The Bolshoi’s Spartacus conquers Covent Garden

Denis Rodkin (Spartacus)

Denis Rodkin (Spartacus) and Svetlana Zakharova (Aegina)

By Mark Pullinger, 30 July 2019

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“with sinewy leaps, Rodkin ate up the stage in his scissored jetés”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 29 July 2019

Spartacus (Yuri Grigorovich)

Bolshoi Ballet

Pavel Sorokin, Conductor

Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra

Denis Rodkin, Dancer

Artemy Belyakov, Dancer

Svetlana Zakharova, Dancer

Anastasia Denisova, Dancer

The Bolshoi's Swan Lake simmers, but the corps shines

Graham Watts, 2nd August

Near perfection from the corps de ballet represent the Bolshoi at its very best during its Royal Opera House residency.

***11

Спартак Большого завоевывает Ковент-Гарден

Mark Pullinger, 29th July

Большой, храбрый, напористый. Если вы хотите посмотреть, как танцуют балет «Спартак», к вашим услугам только одна труппа: Большой балет.

*****

A blockbuster Spartacus from the Bolshoi in Brisbane

Chantal Nguyen, 4th July

The Bolshoi delivers a big, bold, and explosive Spartacus in the way that only the Bolshoi can.

*****

Ivan the Terrible

Janet Ward, 24th February

Mikhail Lobukhin gives a stunning performance as Ivan in the bolshoi's production of Ivan The Terrible

*****

A Musical Nutcracker at the Bolshoi

Isabella Zijp, 23rd December

The Bolshoi chooses musicality and technique over special effects with Yuri Grigorovich's beloved classic.

****1

The Golden Age revived at the Bolshoi

Janet Ward, 13th October

While the ballet's libretto is dated, The Golden Age can, when performed by great artists, be both an entertaining and emotionally satisfying ballet.

****1

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.