“Valery Gergiev is an excellent leader. He knows how to create an atmosphere in the theater “-Natalya Kasatkina about changes at the Bolshoi Theater

Artist Natalya Kasatkina. Photo: Grigory Sysoev/TASS

On December 1, the artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater, Valery Gergiev, was appointed general director of the Bolshoi Theater for a period of five years.

Many Russian cultural figures supported the appointment of Valery Gergiev as director of the Bolshoi Theater. In particular, Natalya Kasatkina, People’s Artist of the RSFSR, who once performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. Since the late 70s she has continuously directed the Moscow Classical Ballet Theater.

“I am very glad that Valery Gergiev has been appointed to the Bolshoi Theatre,” says Natalya Dmitrievna. – It seems to me that this is an important event for our culture as a whole. Gergiev is not only a great musician, Valery Abisalovich is an excellent leader. He knows how to create atmosphere and order in the theater. Our culture really needs attention, but unfortunately, in my opinion, little is done about it. I hope that with the arrival of Gergiev many things will change for the better.

This is a good event for the Bolshoi Theater. There are two wonderful companies there: opera and ballet, and there is someone to work with. Surely the new director will invite other artists and new good performances will appear.

The fact that a musician became the director of the theater is wonderful. In the middle of the last century, the director of the Bolshoi Theater was the composer Mikhail Ivanovich Chulaki (in 1955-1959 and from 1963 to 1970, director and artistic director of the Bolshoi Theater. He organized the company’s first trips abroad and the first tour of exchange with the La Scala theater, which became a milestone of Russian musical theater – Ed.). Under him, Yuri Grigorovich became the chief choreographer of the Bolshoi Theater and the main director was Boris Pokrovsky. My husband Vladimir Vasilyev and I performed Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” for the first time… The director was a creative person who managed to restore order in the theater. Often the leaders of the Bolshoi were famous conductors. So the appointment of Gergiev is a good tradition, the main thing is that there is a creative and humane atmosphere.