"Swan Lake" captivates ballet lovers

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" ballet has been captivating the hearts of spectators for more than a century.

The ballet was successfully presented at the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. Azerbaijani and Russian ballet stars Teymur Asgarov and Kristina Kretova were  invited to perform the main parts in the ballet.

Since 2011, Asgarov has been working in the Mariinsky Theatre. He is a winner of the "Spirit of Dance" in the category "Rising Star" by Ballet magazine in 2012, prizewinner at the 11th International Ballet Dancers' and Choreographers' Competition in Moscow in 2013, and recipient of the Azerbaijan Presidential Youth Prize for Culture in 2013.

Asgarov was recognized as the best male dancer in duet nomination of the International Ballet Competition and contest of choreographers that took place at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2013.

His repertoire includes Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Carmen-Suite, The Legend of Love, Le Corsaire and Chopiniana. With the Mariinsky Ballet, Asgarov have toured around Europe, Asia and America.

Kristina Kretova is prima ballerina of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater Kristina Kretova. She is a winner of multiple international competitions.

The dancers shared the same stage with the theater's leading soloists, including People’s Artist Gyulaghasii Mirzoyev, Honored Artists Samir Samadov, Nigar Ibrahimova, Makar Fershtandt, Elmira Suleymanova, Jamila Karimova, as well as Teymur Odushev, Ayan Eyvazova, Julia Fershtandt and others.

The ballet was conducted by the theater's main conductor, Honored Artist Eyyub Guliyev.

The "Swan Lake" is a romantic ballet in four acts. The story of the ballet is based on a German fairy tale. It is about a prince named Siegfried. He falls in love with the Swan princess, Odette. She is a swan by day, but a young woman at night. She is under a magic spell that can only be broken by a man who will make a promise to love her for all time. Siegfried makes the promise. He is tricked though by the magician who cast the spell. The ballet ends with the deaths of Siegfried and Odette.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is widely considered the most popular Russian composer in history. The works by great Russian composer are characterized by open-hearted melodies, impressive harmonies, which evoke a profound emotional response. His oeuvre includes 7 symphonies, 11 operas, 3 ballets, 5 suites, 3 piano concertos, a violin concerto, 11, 4 cantatas, 20 choral works, 3 string quartets, a string sextet, and more than 100 songs and piano pieces.