MUSSORGSKY THEATRE & OPERA BALLET.

MUSSORGSKY THEATRE & OPERA BALLET ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA OCTOBER 20, 1999 REVIEWED BY ARSEN DEGEN

The ballet troupe of the Mussorgsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet (formerly known as Maly) was formed in the early 1930s. In order not to fade into the shade of the Kirov Ballet, Maly traditionally showcased ballets that could not be seen anywhere else. Such a policy was established by the troupe's founder, Fedor Lopukhov, and was continued by Leonid Lavrovsky, Igor Belsky, Oleg Vinogradov, and its current (since 1977) leader, Nikolai Boyarchikov. Because of financial difficulties, in recent years the troupe concentrated only on traditional choreography such as Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.

Now, for the first time in seven years, the Mussorgsky Ballet hosted a premiere--Boyarchikov's new two-act, eighteen-scene tragedy, Faust, based on the Goethe classic.

The music for this production was commissioned by the theater and was written by Moskovite composer Shandor Kallosh. It is eclectic, melodic, and ranges from imitations of Gregorian chants to mellifluous romances. Its structure is complex. The sound of a live orchestra is augmented with tapes of two choirs, vocalists, and instrumentalist soloists.

To most audiences, familiar with the plot of Faust not from Goethe's poem but from Gounod's opera, many parts of the ballet may be strange and unexpected. The protagonists play multiple parts; Margherita (Elvira Khabibulina) after her death appears as Helen of Troy; Mephistopheles (Denis Tolmachov) sometimes appears as Black Poodle and sometimes as Juggler. The Fallen Angel turns into maidservant Marta (Elena Grineva), then into the court jester, and eventually into an anthropomorphous homunculus. Only Faust (Vladislav Ieyin), in his silvery-black costume, remains a passive and single-minded searcher for truth and happiness.

Boyarchikov's usual mix of classical and character dance has been modernized for Faust. The scene where Margherita goes insane is reminiscent of scenes in Mats Ek's Giselle. Curiously, in the first act all supporting roles are performed by men; in the second act they are all women. The ballet observes Mephistopheles's and Faust's flights through countries and eras.

Abundant scene changes produce a variety of visual impressions but do not contribute to the dramatic purpose of the performance. The second part becomes a lengthy commentary on the conception of the plot. The epilogue repeats the prologue: people are born into this world, they quarrel, they love, they die, and there lies the higher meaning of life.

It would be naive to expect deep philosophical revelations from a choreographic interpretation of Goethe's tragedy, but one could ask: was it worth it only to show a suite of whimsical phantoms?