Simon Morrison

The title is a bit of a marketing gimmick. Because of it, I was expecting a lot of gossip, but the book turns out to be a serious history of the Bolshoi theater's ballet company. It starts with the foundation of the theater, during the reign of Catherine the Great, and it takes us through wars, fires and revolutions to modern day Russia. It is a very interesting history, particularly when it focuses on the artists, their rivalries (dead cat included), their ambitions and their accomplishments. I found the chapters on the Soviet years to be fascinating, especially the one exposing all the obstacles that were put in the way of great composers like Prokofiev and Shostakovich and the great dangers that could face anyone displaying too much creativity. It is a very well researched book, as one can tell from the 50 pages of reference notes at the end. I recommend it.… (plus d'informations)