Mariinsky Theatre tickets 17 May 2025 - Spartacus | GoComGo.com

Spartacus

Mariinsky Theatre, Mariinsky II, Saint Petersburg, Russia
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Saturday 17 May 2025
1 PM 7 PM
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Important Info
Type: Ballet
City: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Starts at: 13:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 2
Duration: 2h 40min

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If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast
Performers
Ballet company: Mariinsky Ballett
Creators
Composer: Aram Khachaturian
Choreography: Leonid Yakobson
Librettist: Nikolai Volkov
Revival Choreographer: Vyacheslav Khomyakov
Overview

Leonid Yakobson’s Spartacus is arguably the most stunning and immense ballet production in the history of the Mariinsky Theatre in the 20th century. Loud, too, were the scandals even as the production was being rehearsed, when Yakobson cut and re-stitched the complete score by Aram Khachaturian, who objected to any amendments whatsoever. Differences in opinion between a choreographer and a composer come as no surprise in the theatre world, but for things to go as far as beatings (as they say the case was with Spartacus) and years-long quarrels is something of a rarity.
The production’s fame was tremendous. As work progressed, the Artistic Director of the Kirov Ballet Fyodor Lopukhov, who had invited Yakobson to stage Spartacus, gathered enthusiastic responses from dancers who had rehearsed the work in order to protect the ballet from the commissions which had to approve it, and when the time came for its fate to be decided he was armed with every written praise he could need. A rumour about the gripping plot spread like wild fire and Spartacus became one of the theatre’s most frequently attended productions – it was far from easy to get a ticket to see it. What was it that made balletomanes stand in queues at ticket offices on a shift system in order to ensure they had a seat?
In a classical dance theatre, Yakobson was the first to stage a ballet without pointes and with legs that were not turned out. This alone was enough to shock audiences: at the Kirov Theatre in the 1950s, the use of free plastique for an entire ballet was something beyond insanity (of Michel Fokine’s ballets, at the time only the classical Chopiniana was performed). Audiences were also intrigued by the grandiose spectacle. The production – with the scale of its historic plot, conceived as an Ancient fresco, with its massive crowd scenes, the huge number of characters, the corps de ballet and the extras – bore the secondary title of Scenes of Roman Life. The monumental four-act work brought to life the era, the life, the bloody battles of gladiators and the sensual bliss of patrician feasts. The multifaceted image of Rome was imprinted with an accent on the uprising of the slaves under the leadership of Spartacus and his routing by the warriors of Crassus. Imitating Ancient bas-reliefs, the choreographer embodied key episodes in the development of the plot in “living scenes”, static positions where the characters freeze during symphonic entre’actes between scenes. Inspired by the hautreliefs of the Pergamon Altar (when Spartacus was created this was still in the Hermitage) and referring to vase paintings, Ancient Roman images and sculpture, in dance Yakobson strived to recreate the spirit of the Ancient world. He was interested in the search for an individual dance language, unique to this ballet alone. The unexpected choreographic imagery, brought to life on-stage with the expressiveness of the poses and the “picturesque” precision of the gestures of the dazzling cast (Askold Makarov as Spartacus, Inna Zubkovskaya and Ninel Petrova as Phrygia and Alla Shelest as Aegina), conquered audiences. The adherents of classical dance voiced complaints that the ballet was not staged en pointe, that the plastique reproduction of images on Etruscan vases created the impression that the ballerinas were dancing “half-cocked”... Yakobson insistently demonstrated his right to his chosen method. He was convinced that the Ancient world, staged en pointe and depicted in “turned-out” classical dance, would be artificial. The choreographer held very dear his discoveries in plastique and the productions that did not have an easy stage life – he wrote a great deal about all this, parrying critics, emotionally and justifiably stating his right to the choices he had made.
Spartacus was in the repertoire for decades. First staged in 1956, it was initially revived in 1976 and again in 1985 and 2010. To this day it remains a testament to Leonid Yakobson – an inventive director and a subtle choreographic stylist who was able to stun the audience’s imagination with his monumental vision.
Olga Makarova

History
Premiere of this production: 27 December 1956, Kirov Theatre, Leningrad

Spartacus is a ballet by Aram Khachaturian (1903–1978). The work follows the exploits of Spartacus, the leader of the slave uprising against the Romans known as the Third Servile War, although the ballet's storyline takes considerable liberties with the historical record.

Synopsis

Act I
The triumph of Rome
The Roman general Crassus is returning victorious from a battle in Thracia. The rejoicing crowd welcomes the legionnaires. Captive slaves are placed in Crassus’ golden chariot. Spartacus, his wife Phrygia and Harmodius are among them.
The Roman aristocrats, patricians and senators bow to the general. Crassus meets Aegina the courtesan.

