The Pharoah’s Daughter, one of Marius Petipa’s original ballets, is a work nearly unknown in American and European houses but that reigns supreme on the Bolshoi stage, where today it is almost exclusively performed. However, those performances occur quite rarely. A block of Pharoah revivals closed out last season in July 2018 for those Muscovites who had not already abandoned the city for vacation time. This week Moscow audiences enjoyed their only glimpse of the ballet for the current season in a series of 6 performances over the span of 4 days.
This large-scale work, in every sense of the word –from sets and costumes, to the large number of cast members and even animals required for all three acts– is a restoration by France’s Pierre Lacotte dating from 2000. The libretto sets the action in ancient Egypt, where a British explorer finds himself smoking opium and falling into a dream. Reminiscent then of the last act of Bayadère (Solor too smokes opium before his dream of the Shades), Pharoah also has components of Romeo and Juliet‘s star-crossed lovers: the heroine Aspicia throws herself in the Nile River when she cannot be wed to her beloved Taor. But in a true fairytale twist, she’s saved by the God of the Nile, who resembles Poseidon with a trident and long golden locks.
The March block of performances featured a series of debuts, including Margarita Shrainer next to Vyacheslav Lopatin in the leading roles and, on closing night, the ever-reliable Ekaterina Krysanova alongside Vladislav Lantratov in his debut as Taor.