Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Famed opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya refused Friday to celebrate her 80th anniversary at Russia's Bolshoi theater after the new modernist version of the "Yevgeny Onegin" left her "in despair."
"I do not want to go up on that stage to relive the feeling of despair and humiliation that I had at the September 1 premiere," Vishnevskaya said in a letter to the Bolshoi's director Anatoly Iksanov, published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily.
"I will be ashamed until the end of my days of having been present at the public profanation of our national relics," added the singer who debuted in the same opera in 1953 on the Bolshoi's stage.
Iksanov in his turn voiced "surprise" at the reaction of the singer, according to the daily.
"The need to have new interpretations of classical works is an imperative of our time. It is a pity that talented people do not understand that," Iksanov said.
The Bolshoi -- long criticised for its fossilised productions -- revolutionised its repertoire after a new director's arrival in 2001, inviting avant-garde artists and increasing modern-style performances.
The new season opened on September 1 with a new production of one of Russia's greatest classical operas, Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "Yevgeny Onegin," much to the consternation of those nostalgic for the grandiose style which had persisted for over 60 years.
In November, Vishnevskaya's husband, famed cello player and Russian orchestra conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, broke his contract with the Bolshoi -- where he was due to conduct for Sergei Prokofiev's opera "War and Peace" -- because he was dissatisfied with the musicians' cooperation.
neo/cal/mh
AFPEntertainment-Russia-opera-culture
AFP 072121 GMT 09 06
COPYRIGHT 2006 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.