The slave market
Lentulus Batiatus, the owner of a gladiatorial school, comes to the market. Spartacus and Harmodius, chained together, draw his attention. Lentulus Batiatus buys them both. Sad is the hour when Phrygia and Spartacus are separated.
Aegina is brought in on a richly decorated sedan. The courtesan examines the slaves and her gaze falls on Harmodius, but he has already been sold. Aegina buys Phrygia.

The circus
Excited at what is to come, the crowd awaits the start of the show. Crassus and Aegina’s box is in the middle of the amphitheatre. The Gaul, Numidian and African fight in the first battle of the gladiators. The Gaul dies and the injured Numidian begs to be allowed to live, but the crowd demands his life. The corpses are carried off. Retiarius and Mirmillon – the “Fisherman” and the “Fish” begin to fight. Dying, Retiarius curses Rome. Then two detachments of gladiators enter: the Samnites and the Thracians. The frenzied battle comes to the boil. The detachment led by Spartacus is victorious. The crowd clap in delight.


Act II
Saturnalia
Spartacus appears, hiding from the night patrol. Phrygia tells of her live as a slave. Spartacus agrees on a secret meeting with his gladiator friends. Aegina observes this. Wanting to expose their secret, she beckons Harmodius to her.
The people are praising the god Saturn. Crassus is brought out of the palace. One of the slaves carrying the sedan stumbles. a libertine kills him at Crassus’ order. Spartacus calls on his comrades-in-arms to revolt. They swear their loyalty to the battle for freedom.

The Gladiators revolt
The gladiators languish in a gloomy prison. They are fettered in humiliating chains. Better death n the battlefield that in the circus for a crowd that want blood.
The chains are broken. But the guardhouse is already giving the alarm. The gladiators start fighting the guards.
Spartacus opens the gates and leads the rebels out.


ACT III
Spartacus’ camp
Spartacus’ warriors experience victory after victory. Now the Romans are lowering their banners to the leader of the rebel slaves. Aegina is in the rearguard of Spartacus’ forces, among the captive centurions and hetaerae. She looks for Harmodius brings him to the generals’ tent where the hetaerae are dancing.
Spartacus appears unexpectedly. To the dismay of the generals he orders the camp be cleared of the hetaerae immediately. But Aegina remains. Spartacus orders her too to go. Harmodius protests. a quarrel begins. The conflict grows. a group of captive generals and their detachments leave the camp. Attracted by Aegina, Harmodius leaves with them. Spartacus’ faithful comrades-in-arms remain with him.

Crassus’ feast
A feast is underway at Crassus’ villa. Aegina tells Crassus that she has brought Harmodius, who has quarrelled with Spartacus, and she tells of the dissent among the rebel slaves. Crassus gives the order to destroy the camp of the in¬surgents who have left Spartacus. Phrygia sends a slave to Spartacus to warn him, but all is in vain.
At his feast, Crassus orders Harmodius be brought in. The purple curtains are flung open and Harmodius sees the gladiators who betrayed Spartacus, their bodies crucified. Harmodius realises Aegina’s treachery and tries to kill her, but the legionnaires stab the youth.
Crassus and Aegina vanish without trace. Spartacus’ warriors arrive at the villa.

Spartacus’ death
Phrygia is tormented by a premonition of disaster. Before the decisive battle she bids farewell to Spartacus. Surrounded by Crassus’ legions, Spartacus and his warriors perish in the cruel battle, true to their oath to freedom to the end. The retreat is sounded. The Roman warriors depart. At night Phrygia seeks out Spartacus body and mourns the fallen husband.

Act I
The Roman consul Crassus returns to Rome from his latest conquests in a triumphal procession. Among his captives are the Thracian king Spartacus and his wife Phrygia. Spartacus laments his captivity and bids a bitter farewell to Phrygia, who is taken off to join Crassus’ harem of concubines. To entertain Crassus and his entourage, Spartacus is sent into the gladiatorial ring and is forced to kill a close friend. Horrified at his deed, Spartacus incites his fellow captives to rebellion.

Act II
The escaped captives celebrate their freedom. Meanwhile, Crassus entertains the Roman patricians with lavish entertainment. Spartacus and the other escaped captives disrupt the orgy and rescue the slave women, including Phrygia. Aegina insists that Crassus pursue the slave army immediately. The lovers celebrate their escape to the "Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia".

