Opera Chic

Sokurov Slams La Scala: "They Dropped Me AND Rostropovich"

Russian director Alexander "Awesomov" Sokurov was in Milan today for a lecture at Milanesiana Festival (a very cool program, guests from Umberto Eco to Philip Glass, from Wole Soyinka to Elie Wiesel and Orhan Pamuk).

He attacked the "anti-Russia" Cannes Film Festival ("Alexandra", his controversial film on Chechnya with Galina Vishnevskaya [Rostropovich's widow] premiered there but the director chose to stay home), and he also explained how Italy had shaped his views on art ("I cannot imagine life without neorealismo films, without Fellini, without the operas of Verdi and Donizetti").

But Italy broke his heart, he explained, a few years ago when la Scala decided not to stage Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, directed by Sokurov and conducted by Rostropovich:

"Rostropovich received a letter saying that the project had been dropped. I was appalled, it was unheard of, saying no to Rostropovich. A terrible mistake  by la Scala".

Yeah, bad show, wtf?

Sokurov + Godunov = Awesomov

"For Sokurov, Boris's guilt is an implacable, all-consuming force".

Behold the awesomeness of Alexander Sokurov's Boris Godunov, at Bolshoi theatre in Moscow. The Bolshoi is not, for once, using the Rimskij-Korsakov orchestration (used since the Soviet era): what they chose, instead, is Modest Mussorgsky's stark original of 1871 (that includes the Polish Act). Alexander Vedernikov conducts, Mikhail Kazakov and Taras Schonda alternate in the title role.

Alexander Sokurov's Boris Godunov

"And then there's the Russian Aleksandr Sokurov, who breaks all the rules on all levels and it is unexpectedly fascinating".

Also Sprach Ingmar Bergman: it's comforting that the unspeakably awesome old Swedish maestro still takes the time to check out the kids' work. And Opera Chic, solidly in the camp of the Sokurov-can-do-no-wraong fans, is extremely excited by the imminent new production of Boris Godunov at the Bolshoi: premieres on April 25.