No. 1, 2004

Pursuing a tradition of over half a century, the new season was opened with a performance of music by Tschaikovsky, whose name this famous theater bears. Even though it may seem rather strange to anyone not in the know, the Perm oilmen, whose companies belong to the LUKOIL Group, are connected with this performance.

Bits of theatrical history

Perm is called the third Mecca for ballet, after Moscow and St. Petersburg, having its own famous choreography college, alongside the academic ballet troupe. Since the 1970s, the Perm Ballet has been the focus of constant attention by a huge audience from virtually all parts of the world.

The official date on which the theater was founded is considered to be November 24, 1870, when the premiere of Glinka's opera "Life for the Tsar" was staged in the old wooden building which then housed the theater. By the late 1880s, the theater had become of such significance for Perm that the city Duma decided to "support and maintain the theater and the opera troupe at the expense of the city's budget." In the mid-1890s, Perm became acquainted with the art of choreography. In November 1896, a short ballet entitled "A Camp of Hungarian Gypsies," by Zannenfeld, was presented and received more than favorably by the audience. It was followed by "The Magic Flute" by Drigo and "The Fairy of the Dolls" by Bayer.

During World War II, the Kirov (Mariinsky) Opera and Ballet Theater, evacuated from Leningrad, performed on the Perm theater stage. For the same reason, the school of the theater's world famous Mariinsky Ballet also moved here. These great performers worked on the stage of the Perm theater for almost three years, which eventually promoted the founding of the Perm School of Choreography.

In 1965, the name of Pyotr Tschaikovsky was awarded to the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater and in 1969 – the title "academic." It was after the war that the main creative principles of the Perm theater became established, one of the basic ones being continuity over the generations. This is achieved through the revival of little-known works or ones that have been undeservedly forgotten or are unusual on the Russian stage. A creative search in this direction has been characteristic of all periods in the theater's life. Success in this has meant a renewal of the repertoire and long-awaited theatrical premieres. One such took place this year.

The rebirth of "The Maid of Orleans"

The current theater season is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Iosif Keller, Merited Member of the Arts of Russia and winner of the State Award of the USSR. For three decades he headed the Perm Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. He staged over 50 operas, including "The Maid of Orleans," in this theater. Interesting reminiscences of Iosif Keller are connected with this performance. In 1970, a large group of French tourists was in the audience for "The Maid of Orleans," performed in Moscow at the Kremlin Palace. The Perm performers were nervous, wondering how the ballet would be received. Would the French find unacceptable imperfections in the costumes or scenery? How gratifying it was for the company when the French tourists came backstage after the performance to thank them. "We were amazed," they said, "to find an opera about Jeanne D'Arc, our national heroine, in Russia, while there is no such work in her homeland. And the main thing – we saw wonderful France on the stage!"

The premiere of the new season was the famous "Maid of Orleans," but reworked and restaged. The fact is that, under the Soviet regime, in accordance with the atheistic communist ideology, all scenes with a religious theme were omitted. Today's performance is a fuller version of Tschaikovsky's opera, now heard in its original form, just as the great composer intended. It should be noted that, in Russia, this opera is performed only in Perm and at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. The Moscow version was directed by the famous Boris Pokrovsky, while the main role was performed by one of Russia's best singers, the rising star Makvala Kasarashvili.

As in the preparations for all significant cultural events, there were surprise challenges that tested the fortitude of the artistes. A few days before the opening of the season, the troupe was alarmed to hear that Irina Kotelnikova, who sang the title role, had fallen ill. This threatened to foil the premiere. But literally on the its eve of the premiere, the Perm team amazingly found Alexandra Kulikova, lead singer of the Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theater (who had previously worked at the Perm theater and had sung in "The Maid of Orleans"). She willingly agreed to their request and early on the morning of the premiere was rehearsing her role.

It would be an understatement to say that the premiere was wonderful. After the performance, the audience applauded the singers for many curtain calls. All participants in the performance were given bouquets of flowers.

The stage footlights and oil

During the ceremonial opening of the season, Georgy Isaakian, the theater's Artistic Director, winner of the State Award of Russia, thanked the sponsors whose support had made the premiere possible. Among the first he named the general sponsor – LUKOIL's Perm group of companies with which the theater has been cooperating for about 10 years.

Isaakian spoke highly of these many years of cooperation between the oil Company and the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater: "In the early 1990s, help from the Perm Financial and Production Group and, a little later, LUKOIL subsidiaries, became one of the first real manifestations of support for culture on the part of the business community. We are very flattered that, alongside us, the Company's personnel also support the world-famous Grand Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Fedoseyev and the fact that we are included on this list means we have the right to suppose that the theater enjoys a good rating. We strive to use the assistance rendered by LUKOIL, as well as the Fund for Supporting Theaters, set up by the Region's Governor, in ways visible to the audience: the funds go on new performances, renewing the props and costumes and implementing significant projects. Consequently, during last season, we managed to stage ”Cleopatra” and ”The Elixir of Love” using these funds." He went on to stress: "We also strive to thank our sponsors. ”The Elixir of Love” was performed as a thank you gift this New Year's Eve, during the celebrations for the workers of the Perm companies of LUKOIL. Another notable international project carried out with sponsorship funds has been Balanchine's ballet ”Imperial Ballet,” with the participation of the Tschaikovsky International Piano Competition winner Denis Matsuyev, put on in cooperation with the New York George Balanchine Fund. All this culminated in the Diaghilev seasons ”Paris-Perm-St. Petersburg,” with the participation of the world famous Maya Plisetskaya, Yekaterina Maksimova, Rodion Shchedrin and stars of the Mariinsky theater and the

Paris Grand Opera."

In conclusion, maestro Isaakian underlined that "we try to ensure that the help given by LUKOIL does not melt away into the common pot, but is really effective, and the holding of LUKOIL celebrations at the theater become part of the cultural life of Perm. For this reason, we intend, in the future, during every season, to do everything possible to present the audience with more and more new aspects of our cooperation with the Perm oilmen."