I have a video of Ivan the Terrible, danced by Irek Mukhamedov, Bessmertnova and the Bolshoi.

The performance is impressive but I don't know much about the historic events on which the ballet is based (except that there was a czar named Ivan and that he was indeed Terrible)

I try of course to guess (his wife is murdered and he becomes completely mad) but there are many details I am missing.

Are the bells decorative or is there some symbolic meaning in the bellringing? Is it supposed to have a story or is it just images from the life of Ivan the Terrible? Also I'm not sure I understand what happens in the end (at one point he is killed by the sword carrying corps, a moment later he is up and about again)?

Can anyone help me fill the gaps?

Christina

I have seen the video of Ivan the Terrible, and to me it seems to owe tremendous amounts of effect to Sergei Eisenstein's motion picture of that title, to Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and even some to Mozart's Don Giovanni. Ivan IV, Vasilievich, was the first to declare himself "Tsar of all the Russias" and he was plagued by contradictions. While he was vigorous and bold sometimes, he would retreat to seclusion at others, once even asking England's Elizabeth I for asylum. While instituting reforms in the treatment of prisoners, he would also kill them indiscriminately. He seems to have become unhinged with the murder of his wife, Anatasia, which murder has been borne out be modern forensic science. He personally killed his own son, then was "haunted" by him for the rest of his life. If we were to apply modern mental health standards to him, we might well believe that he was suffering from a bipolar disorder.

I have the huge 1976 bicentennial anniversary book "The Bolshoi." This coffee table paperweight tells the history of the opera house, its orchestra, opera and ballet companies. It has illustrations and synopses of every work in the opera and ballet repertory at that time. For "Ivan" the bells do indeed have symbolic meaning. According to the captions, in the beginning, the bells herald his coronation. In the middle the bells herald war, the suffering of the Russian people, victory in battle etc. In the end when he holds the bells and rises above the stage its supposed to show that he has subdued the empire and the people.

This is where the Eisenstein/Mussorgsky parallel happens. They both use bells for similar purposes. Ivan is a peculiar figure in Russian history, being regarded with both love and dread. He was an anti-hero and a hero simultaneously.

I saw the ballet live in Paris last winter Christina. It is quite hard to follow even with notes if what you're looking for is a plot. I think your sense that it was more a series of impressions and episodes will be more helpful in getting into the mood of the ballet. Even so, I can't say that I liked the work.

Thanks for clearing that; I was very puzzled by that last gesture! When he outstretches his hand it seemed to me as if he was trying to touch somerhing only he could see or alternatively that he was threatening the audience!

If I ever come across the Eisenstein film I'll definetely watch it...

i've always found the 'curtain' tableau of IVAN a kind of recycling by grigorovich of the final image in his SPARTACUS where the title character is hoisted up dramatically, as if on the points of numerous spears, in a kind of crucifixion grouping. the raised title figure and the 'radiating' lines of each give the two pictures many visual similarities, and perhaps even a few dramatic ones.

I've seen the film. Its like Russia's answer to 'Birth of a Nation.' IMO the best thing about the film is Prokofiev's score - fantastic!