Opera Chic

Zakharova's Lake

Svetlana takes Rome

Svetlana Zakharova @ Opera di Roma

There are things one can never make up one's mind about -- classic example: the more perfect placement of "Killing Moon" inside "Donnie Darko", the theatrical version or the director's cut? -- but there's no debate about the magic and awesomeness of Svetlana Zakharova -- who just burned down the house at Scala in "Giselle" with Bolle -- and will grace Opera di Roma with her presence in Swan Lake on November 27, 29 and December 1.

Get Well Soon Roberto!

Roberto Bolle, King of la Scala, Emperor of World Ballet, and Man Of Astonishing Hawtness, has (slightly, thank goodness) injured his precious ankle, and had to therefore cancel his commitment @ la Scala for Swan Lake with Bolshoi star and "terza étoile" of la Scala, Ukraine phenomenon Svetlana Zakharova (Guillame Coté will replace RB for the show).

Get well soon Roberto!

Any volunteers to help nurse him back to full health?

Before I Drop Into Bed: La Bella Addormentata Recap

Opera Chic survived two intermissions and emerged tonight into the humid Milan air a full three hours & fifteen minutes after the eight-o’clock la prima of La bella addormentata nel bosco at Teatro alla Scala. (was that even a sentence?!)

Ballerina Svetlana Zakharova made us for a moment forget that we were crammed in a palco in the middle of a historical theater in a boisterous city in Europe. Zakharova flawlessly pranced through her steps as Princess Aurora, taunting years of practice and devotion into something transcendent. When after pricking her finger on a hidden spindle lurking in a bouquet of flowers, she faded-out like something truly ephemeral. When she was given the kiss to breathe back life, she flourished like a flower in the sunlight. She’s beautiful, tall, and was in perfect control. Prince Desire’s (lamest name ever) Denis Matvienko was solid, elegant, and provided perfect accompaniment.

Sets were indeed reminiscent of Versailles, and each scene was a variation on a receiving court of a royal château. Costumes were of shiny, luxurious, and luminous textiles. Tutus were classical with gorgeous beads and embroidered bodices, all finished with gorgeous tiaras and headpieces.

Tchaikovsky’s score is for OC pretty lame, unfortunately, and didn’t elicit an ounce of resonance throughout the entire work. An aberration of the evening was the over-implementation of dry ice to create the water effect in which prince and princess take a pass in a boat. The excess vapor poured into the orchestra pit, blanketing two very hawt clarinetists, upsetting the harpist, bass clarinet, and oboe section. damn. But at least it called into play the hotness of the clarinet players. Shoot. Bonus: during the first intermission, there was a personality interviewing some of the omnipresent Milanese royalty in the lobby. Picture below:

   

Maybe more tomorrow? Maybe not. We’ll see. l8r gators.

Svetlana Zakharova Talks to Corriere

A piece from today's Corriere shares an interview with pretty pony ballerina Svetlana Zakharova, tonight starring in the premier of La bella addormentata nel bosco at Teatro alla Scala.

The twenty-eight-year-old Ukrainian-born dancer's father is a retired member of Red Army, which is pretty freaking, um, hardcore. She is concurrently in Milan with the Bolshoi Theatre's tour, interpreting Pierre Lacotte's (music by Cesare Pugni) La Fille du Pharaon at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi with 119 other Bolshoi ballerini. She describes how impressed she was with a certain Milanese tailor that she sampled while here in the city, how her mother pushed her into dancing, how dancing on stage is completely natural to her, and how she wouldn't demand ballerina offspring when she decides to have a family. She also tells Corriere that she hopes her Bolshoi colleagues do not show up at the theater tonight to see her dance, as today is their last day to go shopping and relax before leaving, and she rather see them take advantage of those things.