Anna Karenina

7 April 2023Friday
19:00
Opera and Ballet Theatre

Ballet by Boris Eifman based on the novel by by Leo Tolstoy to the music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Set design – Zinovy Margolin

Costumes – Vyacheslav Okunev

Lighting designer – Gleb Filshtinsky

Duration – 2 hours with one intermission

In his ballet, which has become legendary and has toured many countries, Boris Eifman removes the secondary lines of Tolstoy's novel and focuses on the love triangle: "Anna - Karenin – Vronsky". According to the choreographer, it was love passion that led to a crime against social norms, destroyed maternal love and the inner world of Anna Karenina. The woman, absorbed in and crushed by the sensual attraction, is ready to make any sacrifice.

As Boris Eifman notes, his ballet is not about a past era, but about today: the emotional content of the performance and parallels with modern reality cannot leave the audience indifferent. "The novel Anna Karenina has always interested me," the choreographer admits. – "When you read Tolstoy, you feel the author's incredible understanding of the psychological world of his characters, the amazing sensitivity and accuracy of reflecting the life of Russia. In the novel "Anna Karenina" there is not only an immersion in the psychological world of the heroine, but also a real psychoerotic understanding of her personality. Even in today's literature we will not find such passions, metamorphoses, phantasmagories. All this became the essence of my choreographic reflections."

«The uniqueness and solidity of Eifman's views on Tolstoy's novel are striking. Eifman's choreography stands out not only because of its beauty and ingenuity - there is a very thoughtful and detailed analysis of Tolstoy's work on stage. An adequate ballet solution has been found for each scene». Pavel Yaschenkov, Moskovsky Komsomolets

«"Anna Karenina" is one of Eifman's finest works. This ballet is full of relentless energy and merciless in its emotional impact».  Robert Johnson, The Star-Ledger

«Eifman endowed each of the main characters with a unique choreographic language that matches their personality embodied by the dancer, and therefore this interpretation of a literary work radiates powerful psychological energy». Carmen del Val, El Pais

The tour is held as part of the collaboration programme between the Voronezh region and the city of St. Petersburg.

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