Ru
EnT. Batagova
Music by S. Rachmaninoff in the choreographic statements of the present
In the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st century, dozens of talented choreographic productions were performed to the music by S. Rachmaninoff. Resonant premieres of ballets to the music of “Symphonic Dances”, the First and Second Piano Concertos, “Rhapsody on the Theme by Paganini” and other symphonic, vocal-symphonic, chamber compositions by S. Rachmaninoff were held in Russia and abroad. The author analyzes the prerequisites for the appeal of the leading choreographers of our time – M. Lavrovsky, E. Lyang, Y. Posokhov, A. Ratmansky, K. Shpuk, A. Khasanov, K. Uralsky, B. Eifman and others – to Russian classic composer’s work. The author also identifies such figurative and stylistic features of Rachmaninoff’s music as romantic passion, entertainment, intonation expressiveness. Her “dancing” features are noted, which have a special appeal for choreographic stage embodiment: bright genre-dance nature, plastic expressiveness and naturalness of melodic movement, rhythmic elasticity, figurative contrasting. The relevance of Rachmaninoff’s music, which has a cathartic effect on the feelings of listeners and viewers, is substantiated.
The article discusses the typology of choreographic performances grouped according to the principles of interaction between choreographic layers with music, literature, drama. In the first group, the author includes story ballets created on the basis of famous literary (“The Seagull”, “The Brothers Karamazov”, “Anna Karenina”) and life stories (“Nizhinsky”, “Paganini”). In the second group there are non-story productions. The appropriate bases are choreographic interpretations of Rachmaninoff”s orchestral opuses (The First and Second Piano Concertos, “Symphonic Dances”). The third typological model unites productions in which story and non-story beginnings interact on an equal footing, choreographic layers grows out of music and drama, and characters acquire symbolic meaning.
Key words
S. Rachmaninoff, program ballet, story and non-story ballet, choreographic production, choreographer.
For citation
Batagova T. Music by S. Rachmaninoff in the choreographic statements of the present // South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2021. No. 2. Pp. 17-21.