Act III
Aegina discovers Spartacus’s camp and observes the lovers emerging from their tent the next morning. Aegina sends word to Crassus, who sends his army in pursuit. Internecine struggles break out among Spartacus’s forces. Finally, Crassus’s forces discover Spartacus and impale him upon their spears. Spartacus’s closest followers recover his body and carry it off while Phrygia mourns her loss.

Venue Info

Mariinsky Theatre - Saint Petersburg
Location   1 Theatre Square

The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. Through most of the Soviet era, it was known as the Kirov Theatre. Today, the Mariinsky Theatre is home to the Mariinsky Ballet, Mariinsky Opera and Mariinsky Orchestra. Since Yuri Temirkanov's retirement in 1988, the conductor Valery Gergiev has served as the theatre's general director.

The theatre is named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Tsar Alexander II. There is a bust of the Empress in the main entrance foyer. The theatre's name has changed throughout its history, reflecting the political climate of the time.

The theatre building is commonly called the Mariinsky Theatre. The companies that operate within it have for brand recognition purposes retained the Kirov name, acquired during the Soviet era to commemorate the assassinated Leningrad Communist Party leader Sergey Kirov (1886–1934).

The Imperial drama, opera and ballet troupe in Saint Petersburg was established in 1783, at the behest of Catherine the Great, although an Italian ballet troupe had performed at the Russian court since the early 18th century. Originally, the ballet and opera performances were given in the wooden Karl Knipper Theatre on Tsaritsa Meadow, near the present-day Tripartite Bridge (also known as the Little Theatre or the Maly Theatre). The Hermitage Theatre, next door to the Winter Palace, was used to host performances for an elite audience of aristocratic guests invited by the Empress.

A permanent theatre building for the new company of opera and ballet artists was designed by Antonio Rinaldi and opened in 1783. Known as the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre the structure was situated on Carousel Square, which was renamed Theatre Square in honour of the building. Both names – "Kamenny" (Russian word for "stone") and "Bolshoi" (Russian word for "big") – were coined to distinguish it from the wooden Little Theatre. In 1836, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was renovated to a design by Albert Cavos (son of Catterino Cavos, an opera composer), and served as the principal theatre of the Imperial Ballet and opera.

On 29 January 1849, the Equestrian circus (Конный цирк) opened on Theatre Square. This was also the work of the architect Cavos. The building was designed to double as a theatre. It was a wooden structure in the then-fashionable neo-Byzantine style. Ten years later, when this circus burnt down, Albert Cavos rebuilt it as an opera and ballet house with the largest stage in the world. With a seating capacity of 1,625 and a U-shaped Italian-style auditorium, the theatre opened on 2 October 1860, with a performance of A Life for the Tsar. The new theatre was named Mariinsky after its imperial patroness, Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Under Yuri Temirkanov, Principal Conductor from 1976 to 1988, the Opera Company continued to stage innovative productions of both modern and classic Russian operas. Although functioning separately from the Theatre’s Ballet Company, since 1988 both companies have been under the artistic leadership of Valery Gergiev as Artistic Director of the entire Theatre.

The Opera Company has entered a new era of artistic excellence and creativity. Since 1993, Gergiev’s impact on opera there has been enormous. Firstly, he reorganized the company’s operations and established links with many of the world's great opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Opéra Bastille, La Scala, La Fenice, the Israeli Opera, the Washington National Opera and the San Francisco Opera. Today, the Opera Company regularly tours to most of these cities.

Gergiev has also been innovative as far as Russian opera is concerned: in 1989, there was an all-Mussorgsky festival featuring the composer’s entire operatic output. Similarly, many of Prokofiev’s operas were presented from the late 1990s. Operas by non-Russian composers began to be performed in their original languages, which helped the Opera Company to incorporate world trends. The annual international "Stars of the White Nights Festival" in Saint Petersburg, started by Gergiev in 1993, has also put the Mariinsky on the world’s cultural map. That year, as a salute to the imperial origins of the Mariinsky, Verdi's La forza del destino, which received its premiere in Saint Petersburg in 1862, was produced with its original sets, costumes and scenery. Since then, it has become a characteristic of the "White Nights Festival" to present the premieres from the company’s upcoming season during this magical period, when the hours of darkness practically disappear as the summer solstice approaches.

Presently, the Company lists on its roster 22 sopranos (of whom Anna Netrebko may be the best known); 13 mezzo-sopranos (with Olga Borodina familiar to US and European audiences); 23 tenors; eight baritones; and 14 basses. With Gergiev in charge overall, there is a Head of Stage Administration, a Stage Director, Stage Managers and Assistants, along with 14 accompanists.

Important Info
Type: Ballet
City: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Starts at: 13:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 2
Duration: 2h 40min
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