet, or Paris Opera
Ballet are every bit the equal of the Bolshoi and Kirov companies.

Of course, if you insist on an apples and oranges comparison, I win with
the "The Russian Ballet" company, one of the truly pathetic ballet
companies of all time. Summer 2003, we saw this company perform at the
Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. These dancers weren't even
good enough to be the senior students at the top Russian dance
academies, much less a paid professional company. Anyone who formed
his/her opinion of Russian ballet on the basis of this performance would
be hard-pressed to praise anything other than the opulence of the
theater. Suffice it to say that the roles of Odette/Odile had to be
assigned to two separate ballerinas because no ballerina in that company
could pull off the challenging double role. Someone unfamiliar with SWAN
LAKE might not have realized what was going on with two ballerinas, but
the fact that the male lead fell a couple of times and it was a pleasant
surprise when the corps was in unison was unmistakable to the most
casual observer.

Karen Selwyn