Svetlana Zakharova and Vadim Repin – on 5 May at Sava Centre
Pas de deux for Toes and Fingers
Svetlana Zakharova and Vadim Repin
On 5 May, at Sava Centre, organized by the Belgrade Festivals Centre, ballet enthusiasts will be treated to an unusual combination of dance and music.
One of the greatest ballerinas today, the only prima ballerina assoluta who still performs on the world's biggest stages, Svetlana Zakharova, and the world-renowned violinist Vadim Repin, a couple in life and on stage, will present their celebrated performance programme ‘Pas de deux for Toes and Fingers’ to the Belgrade audience.
This unique concept is an intimate dialogue between the arts, where Zakharova’s unparalleled grace and technical perfection meet the deep expressiveness and impeccable musicianship of Vadim Repin.
Accompanied by the Belgrade Chamber Orchestra and the extraordinary Bolshoi Theatre dancers – Artemiy Belyakov, Mikhail Lobukhin, and Igor Tsvirko – the audience will witness an event that blurs the boundaries between a concert and a classical ballet gala performance.
Zakharova will perform both as a soloist and in duets with her masterful colleagues.
Each pas de deux, each solo, becomes an intimate conversation in which the ballerina's toes and the violinist's fingers merge in perfect harmony, promising the audience an unforgettable emotional experience.
When it comes to the Serbian audience, Zakharova needs no introduction. As a prima ballerina with the Bolshoi Opera and an étoile of Milan's La Scala, she has always strived to broaden her horizons with more modern works. Her husband, Repin, is no less famous. A child prodigy, he made his debut at recitals in Moscow and St Petersburg at the age of 11, and now performs with all the world's greatest orchestras and conductors. Yehudi Menuhin famously described him as ‘the best and most perfect violinist’.
The programme includes choreographies by Marius Petipa, Mauro Bigonzetti, Motoko Hirayama, Artemy Belyakov, Mikhail Fokin, and Johan Kobborg, to music by Monti, Glazunov, Saint-Saëns, Moretti, Tchaikovsky, Piazzolla, Ravel, Williams, Massenet, and Bazzini.
PROGRAMME
VITTORIO MONTI: Czardas
Vadim Repin, violin
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV: Adagio from the ballet Raymonda
Choreography: Marius Petipa
Soloists: Svetlana Zakharova, Miкhail Lobukhin
Vadim Repin, violin
CAMILLE SAINT- CAMILLE SAINT- SAËNS: Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for Violin and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 28
Vadim Repin, violin
BRUNO MORETTI (based on the original by Claudio Monteverdi): Caravaggio
Choreography: Mauro Bigonzetti
Soloists: Svetlana Zakharova, Artemy Belyakov
Vadim Repin, violin
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: Lensky's aria from the opera Eugene Onegin
Vadim Repin, violin
ASTOR PIAZZOLA: Tango
Choreography: Artemy Belyakov
Soloists: Svetlana Zakharova, Artemy Belyakov
Vadim Repin, violin
MAURICE RAVEL: Tzigane
Vadim Repin, violin
JOHN WILLIAMS: Revelation (recording)
Choreography: Motoko Hirayama
Soloist: Svetlana Zakharova
JULLES MASNET: Meditation from the opera Thaïs
Vadim Repin, violin
CAMILLE SAINT- SAËNS: The Dying Swan (Le Cygne)
Choreography: Mikhail Fokin
Soloist: Svetlana Zakharova
Vadim Repin, violin
ANTONIO BAZZINI: The Dance of the Goblins, for violin and chamber orchestra, Op. 25
Choreography: Johan Kobborg
Soloists: Svetlana Zakharova, Mikhail Lobukhin
Vadim Repin, violin
Svetlana Zakharova is a distinguished People's Artist of Russia, the only prima ballerina assoluta, and prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. Additionally, she is the Laureate of the Benois de la Danse Award (Prix Benois de la Danse), member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art of the Russian Federation, as well as Benois de la Danse Programme Artistic Director and President of the Award Jury.
Born in the city of Lutsk, she was admitted to the Kyiv Choreography School at the age of ten. At the age of fifteen, she participated in the Vaganova-PRIX International Ballet Competition for young dancers in St Petersburg, where she won the second prize and was invited to continue her education at the Vaganova Ballet Academy. Soon she had her first solo performance in Don Quixote at the Mariinsky Theatre. After graduating from the Academy, she joined the Mariinsky Ballet.
In the first months in the company, she made her debut in the ballets The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, Le corsaire, Chopiniana, and Giselle. At the age of eighteen, she was promoted to prima ballerina. Her repertoire was expanded to include both classical and contemporary works, and in collaboration with choreographer John Neumeier, she proved to be a convincing interpreter of modern dance.
In 2001, she established an international reputation. After the first contract with the Paris Opera Ballet, guest appearances intensified. The Milan’s La Scala offered her a long-term engagement and awarded her the title of étoile of La Scala.
Since 2003, Zakharova has been a prima ballerina at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. She performs both great works of classical heritage and productions of contemporary choreography. Gala performances and productions with Zakharova are regularly held in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States of America, and Japan. As a shining representative of Russian culture, she participated in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014.
In 2011, she established the Ballet Promotion Foundation to support Russian ballet arts, which provides annual support to stage veterans and awards scholarships to talented young dancers. Since 2015, the annual Svetlana Children's Dance Festival has been held under her patronage, which gives young artists the opportunity to present their work.
