Memories of Maya Plisetskaya to be Shared through Readings and Music

On 9 October, as part of Boris and Inara Teterev’s arts programme TÊTE-À-TÊTE 2016, the Latvian National Opera’s New Hall will host a one-off performance “Maya Forever” in which the music that was so integral to the life of the legendary ballerina Maya Plisetskaya will be performed by the globally-renowned violinist Gidon Kremer, accompanied by the soloists of the KREMERata Baltica orchestra, and the winner of the international Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition, Yulianna Avdeeva, while fragments from Maya Plisetskaya’s memoirs will be read by Yuliya Rutberg (Russia) and the journalist Sergei Nikolaevich (Russia, editor-in-chief of SNOB magazine).

The fabled ballerina, the radiance of whose dazzlingly brilliant persona stretches far into the future, not only continues to make her presence felt among her contemporaries, who were fortunate enough to have had the chance to enjoy the artist’s performances at the zenith of her career on stage, but also, over the course of several decades, amid people throughout the world; be they television viewers or connoisseurs of theatre or readers who’d come to know the ballerina through her memoirs or the stories about her conceived by the press.

“The idea for this unusual evening was born last year when “Maya and Others”, a book dedicated to Maya Plisetskaya, was published with the help of our Foundation,” explains philanthropist Boris Teterev. “However, I first met the legendary ballerina back in 2005 and, since then, I have supported her on a number of occasions. One of my fondest keepsakes is a photograph of her with a dedication to us. She was not only an amazing woman and artist, but truly one of a kind”.

The idea of a dialogue of readings and music giving the audience the chance to step inside the world of Maya Plisetskaya was the brainchild of Sergei Nikolaevich, editor-in-chief of the Russian magazine SNOB, and the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation. The performance in the Latvian National Opera’s New Hall will be the only one to take place in Riga. “Maya Plisetskaya. An exquisite personality and fantastic lady with a destiny that is the stuff of legend. Nothing and no-one will ever be able to rival her, either on stage or in life. Wherever she stepped into the limelight, all eyes were inevitably drawn towards her. The sound of her voice invariably induced a breathless silence, as if Maya Mikhailovna was not a ballerina, but rather the Oracle of Delphi, practicing soothsaying and sorcery in front of the cameras. Even her passing on the eve of her ninetieth birthday in May 2015 was akin to a gesture worthy of the stage – regal and defiantly beautiful,” recalls journalist and the conceptual author of the event, Sergei Nikolaevich, who followed Maya Plisetskaya’s life on and off the stage for many years and was a family friend of the ballerina.

The concert will include renditions of music by Rodion Shchedrin, Maurice Ravel, Franz Schubert and Frédéric Chopin. Tickets are on sale at all ticket outlets. This event will be held in Russian.

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