Vadim Repin was born in Siberia in 1971. At the age of 11, he won all categories of the Wieniawski Competition and soon made his debut in Moscow and St Petersburg. At the age of 14, he made his debut in Tokyo, Munich, Berlin, and Helsinki, and a year later at Carnegie Hall in New York. At the age of 17, he was the youngest winner of the Queen Elizabeth Competition. Since then, he has performed with the world's most important orchestras and conductors and in all major music centres.
His list of stage partners includes famous conductors such as Ashkenazy, Boulez, Chailly, Chung, Dohnányi, Dutoit, Gergiev, Jansons, Levine, Mehta, Muti, Nagano, Ozawa, Temirkanov, and Thielemann, as well as chamber musician partners including Argerich, Bartoli, Capuçon, Golan, Kissin, Knyazev, Korobeinikov, Lang Lang, Lugansky, and Maisky.
Vadim Repin recorded the great Russian violin concertos by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Tchaikovsky for Warner Classics, Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Kreutzer Sonata with Martha Argerich, the Vienna Philharmonic, and Riccardo Muti for Deutsche Grammophon, and Brahms' Violin Concerto and Double Concerto (with Truls Mørk, cello) with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly. The Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff trios, released by Deutsche Grammophon, with Mischa Maisky and Lang Lang, won the Echo Award, and a CD with sonatas by Edvard Grieg, Leoš Janáček, and César Franck with Nikolai Lugansky won the BBC Music Award.
In 2010, he was awarded the highest French distintion, the Victoire d'Honneur, and the the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres for his services to music. In 2014, he was appointed Honorary Professor of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and a year later at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Musical education plays an important role in Vadim Repin's life – he has held master classes for young violinists at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and was a member of the jury of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London, the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.
In April 2014, he became the founder and artistic director of the annual Trans-Siberian Arts Festival, which continues to be enthusiastically received in Novosibirsk and many other Russian cities, as well as in Japan, Israel, Vienna, the USA and France. He recently premiered a revised version of Arvo Pärt's 'La Sindone', to which the composer, marking his 85th birthday, added a solo violin part for Vadim Repin. On a European tour with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, he gave the world premiere and numerous performances of the double concerto 'Shadow Walker' by Marc-Anthony Tarnridge, together with Daniel Hope.
He was on a world tour, together with the internationally renowned ballerina Svetlana Zakharova, with the programme 'Pas de deux', in Hong Kong, Muscat, Japan, and Korea. He also performed concerts at the Georges Enescu Festival in Bucharest, in Verbier, and at the Montreal Festival, with the RAI Torino Orchestra, the Valencia Orchestra, as well as concerts with the Japan Philharmonic in Abu Dhabi, Poland, Italy, and France and recitals in Seoul and Rome.
Born in St Petersburg, Mikhail Lobukhin graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy in 2002 and joined the Mariinsky Ballet, where he performed in the ballets such as The Prodigal Son by Sergei Prokofiev, Daphnis et Chloé by Maurice Ravel, and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme by Richard Strauss. In 2010, he joined the Bolshoi Ballet. His repertoire includes the leading roles in Giselle, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, Le Corsaire, Spartacus, The Nutcracker, Ivan the Terrible, and A Hero of Our Time.
In 2002, he won the First Prize at the Vaganova-PRIX International Ballet Competition (St Petersburg), and in 2008, the top theatre award of St Petersburg, The Golden Soffit (Zolotoy Sofit). In 2018, he won the Ballet Magazine’s award – Soul of Dance (Dusha Tantsa) in the Star category. He is a key participant in Svetlana Zaharova's Amore project, which was created by MuzArts in 2016. In 2018, he received the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.
Igor Tsvirko, born in Odintsovo, Moscow region, graduated from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography in 2007 and joined the Bolshoi Ballet, under the guidance of Alexander Vetrov. He played the main roles in the productions of Yuri Grigorovich (Ivan the Terrible, Spartacus, The Legend of Love, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Raymonda, La Bayadère), Alexei Ratmansky (Romeo and Juliet, The Bright Stream, Flames of Paris, Lost Illusions), Jean-Christophe Maillot (The Taming of the Shrew), Alberto Alonso (Carmen Suite), Aleksei Fadeychev (Don Quixote), George Balanchine (Jewels).
He also performed in the plays Chroma (Wayne McGregor), Symphony of Psalms and Forgotten Land (Jiří Kylián), Herman Schmerman (William Forsythe), Classical Symphony (Yuri Possokhov), Short Time Together (Sol León and Paul Lightfoot), Russian Seasons (Alexei Ratmansky), Dream Play (Johan Inger), and Love is Everywhere (Ivan Vasiliev).
He won a silver medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition (2013) and the Soul of Dance award in the Star category. At the Dance Open International Ballet Festival, he received the Best Duet award together with prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre Ekaterina Krysanova (2018).
Born in Tver, Artemy Belyakov joined the Bolshoi Ballet after graduating from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography (under Ilya Kuznetsov) in 2010. At the start of the 2019/20 season, he was promoted to principal dancer. He rehearsed with Mikhail Lavrovsky and Valery Lagunov and is currently working under the mentorship of Alexander Vetrov. In 2015, he graduated from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, Ballet Master Department (under Mikhail Lavrovsky) with honours as a ballet master. In 2010, he won the Second Prize at the Young Ballet Artists Competition, held as part of the First All-Russian Forum ‘Ballet of the XXI Century’, dedicated to the centenary of the birth of Galina Ulanova (Krasnoyarsk). He won the Léonide Massine award in 2014, in the Dancer of the Year on the International Scene category (Positano, Italy). He won the Soul of Dance magazine award in the Star category in 2022, and the Benoit de la Dans award of the International Union of Choreographers in 2024.
